Every week, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star recaps our top stories with Natalie Bencivenga's The Week in Focus. 

It’s a way to get caught up on some news you might’ve missed in just a few minutes as you head into your weekend.

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country

Our theme music is Americana by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.  

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

The race to represent Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District is expected to be one of the closest in the country. 

Its outcome could determine which party controls the U.S. House.

With less than three months until the election, it’s not just Democrats and Republicans making headlines. 

A little-known Green Party candidate is stoking big controversy.  

And The Pennsylvania Capital-Star's Ian Karbal looked into it.

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country.

Our theme music is Dusk by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

In the vast majority of states, businesses have to file reports every year or two. That includes Pennsylvania, as of 2025, when the law in the commonwealth changed from just once per decade. 

But it turns out that some of the same legislators who enacted the new rule have not been following it. More than two dozen of them disclosed income or a financial interest in companies that had overdue filings or weren’t registered with the state at all.  

Ethan Young, a Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association Intern, broke the story and sat down to talk about his reporting. 

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country.

Our theme music is Dusk by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

Every week, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star recaps our top stories with Natalie Bencivenga's The Week in Focus. 

Natalie's on vacation, but she'll be back next week to get you caught up on some news you might’ve missed in just a few minutes as you head into your weekend.

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country

Our theme music is Americana by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.  

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

State law requires the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to document underground mining damages to properties and the environment, and publish its findings every five years. 

This mandate on DEP took effect in 1994 -- and now, an environmental group is claiming the latest publication has major issues.

The Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s Ian Karbal asked DEP officials about it and they've defended their approach as robust.

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country.

Our theme music is Dusk by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

Pennsylvania expects to get nearly $1 billion during a five-year stretch through the federal Rural Health Transformation Plan. 

Some of that money will go toward launching the state’s Primary Care Medics initiative. 

The goal is for trained medical professionals to make house calls to triage care. And the hope is that they’ll help extend the reach of doctors in rural communities, where providers are in short supply on top of – and often tied into – other health disparities. 

The Capital-Star’s Whitney Downard sat down recently to talk about her reporting on this program. 

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country.

Our theme music is Dusk by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

Every week, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star recaps our top stories with Natalie Bencivenga's The Week in Focus. 

It’s a way to get caught up on some news you might’ve missed in just a few minutes as you head into your weekend.

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country

Our theme music is Americana by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.  

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

Pennsylvania lawmakers passed the state budget within a couple weeks after their deadline this year –  a dramatic departure from some other years, including negotiations in 2025 that lasted 135 days.

A big factor driving the duration of budget talks seems to be whether an election is coming up – as it is this year for half the state Senate, the entire state House and the Governor’s office.

In fact, according to the Capital-Star's analysis of timelines during the past two decades: budgets are not only more likely to be late during non-election years, they also take about three times as long to negotiate. 

We had more questions and wanted more context. 

So, we talked to Christopher Nicholas, a longtime Republican strategist and founder of Eagle Consulting, and Berwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. 

Our conversations have been edited for length and clarity.

For more perspectives, including from sitting lawmakers, check out this digital story. 

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country.

Our theme music is Dusk by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

This year marks two decades since Pennsylvania independently raised its minimum wage. 

In 2009, a federal mandate increased it to $7.25 per hour.

But state legislative efforts since then to increase it have failed. 

And this session has been no different.

Emily Scolnick talked with some of the lawmakers and workers behind the longtime push in the commonwealth. 

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country.

Our theme music is Dusk by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License. 

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work. 

Every week, the Pennsylvania Capital-Star recaps our top stories with Natalie Bencivenga's The Week in Focus. 

It’s a way to get caught up on some news you might’ve missed in just a few minutes as you head into your weekend.

Folo PA features Pennsylvania-focused audio journalism that emphasizes context, accountability and community impact. 

The podcast is hosted and produced by the Capital-Star's Audio Reporter Emily Previti, with editing by Editor-in-Chief Tim Lambert. Episodes feature the work of Tim, Emily and the rest of the team as well as media partners throughout the commonwealth. Listeners also can expect content from States Newsroom's Stories from the States podcast and sister outlets across the country

Our theme music is Americana by Mr Smith, courtesy of the Free Music Archive licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International License.  

Learn more at penncapital-star.com. You can subscribe to our newsletter, The Morning Guide, there – and support our work.