By Tim Lambert | Editor-in-chief
“There happens to be … something special going on that I can't necessarily put my finger on why it's become as big of an opposition as it has.” – Igal Feibush, founder and CEO of Pennsylvania Data Center Partners, on the backlash in some communities over proposed data centers.
A good Tuesday morning to you. Today marks the first day of our transition to a new email platform to help us deliver our newsletters more reliably and make a few improvements along the way. What won’t change: you’ll still get the same reporting and updates you rely on and expect from the Capital-Star.
On this day in 1868, Thaddeus Stevens died at the age of 76. A ferverent abolitionist, he served several terms in the U.S. House, supported civil rights, and helped draft the Fourteenth Amendment, among a litany of other accomplishments. He is buried in Lancaster.
Thanks for starting your day with us. As always, we deeply appreciate you reading, sharing and supporting our work. -- Tim
The Montour Steam Electric Station rises above farmland the plant’s owner wants to rezone to allow Amazon to build data centers. (Photo by Peter Hall/Capital-Star)
By Peter Hall
In many communities where data centers are proposed, there has been strong public opposition. It stems from the reputation the data center industry has earned in hotspots such as northern Virginia and Memphis, Tennessee, as noisy, polluting and dominating communities.
Other concerns include depletion of groundwater in areas where people rely on wells and spikes in energy costs as increased demand for electricity meets constraints in the supply.
Community stewards and public officials in three Pennsylvania counties, Cumberland, Lycoming and Montour, have met data center proposals with varied responses, from unquestioning acceptance to organized community resistance and rejection.
A state trooper inside a Pennsylvania State Police Mobile Command Center on Jan. 29, 2026. (Photo by Ian Karbal/Capital-Star)
By Whitney Downard
Violent crime rates are down across the nation and commonwealth, and 2026 numbers appear to be even lower so far. Homicides alone fell by 23% between 2023 and 2024, which is near historic lows.
“There’s a lot of good news in the data, and some warning signs as well that we need to be vigilant about,” said state Attorney General Dave Sunday. “In many cases, (the crime rate) actually is at or below 2019 levels, getting us back to the levels that we saw prior to the pandemic-era surge in violent crime.”
Sunday, speaking at a bicameral Republican policy committee meeting in Hazelton, cautioned that drug offenses are still increasing, noting the state had seized more than 56 million doses of fentanyl in 2025.
ICE agents and Springdale Borough police handcuff two men pulled over along Freeport Road by Target in Harmar on July 23. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
By Halle Stockton of Pittsburgh’s Public Source
Amid a major expansion of ICE’s workforce and immigration enforcement nationwide, the agency is seeking 60 parking spaces in Pittsburgh. Federal officials have not said whether the request reflects an increase in local enforcement activity.
The Pittsburgh spaces are part of a broader search near ICE facilities in 14 cities nationwide, according to a federal procurement notice published July 21 under the title “DHS-ICE-SurgeParking.” Responses to the notice were due Aug. 7.
The notice says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting market research for surface or structured parking “in the vicinity of existing or planned ICE facilities.” In Pittsburgh, the agency is seeking 60 contiguous spaces within what the notice calls the “CBD,” an acronym it does not define but can sometimes mean central business district.
Independent reporting on Pennsylvania's state government that impacts communities statewide — free to read and republish.
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A sign noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer cards for food aid is displayed at a grocery store in California. Upcoming shifts in the federal food stamp program are poised to cost states billions of dollars, raising fears that more Americans will lose access to the nation’s largest food assistance program. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Amelia B. Minaret of The Conversation
Food assistance is one of the most effective tools for fighting poverty in America. New federal rules are testing that reputation.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, helps low-income people afford groceries. The program’s benefits reach far beyond the grocery bill, with research linking the program to better outcomes for K-12 students and improved overall health among participants.
However, new federal policy changes are making the program harder for many families to use, and participation is shrinking.
In Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, the number of people who get SNAP benefits has decreased by about 12% since 2025. SNAP enrollment rates vary widely across the Greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area – from 31% of residents in Fayette County to just 13% in Butler County.
TODAY IN THE CAPITAL-STAR
With new tactics, ICE reaches new high in monthly arrests: Federal immigration agents are employing new tactics — from arresting academics at airports to setting up a checkpoint at a popular creek in a National Forest — to boost their arrest numbers, leading to more arrests in July than in any previous month of the Trump administration.
New drug-resistant fungal disease increases among vulnerable patients:
Pennsylvania and 27 other states this year have reported more than 3,500 cases of patients sick with the drug-resistant yeast candida auris, which can cause severe illness and is often reported in healthcare facilities. In the Northeast, only New Jersey and Pa. reported cases.
ICYMI
More data center proposals keep coming to Pa. So does the outcry.: An influx of users to the Facebook group Pennsylvania Data Center Resistance reflects the surging discourse about data centers across the state, seen in grassroots social media groups, internet search traffic, and the flurry of bills sponsored by state lawmakers.
State police cover more municipalities than ever: Municipalities across Pennsylvania are shuttering their local police departments, requiring the state police to expand coverage. The state police has begun providing full-time coverage to 21 more municipalities since 2023, bringing its statewide total to 1,325 municipalities that comprise over 80% of the commonwealth.
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