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Lawmakers sit idle as overdoses rise

Plus, Pa. vaccination rate dips below 70% because of data correction.

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A daily newsletter by Spotlight PA
Your Postmaster: Sarah Anne Hughes
November 29, 2021
Overdose crisis, Omicron FAQ, child care numbers, utility preemption, election software, and what to do about rising energy costs. Happy Monday.
Hey, it's Colin, your PA Post editor, and these next two days are big...

With just two more days in November, we're SO CLOSE to the halfway mark of our historic end-of-year fundraising goal of $70,000 in support of Spotlight PA's vital investigative journalism. Put us over the top now!

If you love starting your day with PA Post, I need your help. We need to raise $4,000 by the end of Tuesday to stay on track. As a special bonus, make a contribution now and it will be DOUBLED.

We provide PA Post as a public service. If you value it, I'm asking you to help keep it going with a tax-deductible gift now. Your support means a lot to me personally and to our entire team.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

—Colin
UNCLEAR APPROACH
NOTABLE / QUOTABLE

"Even though we think of our criminal justice system as having a component of rehabilitation, often it does not."

—Wanda Bertram of the Prison Policy Initiative on an Allegheny County Jail program that offers health care to those recently released
ALMOST HALFWAY!
We've been issued an urgent challenge: If we raise $70,000 by Dec. 31, we'll unlock $70,000 in matching gifts. And we're nearly halfway there!

Don't miss this chance to support Spotlight PA's vital investigative journalism and have your contribution DOUBLED. The future of Spotlight PA depends on your support, and we can't afford to lose this critical journalism.

Make a tax-deductible gift right now and help us keep it going.
💉 COVID-19 NEWS
» CORRECTION: In an apparent effort to weed out duplicates, the CDC dropped the number of vaccinated adults in Pennsylvania to under 70%.

» NEW VARIANT: Here's everything we know so far about the Omicron variant.

» SPREAD STOP: Penn State researchers say Pennsylvania hunters should be vaccinated for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus in the state’s deer population. 

To find a COVID-19 vaccine, use the federal government's online tool, call 1-800-232-0233, or text your zip code to 438829 (GETVAX).
📷 POST IT
A view from the Scenic Vista Trail in Kings Gap state park from Robert SSend us your gems, use the hashtag #PAGems on Instagram, or tag us @spotlightpennsylvania.
DAILY RUNDOWN
BY THE NUMBERS: As a $2 trillion social spending plan moves through Congress, transformational change could be on the horizon for child care in Pennsylvania. But for now, the industry is in crisis. From Spotlight PA, here are the figures that stand out, and what they show.

LOCAL CONTROL: A Republican state lawmaker wants Pennsylvania to join 19 states that have preempted local municipalities from regulating utilities within their borders. According to the Capital-Star, opponents say the bills are an attack on municipal climate action.

LITTER PROBLEM: Gov. Tom Wolf has declared war on the state's litterbugs, releasing an action plan with 16 recommendations, TribLIVE reports. They include an anti-litter campaign and minimizing the use of straws and disposable utensils in state parks.  

IN NEED: High prices and supply-chain disruptions are causing issues for food banks here in Pennsylvania, The Inquirer reports, as well as across the country. “Everything is delayed and back-ordered, and so much pricier," one food pantry operator said.

SPELLING PROBLEM: An apparent software limitation may keep 139 write-in votes from being counted in a Lancaster County school board race, deciding the outcome. LancasterOnline explains the issue and what's at stake
IN OTHER NEWS
HIGHER PRICES: Thanks to rising fuel prices for power generators, energy costs for Pennsylvanians are about to go up — by a lot. But, per The Inquirer, there are ways you can save money if you take action now.

HONORING TRADITION: Miguel Sagué, a longtime leader in Pittsburgh's local indigenous community, will soon release his debut album, "Songs From the Stone Hoop," which spotlights traditional Taíno music

TREE TIME: A 20-foot tall Douglas fir from Crystal Spring Tree Farm in Carbon County has a new (temporary) home in the Capitol rotunda, serving as the official Christmas tree. The lighting of the Capitol menorah begins Tuesday. 

'HEARTBREAKING': Lancaster police say a downtown menorah was intentionally damaged just a few days before the beginning of Hanukkah. “This is a frightening time for Jews in this county," a local rabbi said.

LEGEND LOST: Broadway icon Stephen Sondheim died over the weekend at age 91. Sondheim spent his teen years in Bucks County, where he was mentored by another legend — Oscar Hammerstein.
THE 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.
 
E I N P A O I T S T
 
Thursday's answers: We aren't listing winners from Thanksgiving Day because we posted the answers here. But if you missed them, they were bountiful, gastronomy, autumnal, gatherings, and casserole.
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