News & Brews January 8, 2025
Get News & Brews in your inbox each day: Subscribe here!
Post-Gazette to shut down
Ending nearly a century of operations, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced yesterday that it will publish its final edition on May 3. Among the reasons cited are “Recent court decisions [that] would require the Post-Gazette to operate under a 2014 labor contract that imposes on the Post-Gazette outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.” The court decisions came as a group of unionized Post-Gazette reporters were engaged in a three-year strike. They returned to work in November, and now thanks in part to their union’s demands, they’ll be out of work again and the entire paper is shutting down. How’d that ‘victory’ work out for them?
Shapiro to announce re-election bid today
Gov. Josh Shapiro will formally kick off his re-election campaign today in Pittsburgh, WESA reports. “The Shapiro campaign said his kickoff will stress his work to deliver increased investment in public schools and economic development, while also delivering tax cuts and opening up state jobs to more people without college degrees.” First off, public education in Pennsylvania is still failing tens of thousands of kids—those same kids Shapiro betrayed by vetoing Lifeline Scholarships. Second, those supposed “tax cuts” include stuff Shapiro did nothing to advance and is now trying to take credit for. GSD? More like Grandstanding Sans Delivering.
Pa.’s participation in RGGI officially dies in court
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court “ended appeals of a lower court’s ruling that the commonwealth’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was illegal,” the progressive Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports. “The court’s order dismissing the cases as moot follows Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s agreement to withdraw from the multi-state climate compact as part of his deal with Republican state lawmakers to bring the five-month budget stalemate to a close in November.” Farewell, RGGI. You will be neither mourned nor missed.
More Pa. House special elections announced
Special elections for two Pa. state House seats will be held on March 17—one to replace former GOP state Rep. Torren Ecker (Adams & Cumberland counties) and one to replace former GOP state Rep. Lou Schmitt (Blair County). Ecker and Schmitt were elected to judgeships in November. Two other special elections—for former Democrat Reps. Dan Miller (Allegheny County) and Josh Siegel (Lehigh County) were previously announced for February 24. The pair also left for other offices.
Ward unanimously re-elected Senate President Pro Tempore
State Sen. Kim Ward (Westmoreland County) was unanimously re-elected as Senate President Pro Tempore this week, drawing support from both sides of the aisle. Ward was first elected president pro tempore in 2022 and previously served as Senate majority leader. Commenting on her re-election, she said, “It’s an honor to be here, and I’m hopeful that we, together, continue our forward motion. I’m grateful and honored for all of your support. So let’s make history by building on the history that we have already made.”