If you don’t believe taking fossil fuels from the earth is bad, take a ride to Centralia. The mines are still burning & there’s no town left. The strip mining scarring has been reclaimed but I still remember what it looked like when they were destroying it all.

In Pennsylvania, contamination from fracking is layered on top of earlier waves of pollution from coal mining, manufacturing and oil drilling.

The ‘Toxic Cocktail’ Brewing in Pennsylvania’s Waterways | Pennsylvania is still cleaning up decades’ worth of coal mining pollution. Now it must also contend with millions of tons of fracking waste, some of it radioactive, reports @insideclimatenews.org.

“We know that members of immigrant communities were terrified to call 911 in Bucks County because they were afraid that local law enforcement would cooperate with ICE and have them deported,” said #BucksCounty Sheriff-elect Danny Ceisler.

Sheriff-Elect Danny Ceisler Will Prioritize Domestic Violence Prevention | Ceisler will be ending the sheriff department’s ICE 287(g) agreement when he takes office next year, and he wants all victims of domestic violence to know that it's safe to call for help, reports @patlamarche.bsky.social.

This is the impact of LNG from the US that our government can’t wait to import here. @foeireland.bsky.social @nhna.bsky.social #NoLNG #SpeirGorm

20 Years Into Fracking, Pennsylvania Has Yet to Reckon With Its Radioactive Waste | Former government officials say the state isn’t doing enough to regulate fracking waste, even as new research shows it’s far more radioactive than previously known, reports @insideclimatenews.org.

When people say immigration is a top issue, a lot of them now mean the abuse of immigrants by Trump’s ICE.

“We have all witnessed as a nation the unrelenting cruelty of ICE as they physically brutalize people and their blatant disregard of the constitution and people's rights,” said @paimmigrant.bsky.social Executive Director Jasmine Rivera.

Almost 100 Businesses, Congregations and Organizations Sign Open Letter Calling on Governor Josh Shapiro to End ICE Cooperation in Pennsylvania

“You hear stories where a mom was deported with her two children. Like, what the hell — well, who are we as a society that we would treat anybody like that? That is so appalling,” said Roxanna Holper, 64, a Minnesota native.

Brian Fitzpatrick’s Meaningless Gestures Are Raising Costs and Making Life Harder for Bucks and Montgomery County Families | Pennsylvania's First Congressional District deserves more than performative moderation and last-minute cover stories, writes @bobharvie-pa.bsky.social. #PA01 #BucksCounty

Missing Rapes | Over nearly a decade, the State College Police Department underreported hundreds of rapes in public data, a @spotlightpa.org investigation found, masking the true extent of the crime in the community surrounding Penn State University.

“A vast array of violent, degrading, abusive sexual assaults were excluded from the data that are used to inform the public about the prevalence of rape,” said Lila Slovak, director of the @womenslawproject.bsky.social’s Philadelphia office.

#PA01 Rep Brian Fitzpatrick has a talent for being on both sides of many divisive issues & with out taking a timely stand or casting a decisive vote. Does any one else think he could end up voting against the bill after voting for the discharge petition to force a vote in the 1st place? #BucksCounty

“A vast array of violent, degrading, abusive sexual assaults were excluded from the data that are used to inform the public about the prevalence of rape,” said Lila Slovak, director of the @womenslawproject.bsky.social’s Philadelphia office.

Why Does This Pennsylvania County Keep Having Election Problems? | Three years after the county ran out of ballot paper in numerous precincts, election administration issues persist, reports @votebeat.org.

Community Outrage Expected at Upper Bucks Technical School Meeting Over Cleaning Services Contractor Employing a Sex Offender | Upper Bucks United is demanding full transparency to parents, an independent, third-party investigation, and an immediate termination of the C&J Environmental contract.

#PA01 Rep Brian Fitzpatrick has a talent for being on both sides of many divisive issues & with out taking a timely stand or casting a decisive vote. Does any one else think he could end up voting against the bill after voting for the discharge petition to force a vote in the 1st place? #BucksCounty

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick Joins Three Other Republicans to Defy Speaker Johnson and Force House Vote on Extending ACA Subsidies | Fitzpatrick joined fellow PA Congressmen Rob Bresnahan and Ryan Mackenzie and NY's Mike Lawler to help Democrats' discharge petition reach the magic number of 218.

The US Wants More Apprenticeships. The UK Figured out How to Make Them Coveted Roles | 'Degree apprenticeships' that pair bachelor’s with jobs can be harder to get into than elite colleges, writes Kelly Field for The Hetchinger Report.

Beware of school privatizers in Democrats' clothing? Arne Duncan, Obama's former Secretary of Education, and Jorge Elorza, CEO of Democrats for Education Reform, in an OpEd in the Washington Post called on state governors to back a school voucher scheme backed by Trump and Republicans.

"But for rural and small town voters, the perception that Roosevelt’s New Deal Democrats have been traded for corporatists in the state and national party leadership remains strong."

Two Paths Forward for Democrats in 2026 | The 2025 off-year elections were a windfall for Democrats. But the experiences of rural candidates show the challenges ahead in 2026, writes Sara June Jo-Sæbo for @barnraiser.bsky.social.

Beware of school privatizers in Democrats' clothing? Arne Duncan, Obama's former Secretary of Education, and Jorge Elorza, CEO of Democrats for Education Reform, in an OpEd in the Washington Post called on state governors to back a school voucher scheme backed by Trump and Republicans.

States Should Reject Federal School Voucher Scheme in Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ | Taking public resources from already underfunded public schools and diverting them to private education is harmful for nearly 90 percent of American students.

"In the face of antisemitism & violence, my prayer is that we don’t let the fear win but instead lean into our Jewishness & practice our tradition proudly,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation, a survivor of the 2018 antisemitic attack that killed 11 worshippers there.

#PA01 Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick tries to appear bipartisan, but votes with Trump on most major issues. He voted against impeaching him and rarely criticizes the president’s abuses of power or corruption. #BucksCounty

"In the face of antisemitism & violence, my prayer is that we don’t let the fear win but instead lean into our Jewishness & practice our tradition proudly,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation, a survivor of the 2018 antisemitic attack that killed 11 worshippers there.

US Jewish Groups Urge Heightened Security at Public Events After Bondi Beach Hanukkah Massacre in Australia | Coinciding with this urgent appeal for increased precautions, some rabbis said their synagogues would proceed with large-scale celebrations, intended to demonstrate resilience.

“When Jews are attacked for being Jews, and the response is muted, conditional, or delayed, the message is unmistakable. Jews may still live here, but only quietly.... We cannot and will not retreat into hiding our light. The call of this moment is simple and urgent: Light candles everywhere.”

“If someone you’re speaking with withholds information, pushes you toward one outcome, or refuses to refer you for the care you want, that’s a major red flag. And it’s exactly why medical ethics experts have raised concerns about crisis pregnancy centers.”

I mourn today for my Brown family, but until we find the moral courage to do something about gun violence in America, no family can feel safe, writes @willbunch.bsky.social in the @inquirer.com.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers in Pennsylvania Are Growing in Numbers–and Predatory Tactics | Abortion providers throughout the state report frustration at these anti-abortion centers’ disinformation campaigns and the confusion and risk this causes vulnerable patients.

#PA01 Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick tries to appear bipartisan, but votes with Trump on most major issues. He voted against impeaching him and rarely criticizes the president’s abuses of power or corruption. #BucksCounty

Editorial: Trump Is Unredeemable. What About His Enablers? | The @inquirer.com calls out collective cowardice of lawmakers like Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick who support the Trump/MAGA agenda that has damaged the United States so greatly. History will not judge them kindly. READ: bit.ly/3MyLq3D

Centennial School Board Looks to Turn the Page on a Divisive 2025 | Despite Republicans holding a majority, two Democrats were elected board president and vice president at this month’s board reorganization meeting.

FBI Is Making an Enemies List—and Most Corporate Media Didn’t Even Check It Once | The Trump FBI’s enemies list could encompass over half the US public, and virtually no corporate media outlets covered this catastrophic decree, writes @fairmediawatch.bsky.social Editor Jim Naureckas.

Bucks County's Steve Nolan, author of "American Carnage, An Officer’s Duty to Warn" rejoins Editor @cmychalejko.bsky.social on The Signal podcast to warn us about the dangers of the MAGA-fication of military culture and Trump's transformation of U.S. foreign policy.

An Ever-Larger Share of ICE’s Arrested Immigrants Have No Criminal Record | “While ICE is detaining more and more individuals, targeting has shifted sharply to individuals without any criminal convictions,” according to arrest data analysis by Syracuse University's TRAC. [via @stateline.org]

“Sheriffs don’t talk about the role that they played in maintaining and enforcing Jim Crow laws in the American South, or engaging in essentially genocide in the American West, particularly against indigenous people,” political scientist Mirya R. Holman told @barnraiser.bsky.social.

The White Supremacist Origins of the Constitutional Sheriff | These sheriffs' ideological foundation in Christian white supremacist movements reveals a great deal about the anti-liberal vision of America into which Trump has breathed new life, reports @barnraiser.bsky.social.

“If Brian Fitzpatrick thinks that introducing his own new bill, a mere three weeks before our neighbors see their health insurance premiums explode, will solve anything he is either dangerously naive or completely disingenuous,” said Kierstyn Zolfo, co-leader of Indivisible Bucks County.

Bucks County and the Nation Now Await What Comes Next: Higher Health Care Costs | After the Senate rejected two bills Thursday, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s eleventh hour bill is likely too little, too late for millions of Americans who depend on the Affordable Care Act for health care.

Lucia Simonelli Give Democrats Another Option in the PA-01 Congressional Primary | She joins Bob Harvie, Tracy Hunt and Rob Strickler in the race to take on inumbent Republican Brian Fitzpatrick.

We can demand that tech giants like Google & Amazon use 100% renewable energy and not rely on fossil fuels and nuclear energy to power data centers. We can insist that data centers only go where they’re wanted by ensuring communities have Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for any future project.

OPINION: Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick Should Support Extending ACA Tax Credits ‘As Is’ | The solution is to fix the ACA, not dismantle it, writes Bucks County Affordable Care Act recipient Lauren Lareau.

"It's really important to try to know which groups might be active in your area. Familiarize yourself with the taglines, the most common icons. And if you see something tagged around town... be willing to stand up and support your neighbors who may be targeted before you." - @amycooter.bsky.social

We can demand that tech giants like Google & Amazon use 100% renewable energy and not rely on fossil fuels and nuclear energy to power data centers. We can insist that data centers only go where they’re wanted by ensuring communities have Free, Prior, and Informed Consent for any future project.

The Public Pays the Price for Big Tech’s Data Centers | The relentless push for data centers in states like Pennsylvania has dire consequences for communities and the environment. It doesn’t have to be this way. #BucksCounty #PA01