By Emily Previti | Audio Reporter
“If you don't know any better, you're ignorant. If you know better, you're lying.” — U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, Republican incumbent in Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District, to Democratic challenger Rachel Wallace during their first and only debate.
On this day in 1939, the Philadelphia Eagles were defeated by the Brooklyn Dodgers, 23-14, in the first televised professional football game. It aired on NBC.
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Pennsylvania Skill Games in a Delaware County convenience store. (Peter Hall/Capital-Star)
By Peter Hall
A deal between state lawmakers to legalize and tax skill games is dead, leaders in the Democratic-controlled House said Wednesday.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) said Senate Republicans were unable to muster votes needed to pass a skill games bill in the upper chamber, dashing hope for an agreement before the end of the legislative session next month.
“I think it’s the worst kept secret in this building that over the last couple days we’ve been negotiating, trying to get skill games done,” Harris told the Capital-Star. “But at this juncture, the Senate Republicans have created a problem and have killed the solution, and therefore I don’t see that happening.”
U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser is running for a fifth term representing Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District, a GOP stronghold, against challenger Rachel Wallace, a Democrat. (Headshots provided by respective campaigns. Graphic by Emily Previti/The Pennsylvania Capital-Star)
By Emily Previti
Pennsylvania’s deep red 9th Congressional District has elected Republican Rep. Dan Meuser by increasing margins since his first run in 2018.
Meuser’s seat is still considered safe, but he's facing a strong challenger in Democrat Rachel Wallace.
The 9th Congressional District stretches through the state’s coal region into the northern tier. It covers all or part of a dozen counties including Schuylkill, where the candidates debated Tuesday night outside Pottsville.
Democrat Janelle Stelson, left, will challenge incumbent GOP Rep. Scott Perry, right, in the race for the the Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District in 2026. (Headshots courtesy Stelson and Perry campaigns / Courtesy of Janelle Stelson for Congress // Scott Perry for Congress)
In his attempt to hold onto his congressional seat, Republican Scott Perry released an ad through his campaign that misleadingly accuses his political opponent of public nudity.
The ad presents the claim about Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 10th congressional district, Janelle Stelson, without evidence, WITF found. It includes what looks like a real legal document but is not.
“This false accusation is a pathetic, desperate attempt by Scott Perry to rescue his failing campaign, with easily disproven lies,” said Alma Baker, Stelson’s campaign manager. Stelson had a 26-year career as a TV reporter at WGAL, retiring in 2023 as a nightly news anchor.
“Unfortunately, as a woman on television, Janelle has been a victim of stalking and harassment before,” Baker said. “Now she is a victim of Perry’s supporters making up totally unsubstantiated claims to smear her reputation.”
Leigh Carroll, purple shirt, embraces another meeting attendee after a paid parental leave bill passes Allegheny County Council at the Allegheny County Courthouse, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Downtown. (Photo by Danny Arensberg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
By Oliver Morrison, Pittsburgh’s Public Source
Many employees in Allegheny County will soon be eligible to receive up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after council this evening passed the first policy of its kind in the country.
The policy will go into effect one year after County Executive Sara Innamorato signs the bill.
Businesses with 15 or more employees will be required to offer the leave. The employee count requirement was added as a concession to small businesses — and the length of the leave was shortened from 18 weeks — after the county received more than 1,400 public comments.
Still, the new policy marks a major victory for Innamorato, who advocated for its passage while sharing her own experience of pregnancy.
Students in Christine Persun’s classroom in Mechanicsburg Middle School. (Submitted by Christine Persun)
By Sydney Roach of WPSU
Teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers, especially in rural Pennsylvania, and researchers say school districts and lawmakers can help reverse the trend.
A team of researchers at The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford recently shared their findings in a report published in the journal “Educational Studies.”
“The teacher crisis has reached catastrophic levels,” said Jonathan Chitiyo, an education professor at Pitt Bradford, the director of the campus’s teacher education program and the report’s lead author.
Chitiyo said his team surveyed 90 teachers in rural school districts throughout northwestern Pennsylvania. They found teachers leave for several reasons, including low pay, lack of resources and not feeling recognized for their work.
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TODAY IN THE CAPITAL-STAR
Research links birth centers to better health outcomes, but 10 states have none: Birth centers can be an attractive option for pregnant patients seeking fewer medical interventions and a more “home-like” childbirth experience that is still attended by professionals. A new report suggests more could be built with certain state policy solutions and different models of care.
In six states, ballots include bans on noncitizen voting: Federal law already does this for federal elections, and no state allows noncitizens to vote in statewide elections. Sponsors of these measures say they want to preemptively bar local governments from allowing noncitizens to vote.
US Supreme Court allows gender-affirming care for trans people in federal prisons: President Donald Trump’s executive order had prevented the Bureau of Prisons from providing gender-affirming care to transgender inmates. A lower court order that blocked the policy from going into effect will remain in place for now, and gender-affirming healthcare for transgender inmates will continue.
ICYMI
Bill to legalize, regulate, restrict who can ride e-scooters passes state House: It would also allow Pittsburgh, Scranton and more than 50 other cities to establish e-scooter sharing programs. The legislation passed by a 176-27 vote and heads to the Senate for consideration.
Has Trump had a chilling effect on mail voting? In Pennsylvania, the early data is inconclusive: So far, Democratic mail ballot requests are down from both 2022 and 2024, but there could be several reasons for that. For instance, the 2022 election took place amid a lingering pandemic and 2024 was a higher-turnout presidential election.
Pennsylvania elections chief highlights voter rights two weeks ahead of Election Day: Voters have a right to privacy without being subject to intimidation, harassment or discriminatory conduct. They can also request language and literacy assistance at their polling place from anyone who isn’t their employer, union representative or the judge of elections at that location.
Tioga County man charged with sending death threat to state lawmaker: Staffers for Rep. Jamie Walsh (R- Luzerne) received a series of “unhinged” emails between June and October. The complaint notes the Pennsylvania State Police Political Violence Threat Unit also received notifications that the defendant left voicemails at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office containing non-specific threats.
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