By Tim Lambert | Editor-in-chief
“You can see a brand-new piece of equipment coming to the site … that’s going to connect the plant to the grid and to the transmission wires you see across the countryside. This is the first, big component we’re having delivered to the site, and that’s the exciting part.” — Bryan Hanson, the chief generation officer for Constellation Energy, after plans to restart the former Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Dauphin County took another step forward.
A good Tuesday morning to you. We are a day away from the start of one of the great traditions in the commonwealth — the Little League World Series in South Williamsport. 10 days. 20 teams. One champion.
If you’ve never had a chance to soak in the atmosphere of the tourney, I highly recommend it. Back in 2015, I covered Red Land’s magical run to the final before the squad came up short against Tokyo Kitasuna from Japan. To watch a Pennsylvania team get that close to the LLWS title was pretty unforgettable.
Thanks for starting your day with us. As always, we deeply appreciate you reading, sharing and supporting our work. -- Tim
A specialized heavy-haul transporter delivers a 500,000-pound transformer to the Crane Clean Energy Center at Three Mile Island on Aug. 17, 2026. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
By Whitney Downard
On a hot, muggy day, the long-awaited arrival of a 500,000-pound transformer in Dauphin County signaled “outward, visible progress” of Constellation Energy’s intent to restart nuclear energy generation at the former Three Mile Island plant for the first time in years.
“You can see a brand-new piece of equipment coming to the site … that’s going to connect the plant to the grid and to the transmission wires you see across the countryside,” said Bryan Hanson, the chief generation officer for Constellation. “This is the first, big component we’re having delivered to the site, and that’s the exciting part.”
The $9.88 million transformer from South Korea traveled from ocean liner to train to a specialized heavy hauler that inched its way along the final stretch through the island’s north gate in Londonderry Township just after 11 a.m. on Monday.
Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery) and Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery) were among lawmakers who rallied to push PJM on clean-energy projects and on holding data centers accountable for their power needs. (Photo by Christine Condon/Maryland Matters)
By Mayah Nachman of Maryland Matters
Data centers have become a contested issue in Maryland in recent years, and as local governments are facing more opposition to the facilities, many are taking time to understand how they should move forward.
Currently, 13 counties have enacted temporary data center moratoriums, with two voting earlier this month, and more counties are considering a pause. Several have decided to pause data center development in recent weeks. Many say these moratoriums will give them the time to research the potential impacts of the facilities in their communities and issue appropriate regulations for them.
A statement from the Maryland Tech Council said local governments have a responsibility to examine how data centers fit in their communities, but that many of the concerns associated with the facilities are “misunderstood or vastly overstated.”
Pennsylvania’s deputy game wardens typically do law enforcement patrols and investigations, nuisance wildlife control, hunter-trapper education classes and educational programs according to a now deleted page on the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s website. (Photo courtesy of the Pennsylvania Game Commission)
By Sydney Roach of WPSU
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is ending its Deputy Game Warden program on September 1, affecting about 140 wardens across the state.
A Game Commission spokesperson said the decision “reflects our focus on having the most efficient and effective full-time professional law enforcement workforce.”
Deputy wardens are part-time or volunteer workers who assist district game wardens with investigations and patrols, nuisance wildlife control, hunter-trapper education classes and educational programs.
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Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday (center, at podium) points to a poster highlighting the two alleged main suppliers for a cocaine-trafficking ring at Penn State’s University Park campus. (Courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services)
By Sydney Roach of WPSU
Pennsylvania’s Attorney General says more than a dozen current or former Penn State students at the University Park campus are facing drug trafficking charges.
All but one of the 14 people accused of drug trafficking were students at University Park during the multi-year investigation period. State College police and a Grand Jury are investigating alleged cocaine trafficking in 2023 and 2024.
One person was a student’s father, who allegedly tried to obstruct the investigation.
TODAY IN THE CAPITAL-STAR
Parents held responsible for their kid’s crimes under new laws: When young children and teenagers get into trouble, the question often comes quickly: Where were their parents? That question is again shaping public policy in communities across the country, as state and local lawmakers and prosecutors increasingly look for ways to respond to concerns about youth crime.
Families push states for more scrutiny of domestic violence deaths: Families who believe local officials prematurely ruled their loved ones’ deaths suicides or accidents — rather than investigating whether domestic violence played a role — are pushing lawmakers in a growing number of states to require additional scrutiny.
ICYMI
Pa. lawmakers propose guardrails on automatic license plate cameras: As Pennsylvania lawmakers proposed measures to better regulate the use of automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) and the data they gather, a major purveyor of the technology announced last Thursday it would tighten the optional controls on how police use its system.
Philadelphia stands out for its approach for revisiting felony murder: In two recent GOP-led meetings, county district attorneys across the state repeatedly spoke about the oncoming “chaos” created by the state legislature’s failure to create a sentencing structure for felony murder. The discussions took place in the wake of a state Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life sentences were unconstitutional.
UMWA calls for ‘immediate’ enforcement of silica rule: The United Mine Workers of America made an “urgent demand” of the federal government for the “immediate, uncompromised” enforcement of previously approved policies and rules that would protect coal miners from incurable black lung disease. The call from the UMWA comes after new research shows black lung rates have increased to an almost 50-year high.
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