Reading City Council is considering a “Welcoming City” ordinance that would formally bar local police from enforcing federal immigration laws or entering into agreements with ICE. It would also prohibit city employees from gathering or sharing information regarding a person’s immigration status.

Lawmakers who spoke to Spotlight PA defended the fundraisers and trips, saying that legislating and politicking are unrelated and can coexist. But two good-government watchdogs said they represent the dysfunction that has contributed to the state’s inability to pass a spending plan.

Attorneys for those involved in the case met during a recess to discuss a possible deal, but no new progress was reported.

Pennsylvania voters will decide the future of three state Supreme Court justices when they cast their ballots on Nov. 4. Who serves on the high court matters for everyone. From Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, here are some decisions that have impacted communities living in cities across the state:

When Pennsylvania voters head to the polls on Nov. 4, they’ll weigh in on the future of the state’s highest court. Here’s a look at how the state Supreme Court's rulings have influenced rural communities:

Horror is as Pennsylvanian as scrapple. From the Gothic fiction of authors like Charles Brockden Brown and Edgar Allan Poe, to the creature features of George A. Romero and mindbenders of M. Night Shyamalan, the commonwealth has long been a hub for the genre.

The finance and investment committee last month unanimously voted against moving forward with a proposal for WHYY to acquire WPSU..

“There’s just not a lot of cases like this out there, which makes the CDT’s case so important,” @rcfp.org attorney Paula Knudsen Burke said.

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.

A State College man who spent more than four decades in prison for a murder conviction that has since been overturned was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Friday just as he stood on the doorstep of freedom.

Before Pennsylvania regulators decide the fate of the long-troubled Rock Spring Water Company in rural Centre County, the community has a chance to weigh in. Ferguson Township will host public input hearings at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. today at its municipal building and online.

Happy Goose Day! 🪿

I was on vacation last week so didn't get a chance to share this piece when it came out, but I had a lovely time speaking to people in the Juniata River Valley about Goose Day, a quirky & unique local holiday that's celebrated every Sept. 29: www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/09...

new from me: how other transit agencies are adapting now that funding won't be included in this year's budget: pausing plans to expand, cutting services, and raising fares www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/09...

Ferguson Township will host two public input hearings at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sept. 30. The township doesn’t oversee Rock Spring Water Company but is involved in the state’s regulatory effort to find a permanent fix for the struggling system, which serves about 1,000 of the township’s residents.

“Here’s the problem: If you knew how WPSU came to be, it took years and years to create the station it has become. If it goes away, it’s not coming back. So I think it’s absolutely critical that every effort be made to ensure its continuation — even if its continuation is in some reduced form."

Horrible, upsetting news that’s a huge blow to our community and central PA media landscape.

Ferguson Township has asked that the judge overseeing the regulatory process schedule a public input hearing to let residents speak on the possible forced sale of Rock Spring Water Company. The proposed date is 6 p.m. on Sept. 30 at the township building and online. www.puc.pa.gov/pcdocs/18938...

The attack, first reported by the office on Aug. 11 as a “cyber incident,” has impaired many functions of the agency, as some staff and prosecutors remain unable to access archived emails, files, and internal systems crucial to pursuing cases on behalf of the commonwealth.

Unless Rock Spring voluntarily agrees to sell to State College Borough Water Authority, the state's seldom-used regulatory process to force an acquisition will likely end with another investor-owned utility acquiring the long-troubled system.

As state utility regulators resume efforts to force the sale of Rock Spring Water Company, a municipal-run authority remains determined to buy it. The Public Utility Commission, however, says it can’t order a sale to State College Borough Water Authority because it falls outside the agency's reach.

When landslides and sinkholes damage Pennsylvania houses, homeowners often have limited options to cover repairs and can end up stuck paying a mortgage on an unlivable property. Now, state House lawmakers want a government-run insurance program to help fill this gap.

With Pennsylvania's budget more than seven weeks late, foster care agencies, libraries, and many other state-funded services are making hard financial decisions.

Local governments are wary of a bill that seeks to end a tax levied by some municipalities on campground visits, saying it will strip them of a potential revenue source. The proposal would update state law to clarify that campgrounds aren’t places of amusement and shouldn’t be taxed as such.

Through a first-of-its-kind analysis, Spotlight PA has identified a portion of those donors, which include influential lobbying firms, unions, and corporations with interests before the commonwealth’s government.

A Pennsylvania legislator thinks he’s found a compromise that will work for both rural communities and hunters who want more flexibility.

The problem, pharmacists and their advocates say, boils down to how much pharmacies are paid for their work and the medications they provide.

After years of debate, Pennsylvania’s near-total ban on Sunday hunting is off the books thanks to a bipartisan push, an unlikely political advocate, and a key policy shift from the state’s farm lobby.

The vagueness surrounding the restoration efforts raises questions about who is underwriting at least some of the work on the home where Shapiro and his family live when in Harrisburg, whether those parties have interests in state government, and whether they are trying to influence state policy.

In rural Pennsylvania — where hospitals operate on thin margins and Medicaid helps keep the lights on — critics warn the federal cuts and new requirements will burden states with paperwork, make it harder for patients to access care, and push health facilities to their breaking point.

Amazon plans to spend $20 billion to build two data centers in Pennsylvania, a move that state officials say will generate thousands of jobs and stoke considerable economic activity. But many key details are still unknown.

It’s relatively common in Harrisburg for deals to be delayed a week or two as lawmakers hash out final details. But the depth of the current disagreements could make this impasse longer. And as past deadlocks have shown, delays can have real consequences for publicly funded services.

Brian Heiser, the water authority’s executive director, explained at the meeting that an attorney for Rock Spring said the company “was not in agreement with the offering price” and did not counter.

Rock Spring had until yesterday to request service abandonment with PA’s utility commission — a key step toward a municipal takeover. The company’s lawyer rejected the offer without a counter, State College Borough Water Authority officials said last night. The process now heads back to the PUC.

While supporters of the budget bill argue that it will slow spending and safeguard government programs, critics say the cuts and new requirements will create more paperwork for states, make it harder to access essential care, and push struggling rural health facilities to the brink.

A group of bills aimed at boosting electricity production and regulating clean energy has rare, bipartisan support in Pennsylvania's legislature. But a key GOP leader says he doesn’t plan to consider them until a court issues a final verdict on a long-debated interstate cap-and-trade program.

The City of DuBois and surrounding Sandy Township in Clearfield County will consolidate in January 2026 and become a new city, still called DuBois. The pairing is only the third such occurrence in Pennsylvania since a 1994 state law established the procedure for a municipal consolidation or merger.

The grant program — established with $10 million in last year’s state budget — reimburses farmers and other businesses that update their operations to be more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Questions about Cody Balmer’s mental health and whether involuntary services could have prevented the alleged arson have thrust into the spotlight a decades-old but increasingly contentious portion of state law, section 302 of the Mental Health Procedures Act.

Pennsylvania American has made “crucial” updates to Rock Spring Water Company’s shaky system and recently earned a passing inspection from the Department of Environmental Protection. But the interim manager wouldn’t disclose how much money it has spent shoring up the rural company’s infrastructure.

The Trump administration abruptly cut off funding for a NASA program aimed at inspiring historically marginalized students, including those at Kutztown University, to pursue STEM careers.

The Public Utility Commission unanimously backed an emergency request from the state’s consumer advocate to appoint an interim operator of Rock Spring Water Company. It hopes Pennsylvania American can provide some relief to customers who’ve endured more than a decade of service issues.

A private entity is poised to take temporary control of a troubled rural water company after a judge approved an emergency request by Pennsylvania’s consumer advocate.

A distressed rural water company whose customers have endured more than a decade of shoddy service should be put under new management as fast as possible, various local and state stakeholders agree. But the solution could be complicated.

Pennsylvania has given $13.5 million to hundreds of farmers over the past three years to help them pay for bird flu testing, recover lost revenue, and implement biosecurity measures. These are the tentpoles of the state’s special grant program helping farmers respond to the aggressive virus.

A judge rejected a local attempt to force a municipal takeover of Rock Spring Water Company in rural Centre County. Now, Pennsylvania's Office of Consumer Advocate is urging state regulators to provide emergency relief to prevent "irreparable" injury.

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is asking the Pennsylvania legislature to legalize recreational cannabis, tax popular gaming terminals, and direct more than $500 million to the state’s poorest schools as part of his $51.4 billion budget plan.

& it's back: www.rural.gov

Rural.gov — the website providing information about federal grants and other resources for rural communities — is down.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to propose legalizing recreational marijuana, taxing popular gaming machines, and sending more money to Pennsylvania’s poorest schools when he unveils his budget pitch to state lawmakers Tuesday.