News & Brews February 7, 2025
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Shapiro tells Greenberg’s family that ‘lashing out’ doesn’t change anything
Well, nothing like criticizing Ellen Greenberg’s parents over their anger with Gov. Josh Shapiro for doing nothing as attorney general regarding their daughter’s suspicious death. But that’s exactly what Shapiro did yesterday when asked about it. “Some may feel that lashing out in the media is helpful to their cause,” he said. “I’m not going to stand in judgment of them.” He added, “Lashing out isn’t going to change the evidence here.” This attempt to turn the tables and subtly criticize Ellen’s parents isn’t surprising, as Shapiro has a history of getting defensive when asked tough questions. In response to Shapiro’s comments, Ellen’s mother, Sandee Greenberg, said, “I’m not lashing out at Josh Shapiro. He didn’t want to talk to us. We were dismissed by him. He didn’t do anything in 4 1/2 years. I would like his office to come clean with all the evidence they collected.”
Shapiro gets Super Bowl tickets from controversial dark money group
Yet again, Gov. Josh Shapiro is heading to a sporting event courtesy of a dark money group that’s already spent thousands of dollars on tickets that it’s gifted to Shapiro, potentially in violation of his supposed self-imposed ban on accepting gifts from those with interest before the government. The Inquirer reports that Team PA is paying for Shapiro to attend Sunday’s Super Bowl. In the past, the Team PA fund that’s paid for the tickets has been the Pennsylvania Growth Partnership, which “accepts contributions from undisclosed donors to promote the governor on the national and international stage.” Team PA also paid for Shapiro to attend the 2023 Super Bowl.
UPenn faces lawsuit for violating women’s rights
The Daily Pennsylvanian reports, ”Three former Penn swimmers have filed a lawsuit against Penn, Harvard University, the Ivy League, and the NCAA for allegedly violating Title IX by allowing” transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete in a 2022 championship. The plaintiffs allege they were denied “equal opportunities as women to compete and win while being denied the opportunity to protect their privacy in separate and equal locker rooms.” The suit was filed on February 4, one day before President Trump signed the executive order protecting women in sports.
Former state rep. has new job
Former Democrat state Rep. Kevin Boyle—who allegedly threatened to hit a female employee at a bar during a drunken outburst, then had an arrest warrant mistakenly issued for him just days before the primary election, giving Democrats a chance to back a challenger to him, only to have the arrest warrant withdrawn one day before he lost that election with an “oops it was wrongly issued“ explanation—has a new job in Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration. The Inquirer reports that Boyle will “work in the managing director’s office as a deputy director of external affairs. He will work in the agency advancing the administration’s initiatives for people with substance-use disorder.”
Satisfaction with public education at record low
According to Gallup’s recently released annual State of the Nation survey, Americans’ satisfaction with “the quality of public education in the nation” is at a record low, with 24% satisfied and an overwhelming 73% dissatisfied. As The Hill explains, this is the lowest level of satisfaction since the poll began in 2001. Of course, spending on public education has grown dramatically over these years, but with little to show for it. Still, teachers’ unions and the politicians they control want to funnel even more and more money into this bureaucracy that most Americans don’t believe is delivering for kids.