News & Brews November 1, 2021
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Tomorrow is Election Day, but maybe not ‘results’ day
Not surprisingly, we may not know the results of tomorrow’s elections tomorrow night. PennLive highlights the expectations of several central PA counties in tallying ballots, and we can pretty much extrapolate the scenario in much of the rest of the state from this story.
Op-Ed: Should candidate Shapiro resign as AG? (Yes, yes he should)
A. Benjamin Mannes, a former law enforcement officer who serves on the Public Safety Advisory Board for GOP gubernatorial candidate Lou Barletta, has an op-ed in City + State PA noting that Democrat Josh Shapiro must resign his current job as attorney general given he recently announced his candidacy for governor. Mannes writes, “It is no longer possible to distinguish between Shapiro’s roles as attorney general and gubernatorial candidate.” As a result, Shapiro needs “to ‘go all in’ and either be a lawman or a candidate, because you can’t be both and do a good job at the same time.”Separately, I’m still waiting for the Inquirer Editorial Board to make this same call, as they did in 2010 with Tom Corbett.
Texas company plans $6B natural gas-to-fuel plant in PA
Texas-based Nacero, Inc. is planning to invest $6 billion to build a facility in Newport Township and Nanticoke (Luzerne County) that will develop fuels from natural gas retrieved from the Marcellus Shale. The PA plant is one of nine plants Nacero is planning in the U.S. The AP reports that according to Nacero, “The projects will create thousands of construction and other jobs, and each of the plants will eventually employ about 450 people.” Sen. John Yudichak, who represents the area, noted that the plans will require “regulatory approvals as well as extension of a federal alternative fuels tax credit.” As for the timeline, Yudichak said groundbreaking is expected within the next two years, and construction will require an additional four years.
Johnny Doc trial latest: Prosecutors wrap up case
While holding off on officially “resting” their case until this week, last week prosecutors wrapped up their testimony in the federal bribery case against union leader John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty and Philly Councilman Bobby Henon. The defense will begin calling witnesses today. Meanwhile, Johnny Doc’s union has continued to pour money into elections. This year alone, IBEW 98 has spent more than $2.5 million on politics.