The State Department moves deadlines due to weather, the Philly DA’s race gets a new candidate, the Supreme Court rules in the 197th special election, and Thompson fundraises off Trump. Good morning politicos, here’s the Playbook!
Updated: State Dept: Petition Challenge Deadline Extended: The ballot lottery and the deadline to file petition challenges have been extended due to weather. Wolf signed an executive order dictating the new deadline for filing petition challenges.
Jack O’Neill Jumps into Philly DA’s Race: Former Assistant District Attorney Jack O’Neil made it official, he is running for District Attorney.
HD-197: Supreme Court Keeps Democratic Candidate Off the Ballot: The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Commonwealth Court that the Democratic candidate will not appear on the ballot.
Thompson Fundraises Off Trump: The Congressman is raffling off tickets to a dinner in D.C. where Trump will be the keynote speaker.
Statewide
Capitolwire: State Republican lawmakers ‘excited’ to partner with federal government to target illegal immigration.
Capitolwire: PA’s unemployment rate improved in January, mostly due to people dropping from state’s workforce.
Capitolwire: POINT OF ORDER: With what we know right now, the most reasonable 2017-18 PA budget predictions aren’t good ones.
StateImpact: Mariner East 2 critics say any leak could cause ‘catastrophe’ in Delco
Philadelphia
Inquirer: Pa. pension chair wanted political contract, ex-CIO told U.S.
Inquirer: Philly School District savings means headaches for charter schools
Inquirer: Where Philly-area Republicans stand on the Obamacare repeal
Inquirer: Society of Irish Women ready to celebrate with Hillary Clinton as speaker
Inquirer: Sandy victims, not Mexico, may have to pay for Trump’s border wall
WHYY Newsworks: U.S. approves new drug to treat advanced breast cancer.
WHYY Newsworks: Pa. and N.J. GOP lawmakers not all on board with Obamacare replacement bill
Philadelphia Business Journal: Philadelphia still hot market for CPA firms looking to expand
SEPA
Bucks County Courier Times: Senator Bob Casey asks ethics office to assess Trump’s foreign deals
Bucks County Courier Times: Philadelphia shifting to electronic fares, away from tokens
Bucks County Courier Times: PSEG looks to sell stake in $1.2B PennEast pipeline project
Pittsburgh
Tribune Review: Allegheny County jury will decide fate of celebrity Bill Cosby in sexual-assault trial
Tribune Review: Trump administration preemptively blasts Congressional Budget Office report
Post-Gazette: Members debate how much oversight Jail Oversight Board should have
Post-Gazette: Local congressmen on key committees shaping health care replacement plan
WESA: Pittsburgh Tackles Most Pressing Challenges With New Resilience Strategy
Southwest
Altoona Mirror: Reilly retiring after 20 years as police services director
Altoona Mirror: Four seeking Hollidaysburg mayor position
Beaver County Times: Five individuals announce intent to run for Beaver County judge
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: Victim Services sees increase in client numbers
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: Six seek district judge post in Stonycreek Township
NEPA
Standard-Speaker: Butler Township turns to banks for building funds
Times-Tribune: Department of Human Services shifts on proposal for disabled workers
Times-Tribune: Society of Irish Women ready to celebrate with Hillary Clinton as speaker
South Central
Patriot News: Pa. House backs $75 million expansion of school choice tax credit programs
Patriot News: House passes bill requiring schools to drill students annually on reacting to security threats
Patriot News: ‘My compassion is for American children’: Rep. Metcalfe on kids of those caught in immigration raids
Patriot News: Jail time possible but unlikely as Curley and Schultz plead guilty in Sandusky coverup
Patriot News: Ballot lottery for May primary, deadline for objections postponed because of storm
Patriot News: Gov. Tom Wolf to Pennsylvanians: ‘Don’t go to work tomorrow’
York Dispatch: Sweeney runs for district judge in southern York Co.
Lehigh Valley
Morning Call: Contractors to talk about Martin Tower work
Morning Call: Southern Lehigh administrator wants pilot kindergarten program to be permanent
Morning Call: Spectra Energy buys up more shares of PennEast pipeline
Reading Eagle: Albright prof says effect of health care report unclear
Reading Eagle: Reading council endorses disaster declaration
Reading Eagle: RAWA billing errors shock business leaders
Reading Eagle: Laureldale council votes to advertise 3 ordinances
WFMZ: Southern Lehigh School Board considers selling Lower Milford Elementary School
Express Times: Planned Parenthood closing Easton area, Bucks clinics
North by Northwest
Centre Daily Times: Town halls announced to discuss proposed vehicle fee increase
Centre Daily Times: Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership provides loans to two businesses
Williamsport Sun Gazette: Tax hike possible for Lycoming residents in Jersey Shore Area
Williamsport Sun Gazette: Borough to inspect wells
Erie Times-News: Erie County releases list of May 16 municipal primary candidates
Erie Times-News: Big crowd hears of big changes at Erie School District
Opinion
Tribune Review: Fertilizing a minimum-wage hike: The wrong inducement
Altoona Mirror: Tyrone secrecy troubling
Bucks County Courier Times: Listening to the taxpayers
Erie Times-News: Our view: Act 152 is key tool in blight fight
Inquirer: Commentary: Time for Pa. to deliver on pay equity
Inquirer: Commentary: Gorsuch rulings will be tainted
Inquirer: Commentary: Casey should back Gorsuch
Inquirer: Inquirer Editorial: Marijuana levy can’t take the place of tax reform
Johnstown Tribune-Democrat: Editorial | Rural hospitals struggle to fill gaps in physician care
5 Responses
Gulag, I’m not sure where you’re coming from on this topic, except that it seems to be a very strange place. The validity of information is not determined simply by who or what might be reporting it.
News is reporting on events. These are political, economic, and social developments. Yes, some people only tap into the news—print, internet, or broadcast—for the sports and weather. Or the horoscope or the funnies. But others want information they can use. Whether this is in their daily lives, or for making life decisions, or voting, that depends on the individuals depends on them.
In all this, I hope you are not encouraging news sources to have a leftist bias, or any bias for that matter. What most consumers of news wish are the facts. If reporters answer the “Five W’s”, then they are doing their job. Anything else—the other peoples’ opinions or the infotainment that Lycoming mentions—is fluff, and dishonesty. And it cheats the public, most of which still just wants the facts.
The public can be trusted to have their own opinions regarding the facts reported by the news, and their biases as well. It’s a free country and people can be as biased as they wish. What the public increasingly doesn’t seem to want, and what they certainly don’t need, are the biases of the reporters. Better they mislead themselves with mistaken opinions and biases on the facts, than be misled by the biases of those who are supposed to report the news in a more objective manner.
gulag Pittsburgh, all I want is the news. I don’t particularly care who reports it, but I certainly don’t want someone else’s opinions or infotainment masquerading as news. We have too much of that already.
Seneca says stick to straight Newsmax and Breitbart stuff. Don’t be contaminated with that leftwing Fox News and Washington Times. Better to read National Enquirer for the real poop.
Well, Lycoming, make the best of it. The local fishwraps in north-central PA all subscribe to the Associated Press (AP) for their non-local news stories. They use the increasingly left-wing reporting for national and state news, or just for filler. While this saves the small-town newspapers money, the practice is also behind a general leftward drift in news reporting available to the average newspaper reader over the past couple decades, especially on political news. And it’s not just a local north-central Pennsylvania concern. It’s happening throughout the country.
You may have noticed that some of the north-central PA papers also subscribe to the McClatchy cartoon feed. While McClatchy is quite solid and does good investigative reporting, their political cartoonist is a left-wing nut as bad as any serving the most biased of the Ex-Mainstream Media print dailies. Aside from several score self-proclaimed “progressives” in each county, most people don’t find them terribly amusing, just terrible.
People in north-central PA are not happy in general with the decline in journalism as shown in their local papers. But they still buy them for sports, weather, cooking, community events calendars, and the comics pages. And they come in handy as birdcage liners or when housebreaking a puppy. Otherwise, many people discontented with a leftist slant in their local papers go to the internet or broadcast news for national and world events. And even that is a mixed bag at best.
PoliticsPA Staff, thanks for highlighting more news from North-Central PA. The more the better!