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Today: Profiting off school shooting hoaxes, limbo for customers of a troubled water system, and Pa. may be getting too hot for outdoor summer weddings.

Programming Note: We're off for Labor Day and will be back in your inbox first thing Tuesday. Have a safe and happy holiday, and don't forget to fill out your bingo card.

Swatting Source

AP Photo / Matt Slocum

NEED TO KNOW: Active shooter hoaxes targeting Villanova and Bucknell Universities last week have been claimed by the self-styled leader of an extremist online group tied to a wave of similar calls in 2024. According to Wired, the group, known as Purgatory, offers its followers "a menu of services, including hoax threats against schools—known as swatting" for a fee and says it's earned $100,000 since this swatting spree began on Aug. 21. The FBI is investigating. Read Wired's full report →

GOOD TO KNOW: Anti-extremism researchers with the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) were looking for the Villanova swatters online when they say they came across the Bucknell hoax as it was being livestreamed and informed the school. A recording of the hoax was uploaded here. Hours later, the person now claiming responsibility, known only as Gores, "repeatedly attempted to provoke an armed police response at various locations in Michigan," GPAHE adds.

IN THE KNOW: A spate of hoax calls about active shooters has stirred fears at college campuses nationwide as this fall semester gets underway. A real mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis this week — reportedly by a 23-year-old inspired by the convicted Pittsburgh synagogue shooter — has only heightened the anxiety. On Thursday, one day after the violence in Minneapolis, an active shooter hoax was directed at the University of Pittsburgh. The source wasn't immediately clear.

Direct Quote

"You can incentivize your county parties to do that, to go out there and be more aggressive and register people."

—Eugene DePasquale, former state auditor general who's expected to become the next chair of the state Democratic Party, on his party's ongoing 'registration crisis'

Power Briefs

• State Rep. Kenyatta protesting SEPTA cuts with 105-mile walk, via NOTUS

• Philadelphia bus routes most used by students will be restored, via WHYY

• Pa. museum sues Trump administration over grant cuts, via Hyperallergic

• Pennsylvania Democrats set for a leadership shakeup, via Axios

• Pa. Dems fundraise off Taylor Swift's engagement, via TribLIVE

📅 Upcoming Events

Dan Nott / For Spotlight PA

Big Story: Troubled Water

State College's water authority argues it's the best option for a permanent takeover of a distressed private water company in rural Centre County. But state regulators say they can't order the transfer. What that means for the roughly 1,000 people who rely on the system — now under temporary management — remains unclear. The uncertainty follows years of unreliable service, including low pressure, lengthy boil water notices, and sudden outages. Read Spotlight PA's full report →

Daily Roundup

'GAS STATION WEED': A Pennsylvania medical marijuana company is suing gray market suppliers of intoxicating "hemp" products (paywall). Scranton-based Jushi Inc. argues, "This scheme grants [smoke shops] a substantial and unlawful economic advantage, shifts compliance burdens onto lawful operators, endangers public health, and destabilizes the regulated market." The suit also cites Inquirer reporting that found over-the-counter hemp products rife with contaminants and toxins (paywall).

ENCAMPMENT CRACKDOWNS: Norfolk Southern wants Bethlehem police to clear a homeless encampment along the Lehigh River, one a local shelter director told WFMZ has "been there for 15 years that I know of." Earlier this year, the railroad giant cleared an encampment on its property in Pottstown, Montgomery County, with a temporary hotel housing plan that one person impacted said felt like "a setup,"  WHYY reported at the time. Bethlehem's police chief said a removal plan is in the works.

NIPPON'S 'POISON PILL': Environmental advocates hoped Nippon Steel's takeover of U.S. Steel would mark a transition away from coal-fired plants that have polluted places like Pittsburgh for generations. But the company's plan to renovate blast furnaces in Pennsylvania and one in Indiana starting next year may indicate otherwise. The Sierra Club says Nippon is doubling down on a steelmaking method linked to serious health impacts and that merely reducing coal-fed emissions isn't enough.

'STOP HIDING': It's been four months since an April storm event that left hundreds of thousands of Pittsburgh-area Duquesne Light customers without electricity, some for nearly two weeks. But officials say the company has missed two public meetings about its response since, the latest with just two hours notice. The company said it needed more time to prepare. A makeup meeting is set for Sept. 17. State Rep. Abigail Salisbury (D., Allegheny) told company representatives to "stop hiding."

In Other News

NEW TRIAL: A former State College resident who's spent four decades in prison for a murder he says he didn't commit has been granted a new trial. A judge says Subramanyam Vedam was denied a fair trial in the 1980s.

CITY SHEETZ: Sheetz is preparing to open its first store within Pittsburgh city limits in a former Rite Aid location in the Banksville neighborhood. TribLIVE reports no time frame has been announced for the store's opening.

MICHELIN MARKS: Michelin star selections for restaurants in Philadelphia and several other Northeast cities will be revealed in a Nov. 18 ceremony at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, WPVI reports.

CLIMATE-CRASHED: Are Pennsylvania summers getting too hot for outdoor weddings? The AP reports venues are steering clients to cooler times of the year as brides urge others to prepare in case a heat wave crashes their party.

OTTER COMEBACK: A river otter seen swimming in a Bucks County lake is the latest sign of what Game Commission officials are calling "one of the greatest success stories in modern wildlife conservation," Courier Times reports, via Yahoo.

Post It

Butterfly on a Mexican sunflower, via Yoma U. Send us your photos by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag @spotlightpennsylvania.

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. Please include first name and last initial.

E I N P T R L A S Y O

Yesterday's answer: Advantageous

Congrats to our daily winners: Alex B., Annette I., Barbara F., Beth H., Betsy R., Claudia H., Dan E., Don H., Elaine C., Jeffrey F., Jill C., Jody A., John M., Jon W., Karen M., Kathleen G., Kevin S., Maria K., Marie B., Perry H., Richard A., Stacy S., Stanley J., Stephen Z., Susan V., Ted W., Tracy S., William Z., Tom M., and Wendy A.

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