|
A weekly newsletter by  |
|
|
|
| Happy Thanksgiving! Today we're sending a special Thanksgiving Riddler edition to share with family and friends. We'll see you next week. |
|
It's Thanksgiving, and Spotlight PA is continuing the tradition of giving thanks for our readers and members.
Month after month, year after year, I'm still impressed each day by this fantastic collection of journalists.
Their dogged, essential, and award-winning work is the kind of high-quality reporting that's increasingly rare these days — providing vital checks and balances on elected officials and key insights on urgent issues.
It's the kind of work all Pennsylvanians need and deserve, not just those who can afford it. And that's why it doesn't belong behind a paywall.
Instead, we make all of our work available at no cost on our website and through our dozens of local community newsroom partners, in a collaborative journalism network unmatched anywhere in the United States.
All of this is possible because of the generous support of readers like you.
This Thanksgiving, help us provide vital journalism to everyone, regardless of their financial resources. Make a contribution and support Spotlight PA now, and as a special holiday bonus, it will be DOUBLED — meaning today, you can have twice the impact and give the gift of facts and truth.
Whether you value Spotlight PA's newsletters, stories, events, and more, we are truly grateful, because at the end of the day, we are here to serve you. In a time of cutbacks and closures, Spotlight PA is blazing a new path forward for nonpartisan investigative journalism in Pennsylvania.
Thank you to everyone who has given since last week, including Meredith D., who said, "I believe in independent, investigative journalism that holds power accountable."
The time is now. The future is in our hands. Join Meredith and make a tax-deductible gift today.
Thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Spotlight PA.
Warm wishes,
Colin Deppen
Spotlight PA, Newsletter Editor
|
|
“It was plainly unfair for the district attorney, the one bringing the charges, to exclusively have that authority.”
—Bradley Bridge of the Defender Association of Philadelphia on a state Supreme Court ruling that gives judges new leverage to dismiss charges against people deemed ‘incompetent’ to stand trial |
|
» How Democrat Josh Shapiro won Pa.’s 2022 election for governor
» Dem takeover of Pa. House will be messy at start. Here’s why.
» High court weighs in on a flawed Pa. law that traps people in jail
» State College’s new police complaint process, explained
» Watch: How the winners of Pa.’s 2022 election plan to lead
Here’s why state House Democrats will be down 3 seats in JanuaryDemocrats won control of the Pennsylvania state House on Nov. 8, but their majority is going to disappear for at least a few weeks in the new year.
Republicans will have a temporary 101-99 edge in the 203-seat chamber, in part because of the death of a longtime lawmaker whose seat must be filled in a special election.
But the Democratic majority will also take a hit because two state lawmakers ran for reelection while vying for a different elected office — a completely legal decision that some good-government advocates say shouldn’t be an option.
The Pennsylvania Constitution specifically forbids General Assembly lawmakers from holding any other salaried local, state, or federal office.
Despite this ban, nothing prohibits state lawmakers from running for reelection and another elected office at the same time, which state Reps. Austin Davis (D., Allegheny) and Summer Lee (D., Allegheny) both did. Davis will be the next lieutenant governor, while Lee won her race to become Pittsburgh’s next member of Congress.
What Davis and Lee did is not uncommon, and politicos said it provides an insurance policy: Even if the candidate loses their bid for a different elected office, they will likely hold onto their old seat.
But if a state lawmaker wins a different office, replacing them requires a special election that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to administer. The lawmaker’s constituents are also left without Harrisburg representation for months, said Pat Christmas, a policy analyst with the Philadelphia-based good-government group Committee of Seventy.
“Seeking higher office should still require taking a leap,” Christmas said in an email.
State law regarding vacancies during lawmakers’ terms also favors political parties instead of voters, Christmas noted. The law gives local leaders of major parties the ability to choose nominees, often in private meetings.
Normally, in a body as large as the Pennsylvania House, being down a member of two means little, and openings sometimes emerge as lawmakers pursue different opportunities mid-session. Department of State data show the state has averaged 4.5 legislative special elections each year for the past decade.
But because Democrats won just 102 seats in the state House — giving them a one-seat majority — every lawmaker matters as legislators prepare to pick a speaker to preside over the chamber and set the rules for the coming session. —Stephen Caruso, Spotlight PA
Read the complete story on spotlightpa.org. |
|
 IRON PIPELINE: TribLIVE reports that despite policing and intervention by outreach workers, there is no letup in the supply of firearms feeding violent crime rates in cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. A gun-safety group's report says 5% of firearm dealers are responsible for about 90% of recovered crime guns. Pennsylvania dealers responded.
 LEAK PLUGGED: A massive natural gas leak at a storage facility in Cambria County has been plugged after two weeks, the well's owners report, via The Allegheny Front. The Equitrans Midstream well leaked huge quantities of natural gas and its main ingredient, the powerful greenhouse gas methane, into the atmosphere, as seen here.
 FUND FIGHT: Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf says a last-minute GOP vote to oppose oil and gas air pollution rules is a "disgrace" with "extreme consequences," namely possible sanctions on up to $1 billion in federal highway funding for Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Union Progress reports the party-line vote happened in a surprise committee meeting.
 LONE VOTE: There was one state House Republican who voted no on impeaching Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner last week. Capital-Star reports state Rep. Mike Puskaric (R., Allegheny) broke ranks in the largely party-line 107-85 vote because he believed impeachment would set a disastrous precedent for the future.
 WARNING SIGN: Philly saw the greatest drop in voter turnout of any county in the state in this month's midterms, and the city's share of the state’s vote declined for the third election in a row. The Inquirer (paywall) reports the dip raises questions about the city’s future role in statewide races and both parties’ ability to connect with voters of color.
» AP: Dauphin Co. woman convicted for storming Pelosi office on Jan. 6 » DENVER POST: Pa. native among victims of Colo. LGBTQ club killings » PENNLIVE: Wolf vetoes bike safety bill over Krasner provision » VOX: Struggling Pa. colleges brace for a looming enrollment cliff » WPVI: GOP Texas guv sends another bus of migrants to Philly |
|
Find this week's answers here. NAME CHANGE (Case No. 174): What country name, when uncapitalized, becomes the name of a food?
DOING MATH (Case No. 175): What three single-digit numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?PING PONG (Case No. 176): Your last good ping-pong ball fell into a narrow metal pipe embedded in concrete one foot deep. All you have is a ping-pong paddle, shoe laces, and a bottle of water. How do you get it out? Last week's answer: They're both in the middle of water. (Find last week's clue here.) Congrats to Dawn M., who will receive Spotlight PA swag. Others who answered correctly: Dom A., Annette I., George S., Ed M., Jeffrey F., Judy A., Mary B., Donna D., Peter S., Fred O., and Joseph M. |
|
|
| |
|
