The team known informally as the "environmental strike force," in 1974. Front row, left to right: Elissa Parker; Barb Brandon; Pat McGinley; Bill Eichbaum; Jack Krill; Betsy McCoubrey; Tom Burke; Dennis Coyne; Dennis Strain. Second row, left to right: Eric Pearson; Paul Burroughs; Maxine Woelfling; Bill Oberdorfer; John Carroll; Karin Carter; Tom Oravetz; Bob Shusterman; Fran Dubrowski; Dennis Harnish; Ward Kelsey. Back row, left to right: Gene Dice; Tim Weston; Doug Blazey; Doug White (behind Blazey); Drew Dorfman; Dick Ehmann; Terry Bossert; Bob Yuhnke; Jim Rochow; Ralph Kates; Mike Alushin.
Emily is a reporter for WITF who’s been covering voting and elections since July 2019 as part of her former role with statehouse accountability news organization PA Post. She was the senior reporter for statewide public media collaboration Keystone Crossroads. Previously, she covered city hall for PennLive/The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.), was a watchdog and city hall reporter at The Press of Atlantic City and reported for the Northwest Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
The team known informally as the "environmental strike force," in 1974. Front row, left to right: Elissa Parker; Barb Brandon; Pat McGinley; Bill Eichbaum; Jack Krill; Betsy McCoubrey; Tom Burke; Dennis Coyne; Dennis Strain. Second row, left to right: Eric Pearson; Paul Burroughs; Maxine Woelfling; Bill Oberdorfer; John Carroll; Karin Carter; Tom Oravetz; Bob Shusterman; Fran Dubrowski; Dennis Harnish; Ward Kelsey. Back row, left to right: Gene Dice; Tim Weston; Doug Blazey; Doug White (behind Blazey); Drew Dorfman; Dick Ehmann; Terry Bossert; Bob Yuhnke; Jim Rochow; Ralph Kates; Mike Alushin.
Neshaminy School District can keep its high school mascot in name only, under an order from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. The PHRC says the school must stop using “any and all logos and imagery … that negatively stereotype Native Americans,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Monday’s decision comes after years of controversy over school officials’ resistance to dropping the “Redskins” moniker, despite student complaints culminating in the 2013 lawsuit that led to the PHRC’s involvement. -Emily Previti, PA Post Reporter
Enviro law pioneers, a gun hearing, and raises for legislators
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The team known informally as the “environmental strike force,” in 1974. Front row, left to right: Elissa Parker; Barb Brandon; Pat McGinley; Bill Eichbaum; Jack Krill; Betsy McCoubrey; Tom Burke; Dennis Coyne; Dennis Strain. Second row, left to right: Eric Pearson; Paul Burroughs; Maxine Woelfling; Bill Oberdorfer; John Carroll; Karin Carter; Tom Oravetz; Bob Shusterman; Fran Dubrowski; Dennis Harnish; Ward Kelsey. Back row, left to right: Gene Dice; Tim Weston; Doug Blazey; Doug White (behind Blazey); Drew Dorfman; Dick Ehmann; Terry Bossert; Bob Yuhnke; Jim Rochow; Ralph Kates; Mike Alushin.
Nearly half a century after Pennsylvania’s first crop of state government environmental attorneys laid the foundation for enforcement, some of them are eyeing ways to lend an informal assist to regulators working with ever-dwindling resources. Former StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter Marie Cusick profiles Pa.’s “environmental strike force,” as the group was informally known, in this freelance piece.
State laws requiring defendants in contested protection from abuse cases to surrender their firearms took effect last spring. But there are notable limitations on enforcement and measuring impact. That was one of the main takeaways from a public hearing in State College Monday, one of five meant to inform the work for the state’s Special Council on Gun Violence. PA Post’s Ed Mahon, who has been following the issue, was there. His story is here.
State lawmakers will get a 1.9 percent raise next year, Marc Levy reports for The Associated Press. Marc notes Pa.’s legislative salaries rank third nationally: an average base of $90,300, not including per diems and pension and other benefits. Read more here.
LNP reporter Alex Geli found the state has paid out more than $1.3 million in retirement benefits to nine Lancaster County educators who lost their teaching licenses over serious allegations — including, in some cases, convictions for child pornography possession and sexual assault. The full investigation is here.
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Susan Walsh / AP Photo
First Lady Melania Trump poses with the 2019 White House Christmas tree as it is delivered to the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. The Douglas fir is approximately 23 feet tall and was grown by Larry Snyder, third from left, at Mahantongo Valley Farms in Pennsylvania. (Susan Walsh / AP Photo)
With the official start of the holidays upon us, PA Post’s Joseph Darius Jaafari took a look at how Pa. prisons handle the season. He found policies vary throughout the state, but that some counties bar close relatives from hugging or holding hands with their family member — despite research showing that kind of contact helps prevent recidivism. His story is here.
Northampton County Republicans aren’t going to sue over election results because the litigation would be too expensive, The Morning Call’s Riley Yates reported Monday — the deadline for filing formal challenges. County officials said previously a lawsuit would further delay their investigation into tabulation problems with Northampton’s ExpressVote XL devices. The machines had been impounded under a court order requested by Republican judicial candidate Victor Scomillio. Election Systems & Software spokeswoman Katina Granger says the voting machine vendor will start looking into the matter alongside county officials after the first week in December, when the impoundment order expires.
State Rep. Cris Dush, R-Jefferson/Indiana, won’t seek reelection next year in keeping with a self-imposed three-term limit. He released a statement Monday reminding constituents of his pledge, reports Ron Musselman in this story for The Indiana Gazette. Dush, known as among the most conservative of GOP state lawmakers, led an ill-fated charge last year to impeach Democratic Supreme Court Justices after they overturned Pa.’s congressional map.
With the defection of Sen. John Yudichak last week, Democrats will have their work cut out for them to recapture the state Senate next year. On the other side of the Capitol, though, Democrats believe they have a shot at regaining a majority by picking up seats held by Republicans in the increasingly blue suburbs of Philadelphia. As The Inquirer’s Andrew Seidman notes, Democrats may need to find a message that works in other parts of the state or risk losing seats in more rural parts of the state that are trending red.