By Tim Lambert | Editor-in-chief

By Peter Hall

While Pennsylvania has long been among the states most affected by Lyme disease, the incidence of other tick-borne illnesses is unknown because there’s no requirement to report them to public health authorities, state lawmakers heard Wednesday.

The commonwealth had more than 16,000 reported cases of Lyme disease in 2024, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which tracks the bacterial infection nationwide. There were also more than 1,000 cases of anaplasmosis, another common bacterial disease transmitted by deer ticks. 

“We know that there’s more than that going on,” said Erika Machtinger, a Penn State associate professor of entomology and leader of the Penn State Extension Vector-borne Disease Team. “But Lyme disease is only the most visible part of the problem. Pennsylvania ticks are associated with many different pathogens.”

By Ian Karbal

In the past year, FirstEnergy Pennsylvania has seen a growing number of attempted malware and cyberattacks around their critical infrastructure. 

“Our defensive systems block tens of thousands of automated malicious connection attempts against public facing services each month,” said Brian Harrell, the chief security officer at the company that serves 2.1 million electric customers across 56 counties in Pennsylvania. “These statistics underscore why cybersecurity requires constant attention and continual enhancement.”

In the last few years, criminal and state-sponsored actors have increasingly targeted critical infrastructure across America and Europe. And as utilities and grid infrastructure increasingly rely on internet connections to function, bad actors’ tools have become more sophisticated.

By Whitney Downard

As a wheelchair user who’s relied on home care services since breaking his neck playing high school football decades ago, Theo Braddy knows the importance of getting good assistance.

“You’re hearing from someone who knows the difference attendant caregivers and direct care workers bring to the table,” he said. “Unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s home care system is already fragile. We lost a lot of small- and middle-sized providers during the (COVID-19) pandemic, and we have not been able to recover from that.”

As the executive director for the National Council on Independent Living, he helps advocate for others with disabilities, including two phone calls last week from people who couldn’t get out of bed or use the restroom without assistance. Neither could secure home healthcare. 

But the industry, already struggling with low wages, is also vulnerable to wage theft. According to state Secretary of Labor and Industry Nancy Walker, nearly 40% of the agency’s Minimum Wage Act complaints come from home care workers. 

By Sydney Roach of WPSU

The alleged ringleader of a cocaine trafficking operation at two Penn State fraternities is out of jail, after a judge reversed a decision denying him bail.

That decision was part of an hours-long preliminary hearing Wednesday at the Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte.

Jonathan Grine, the Centre County judge presiding over the case, granted Agostino Abbatiello a $250,000 secured bail, with certain conditions. Abbatiello will have to live with his parents, avoid contact with any witnesses, avoid consuming drugs or alcohol, and have his attorney keep his passport.

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