Governor’s race spending surpassed $64 million, while State Rep. Lowery Brown seeks to overturn her conviction. Here is the Playbook.
Harrisburg & DC
Bucks County Courier Times: Cost of governor’s race topped $64M, shy of state record
Inquirer: State Rep. Vanessa Brown asks trial judge to overturn bribery conviction
Harrisburg Patriot News: Supreme Court turns down abortion-related appeal from states seeking to defund Planned Parenthood
Harrisburg Patriot News: ‘Conversion therapy’ resolution scheduled for vote in Harrisburg
WHYY Newsworks: In Pa., 381K more people voted for a Democrat for state House. But GOP kept the majority
KYW Newsradio: Pa. attempts to tackle holiday uptick in drug overdoses with a week of outreach
Post-Gazette: As enrollment deadline nears, Sen. Casey urges uninsured to sign up for ACA plan
StateImpactPA: Judge grants first eminent domain case to PennEast in Pennsylvania
AP: Correction: Death of a Young Mayor story
Philadelphia
Philadelphia Magazine: First Day of School in Philly Could Be After Labor Day in 2019
WHYY Newsworks: Inside the Philadelphia DA’s side hustle — selling seized homes to speculators and cops
Billy Penn: After two years, this North Philly elementary school finally scored a new playground
Billy Penn: Evacuation shelter opened for residents displaced by the West Philly fire
Generocity: South Philly’s Taggart Elementary School is providing new immigrant and refugee students with comprehensive services, like student mentors and free uniforms
KYW Newsradio: City Council rushes to pass dozens of bills this week before winter break
KYW Newsradio: Conference on government ethics in Philly, and no, officials say it’s not ironic
Philadelphia Business Journal: Anthony Wayne Senior Housing project finally completed
SEPA
Delco Daily Times: Springfield school board bosses flip spots
Montgomery Media: Ambler looks to hold the line on taxes, while sewer, trash rates to rise
Pottstown Mercury: Local home improvement business sued for deceptive practices
Bucks County Courier Times: Pennsbury board appoints acting high school principal
Bucks County Courier Times: Montgomery County’s $420M budget holds line on taxes
Pittsburgh
WTAE: No tax increases in Pittsburgh’s proposed 2019 budget; more money for street paving, landslides, flood mitigation
City Paper: Colcom Foundation removes its signage from Holiday Market following criticism of anti-immigrant ties
Post-Gazette: Elizabeth Borough asks DA to review case of police chief, who was put on leave
Post-Gazette: City Council to introduce e-waste recycling bill Tuesday
Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh council won’t fast-track $100,000 branding proposal
Post-Gazette: Peduto to represent U.S. mayors at climate conference
Tribune Review: Westmoreland Sheriff Held will be retried in corruption case
Tribune Review: Westmoreland Transit gives its approval to county comprehensive plan
Tribune Review: Latrobe library to host Affordable Care Act enrollment Dec. 12
StateImpactPA: Two hurt in construction accident along Mariner East 2 near Pittsburgh
SWPA
Observer-Reporter: Judge calls petition that could have changed vote totals in 49th District ‘fatally defective’
Observer-Reporter: Washington School District nutrition grant
Altoona Mirror: Woods rezoning draws concern
Altoona Mirror: Increasing safety
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: Windber plans to add path in wellness effort
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: Nanty Glo museum making a final push for funding
NEPA
Standard-Speaker: Penn State Schuylkill names new chancellor
Standard-Speaker: Preservation society seeks to secure historic mine lokie
Times-Leader: Former treasurer sentenced for stealing from school’s PTO account
Citizens Voice: County council set to vote on budget Tuesday
News Item: Shoch won’t seek re-election
Times-Tribune: Scranton teachers ask to resume negotiations as district includes no raises in budget
Times-Tribune: Scranton city, school district explore sharing of services
Times-Tribune: AG opens investigation into suspended Dunmore police chief
Times-Tribune: Tunnel closing on Pennsylvania Turnpike
Times-Tribune: State to highlight several new voting systems at Moosic expo
South Central
LNP: Proposed Lancaster city tax hike comes after reassessment that significantly changed what many pay
LNP: A select few Pennsylvania school districts get special deals and millions in bonus funding
York Dispatch: Plan for new warehouse in Conewago Twp. would require rerouting Exit 28
York Dispatch: Old York County Prison deal lets authority off $1.2 million hook (updated)
Harrisburg Patriot News: CD officials must hand over video of parent-student confrontation on school bus, Pa. court says
Carlisle Sentinel: Expo in Carlisle to demonstrate new voting systems with advanced security, paper trail
York Daily Record: Community leader Ray Crenshaw has died
York Daily Record: Route 30 closed in Lancaster County after early morning crash involving pedestrian
Lehigh Valley
Morning Call: Lehigh Tunnel maintenance to cause delays for next three days
Morning Call: New Lehigh Valley program prepares underemployed for high-demand manufacturing jobs
Reading Eagle: Berks County officials unveil latest weapon against gun violence
Reading Eagle: Latest census numbers show a mixed bag of poverty indicators for Reading, Berks County
WFMZ: Berks partnerships conserve 77 acres for migratory birds
North by Northwest
Erie Times-News: Erie Water Works employees sue AFSCME over contract
Erie Times-News: Lake Erie murderer to be sentenced in wife’s death
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Terminated city police corporal reinstated, but as patrolman
Opinion
Ronnie Polaneczky: Kensington High’s cell-phone ban: What readers and the principal had to say after my last column
Beth Anne Mumford: Pa. senators hold the key to federal prison reform
Robert Jaeger and Beth Miller: How saving Philly’s historic sacred spaces can make the city stronger
Betsy Snook: To fix staffing crises, hospitals in Pa. and beyond must listen to nurses
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Preventable deaths: US life expectancy is down for tragic reasons
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: Seizing a logo: Feds hope to kill biker group by taking its identity
3 Responses
The information is easy to understand and in pretty good thanks
Ellsworth and Mango would have been better candidates against Wolf but money prevailed and Scott Wagner won the GOP nod. Wagner’s total lack of political acumen and savy caused multiple gaffes that all propelled a Wolf victory. Would Ellsworth or Mango won? Probably not. Too right of center for the Pa voter but they most certainly would not have messed up to the extent Scott Wagner did with arguing with a young voter at a town hall, confronting a tracker at a meeting at the York Country Club and the infamous “golf spikes video.”
Dems lucked out with Scott Wagner at the GOP helm this recent Gov’s race. Can’t say that Laura Ellsworth or Paul Mango would have won but they would have been better opponents. We talk of money in politics but Scott Wagner proved money isn’t everything and can’t replace political acumen and insight. Mistakes like the “golf spikes” facebook post, the argument with a young person at a town hall, the confrontation with a tracker–were major blunders that Wagner made that Ellsworth or Mango would not have done. Would it have made the difference in winning or losing? Probably not but it would have been a closer race. R’s won in Ohio so why not closer here? Scott Wagner is the gift that keeps on giving for Dems with redistricting and so on.