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Lawmakers pay legal bill in ex-security chief’s harassment case

  • Emily Previti/PA Post
The state Capitol building in Harrisburg. (Tim Lambert/WITF)

 Tim Lambert / WITF

The state Capitol building in Harrisburg. (Tim Lambert/WITF)

From The Context, PA Post’s weekday email newsletter:

Ever wonder how municipal bonds became a pillar of public finance? I have. But even if you haven’t, this Planet Money explainer on their history is worth a listen.
-Emily Previti, Newsletter Producer/Reporter

Civil court action

Tim Lambert / WITF

The state Capitol building in Harrisburg.

  • State lawmakers are covering legal expenses for an ex-security chief to fight sexual harassment claims brought by two women, one of whom still works at the capitol and isn’t getting her court costs covered. This Associated Press story notes Senate Republicans made the call to pay former security director Justin Ferante’s bills (nearly $24,000 so far), in part because the chamber also is a defendant in the case. GOP leaders point out Democrats have handled comparable situations the same way.

  • Tamaqua teachers are moving forward with a lawsuit over their district’s policy allowing some staff to carry firearms, even though the board stopped short of implementing the rule. Now, the judge on the case says she needs more time and information before deciding whether the matter can even proceed. Jen Kinney has been following this issue for Keystone Crossroads.

  • Another court ruling has affirmed sanctuary cities can’t have their federal funding cut. The federal government had threatened to withhold law enforcement funding from jurisdictions — including Philadelphia — for not detaining defendants, upon request by Immigration & Customs Enforcement, for up to 48 hours beyond when they would be released, and otherwise cooperating with ICE. More here.

Best of the rest

Submitted

UPMC Pinnacle Lancaster.

  • Despite protests from city residents, UPMC Pinnacle’s Lancaster hospital is starting to shut down and will be closed completely at the end of the month. Transforming Health’s Brett Sholtis lays out the process in this story.

  • The federal lawsuit over Pennsylvania’s prison mail policy goes to court today. WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer, who’s been covering this issue, did this preview to catch up everyone as proceedings begin.

  • Solar jobs were up 10 percent in Pennsylvania last year, while they declined 3 percent nationally as companies delayed large projects amid uncertainty over how new tariffs would affect costs. The analysis and numbers are from the National Solar Jobs Census released last week. StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Marie Cusick provides more context over why Pa’s growth continued in this story.


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