My 16yo watching an interview with Roblox CEO. (This is how he gets most news) Me: (observes discomfort from interviewee) Me: Who’s doing this interview? 16yo: idk what’s that symbol in the corner Me: OH! the @nytimes.com ! This is the way

Emmanuel, a 15-year-old with intellectual disabilities, wandered away from his mom’s fruit stand in October. She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE. “They’re failing all of us,” his mom said. thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...

…the FDA’s legal team has reinterpreted the agency’s authority. FDA now considers a food manufacturer’s list of where it sent its recalled products to be confidential business information that cannot be shared with local food safety officials unless they have signed a privacy agreement.

ICYMI: Do influencers need to register as lobbyists? They might, Pennsylvania's top ethics officer told @spotlightpa.org this week after three Barstool personalities put out videos slamming a closed door pitch to hike sports betting taxes. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/11...

Bet on a football game, an election or the price a stock will hit hours from now. How gambling and investing are starting to look the same these days.

Seems like whenever the world goes bad, a Kirby game appears.

Gov. Josh Shapiro attended two football games this weekend -- Pitt on Saturday, the Eagles on Sunday. The former was paid for by funds managed by Team PA, a spokesperson said. The latter was paid for by his political campaign. He showed up on TV for both:

Axalta, DuPont’s auto paint spin-off, agrees to AkzoNobel buy-out, will keep Philly HQ open $AKZA $AXTA my story www.inquirer.com/business/axa...

Re-upping this waiver story from the Reading Eagle. At the time, at least one supervisor raised concerns about shortening the approval process.

FDA found found harmful bacteria in 2022, Stopped production in 2023, awarded $5 million as recently as Nov. 2024, press conferences here since production stopped.

reposting gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/h...

ByHeart now recalling all products and beings sued: www.usatoday.com/story/news/h...

ByHeart confirmed to me the recalled batches did not come from Reading facility (Exeter Township). Did say not where

Re-upping my lament for the former EDC Lancaster consumer sentiment poll. It was one of a handful of local measures in the country.

“In Texas, CDC funds to stem a measles outbreak weren’t available until after the crisis had subsided and two children had died. A project to protect Alabamans from raw sewage and hookworm was abandoned…Time-dependent surveys on HIV and maternal mortality were halted…”

Here’s what economic development looks like in Berks

TOMORROW Saturday! We will have Jennifer Ott visiting us and sharing her YA book of viking adventures and a talking skull. Please stop by and say hello! #fireflybookstore #keepinitkutztown #lehighvalley #indiebookstore #berkscounty #booksigning #meettheauthor #authorevent

President Donald Trump wants farmers to go out and buy bigger tractors, but farm machinery producers might have to wait a little longer for a turnaround in sales.

The latest on budget talks: These are the first in-person, five party conversations since June 30, a source told @spotlightpa.org They were convened by Shapiro. What's on the table, what progress has been made, or timelines for completion are unclear. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10...

Remember the voter registration issues in three Pennsylvania counties right before the 2024 election? @votebeat.org reports that the issue was third party canvassers who, following pay incentives, submitted incomplete and inaccurate forms. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10...

"If we had a contingency fund." You mean like this contingency fund the Trump Administration just deleted off their website? The one they are legally required to use to keep SNAP funded? www.notus.org/trump-white-...

Update: As of ~2 p.m., there is now $2.8 million in reported independent expenditures on the Supreme Court retention elections. That's $1.2 million more since we first published. Much of it is digital ads from pro-retention groups.

Learn your rights as a Pennsylvania voter ahead of the Nov. 4 election, including ID rules, provisional ballots, and assistance options. https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10/pennsylvania-municipal-election-day-2025-voter-rights-elections/

Berks County revised its translated website after Spotlight PA found it had dates and voting information from the 2024 general election. Here’s what else the county is doing to serve Spanish speaking voters. https://www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2025/10/berks-county-spanish-election-materials-elections/

Popular Pa. haunted attraction allowed man convicted of exposing himself to children to volunteer alongside minors https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10/field-of-screams-volunteer-past-conviction-indecent-exposure-corruption-minors-public-safety/

Pennsylvania's budget is 120 days late, and schools across the commonwealth are starting to feel the pain. In response, they are cutting programs and taking on debt -- and payments on the latter will likely mean cuts in the future. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10...

Talk about SNAP reminds me of this remarkable food access study that showed 1) hungry people ARE working 2) your local food pantry is not as accessible as you may think — for many reasons 3) many hungry people don’t even get SNAP www.centralpafoodbank.org/wp-content/u...

Folks, it’s RACP time. Weigh in while you can but the gov has final say. Here’s the projects in Berks (note ByHeart is going for $15M on top of the $18M it already got) www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2025/1...

Through the pandemic Lancaster EDC produced a consumer sentiment report that tracked LOCAL sentiment, which consistently was more optimistic than the national mood. I loved to read responses to the survey. EDC stopped doing it due to lack of funding. Boy I wish I could read the comments these days

—many people support the idea of “manly jobs” but prefer that someone else actually works them— (low key this was the point of a lot of former jobs beat reporting) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Laurene Powell Jobs' message to today's philanthropists: "Giving that expects control is anything but generous." www.wsj.com/us-news/laur...

Hi all. I’m launching a newsletter with @SpotlightPA. Starting next week, you can get the latest on Pennsylvania government & state politics right to your inbox featuring the same mix of reporting and silly jokes that likely helped you find me on ye ole bird app. www.spotlightpa.org/newsletters/...

hey this is fun

Yay!

Per Moody’s Analytics. Hang in there, Pennsylvania.

If there is one phrase that makes me cringe (tbh there are many) it’s “right-size” Anyway: Reading says it needs to raise taxes. Meanwhile, coming off a county tax increase last year Berks says it won’t raise taxes.

“I honestly feel that the immediate breakdown was in the adults in the room not immediately contacting the police,” Sen. James Malone said Monday. via @lancasteronline.bsky.social lancasteronline.com/news/local/l...

Clearfield County will make $1 million over five years to act as the middleman between ICE and the private contractor that operates the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest immigration detention facility in the Northeast.

This is an amazing piece. www.thebanner.com/community/ho...

The victim, Cindy Clemishire, who is now 55, said in a statement that “justice has finally been served, and the man who manipulated, groomed and abused me as a 12-year-old innocent girl is finally going to be behind bars.” religionnews.com/2025/10/03/t...

In a world ravaged by war, climate crisis and famine, why does preservation matter? lanc.news/4o1Knqe

The government shutdown comes down to a couple of very tiny parts of the U.S.’s giant $7 trillion budget #economy #shutdown #healthinsurance

Wyomissing tuned up for its much-anticipated showdown with Twin Valley by unleashing a series of big plays Thursday in a 55-6 win at Daniel Boone in a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Four game. lanc.news/4pRnzeB

Prosopon Healing not only names names, but offers victims help in coming to terms with their trauma. religionnews.com/2025/09/25/n...

Kutztown, Pa.: At the intersection of Normal and Pennsylvania.