News & Brews February 25, 2026
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Shapiro’s land grab brings local tension
The Inquirer dives into Gov. Josh and Lori Shapiro’s attempt to seize part of their neighbors’ property, noting the dispute has “jolted [Shapiro’s] sleepy Montgomery County neighborhood.” Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the Shapiro’s have thought they owned part of their neighbor’s land. The story notes that one former neighbor recalled that “when Shapiro first built his swing set behind her pool fence, he mistakenly put it on her property. When the [neighbor] alerted him to it, Shapiro quickly moved it back onto his own backyard.” But this time around, he’s not being nearly so neighborly, instead insisting his neighbor’s property is his via squatters’ rights.
Pa. congressional delegation reacts to SOTU
City & State PA compiled reactions from most members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to President Trump’s State of the Union address last evening. As expected, reactions were split along party lines, with Republicans praising the president’s remarks and Democrats lambasting him. Fetterman was missing from the list (at time of publication), but one CBS reporter posted that Fetterman said via text, “I don’t care who is president, Democrat or Republican, they deserve basic courtesy.”
Caught! Philly schools ban local conference hotels after investigation
Nothing like being found out to inspire a behavior change. Broad + Liberty reports, “Less than two weeks after an investigation exposed $309,000 in questionable conference spending, School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Tony Watlington clamped down on travel expenses — specifically banning hotel rooms for conferences held inside the city’s limits.” The investigation uncovered how the district “spent at least $309,000 on a union conference in March 2025. Expenses included approximately $14,500 in rooms at a Philadelphia hotel even though the district’s travel policy prohibits overnight stays ‘within the greater Philadelphia region’ without superintendent approval.”
Special elections yield no surprises
Yesterday’s two special elections for state House seats yielded no surprises, as Democrats won both by comfortable margins. In the 22nd District in Lehigh County, Ana Tiburcio won the seat previously held by Josh Siegel. And in the 42nd District in Allegheny County, Jen Mazzocco won the seat previously held by Dan Miller. Democrats were heavily favored to win both these races.
Pa. leads the nation in special elections
And speaking of special elections, Votebeat reports that Pennsylvania has lots of them—more than any other state, in fact. “According to data from Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan online political encyclopedia, Pennsylvania has held 47 special elections for vacant state legislative and congressional seats since 2017…. That’s more than in any other state over that period.” Why? Well, “observers have pointed to the state’s large full-time legislature as a possible factor.”