Lead lines, police probe, sweltering prison, legacy admissions, train derailment, missing children, and 'Operation Phish in a Barrel.'

While the U.S. has spent decades eradicating lead from paint, gasoline, and water service lines, an expansive network of telecom cables covered in the toxic metal still criss-crosses states like Pennsylvania.

The Wall Street Journal reports more than 2,000 lead-covered cables left behind by companies like AT&T and Verizon litter the American landscape — hundreds in source water protection areas or near schools: 

In Coal Center, Pa., medical tests independently sought by the mother of 6-year-old twins, Joyanna and Beau Bibby, and shared with the Journal, showed they had high levels of lead in their blood. The tests were taken a few days after they played in a lot next to their house under a drooping [lead] cable.

Read the Journal's full report: America is wrapped in miles of old lead cables, posing hidden health hazards today.

THE CONTEXT: Officials and residents in Coal Center, Washington County, are aware of the low-hanging lead cable and concerned. It runs roughly one mile into neighboring California, Pa., and is one of more than half a dozen lead lines buried or exposed in the Pittsburgh area.

Borough Councilmember Shannon Bibby's children played under it and later showed elevated lead levels in their blood, though a direct causal link is unclear. Doctors say no amount of lead is safe.

Bibby told the Journal she and other Coal Center residents have been pushing Verizon to take the cable down, but the company said it's still in use. Verizon and AT&T told the Journal they don’t believe the cables are a major contributor to environmental lead and that they're handled with caution. 

Many employees who worked with the lines for years say they didn't know the risks, and some now have illnesses linked to lead exposure.

Sunset in Spring Grove, via Ronnee G. Send us your photos by email, use #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania.

WARREN TIPSTERS: The Warren County couple whose tip led to the arrest of escapee Michael Burham after a weeklong manhunt say their dog alerted them to his presence and that they recognized Burham immediately. Cindy and Ron Ecklund think they're eligible for the $22,000 reward.

FUTURE PLANS: Springdale Borough in Allegheny County is mulling the future of its industrial riverfront after June's demolition of a pair of iconic smokestacks there. PublicSource reports on the surrounding debate.

JAMMED UP: Washington County's sheriff says "Operation Phish in a Barrel" is a hoax. After a purported leak of drug enforcement plans around the jam band's concert this weekend in Burgettstown, officials responded.

PA BLUFFING: This shot of Erie Bluffs State Park, by redditor u/incomprehensibilitys, stopped me in my tracks. Uncovering PA has a guide to hiking the "secluded forests" of the coastal area.

NO DRINKING: If you're in the habit of drinking the pool water, the professionals at Pennsylvania's Department of Health say don't. The DOH didn't elaborate beyond the five-word tweet, but Geisinger did.