Pennsylvania in Focus

(The Center Square) – Sixty-five million people turn the lights on every day thanks in large part to the oversight of the nation’s largest power grid operator, PJM. Thirteen states, including Pennsylvania, plus Washington D.C., rely on the century-old organization to manage the flow of power across the system minute-by-minute, as well as plan for future electricity needs — like more power to suppl...

The Center Square's Pennsylvania 2024 Year in Review including the election, big legislative accomplishments, & the potential buyout of U.S. Steel. Keep up with all of the national news in 2025 at The Center Square: https://www.thecentersquare.com/pennsylvania/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertisin...

(The Center Square) – Maternal health care, obesity, dental care, and substance use disorders are just a handful of crises facing health care providers in rural parts of the state. “Rural health care in Pennsylvania faces some very unique challenges specific to its population and location,” Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, in a policy meeting earlier this year. Rural communities have faced increasing is...

(The Center Square) – The teacher shortage in Pennsylvania has reached a critical point. While a large cohort of educators heads toward retirement, the state has been struggling to attract new talent into the field, resulting in an a deficit of over 4,400 teachers in the 2022-2023 school year alone. That's why the public Insight PA Cyber Charter School is answering the call to use their Career and...

(The Center Square) - By commuting the sentences of 1,500 people who were released to home confinement during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden drew the ire of many Pennsylvanians who were affected by what became known as the “kids for cash” scandal in Luzerne County. “It is truly disheartening to see a national leader on criminal justice issues for decades so wantonly un...

(The Center Square) – The American Tort Reform Foundation has labeled Pennsylvania as the nation’s worst “Judicial Hellhole” in a new report. “Lawsuit abuse in the City of Brotherly Love has reached a fever pitch with nuclear verdicts,” claims the foundation, suggesting that “eye-popping nine-figure damage awards were issued without hardly a thought.” In making its case against the commonwealth, t...

(The Center Square) – The manhunt for the person who gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk five days ago ended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa. Described as a “vigilante” jaded by the commercial health insurance industry, Gov. Josh Shapiro said online support for the accused, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, leaves him sickened. “I have no tolerance nor should anyone fo...

(The Center Square) – Local officials caught defying Pennsylvania election law may find themselves without a job. Rep. Joe D’Orsie, R-York, is drafting legislation that would give the state House the power to remove county and municipal officials from office. It’s similar to the impeachment process and would ultimately require voter approval. D’Orsie and other members of the Pennsylvania Freedom C...

(The Center Square) – In a report issued by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, disparities in domestic violence reporting between rural and urban communities reveal stark differences in the experiences of survivors. The study, conducted by Dr. Emily Strohacker at Penn State Harrisburg, surveyed and interviewed survivors across the commonwealth, primarily identified through victim service organizat...

(The Center Square) – Some Pittsburgh residents may feel déjà vu as the city’s public school system considers yet another plan to close buildings and redistribute many of its 20,000 students. Though many see the district as overspending and underperforming, the strategy of reconfiguring schools also raises questions among parents who say similar attempts over the last 20 years didn’t pan out. Face...

A controversial $14.9 billion overseas buyout of the iconic U.S. Steel company based in Pittsburgh still doesn’t have Donald Trump’s support. On Tuesday, the president-elect reaffirmed his vow to block the deal with Japanese-based Nippon Steel, upholding the same promise given by the Biden administration earlier this year. Instead, Trump says, stronger tariffs will save the company from shuttering...

State government covers more than half of operational costs for mass transit systems in Pennsylvania’s largest cities. Notably, it’s not rider fares or contributions from local taxing authorities. In 2022, the latter represented just 7.5% of funding for both SEPTA in the Philadelphia region and the Pittsburgh Transit Authority, which operates 300 miles to the west in Allegheny County. This stands...

Pennsylvania's state Supreme Court told counties on Monday that ballots with dating errors cannot be counted as valid. The emergency order comes after elected officials in Bucks, Centre, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties overlooked the deficiencies, in violation of a previous high court ruling that said doing so was against state election law. The 4-3 order comes four days after the state and n...

Last week, SEPTA announced a major fare increase after the state’s legislative session ended without approving additional funding for the flagging system. With each side of the state’s divided government blaming the other, SEPTA and its riders are left to make up the deficit. Legislators in Harrisburg have debated the issue several times over. Passage has been tied to skills game reform and infras...

Pennsylvania Democrats will return to the state House in January with a one-seat majority intact. This, after incumbent Rep. Frank Burns staved off Republican challenger Amy Bradley in the state’s 72nd district, nestled in deep red Cambria County. It’s the very same county that extended voting hours Tuesday after a ballot printing issue derailed counting. The mishap delayed results for many of the...

With all eyes on Pennsylvania, officials across the commonwealth oversaw a relatively smooth Election Day. And despite occasional local issues ranging from bomb threats to power outages, the state largely averted many of the concerns that lingered from previous elections. Of particular note was the speed with which votes were returned this election allowing officials to call the state, and the pre...

Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race is heading toward a recount. Democrat Bob Casey Jr. has not yet conceded to Republican challenger Dave McCormick, despite national media agreement that the two-term senator cannot close the 29,000-vote gap that remains. State law triggers a recount when the winner’s margin is less than 0.5 percentage points unless the loser waives the action. Casey trails by just 0....

The media and consulting firm linked to fraudulent voter registration forms in Pennsylvania earlier this week has gone dark as of Saturday. Field and Media Corps – the website and social media accounts of which are now defunct – is an Arizona-based company that contracts with Everybody Votes to run a canvassing operation in Pennsylvania and other states that target low-income minority residents un...

Donald Trump took back Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral college votes early Wednesday after an intense campaigning schedule centered on the commonwealth. Multiple media outlets called the race for the former president with just over 95% of the ballots counted. At time of publication, he led Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 193,000 votes. Or, as Trump said himself during a rally in Reading on M...

Nearly 24 hours after polls closed across Pennsylvania, voters still don’t know who their next U.S. senator will be. As of 4 p.m., Republican Dave McCormick clings to a 31,000-vote lead, with 98% of ballots counted, according to The Associated Press. State returns show just under 6.8 million voters cast a ballot in the race out of 9 million registered. McCormick’s performance is an outlier result...

Every four years, Americans make a choice between the two candidates they most trust to lead the nation. On the surface, it’s Republican or Democrat. In decades past, it’s been budget hawk or big spender. In centuries past, it’s been isolationist or globalist. But in 2024, it’s fascism or communism. At least, that’s the messaging neither candidate strayed far from during highly anticipated speeche...

Pennsylvania election workers flagged 2,500 voter registrations dropped off Monday in Lancaster County for suspected fraud. In a press conference Friday, elected officials and investigators with the attorney general's office said 60% of the applications reviewed so far have been deemed illegitimate. The registrations in question were delivered in two batches. Ray D’Agostino, vice chairman of the L...

With only two weeks left until the presidential election, Amish communities are experiencing déjà vu. That is because efforts are higher than ever to encourage voting among a population that’s traditionally refrained from doing so. Historically, the Amish are family-centric, with religious and cultural traditions that shape their political views. Their faith-based convictions regarding violence, p...

A Philadelphia- area McDonald's onboarded a new worker last Sunday: former President Donald Trump. The Republican nominee's campaign shared footage of an employee at the Feasterville location in Bucks County training Trump, a black and yellow apron shielding his trademark red tie, how to cook the restaurant's iconic French fries. In separate clips, Trump serves customers waiting at the drive-thru...

One day after voter registration closed in Pennsylvania, more than 1 million ballots had already been cast. Residents have returned 1,051,655 mail-in votes as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State, representing more than half of the 1.8 million requested ahead of the Oct. 29 deadline. More than 9 million in Pennsylvania are registered to vote.  Support this podcast: ...