News & Brews August 6, 2025
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As turnpike tolls rise, so does pay for turnpike execs
PennLive reports that the Pa. Turnpike Commission recently approved more than $367,000 in raises for its top executives. The biggest raise, more than $86,000, went to the CEO, who will now make nearly $350,000 per year. Meanwhile, “Six executives earn more than Gov. Josh Shapiro, each making more than $250,000.” The clincher? “The salaries are funded with toll revenue.” You know, those same tolls that have been increasing annually for years and that have “bumped the cost of crossing the state to as much as $200 for drivers without EZ Pass and accumulated debt higher than that of the state of Pennsylvania.”
Report shows ‘persistently dangerous’ public schools
A new report from the Commonwealth Foundation “shows that Pennsylvania violates state and federal law by failing to identify persistently dangerous schools.” Pointing to a 24-year longitudinal study of Pennsylvania’s approximately 3,000 public schools, the report notes that “37.3 percent identify as persistently dangerous based on the required reporting of school violence incidents (with or without arrest), with a weighted percentage of these incidents to enrollment at 47.1 percent, or nearly one-half of schools.” Yet, the state Department of Education “has no records identifying persistently dangerous schools and failed to provide safe alternatives for students attending dangerous schools.”
Shapiro criticizes Trump, Netanyahu on Gaza
As Democrat governors seek the national limelight on redistricting battles, Gov. Josh Shapiro doesn’t have immediate opportunity to get in on that stage. So, tackling a different topic, he has taken to criticizing President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Gaza aid. The Inquirer reports that Shapiro’s “remarks in support of aid for Gaza align with shifting public discourse that has become more sympathetic to Palestinians.” (On those lines, this op-ed is worth reading.)
Philly is (still) on federal sanctuary city list
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Justice published an updated list of sanctuary cities (and counties and states). In DOJ’s initial list, issued in May, 16 Pa. jurisdictions appeared. Now, just one remains: Philadelphia. (DOJ has since removed the initial list from its website, but thanks to the Internet Archive‘s Wayback Machine, it’s still available.) Per the Inquirer, the list shrunk from more than 500 to 35. And it’s “not immediately clear if the new list represented the specific places that Donald Trump intends to sue for what he has deemed non-compliance with federal law.”
Field of Fitzpatrick challengers grows
The field of Democrat candidates seeking to challenge GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick continues to grow. This time, Bucks County attorney Tracy Hunt—who was a Republican until this past June—has announced his candidacy. He joins Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie and political newcomer Rob Strickler. Per GOP political consultant Chris Nicholas, “Democrats smell blood in the water in next year’s mid-term elections. And combined with their distaste for the president, we are seeing a lot of them looking to run for Congress.”