“Every time we properly exercise our environmental rights, our due process rights and get that favorable outcome, we are strengthening what it means to have the Environmental Rights Amendment. We are demonstrating to the rest of the nation why it is so important to have this kind of constitutional protection.” — Maya K. van Rossum, founder of Green Amendments for the Generations, whose group filed a lawsuit against the commonwealth, claiming parts of its planning code clash with the state and U.S. constitutions.

A good Monday morning to you. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine is extended another day (these old bones are still recovering from Saturday — worth it).

Since the Morning Guide gets a break on Sundays, I’m going to use a tidbit of Pennsylvania history from October 4. On that date in 1906, the dedication of the state Capitol building in Harrisburg took place. President Theodore Roosevelt was the featured speaker and declared it was "the handsomest state capitol I have ever seen.”

We think so too, Mr. President.

Thanks for starting your day with us. As always, we deeply appreciate you reading, sharing and supporting our work.  -- Tim 

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Hiring slows in September with job growth of 29K: Jobs across the United States rose by 29,000 in September, a disappointing result as recent growth was also revised down in Friday’s monthly jobs report, the last one before midterm elections. 

Here’s what’s driving the Gen Z gender gap in Pa. and elsewhere: Every generation has an ideological gender gap — and Gen Z is no different. A new poll from The 19th and YouGov sheds light on how young men and women are shaped by certain historical moments and tend to diverge on issues of gender and reproductive rights.

District attorney elections linked to more prison admissions: County and local district attorneys oversaw higher state prison admissions during election years than in other years during the height of the nation’s “tough on crime” era, according to a new study.

Community groups lose HIV-prevention money as feds redirect dollars: Nearly 100 community-based organizations have lost their federal HIV-prevention grants this week as the Trump administration redirects dollars to state and local health departments.

Trump administration walks away from disability rights enforcement: A court battle that began when conservative-led states sued to block protections for transgender people has ended in a rollback of safeguards for people with disabilities — a result disability advocates have feared for months.

Pa. House panel passes proposals on data center costs: As electricity customers absorb more price hikes, state lawmakers considered three proposals to keep costs in check as the industry prepares to serve fleets of data centers.

Mail-in ballots heading out in counties across the state: More than one million Pennsylvanian voters have requested a mail-in ballot ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election, with counties reporting nearly 64,000 returned ballots at the end of September.

A new era begins for WPSU: Central Pennsylvania public broadcasting station, WPSU, is officially separated from Penn State. WPSU is now part of WHYY under an agreement the Philadelphia-based station and Penn State finalized this week.

Carnegie Mellon University got a record $3 billion donation: The largest donation to U.S. higher education leaves unanswered questions about how CMU will spend half of Pittsburgh’s share of the investment and has prompted scrutiny from some students over donor Kenneth Griffin’s new seat on its governing board.