Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate drops to its lowest rate in over four decades. Here is the Playbook.

April 19th Ups & Downs: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is awarded a Pulitzer Prize, a new caucus is formed in Harrisburg, the state now has an official amphibian, while there’s news in Philadelphia about a proposed safe injection site. All of that and more are in this week’s Ups and Downs.

Harrisburg & DC  
AP: As suburbs roar, Pennsylvania Democrats pick top 2020 target
AP: Pennsylvania eyes retirement-savings plan for its portfolio
KDKA: Pa. Hits Lowest Unemployment Rate Since 1976
Inquirer: Joe Biden to launch 2020 presidential campaign next week, plans stop in Philly   
Morning Call: Will Joe Biden launch his 2020 run from Pennsylvania?
StateImpactPA: Is state senator Gene Yaw out to lunch on key energy issues?
WITF: Pa. state parks, facing aging infrastructure, hope for severance tax-based plan
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Advocates want Pa. to update its Equal Pay Act by 2020. It will take more to close the gender wage gap
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Union opposition to post-Janus proposal divides Republican caucus in Pa. House
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: The Mueller Report: ‘We’re not there yet’ on impeachment, Pa. U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean says
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Meet the Pa. congressman who blew up Twitter after calling Trump hardliner Stephen Miller a ‘scumbag’
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Lawmakers agreed to privatize free medical trips for Medicaid recipients last year. Now, some are trying to stop it
PLSReporter: Did You Get The Memo? Wine, guns and driving in the left lane
PLSReporter: E-scooters face speed bumps on the way to legalization
PLSReporter: Freshman Focus: Rep. Kristine Howard
PLSReporter: Tweets of the Week – April 15, 2019
Inquirer: Pennsylvania opens probe into Harvest, state’s largest marijuana-dispensary permit holder
Inquirer: Joe Biden to launch 2020 presidential campaign next week
New York Times: Joe Biden Begins Taking Money for a 2020 Presidential Campaign

Philadelphia  
Inquirer: Joe Biden to launch 2020 presidential campaign next week, plans stop in Philly
Inquirer: Philly city commissioners election 2019: A look at the elected office that runs elections
Inquirer: Come to our event Monday, meet all the primary candidates for Philly City Council face to face
Inquirer: Temple University holding first ‘open negotiations’ with faculty: ‘This was us watching the sausage being made’
Billy Penn: Why Philadelphia doesn’t clean its own City Hall — and why two mayors are feuding over it
KYW Newsradio: Philadelphia city budget hearings enter their fifth week
KYW Newsradio: Councilman Domb, running for re-election, takes heat over 10-year tax abatement
KYW Newsradio: Biden expected to launch presidential campaign next week
KYW Newsradio: Reactions to Mueller report fall predictably along party lines

SEPA
AP: As suburbs roar, Pennsylvania Democrats pick top 2020 target – Delco’s Sen. Tom Killion
Delco Daily Times: Legal cannabis listening tour comes to Delco Monday
Delco Daily Times: Delco Council evaluates county employees’ salaries, benefits
Delco Daily Times: U.D. councilman denies accusations of theft
Daily Local News: Congressman Lewis to speak at Lincoln University’s commencement
Bucks County Courier Times: Local towns stay out of gerrymandering fight
Bucks County Courier Times: PA lawmakers, regulators struggle to address PFAS chemical contamination
Pottstown Mercury: State Sen. Katie Muth to hold first town hall meeting in Collegeville   
Pottstown Mercury: Montco districts could save $20M a year under cyber-charter reform bills

Pittsburgh
WESA: Mueller Report Mentions ‘Miners For Trump’ Rally In Pittsburgh
City Paper: Block Communications board member Susan Block shares anti-Muslim conspiracy theories on social media
KDKA: Derry Borough Mayor Resigns In Wake Of Allegedly Pointing A Gun At Teens
Tribune Review: Westmoreland County population decrease largest in Pa.
Tribune Review: Lower Burrell considering tax break for firefighters

SWPA
Observer-Reporter: Cook proposes eliminating public interest Local Share projects, substituting property tax relief
Observer-Reporter: Local law enforcement weigh pros and cons of legalizing recreational marijuana
Altoona Mirror: Joyce’s trip to border called ‘eye opening’
Altoona Mirror: Commissioner candidate forum set
Altoona Mirror: Altoona Water Authority might save $1.2 million
Beaver County Times: Pa. Senate Democrats holding climate change hearing in Pittsburgh
AP: Mayor charged with pointing gun at minors in park steps down

NEPA
The Times Leader: Proposed lobbyist hire on Tuesday’s Luzerne County Council voting agenda
The Times Leader: Mayor: Unfilled vacancies to cover WB contract bonuses
The Times Leader: Cannabis festival draws thousands to Scranton
The Times Leader: Beyond the Byline: We all have a few new heroes to celebrate

South Central  
PA Post: Transgender bathroom, locker room use: The debate in central Pennsylvania, explained
Patriot News: Harrisburg school board challengers to incumbents: reelection is not guaranteed
Patriot News: What is an ‘impaired’ waterway and why are there so many of them in Pennsylvania?
York Dispatch: Commissioner candidates weigh in on proposed stormwater authority  
York Dispatch: Helfrich joins list of city officials going bald for St. Baldrick’s  

Lehigh Valley    
Reading Eagle: Financial report card: Which local members of Congress got the most support?
Reading Eagle: District judges in Berks County jail more people for lack of money than anywhere else in Pa.  
Reading Eagle: Mariner East 1 pipeline will restart on Monday
Morning Call: Will Mike Fleck go to jail for his role in Allentown corruption case?   
Morning Call: “I’m going to go in there and try to set him up” — Mike Fleck, in his own words  
Morning Call: Allentown City Council candidates offer variety of economic, housing policies during debate

North by Northwest
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: House candidates answer why they want to be in congress
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: State amphibian, part-time county position among votes
Erie Times-News: Government meetings in Erie County, week of April 22

Opinion  
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Do not deliver: Postal Service must do its part in opioids war
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Taking the high road: William Barr handled the Mueller report with class
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Free prison phone calls: Better communication helps reduce recidivism
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Care versus no care: Virtual medicine offers a welcome health care option
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Next-gen giving: Foundations inculcate giving spirit in millennials
LNP Editorial Board: We’re glad cursive is making a comeback, and that’s not just nostalgia
Inquirer Editorial Board: Only in Philly: Elected officials run elections — but why?
Inquirer Editorial Board: Keeping Philly property taxes at bay: As primary approaches, why aren’t candidates talking about it?
Tom Wolf and Lisa Blunt Rochester: Clean Slate Act, pioneered in Pa., is a win for society.
John L. Micek: Why Bernie Sanders may not be able to count on Pa. in 2020 | Friday Morning Coffee
Laurel Elder and Steven Greene: Marijuana legalization: The rare issue where women are more conservative than men
John Farmer, Jr.: Mueller report’s legacy should be response to Russia, not Trump impeachment
A.J.: Congress, don’t crush my American Dream, pass the Dream and Promise Act
Ryan Stoa: Big Marijuana is here and growing. Can craft cannabis survive?
Dottie Schaffer: I’m a schoolteacher: I shouldn’t have to work two jobs to make ends meet. Raise Pa.’s teacher minimum wage
Gary John Adler Jr.: Bringing the southern border closer to Pa., one immersion trip at a time
Anwar Curtis: ‘Black dignity:’ A recent book puts it front and center — as it should be
Tim Hartman: Meet Pa.’s newest, deep-pocketed special interest group | Editorial Cartoon
Keith C. Burris: Redemption songs
Brian O’Neill: Three cheers for the hellbender
John L. Micek: What is Passover? Your four questions, answered
Brent Landau: This is why they call it ‘Easter,’ and other things you didn’t know about the holiday
Nathaniel Popkin: Saving Philly’s endangered history, one building at a time
Jenice Armstrong: After nearly losing her home to fraud, she helps others hang onto theirs
Signe Wilkinson: Cartoon: Philly goes to potholes
Mike Newall: Unflinching hope in the Philly neighborhood that the most people have abandoned
Michael Barsanti: Looking for the future of historical institutions, as America’s 250th birthday looms
Patrick Spero: What happens when a World Heritage City can’t support its own heritage?
Lou Scheinfeld: Former Flyers VP on Kate Smith: The PC police have struck again
Ruth Ann Dailey: The legacy of Marian Anderson resonates this Easter