A GOP operative accused a monastery of voter fraud. Nuns fought back.; The Washington Post, October 23, 2024

 Praveena Somasundaram, The Washington Post; A GOP operative accused a monastery of voter fraud. Nuns fought back.

"The day before, a Republican operative in the battleground state falsely suggested to his nearly 58,000 followers on X that no one lived at the monastery and that mail ballots cast from there would be “illegal votes.” Cliff Maloney, who hired 120 people to go door-to-door across Pennsylvania urging Republican voters to return their mail ballots, wrote on X that one of those workers had “discovered” an Erie address where 53 people were registered to vote but “NO ONE lives there.”

The address Maloney posted belonged to the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, where Schmidt and 54 other sisters live full time. And the Catholic order, known for its engagement in social justice issues, was alarmed by the accusations.

“To be unjustly accused of voter fraud is just really disgusting, ugly,” Schmidt, the prioress, told The Washington Post.

“To be unjustly accused of voter fraud is just really disgusting, ugly,” Schmidt, the prioress, told The Washington Post...

The Benedictine Sisters are planning to take legal action. Ahead of Nov. 5, just like in homes across the country, “there’s a lot of angst about the upcoming election in our house,” Schmidt said."

York County Libraries halt new purchases of books with sexual content for 17 and under; WCNC, October 15, 2024

Julie Kay , WCNC; York County Libraries halt new purchases of books with sexual content for 17 and under

"York County Library Board of Trustees has decided to halt purchasing any books for minors that include any sexual content. 

The decision, made in a heated special meeting Wednesday night, is a change from their original statement. 

Board Chair Anne Witte previously posted that they would halt purchasing all books for children, until "further clarification and guidance is received from the state regarding Proviso 27.1 and until the Attorney General makes a ruling providing libraries with guidance for collection development.""

An attack of the vapours: Tennessee bill endorses chemtrails conspiracy theory; The Guardian, March 31, 2024

 Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian; An attack of the vapours: Tennessee bill endorses chemtrails conspiracy theory

"Proponents of the debunked chemtrails idea believe that the cloudy white lines created by airplane emissions are chemicals being released into the atmosphere. The idea is that the government, or shadowy private organizations, are pumping out toxic chemicals, with the aim being anything from modifying the weather to controlling a population’s minds.

This is not happening, scientists say.

“There’s no such thing as chemtrails,” said Alan Robock, a climate science professor at Rutgers university...

Numerous debunkings of the chemtrails concept have not succeeded in quieting those fearful of airplane condensation trails. A YouGov/Statista survey conducted in 2019 found that 8% of Americans “strongly believe” that “the government is using chemicals to control the population (chemtrails)”. (A further 11% said they “somewhat believe” in the theory.)...

Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent, said people are drawn to various conspiracy theories because “a simple explanation is often not very attractive”.

“People assume that there must somehow be a bigger explanation, or more going on than people know about. The simple explanations often seem too mundane and not satisfying enough,” Douglas said."

Olympian Johnny Weir funds Quarryville library after Fulton Twp. cuts gift over LGBTQ+ content; Lancaster Online, November 6, 2023

JACK PANYARD , Lancaster Online; Olympian Johnny Weir funds Quarryville library after Fulton Twp. cuts gift over LGBTQ+ content

"When figure skating icon and Quarryville native Johnny Weir heard Fulton Township supervisors were defunding the borough’s library because it offers materials about LGBTQ+ life and culture, he decided to step in.

Weir, an avid supporter of both his hometown and LGBTQ+ causes, announced over social media Saturday that he would cover the township’s annual $1,000 allocation to the library for as long as he could, saying via Instagram that he wanted to “help save a community that raised me and to make sure the library represents everyone, not just the few.”

Weir’s generosity has become contagious."

Governor Shapiro announces ethics rules, training for employees; WABC27, January 20, 2023

George Stockburger, Sarah Willson, WABC27; Governor Shapiro announces ethics rules, training for employees

"Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says approximately 3,500 Commonwealth employees will be required to sign an integrity pledge and participate in ethics training.

Shapiro also announced an executive order regarding the solicitation or acceptance of gifts for executive branch employees. The rule includes “a total prohibition on gifts, discounts, services or any other items or other benefits of any value received from a lobbyist or lobbying firm.”...

The moves were part of a three-part ethics package announced by the Governor’s office on Friday."

Central Bucks is proposing a library policy that targets ‘sexualized content.’ Here’s why people are concerned.; The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 21, 2022

 Maddie Hanna, The Philadelphia Inquirer; Central Bucks is proposing a library policy that targets ‘sexualized content.’ Here’s why people are concerned.

"Facing a packed room of vocal community members Thursday night, the Central Bucks School Board sought to tamp down criticism of a proposed library policy that has spurred fears of censorship and attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The board’s policy committee did end up striking provisions that would have required all new books to gain its approval before they could be added to school libraries, a standard that some called burdensome and that would cede too much power to the board. And although critics said policy language targeting “sexualized content” would encompass too broad a swath of books, the board’s president promised the classics would remain, and there would still be “some discretion.”

But both the ACLU and Education Law Center, which are closely following the district’s actions, said Friday the policy advanced by the committee was still problematic.

“They’re playing with fire here,” said Vic Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania."

Pennsylvania GOP official on Toomey: “We did not send him there to ‘do the right thing’”; Pittsburgh City Paper, February 16, 2021

Ryan Deto,  Pittsburgh City Paper; Pennsylvania GOP official on Toomey: “We did not send him there to ‘do the right thing’”

"We did not send him there to vote his conscience,” said Ball during the TV interview. “We did not send him there to ‘do the right thing’ or whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us.”"

Pennsylvania wades into open data; GCN, 8/26/16

Matt Leonard, GCN; Pennsylvania wades into open data:

"The data currently available on OpenDataPA supports Gov. Tom Wolf’s three governing objectives -- education, employment and government services -- includes prison population numbers, school performance profiles and summary information on well inspections. The state also plans to release datasets from other state agencies on the site...

The administration’s main goals for releasing this data is three-fold: accountability, modernization and innovation. The portal will allow citizens to keep track of government projects, find this information in one place and use if to “make data-driven decisions.”"

Public info, now: As county and city improve, the state stays lousy; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/6/16

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Public info, now: As county and city improve, the state stays lousy:

"County officials in recent days have rolled out new online tools to make certain types of public information more accessible.

Controller Chelsa Wagner on Thursday debuted alleghenycounty.opengov.com, which features graphs, charts and sortable data about spending, vendors, employees, salaries and benefits. She also introduced allegheny.openbookportal.com, providing instant access to contracts with vendors...

Local governments are getting better at providing basic financial and vendor information to the public, and some officials, such as city Controller Michael Lamb, take pride in providing easy access to public information...

Across the state, however, access to public documents is uneven, and obtaining anything beyond routine documents, such as annual budgets, often involves a cumbersome right-to-know process in which the government agency drags its feet and attempts to keep secret anything potentially embarrassing or controversial. Incremental progress on openness should be applauded, but it is important to remember that the larger battle is far from won."

Pennsylvania legislation could shield some of the largest public university salaries from disclosure; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2/25/15

Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pennsylvania legislation could shield some of the largest public university salaries from disclosure:

"Senate legislation intended to require more public disclosure by Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities would, as currently written, enable those schools to shield from the public many of their largest employee salaries — figures they currently release.

Senate Bill 412, introduced this month by state Sen. John Blake, D-Lackawanna, is part of an ongoing effort to revamp Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law that has been working its way through the Legislature for two years.

Mr. Blake said his bill’s intent is to give the public greater insight into the workings of the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and Temple and Lincoln universities, which receive hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars each year but are largely exempt from Right-to-Know requirements.

Indeed, his bill (explore below) would create free accessible online databases with extensive budgetary information, non-personal employee and enrollment data, and would compel the four universities to list vendor contracts above $5,000 and maintain a 20-year archive of minutes from school trustee meetings.

But in one key area of disclosure — individual salaries — the bill’s language appears to be at least a partial retreat."