Data center tax break created to boost economy, add jobs in Pa. could cost state billions
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — As data centers spread and draw backlash across the state, new figures are emerging about their potential...
Slavery exhibit removed by Trump administration is returning to Independence Mall in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Workers are restoring an exhibit depicting the history of the nine people once enslaved in Philadelphia amid a legal fight between the city and the Trump Administration. Mayor Cherelle Parker visited the site Thursday morning and saw the work being done, spokesperson Joe Grace said. A federal judge...
Judge gives Trump administration deadline to restore President’s House exhibits
PHILADELPHIA — President Donald Trump’s administration now has a hard deadline to restore slavery exhibits to the President’s House. The Department of Interior and National Park Service must restore the President’s House to its condition before the exhibits were removed by 5 p.m. Friday, according to a new order from...
Shutdown may delay answers about planned ICE facility in Berks County
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks. Update: Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach said Tuesday evening there’s no meeting planned for Feb. 18. He said he...
Treasury officials question legality of taxpayers paying for security upgrades at Shapiro’s family home
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Late last year, Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement agency revealed taxpayers would pick up the tab for more...
As electricity costs rise, everyone wants data centers to pick up their tab. But how?
HARRISBURG — As outrage spreads over energy-hungry data centers, politicians from President Donald Trump to local lawmakers have found rare bipartisan agreement over insisting that tech companies — and not regular people — must foot the bill for the exorbitant amount of electricity required for artificial intelligence. But that might...
Western Pa. dairy farmers welcome return of whole milk to school cafeteriasVideo
The recent passage of the federal Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act marks a strategic effort to reverse a decade-long decline in dairy consumption. By rolling back 15-year-old guidelines to let schools put whole and 2% milk back on menus, the law is aimed at providing a long-sought economic boost...
Shapiro unveils plan to address Pa. housing needs
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled a plan Thursday to boost housing construction and affordability over the next 10 years. “For too many families in Pennsylvania, housing prices are rising faster than their paychecks and the American dream of owning a home no longer feels possible, but it doesn’t have to...
Pa. schools must teach cursive writing under bill signed by ShapiroVideo
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday signed a bill that will require a cursive handwriting curriculum in all Pennsylvania public schools. “I’m definitely rusty, but I think my penmanship was OK!” Shapiro said in his Wednesday announcement. The bipartisan legislation, House Bill 17, was sponsored by Rep. Dane Watro (R-Luzerne and...
Shapiro, neighbors trade lawsuits over ‘disputed area’ at governor’s private Montgomery County home
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — For the past six months, Gov. Josh Shapiro has been entangled in an intense but largely behind-the-scenes...
Penn State student on life support after hit-and-run crash in State College, family says
A Penn State student is in critical condition and expected to remain in an intensive care unit for at least a month after she was hit Saturday by a driver in downtown State College. Sophia Ruscillo — a 20-year-old pursuing a career in public relations and social media, according to...
Watchdog projects Pa. will end fiscal year with $3.9B budget deficit, but reserves will grow
Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office projects the state will end this fiscal year with a $3.9 billion budget deficit but still grow its largest reserve fund to a record $7.8 billion, according to a report released Tuesday. The IFO says the deficit is expected to get bigger, growing to $6.7 billion...
Trump loyalist Sen. Dave McCormick defends controversial White House aide Stephen Miller
Sen. Dave McCormick is among more than a dozen Republican senators who are defending senior White House aide Stephen Miller amid growing calls for his removal. McCormick, a staunch ally of the president, on Sunday told The Hill that Miller has been “instrumental in delivering on the promises President Trump...
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett critical of Trump’s election gambit
In the days since President Donald Trump called for the federal government to “nationalize” elections, two former high ranking officials from Pennsylvania, former Gov. Tom Corbett and former U.S. District Court Judge John Jones III, have spoken out. Both have a history in Republican politics. Corbett was the last Republican...
John Fetterman asks DHS to halt development of ICE detention centers in Pennsylvania, saying they will burden local communities
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to hit the brakes on its plan to develop two Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in Pennsylvania, saying they would have a negative impact on local communities. “While I have been clear in my support for...
Shapiro condemns Trump’s post about Obamas as ‘racist garbage’
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has condemned a video shared by President Donald Trump depicting former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as apes as “racist garbage.” “The idea that anyone would post a video like that, let alone the president of the United States, someone who is supposed...
Creating art for U.S. coins is tricky. These Pa. artists have made a career of it
This story first appeared in PA Local, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA taking a fresh, positive look at the incredible people, beautiful places, and delicious food of Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here. PHILADELPHIA — If you’ve got coins in your pocket, purse, or wallet, you’re likely carrying around...
State budget plan includes $30M performance-based fund for Pitt, Penn State
The state’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year includes $30 million in performance-based grants to be distributed among the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and Temple University, through a new state-related university performance fund. General support appropriations, however, remain flat for Pitt, at $151.5 million, and Penn State,...
Pa. House panel approves bill to limit exceptions to Sunshine Act notice requirement
State lawmakers hope to close a loophole in one of Pennsylvania’s government transparency laws with a bill headed to the House for consideration. The state Supreme Court in November clarified a 2021 amendment to the state Sunshine Act that created four exceptions to the law’s public notice requirement. One, the...
Emergency crews evacuate patients and battle blaze at Pennsylvania hospitalVideo
A fire tore through a northeastern Pennsylvania hospital, sending smoke billowing into the air as dozens of patients were evacuated and emergency medical crews were rushed in from across the region, authorities said. No one was reported injured by the Wednesday night blaze at the Lehigh Valley Hospital campus in...
ICE buys $87M warehouse in Berks County as it plots expansion of detention centers across U.S.
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks. UPPER BERN — The Trump administration has quietly purchased a nearly 520,000-square-foot warehouse in Berks County as it plans...
Shapiro proposes record $53.3B in spending for coming fiscal year
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday unveiled a proposed $53.3 billion budget for the coming fiscal year that would use nearly $4.6 billion, or more than half, of the state’s largest reserve fund to balance. Shapiro said in an address to a joint session of the state House and Senate that...
Western Pa. casinos report mixed results despite 5th year of statewide gambling revenue growth
For the fifth consecutive year, gambling revenue statewide reached a record high in 2025, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Gambling revenue hit nearly $6.8 billion last year, the board said, which is a 10.7% increase from 2024 and more than double the state’s 2016 figure of $3.2 billion....
Gov. Shapiro wants to ban cellphones from Pennsylvania schools
Gov. Josh Shapiro is backing a proposal to ban cellphones from Pennsylvania classrooms, joining a growing chorus of parents, teachers, and officials seeking to curb school disruptions and detach kids from addictive devices. “It’s time for us to get distractions out of the classroom and create a healthier environment in...
New documents show Jeffrey Epstein tried to buy Bill Cosby’s home and closely followed entertainer’s sexual assault case
PHILADELPHIA — In the mid-2010s, well after he was already a convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein began closely following the sexual assault case against another prominent figure: Philadelphia-born actor and comedian Bill Cosby. Among the millions of documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice — in the latest...
