Today in PA | A PennLive daily news briefing with Claudia Dimuro

Efforts in Western Pennsylvania to help monarch butterflies were ruined after someone released a bunch of the endangered species prematurely. After getting cancelled throughout the pandemic, weddings are booming, and florists are struggling to keep up with the flower demands. Pennsylvania has the second-most student debt in the country. Finally, there’s magic in the air in Pittsburgh.

Cops called it an “honest mistake” after a box of guns got delivered to a school in Delaware County. Meanwhile, Highlands High School is contending with only 70 percent of its students coming to classes. Pittsburgh International Airport is bringing back some of its nonstop routes. And a professor helps out with a discovery of Jurassic (okay, Cretaceous) proportions.

The Lycoming County DA has stated that Williamsport’s recent spike in crime is linked to gang violence. A recently introduced bill offers temporary fixes to Pittsburgh’s homelessness issues in the hopes the city will be able to concentrate on finding long-term solutions. The remains of a teenager who died serving in the Korean War will finally come home. Plus, a hoagie-inspired potato chip is the one that represents Philadelphia the best.

Bars in Pittsburgh’s South Side may start checking people’s driver’s licenses as a way to weed out “problem customers.” York has “sort of” placed the kibosh on washing your car. A new initiative in Philadelphia will sell the city’s fallen trees as lumber. And a friendly neighborhood alligator’s up for “America’s Favorite Pet.”

Workplace fatalities went up by about 30 percent across 14 counties within in the past year. As the universal meal deal is set to expire at the start of this school year, one senator has introduced legislation that seeks to keep meals free for students. Work on revitalizing a wetland in a Philadelphia park has begun. Plus, a 20-foot sunflower grows in Dauphin County.

The state government has launched a new unit that will specifically investigate financial exploitation cases with senior victims. Pittsburgh plans to launch a pilot program that will offer 50 low-income residents free transportation to their jobs. The Mütter Museum will allow the public to come into its medical library for the first time ever. And a woman celebrates turning 102 by hitting the slots.

Pennsylvania has joined a multi-state lawsuit against a finance company whose practices were deemed “predatory.” A school in Harrisburg is shortening its school day due to a lack of teachers. A former coal plant which “stood as a testament to our post-industrial past” is being dismantled. Plus, a man got a little something extra with his clam order.

A Potter County company who fired an employee suffering from cancer due to COVID concerns must pay $184,000 as the result of a lawsuit. The margin between the wages of Pennsylvanians and inflation is growing. You could be seeing more hummingbirds at your feeder. And will Pennsylvania’s cities be able to survive a zombie apocalypse?

A $20 million facility where research on self-driving vehicles will be conducted is coming to Westmoreland County. The National Aviary in Pittsburgh is looking to keep the ivory-billed woodpecker off the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s extinction list. Farmer’s markets have proven to be quite the boon to local economies. Lastly, here’s Pennsylvania’s favorite food truck order.