News & Brews February 12, 2024
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Lawmaker under investigation for drunken outburst & alleged threats
Police are investigating Democrat state Rep. Kevin Boyle (Philadelphia) after a recent outburst at a Montgomery County bar where he allegedly threatened to hit female employees. The Inquirer reports, “A video circulating on social media shows Boyle yelling at staffers at Gaul & Co. Malt House on Huntingdon Pike, telling them he’ll ‘end this bar.’” Democrat House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (Montgomery County) said, “We are aware of a video circulating on social media. It is very troubling. Rep. Boyle has been open about his personal challenges. We are encouraged that our colleague and dear friend is seeking help.”
Without GOP resignation, Pa. House now at 101-100
Ahead of a special election scheduled for tomorrow, the Pa. House partisan split was 101-101. But after a Republican lawmaker resigned late last week, it’s now 101-100. First-term state Rep. Joe Adams (Pike and Wayne counties) submitted his resignation, effective immediately, on Friday, citing medical news. “It has been an honor to serve you, the citizens of Pike and Wayne counties, in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Taking care of my family, understandably, must now be my priority. I will continue to work locally to help our community, its organizations, businesses and people.” This means there will be another special election, on a date to be announced.
A look at tomorrow’s special election
Tomorrow, voters in the 140th House District in Bucks County will head to the polls in a special election to replace former Democrat state Rep. John Galloway, who resigned after being elected as judge. Democrat candidate Jim Prokopiak is facing Republican Candace Cabanas in this district that has voted strongly Democrat. As mentioned in the story above, even after this election, there will still be one vacant seat in the House due to state Rep. Joe Adams’ resignation on Friday.
Who wants a free newspaper subscription? Apparently pretty much no one
The Columbia Journalism Review shared, “When 2,529 people were offered a free subscription to their local newspapers, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Philadelphia Inquirer, only forty-four accepted—less than 2 percent—according to an academic study set to be published this year in the American Journal of Political Science.” Hmm, what’s it say about the state of mainstream media when they can’t give subscriptions away?
Themes from Trump’s Pa. visit
PennLive identified several themes from former President Trump’s visit to Pa. on Friday to address an NRA event. “In his near-90-minute speech, Trump did away with most of the rigged [election] talk and said his strategy for success will be to ‘swamp’ Biden and the Democrats with so many votes they can’t possibility overcome the margins in 2024.” And among Trump’s areas of focus will be immigration, crime, and, still, MAGA.