News & Brews August 30, 2021

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Did Shapiro give sweetheart deal to lawbreaking ex-rep?

Former state Rep. Margo Davidson resigned last month after admitting she stole from taxpayers, but it appears she may keep her taxpayer-funded pension after a sweetheart deal from Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Broad + Liberty dives into the charges Shapiro filed along with the overall problem of lawbreaking former lawmakers who still get paid by PA taxpayers.

Wolf, Dem senator ask state Supreme Court to halt evictions

After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal moratorium on evictions, Democrat state Senator Nikil Saval (Philadelphia), with support from Gov. Wolf, asked our state Supreme Court to issue a moratorium of its own. The progressive Pennsylvania Capital-Star has more.

PA inches closer to TX in natural gas production

While acknowledging it’s a longshot, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) notes Pennsylvania could theoretically overtake Texas as the country’s top natural gas producer. MSC cites a story from the Pittsburgh Business Times (paywall), which states, “Pennsylvania has closed the gap between its natural gas production and the numbers from Texas. Year to date, Pennsylvania produced 3.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas while Texas has produced 4.118 trillion cubic feet, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration. While that’s still a lot of natural gas production that separates Texas and Pennsylvania, it’s also the closest it has ever been, according to Pennsylvania industry officials.”

In case you’re wondering what’s up at the Inquirer

We often take a look at news headlines to discover potential bias, but it’s not just headlines that are often agenda-driven. For an eye-opening look at what’s going on in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s newsroom, where even some reporters are concerned that the new woke focus is tough given the real-world “demands of productivity metrics,” click here.

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