With the start of the 2023 baseball season, I was tempted to change the title of this article to “Balls and Strikes.” Hope springs eternal for Pirates fans, while the Phillies faithful hopes for another run to the World Series. Everyone is 0-0 today. With that in mind, here are our Ups and Downs for the week ending March 30.

John Fetterman. According to a spokesperson, Pennsylvania’s junior senator plans to return to the chamber two months after entering inpatient treatment for depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Bipartisan Cooperation. Cats and dogs. Democrats and Republicans. Gov. Josh Shapiro and state Sen. Scott Martin showed some unusual bipartisanship on Wednesday as the pair joined forces to talk about the High Path Avian Influenza (HPAI) crisis in the state and the budget proposal that would help and empower Pennsylvania farmers.

Sen. Bob Casey. Casey joined forces with fellow PA senator John Fetterman as well as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown to introduce the “Railway Accountability Act” on Thursday, designed to address additional long-standing rail safety concerns and protect workers. Also, he is refusing to add any explanation or clarification to his legally required disclosure of a stock sale which clearly appears to have been filed well outside of the mandatory 45-day reporting window.” 

Congressman Mike Kelly. The congressman from PA’s northwest corner has received campaign donations from Norfolk Southern, according to the company’s 2021 disclosure documents. Former PA Gov. Tom Wolf and state Sen. Doug Mastriano also received funds from the railroad’s campaign and PA contributions that totaled nearly $4.3 million.

Summer Lee. Will the freshman congresswoman from Allegheny County end up on the right or wrong side of history? Lee defended TikTok as an “incredible organizing tactic,” throwing her support behind the platform amid a bipartisan effort by lawmakers to crack down on the popular video sharing app because of national security and data privacy concerns. “We can think about privacy and security and make sure that we’re doing everything to ensure that, but also, banning TikTok is not, you know, the answer right now.

Amen Brown. The state representative and Democratic candidate for Mayor of Philadelphia survived another attempt to get him kicked off the ballot, but got a stern rebuke from a judge, as well. She reproached Brown for failing to properly disclose debts and financial interests as is required by law. She ultimately gave him the opportunity to file amended paperwork to continue his campaign after the challenge, which appeared to be funded by a rival mayoral candidate.“This is your second bite of the apple,” said Idee C. Fox, president judge of the Common Pleas Court. “There won’t be a third one.”

Austin Davis. The Commonwealth’s Lieutenant Governor is joining 21 other Democratic lieutenant governors to form a coalition built around protecting abortion access in their states that will likely involve crafting model executive orders and legislation.“Every Pennsylvanian should have the right to bodily autonomy and the freedom to make their own personal decision about whether or not to have a child,” said Davis.” 

PA Democrats. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee plans on targeting races in 17 state legislative chambers over the next two years, including the Pennsylvania state House and Senate. The core of that list are 10 chambers where the party in control has no more than a six-seat majority.  (POLITICO)

Heather Boyd. Delaware County Democrats tabbed Boyd to be their standard bearer in the May 16 election to replace Mike Zabel, who resigned from the seat on March 16 under allegations of sexual harassment.” 

Innovative Emergency Management Inc. “The Pennsylvania Finance Housing Agency, the state agency overseeing Pennsylvania’s troubled mortgage relief program, has leveled a slew of new accusations against the private contractor originally hired to run the program as thousands of homeowners remain stuck in limbo and at risk of further financial harm. The PFHA says the company failed to deliver what it had promised and recently denied assistance to some homeowners in an effort to close applications quickly.” 

Steve Zappala. The Allegheny County District Attorney said he does not believe that Kennywood Park is safe and he is ready to go to court to make it so. Zappala wants the park to comply with safety measures that it was given following a shooting last year in which three people were injured. Kennywood is scheduled to open on April 22.

Unnamed Gamblers. Two people were banned from all casinos in the Commonwealth by the PA Gambling Control Board for leaving children unattended in order to engage in gaming activities. A male patron left a 12-year-old unattended in a running vehicle in the Presque Isle Downs & Casino parking lot while he wagered at a sportsbook. A female patron left a 14-month-old unattended in a running vehicle while also wagering at a sportsbook in Valley Forge.

Matthew Perry. The Greene County man will never get to taste freedom again after being handed a 3,000 year sentence for sex crimes against children. The 44-year-old Perry was convicted of 13,143 felony counts of sex crimes against children, including 2,190 counts of rape of a child under the age of 13. “I’m proud to announce Matthew Perry would have to live for 3,000 years in order to pay his debt to society,” said the County DA.

University of Pennsylvania. Penn is the happiest college in Pennsylvania and the No. 7-happiest university in the United States, according to one recent study. The study, conducted by Resume.io, used Instagram and emotional recognition artificial intelligence to conduct its analysis. The artificial intelligence viewed thousands of images geotagged at different universities, classifying each picture with a “happiness score” ranging from zero to 100.

Ryan Aument, Rosemary Brown, David Argall and Devlin Robinson. The quartet of Republican state senators were appointed by President Pro Tempore Kim Ward to serve on the Pennsylvania Commission on Education & Economic Competitiveness. The commission will be tasked with creating a long-term plan to align PA’s education system with job demands.