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  • Emily Previti/PA Post
Midterm voter turnout increased up statewide in Pennsylvania from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent in 2018.

 Emily Previti / Keystone Crossroads

Midterm voter turnout increased up statewide in Pennsylvania from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent in 2018.

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

We’ve been all over Pennsylvania’s redistricting saga since the first lawsuits were filed. Now, the PA Redistricting Reform Commission is touring the commonwealth for a series of public meetings to get input on the mapmaking process, which remained unchanged by last year’s state Supreme Court decisions overturning and replacing the old Congressional district map. I went to the first one in Williamsport last week. The next is Thursday, April 18, in Erie. Full sked here, courtesy of Fair Districts PA. -Emily Previti, Newsletter Producer/Reporter

Asked and answered

Midterm voter turnout increased up statewide in Pennsylvania from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent this year.

Emily Previti / Keystone Crossroads

Midterm voter turnout increased up statewide in Pennsylvania from 43 percent in 2014 to 58 percent in 2018.

  • Scott Blanchard, a PA Post editor who also edits The Context, addressed our commitment to nonpartisan coverage in this post responding to a reader inquiry sparked by last Thursday’s newsletter.

  • That edition pulled together news and analysis about recent election results from a variety of sources around the state to assess what they might signify, including the (un?)likelihood of Democrat-dominated state Senate. Featured links included one post authored by a GOP analyst and another about a Republican victory — but the newsletter’s subject line referenced only Dems.

  • The reader had asked about plans for a Context subject line dedicated to the GOP’s state Senate majority. Scott’s post answers that question and its implications. PA Post headlines and content have focused on Republicans previously, too, including this article about opposition to using a shale tax to fund infrastructure and this one on their openness to increasing minimum wage.

Best of the rest

Jabina Coleman (right) introduces herself to Pamela Newman and 3-month-old James at the Lucien E. Blackwell library in Philadelphia. Coleman leads a breastfeeding class and co-runs the Prenatal Mental Health Alliance for Women of Color. In February, some mothers described experiencing postpartum depression.

Rachel Wisniewski / For the Philadelphia Inquirer

Jabina Coleman (right) introduces herself to Pamela Newman and 3-month-old James at the Lucien E. Blackwell library in Philadelphia. Coleman leads a breastfeeding class and co-runs the Prenatal Mental Health Alliance for Women of Color. In February, some mothers described experiencing postpartum depression.

  • Research shows low-income mothers and women of color are several times more likely to struggle with postpartum depression, but far less likely to get treatment for it. One reason is at focus in this story by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Aneri Pattani: fear that seeking help will make them seem unfit to parent and could lead to their children being taken away.

  • State Treasurer Joe Torsella is joining the chorus of officials calling for the resignation of fellow Democrat state Sen. Daylin Leach amid sexual assault allegations. WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief Katie Meyer’s story contextualizes the particular significance of Torsella weighing in. That happened after Leach lashed out at school officials in his Montgomery County district who “disinvited” him from a public forum, Katie reports, though Leach’s team claims his words regarding the cancellation were “twisted.”

  • Pa. health officials are still on the fence about whether to add anxiety and Tourette syndrome to the list of conditions for which physicians can prescribe medical marijuana. WESA’s Kathleen Davis outlines their considerations in this story.


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