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Missed Conduct
John Champagne submitted his report just before noon on Oct. 28, 2021. The many hours of compliance training the English professor had taken during his nearly 30 years at Penn State Behrend had sunk in. He understood that reporting misconduct was his duty. Within seconds of pressing send, Champagne was...
Spotlight PA’s unique voter-first election coverage wins prestigious Public Service Award
Spotlight PA’s unique commitment to voter-centric coverage of Pennsylvania’s 2022 gubernatorial race — including dozens of guides and explainers, expanded Spanish translations, and a new Election Center website — has earned one of the most prestigious statewide prizes in journalism. In total, Spotlight PA was honored...
Waiting Game
Pauletta Fajinmi had been waiting for more than six months. In April, she applied to a Pennsylvania program that promises to help homeowners recover from the financial impact of the pandemic. After Fajinmi’s husband died of COVID-19, in the spring of 2021, she found herself responsible for more than $5,000...
After Tioga hired the cop who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, long-simmering personal grudges and infighting exploded and brought local government in the tiny Pennsylvania borough to a halt.
Standing in a nondescript corner of the Tioga Borough Council Room, Mayor David Wilcox read from a printout of the Pennsylvania police oath and swore in his small town’s new police officer. A few feet away, a clean-shaven man raised his right hand and took the pledge. One day...
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra paid $30K to take 2 Pa. lawmakers to Europe
HARRISBURG — In the waning days of summer, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarked on a whirlwind, nine-city European tour — its first international journey since the start of the pandemic. The orchestra traveled to Germany, Slovenia, and Austria, where it closed the world-renowned Salzburg Festival. It was the...
Her High-Wire Act
Neeli Bendapudi was two months into her presidency when she faced down the billionaire pizza magnate. Papa Johns founder John Schnatter was a wealthy donor and a trustee at the University of Louisville. But after he used a racial slur on a conference call, the university cut ties and renamed the football stadium that bore his company’s name. Those actions were about equity and inclusion, Bendapudi said at the time. They were about doing what was right.
11 Pennsylvanians on the candidates for governor and US Senate, and why some are still undecided
HARRISBURG — Building a winning electoral coalition in Pennsylvania is hard. Voters of all races, creeds, and economic backgrounds reside in the state, and to come out on top office seekers have to woo them with policies and politics that speak to a diverse bloc. Democrats are so far...
Workers in Pennsylvania can’t be fired for having a doctor’s approval for medical marijuana — but once they actually use it, it’s a whole different story.
Vague legal safeguards for medical marijuana users in Pennsylvania are forcing patients to choose between their job and a drug they say has changed their life, and leaving skittish employers vulnerable to lawsuits, according to a three-month Spotlight PA investigation. While state law protects workers from being fired or denied...
You’re invited! A free virtual panel on the new Pa. budget and what it prioritizes
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. A week after their June 30 deadline, Pennsylvania lawmakers approved a new state budget. The $45 billion spending plan, which was...
Meet Sarah Rafacz, Spotlight PA State College bureau editor
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. Hey, y’all — I’m Sarah Rafacz, the editor of Spotlight PA’s first-ever regional bureau, based...
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