Pennsylvania county commissioners Monday sought to ratchet up the pressure on state lawmakers and the governor to increase funding for 911 emergency response systems, saying more county tax dollars will need to cover growing costs from technology and personnel if… lanc.news/3QFVwBR

In 2023, Boston-based solar developer New Leaf Energy and property owners Gerald and Jewel Gruber sought permission from the West Lampeter Township Zoning Hearing Board to build a 25-acre installation of solar panels on their farmland. lanc.news/4emMN14

Lancaster County housing officials say more needs to be done to grow housing options and homelessness services after recording the largest point-in-time homeless count in the county since the Great Recession. lanc.news/4whSmoa

In his 44 years with the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission, Rick Kastner took an active role in shaping the delivery of services to people in need of addiction services and treatment in Pennsylvania. lanc.news/4vk53y7

Before Lancaster County officials decided in the 1990s to expand the capacity of the prison on East King Street with a set of high-rise towers, prisoners had access to an outdoor recreation space. lanc.news/48fVypM

Internal documents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show the Susquehanna Regional Police Department invoiced $197,500 from the agency for participating in federal immigration enforcement actions. lanc.news/41gkDx6

When Nathan Drager took over a 50-acre corn and soy farm in East Donegal Township more than 20 years ago, planting trees was never part of his plan to start a grass-fed beef operation. lanc.news/3PAv4sH

A group of dispatchers who handle emergency calls for Lancaster County’s 911 system filed a lawsuit in federal court last week alleging that the county illegally denied them overtime pay. lanc.news/4rDp8w8

At the end of October, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement staffer emailed nine of its partner law enforcement agencies in Lancaster and York counties to coordinate federal immigration removal operations.

ICYMI: Last week, Bruce Imel and his daughter, Kaitlyn, touched down in the U.S. after being stuck in a Dubai hotel for five days following the attack on Iran. Bruce and Kaitlyn said they could hear the booms of missiles being intercepted throughout the night lancasteronline.com/news/local/c...

The Northwest Regional Police Department was the first in Lancaster County to sign a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and it is one of the first to take advantage of lucrative reimbursements offered by the… lanc.news/4rlV3RV

“Our goal here is for Dayspring to return to what it’s supposed to be, for Dayspring to become healthy again,” Will Mullin told LNP | LancasterOnline last week. via @lancasteronline.bsky.social lancasteronline.com/news/local/f...

Quarryville Borough officials last week issued an unattributed statement explaining why the borough police department was no longer party to a cooperation agreement with the federal government’s primary immigration enforcement agency. lanc.news/400YsdG

Talking to GOP insiders this month, Pa. Treasurer Stacy Garrity revealed how she secured a coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump in this year’s governor’s race. In her telling, Garrity landed Trump’s support by answering a single question. www.witf.org/2026/02/26/o...

Josh Shapiro boasts a 56% approval rating as governor among Pennsylvanians. But only 40% of voters say he'd be a good president — as he faces rumors of a bid — compared to 43% who say he wouldn't. Per new Quinnipiac Poll poll.qu.edu/poll-release...

BREAKING: Republicans clear the primary field for state Rep. Tom Jones, as his only serious opponent, former Manheim Twp commissioner Mary Jo Huyard, agreed to drop out -- after meeting with Jones and state Sen. Scott Martin. lancasteronline.com/news/politic...

Kudos to NYT for citing Roger Sollenberger, the independent journalist who got this first. But, how are the mightiest investigative teams in the country playing catch-up in one of the biggest stories of the century?

From yours truly. Let me know what I got wrong:

“Any mail that’s getting dropped into a blue box is not getting postmarked on the same day, and likely not on the day after either,” says the leader of a postal workers’ union. This could have tremendous implications for voting:

See you there!

Four years after Russian invasion, many Ukraine war veterans and refugees have found support and community in the Philadelphia region. But with no end to the war in sight, and not enough action from the government, they say the future is uncertain. @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/ukraine...

Lancaster County commissioners have been working for years to plan and organize the construction of a new prison that officials, former prisoners, local criminal justice advocates and prison staff have pined for over the last two decades. lanc.news/3OoruBr

Rep. Smucker: "Where we have run into trouble is when the state and local governments have not worked with them to apprehend these violent criminals." www.ldnews.com/story/news/l...

WITF sought ChatGPT logs from more than two dozen agencies last year under Pennsylvania's public records law. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office and the state's open records agency rejected those attempts. (🧵) www.witf.org/2026/02/18/p...

My latest. So far no local law enforcement has provided reimbursement records, though some have said they don’t have any.

ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from. We'll let their words speak for themselves.

My latest: Staff at Dauphin County Prison warned ICE agents that Chaofeng Ge had a history of self harm. ICE never passed that info to medical at Moshannon Valley Processing Center and Ge died by suicide 5 days later. www.pennlive.com/news/2026/02...

Data released by the Lancaster County Youth Intervention Center last week show a remarkable drop in the use of physical intervention in the facility’s detention wing, a decline county officials attributed to a culture change at the institution and the… lanc.news/4a8hmoT

Sadly, this story was taken off LNP's Facebook page bc producers could not block some beyond-the-pale comments. Apparently, this has been an issue with Facebook recently.

News alert from the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call:

Michael Papp’s body was cold and stiff inside his secluded Cuyahoga County jail cell when an officer finally opened the door. Officers reportedly walked the pod 50 times, peeking inside cells for signs of life. Yet, somehow, they missed a dead body. www.themarshallproject.org/2026/02/02/c...

Is this unusual for a defamation suit? Smucker is using LNP reporting to claim defamation in an LNP editorial that was drawing from the very same reporting.

Mamdani is doing what 99% of politicians fail to do- which is educate public about how government works, which helps stop bullshit propaganda against it. This is essentially Schoolhouse Rock civics but desperately needed in a time of Trumpist civic nihilism.

Rep. Smucker is joining a growing number of Republicans calling for an investigation into the fatal ICE shooting of Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse. Pretti is the second person who has died from an ICE-related shooting this month in the city lancasteronline.com/news/politic...

Lancaster County leaders on Monday approved the elimination of 16 positions, including five at the Office of Aging and four part-time roles at the Department of General Services. Eliminating the positions is projected to result in savings of $978,000 this… lanc.news/3NjwgiW

Recent story from me with Spotlight PA. A rural Pa. township has spent 1000s of dollars to hide a proposed law from local residents. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/01...

Well folks, some news. Ownership is folding @pghcitypaper.com. I wish I could say this was more surprising. I'll be on the lookout for new roles while I continue to teach and hopefully find places to publish some stories I haven't finished. In the meantime, I'm all ears for opportunities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services issued a report Thursday finding that Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 failed to adhere to multiple state regulations after a teacher physically restrained a student in February. lanc.news/3XZyBSn

Still reeling from an abrupt firing from his role as head of the Columbia Market House in March, Chris Vera was surprised to get a letter in the mail from a Columbia Borough attorney two weeks later telling him he… lanc.news/3KKOitt

In 2022, Smucker ran unsuccessfully for the chairman role, but a lot has changed for Smucker since then that could give him a leg up over any other contenders. www.witf.org/2025/12/04/r...

Local advocates and providers of homelessness assistance programs pleaded with the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday to set aside $1.5 million in county dollars to preserve housing programs for people with disabilities that are in danger of losing… lanc.news/4rFvEUC