View in browser

Triple match ends soon! Only 3 days left to get your gift to Spotlight PA TRIPLED. Our work cannot continue without your support. If you appreciate our unmatched reporting, we need your support now. Give now & get your gift TRIPLED »

👋 Our journalism depends on you. Contribute now & get it TRIPLED!

Your Postmaster: Colin Deppen

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024

Today: Penn State board data, another run at legal cannabis, gun safety proposals, Trump's Pennsylvania cabinet pick, and a sinkhole rescue gets treacherous.

RARE DISSENT

Penn State's powerful 36-member board of trustees rarely discusses motions in public before voting on them, and when it does vote, dissent is rare.

A Spotlight PA analysis of public full board meetings since 2019 found that nearly 85% of the proposals that the board considers pass without a single dissenting vote.

Investigative reporter Wyatt Massey notes the other 15% of proposals tended to face limited opposition, even for major decisions like tuition increases and budgets in the years leading up to the 2022 revelation of a more than $150 million annual deficit.

A university’s governing body should support an administration, but it cannot be a rubber stamp, said Framroze Virjee, president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. “This creates a sense of not only on the board, but of the stakeholders, that seriousness is being given to the question at hand,” Virjee added. 

Read more in Spotlight PA’s full report: Penn State trustees pass almost 85% of measures without a single dissenting vote.

Only 3 days left to support Spotlight PA and get your gift TRIPLED by a group of generous donors. Our work cannot continue in 2025 without your help now. Make a tax-deductible gift now and support Spotlight PA this giving season »

If you prefer to send a check, mail it to: Spotlight PA, PO Box 11728, Harrisburg, PA 17108-1728

Thank you to the 904 people who have given to our year-end fundraising campaign so far, including Richard C., who said, “The need for journalism in a democratic republic.” Join Richard & make a gift now to sustain Spotlight PA »

NOTABLE / QUOTABLE

“I am very frustrated with the news that came out last night. I didn’t expect that to come out. So that was like a gut punch.”

—United Steelworkers Local 2227 Vice President Jason Zugai on President-elect Donald Trump's renewing of his vow to block the sale of U.S. Steel to a Japanese buyer

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

📷 POST IT

The boxing ring at Muhammad Ali's one-time training camp in Schuylkill County, via Karen A. You can tour Fighter's Heaven yourself. Schedule a visit here. And send us your photos by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania. 

DAILY ROUNDUP

HIGH TIME? The long-running effort to legalize recreational cannabis in Pennsylvania continues with adult-use legislation floated in the state House this week. “We have a moral obligation to not only legalize but also to work to repair the damage caused by decades of marijuana arrests,” state Rep. Dan Frankel (D., Allegheny) said, via PennLive. If history is any guide, the details and logistics will be pivotal. Still, advocates are bullish that 2025 will be the year it finally happens here.

GUN REFORMS: Democrats in Harrisburg are again looking to change gun laws ahead of the new year, announcing plans to run bills that would expand background checks, rein in so-called ghost guns, advance extreme risk protection orders, and create a Pennsylvania Center for Gun Violence Research. A recent court ruling upheld Pennsylvania's ban on local gun laws that are stricter than those adopted by the state, upping pressure on lawmakers to harden state rules in a hurry.

SUBMINIMUM WAGE: The outgoing Biden administration wants to abolish a practice that lets employers pay workers with disabilities less than minimum wage, a change championed by outgoing U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.). Bloomberg found pay as low 25¢ an hour to sort clothes and 5¢ an hour to cut rags (paywall). Dozens of employees and thousands of workers in Pennsylvania would be impacted. | Related: Examining Bob Casey's disability policy legacy in Washington, DC, via The 19th.

ROCKET MAN: Lehigh Valley billionaire Jared Isaacman has been nominated by Donald Trump to be the next leader of NASA, a move that would put him in charge of billions of dollars in government contracts with Space X, a company owned by his friend Elon Musk and one with extensive financial ties to Isaacman's own online payment company, NPR reports. | Related: Elon Musk may charge his America PAC with targeting Larry Krasner and other progressive district attorneys, via The Inquirer (paywall).

ENERGY QUESTION: What will the end of President Joe Biden's term mean for his hydrogen energy push in states like Pennsylvania? The Biden administration has allocated billions of dollars for hydrogen hubs, including two with Pennsylvania footprints, and while experts tell EHN it’s unlikely the projects would be abandoned entirely under Trump, the incoming administration could change key aspects. | Related: Hydrogen hubs: Clean energy boom or boondoggle? via Yale Environment 360.

IN OTHER NEWS

DEPORTATION FORCE: As President-elect Trump vows to use local police to execute his mass deportation plan, officials in York will consider formally limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement (paywall), The Dispatch reports.

TAX COMPROMISE: Amid a wave of proposed property tax hikes coinciding with the end of federal pandemic aid, Allegheny County has settled on a 36% increase — the first there in more than a decade — to tackle a potential $133 million budget shortfall.

RESCUE MISSION: The search for a 64-year-old believed to have fallen into a Westmoreland County sinkhole while looking for her cat continued Wednesday as crews sought to stabilize the area and sent cameras underground, TribLIVE reports.

DISCRIMINATION SUIT: Allentown's deputy clerk is suing the city, alleging she was subjected to racist abuse and that officials, including the mayor, did nothing. 

BANANA FACTORY: Before Bethlehem's iconic Banana Factory is demolished early next year, it's hosting one final First Friday party tomorrow, Lehigh Valley News reports.

SCRAMBLER

Unscramble and send your answer to scrambler@spotlightpa.org. We'll shout out winners here, and one each week will get some Spotlight PA swag. Answers submitted by 5:30 p.m. on issue date will be counted.

H E E A T R C R U O S

Yesterday's answer: Insomniac

Congrats to our daily winners: Dennis M., Jon W., Sean C., Barbara F., Richard A., Elaine C., Barb K., Lynne E., Tracy S., Don H., Bob C., Stanley J., Nancy S., Ulysses W., Perry H., Annette I., Liz S., William Z., Marsha B., Susan N.-Z., Jeff F., Stacy S., John P., Kimberly D., and Starr B.

Like PA Post? Share it with a friend.

Love PA Post? Support it with a tax-deductible gift.

Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here.

For sponsorship inquiries, email membership@spotlightpa.org

Copyright © Spotlight PA, All rights reserved.

Spotlight PA
PO Box 11728
Harrisburg, PA 17108
United States

You're receiving this email because you subscribed to PA Post, a daily newsletter by Spotlight PA.

This email was sent to: _t.e.s.t_@example.com

Receiving too many emails from Spotlight PA?

To change your newsletter subscriptions and frequency, you can update your preferences.

To stop receiving ALL EMAILS from Spotlight PA, including all of our investigations and newsletters, you can completely unsubscribe here.