Skip to main content
Main content

The milk company snub shaping Shapiro's budget

Plus, today's key mail ballot deadline.

The logo of PA Post, a free daily newsletter delivering the top news from across Pennsylvania every day.

A daily newsletter by The logo of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom producing investigative journalism for Pennsylvania.
Your Postmaster: Colin Deppen



Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Today: Lesson learned, inflation hangover, Parker priority, stipend surge, Biden returns, and Mike Pence's new gig. Thanks for checking in.
MILK MONEY

A failed attempt to lure dairy brand Fairlife to Pennsylvania last year is now shaping Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro's economic strategy. 

Spotlight PA reports his latest budget plan earmarks hundreds of millions of dollars to prepare commercial and industrial sites for new owners, recruit new businesses, and fund agriculture grants.

This comes after Fairlife chose New York for its $650 million investment and stakeholders noted the challenges with Pennsylvania's permitting process, a lack of construction-ready sites, and supply concerns.

Read the full report: Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2024 budget pitch draws on lessons from curdled Fairlife bid.

Get Spotlight PA's exclusive "New Serving the Truth" kitchen apron.
 NEW LOW PRICE! 

'Now Serving the Truth' kitchen aprons!

Don't go another meal without letting people know you're serving the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. SHOP THE SALE NOW >
NOTABLE / QUOTABLE

"The 'Little Scandinavia' pilot project at the State Correctional Institution (SCI) Chester represents a groundbreaking shift towards a more humane, rehabilitative prison system."

State Rep. Ben Waxman (D., Philadelphia) calling for the continuation and expansion of an experimental prison program in Pennsylvania

🗳️ ELECTION ESSENTIALS

📅 UPCOMING EVENTS

BROKEN PRIMARIES: Join us Friday from 6-7 p.m. ET on Zoom for a Spotlight PA members-only event with Nick Troiano, author of The Primary Solution, a new book on how our partisan primaries are fueling the political divide in America and what we can do about it. Sponsored by Ballot PA.

Become a Spotlight PA member here and you'll be automatically registered for the event.
 
📷 POST IT
Tree swallows at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, via Elliott C. Have a Pennsylvania photo to share? Send it to us by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania
Two birds overlapping in the air over a body of water.
DAILY RUNDOWN
Today's top news story in Pennsylvania.CONSUMER SENTIMENT: The median hourly wage in Pennsylvania jumped 20% from $16.50 in 2020 to $19.85 in 2023, but The New York Times' Talmon Joseph Smith found lingering pandemic-era insecurity and frustration as companies continue to hike prices. “Trying to make yourself happy is difficult,” one Altoona native lamented.
  • Big minimum wage hike sought by Pa. Dems, via WESA.
Today's second top news story in Pennsylvania.
SERVICE CUT: Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker wants a $900,000 cut in city funding for a group that provides clean syringes to people who use drugs. The Democrat believes money for syringe exchanges should come from other sources, but state funding is out of the question, and a Prevention Point representative says losing city dollars could impact its ability to render services, The Inquirer (paywall) reports.
 
Today's third top news story in Pennsylvania.
SHORT MONEY: Pennsylvania's student teacher stipend program opened last week and was immediately flooded by demand. Capital-Star reports the program offering up to $15,000 per student teacher had more than 3,500 applications within three hours of opening, but it only has enough funding for roughly 600 to 700 applicants

Today's fourth top news story in Pennsylvania.
BIDEN STOPS: President Joe Biden has three economy-focused appearances in Pennsylvania this week — starting with Scranton today — in what NBC News calls counterprogramming set against former President Donald Trump's trial in New York City this week. Biden is making stops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh too.

Today's fifth top news story in Pennsylvania.
ELECTION BRIEFS: A racist on-air joke made by WGAL-TV anchor-turned-congressional candidate Janelle Stelson has resurfaced in the Democratic primary for U.S. Rep. Scott Perry's (R., Pa.) seat; and George W. Bush and Harlan Crow will host a Texas fundraiser for GOP Pennsylvania U.S. Senate hopeful Dave McCormick today.
IN OTHER NEWS
DEADLINE DAY: Today is the last day to request a mail ballot for the April 23 primary in Pennsylvania. Here's a guide to using it. Some 876,000 mail ballots had been requested here as of Monday. With primary day overlapping with passover, Jewish leaders are encouraging the option

PROFESSOR PENCE: Former Vice President Mike Pence has taken a teaching job at Pennsylvania's Grove City College. Pence is officially  a "visiting fellow" at the conservative Christian school.

SPIN ZONE: This Saturday is Record Store Day, and Philly's WXPN is marking the occasion with a 10-track, vinyl compilation of live performances by local bands. Philly Voice has a list of the shops where you can get a copy.

HIDDEN ART: Next time you're at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, take a closer look at Marcel Duchamp's Étant donnés, a sculpture with "an eerie three-dimensional scene inside," per @FarFarrAway.

JELLYROLL VS. JELLY ROLL: Pennsylvania band Jellyroll is suing country star Jelly Roll for trademark infringement. Us Weekly reports the Philly-area band has held a trademark for their name since 2010.
SCRAMBLER
Unscramble and send your answer to scrambler@spotlightpa.org. We'll shout out winners here, and one each week will get some Spotlight PA swag. Answers submitted by 5:30 p.m. on issue date will be counted.
 
G O A N A B O T I R

Yesterday's answer: Primordial

Congrats to our daily winners: Stacy S., Dan A., Jane R., Barbara F., Don H., Karen P., Richard A., Jon W., Vicki U., Elaine C., Connie A. O., Daniel S., Mike B., Bob C., Susan N.-Z., Alan B., Mike Z., Janet S., Jeffrey F., Craig E., Gabrielle G., Tom M., Michael T., Wendy A., Stanley J., Perry H., Daniel M., Tish M., and William Z.
Like PA Post? Share it with a friend.

Love PA Post? Support it with a tax-deductible gift.

Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here.
SUPPORT SPOTLIGHT PA
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan & nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds the powerful to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania.

For sponsorship inquiries, email membership@spotlightpa.org.

Copyright © Spotlight PA, All rights reserved.

Spotlight PA
PO Box 11728
Harrisburg, PA 17108-1728

newsletters@spotlightpa.org

You're receiving this email because you subscribed to PA Post, a daily newsletter by Spotlight PA.


This email was sent to: <<Email Address>>

Receiving too many emails from Spotlight PA?

To change your newsletter subscriptions and frequency, you can update your preferences.

To stop receiving fundraising messages, you can update your preferences and select "Opt out of Fundraising."

To stop receiving ALL EMAILS from Spotlight PA, including all of our investigations and newsletters, you can completely unsubscribe here.