State Rep. Brian Ellis resigned from office yesterday in the midst of a sexual assault investigation. Here is the Playbook.

Ellis Resigns Amid Sexual Assault Investigation: The state Representative from Butler County wrote in a letter that it is in his best interests for his family, residents of the district, and his own health that he resigns from office.  

Montco Dems Call for Leach To Resign: Leach’s county’s party joins Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Delco Dems and more. Leach says he will not step down.

Beto Coming to State College: The former congressman is the first declared Democratic presidential candidate to make a 2020 campaign stop in Pennsylvania.

SD41: Boser Selected as Dem Candidate: The Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor said she believes there is a need for legislators that will fight for reform.

Harrisburg & DC  
AP: Pennsylvania lawmaker facing sex assault claim quits House
AP: Border wall could siphon aircraft, submarine project money
AP: Pennsylvania prisons to implement system-wide tobacco ban
Inquirer: State Rep. Brian Ellis, accused of sexual assault, resigns
Inquirer: Beto O’Rourke to visit State College Tuesday as Democratic primary reaches Pa.
Inquirer: Chaka Fattah loses bid to have U.S. Supreme Court consider his appeal
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Under investigation for sexual assault, Butler County GOP Rep. Brian Ellis resigns from state House
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Embattled state Sen. Leach absent from scheduled Rotunda appearance on day he rolls out legal cannabis bill
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Republicans on Pa. House committee advance bill to make sure new public hires know post-Janus rules
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: In Lancaster, concerns about legal marijuana’s impact on kids meets fierce libertarian spirit
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Family, cost, and community: What keeps young people in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Pa.’s embattled state-owned universities are facing their challenges ‘aggressively and audaciously,’ top official says
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Older, female, and non-white: A snapshot of Pennsylvanians with disabilities | The Numbers Racket
Patriot News: Pa. lawmaker accused of sexually assaulting a woman resigns state House seat
Patriot News: Mansfield University’s next president comes from a senior adviser post at the U.S. Department of Education
PLSReporter: Rep. Brian Ellis resigns amid sexual assault allegations
PLSReporter: PASSHE leader: Closing campuses would be ’irresponsible’
PLSReporter: IFO releases projections for school property tax replacement
PLSReporter: House Committee approves controversial response to SCOTUS’ Janus decision
PLSReporter: Rep. Matzie hopes to ensure every county uses paper ballots for elections
StateImpactPA: Crews investigate possible gasoline leak from Sunoco pipeline near Reading
WHYY Newsworks: Federally approved Real ID driver’s licenses are now available in Pa.  
WHYY Newsworks: Pa. rejected twice as many absentee ballots in 2018
KDKA: Legalizing Marijuana: Pennsylvania Senators Unveil Marijuana Bill

Philadelphia
Inquirer: Tony Williams sees mayoral rematch with Jim Kenney as chance to undo 2015 mistakes
Inquirer: Chaka Fattah loses bid to have U.S. Supreme Court consider his appeal
WHYY Newsworks: Kenney: Philly streets ‘suck’ but city making progress
Billy Penn: When the city shuts down its winter beds, there’s not enough housing to go around
PLSReporter: Joint City Council Committee discusses reducing gun violence in Philadelphia
KYW Newsradio: Philly-area police make special effort in targeting aggressive drivers
KYW Newsradio: Transit Police union votes to ratify contract with SEPTA

SEPA
Delco Daily Times: Miccarelli lands top job at Community Transit
Delco Daily Times: Council committee picks stir flap in Eddystone
Delco Daily Times: Business owners resigned to possible plastic bag ordinance in Radnor
Pottstown Mercury: Wyncote man announces bid for Montgomery County commissioner

Pittsburgh
KDKA: Rep. Brian Ellis Resigns From State House Seat
KDKA: Pittsburgh Launching Financial Empowerment Center Initiative
Post-Gazette: County council at-large seat primary pits longtime council president John DeFazio against 29-year-old Bethany Hallam
Post-Gazette: Groups, businesses in Allegheny County call for police accountability in shooting of Antwon Rose II
Post-Gazette: Ex-Allegheny County sheriff’s clerk gets day in jail, probation for tipping gang members to FBI raid
Post-Gazette: Port Authority’s project to link Oakland and Downtown gets another favorable federal review
Pittsburgh Business Times: UPMC: Attorney general is changing the rules of the consent decree
Pittsburgh Business Times: Former Steeler Lynn Swann under scrutiny for college admissions scandal
Tribune Review: Oakmont council has a new member
City Paper: On Transit Worker Appreciation Day, advocates call for steady funding amid impending crisis
The Incline: Mayor Chardae Jones wants to “try new things” in Braddock — starting with the police

SWPA  
Observer-Reporter: Local lawmakers want to amend law, clarify teens cannot refuse mental health treatment
Observer-Reporter: Toomey, Mihalek to hold Vietnam veterans event
Altoona Mirror: Voters asked for input on machine choices
Beaver County Times: Gone since 1995, former Prothonotary Michael Jackson running for recorder of deeds
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: WATCH VIDEO: New Tribune-Democrat 
publisher 
’back home’ 
in western Pa.

NEPA
Citizens Voice: Fast track: State studying viability of hyperloop travel
Citizens Voice: County Councilman Vough vows to help fight opioid crisis
Citizens Voice: County council candidate wants to aid crime fight
Citizens Voice: Political Scene 3/18/19
Times-Tribune: Brazil resigns as Scranton School District chief operations officer
The Times Leader: Luzerne behind many Pa. counties on voting machine upgrades

South Central  
LNP | LancasterOnline: Lancaster is Fetterman’s biggest crowd yet in listening tour on legalizing recreational marijuana
LNP | LancasterOnline: Legalizing recreational marijuana Q&A: Fetterman’s tour, Lancaster County legislators & more
Patriot News: What will become of Three Mile Island’s nuclear waste if the plant closes?
Patriot News: Marijuana legalization listening tour visits happening in Lancaster, York and Perry counties
Carlisle Sentinel: Cumberland County names new county deputy chief clerk
York Dispatch: Stacey Duckworth lone Democrat running for York County Clerk of Courts  

Lehigh Valley   
Express Times: Local reformers want to change Northampton County law enforcement, jurists’ views on incarceration
Morning Call: Lafayette becomes first Lehigh Valley college to pledge ‘carbon neutrality’
Reading Eagle: Reading City Council briefed on City Hall posts, filled and vacant
Reading Eagle: State investigating after reports of possible pipeline leak in South Heidelberg Township
Reading Eagle: Kutztown School Board picks former board member to fill vacancy

North by Northwest
Centre Daily Times: Beto O’Rourke to hold meet and greet at Penn State
Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Republican commissioner candidates talk county issues
Erie Times-News: Election will bring big change to Erie School Board  

Opinion  
Inquirer Editorial Board: New Zealand response to massacre puts us to shame
Inquirer Editorial Board: Another day, another soda tax battle — this time in City Council |
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: A plan for Afghanistan: Democrats need a vision for ending the conflict
Post-Gazette Editorial Board: FAA failure: Slow action on the Max 8 put the public at risk
Patty Kim and Chris Rabb: One Fair Wage means a better life for millions of working Pennsylvanians
John Baer: Coming to terms with term limits in Pennsylvania’s legislature
John L. Micek: How do you keep the kids in Pa.? We’re going to spend this week finding out | Monday Morning Coffee
Rebecca Rhynhart: Where is the city’s centralized process for handling sexual misconduct claims?
Emile Bruneau: How can we stop anti-Muslim bias that blames an entire culture for individual acts?
Tony Norman: The League of Unrepentant White Nationalists
Morgan Polikoff, Jerome A Lucido, and Julie Renee Posselt: Operation Varsity Blues cheating scandal: This is why meritocracy is a myth in college admissions
Abdul-Aliy A Muhammad: This election season, a housing prerogative for all the people
Ruth Ann Dailey: Bearing witness
Jonathan C. Rothermel: When we end the brain drain, we become the Keystone State again
Joseph N. DiStefano: Bryce Harper bidding war with California cities makes Philly look like a low-tax town
Keith C. Burris: Peeves, from Muzak to internet
David M. Shribman: The legend of Kitty Genovese
Paul Muschick: We deserve assurances that door-to-door electricity sellers aren’t rapists