This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

With a unanimous vote from the state Senate this week, Wendy Spicher was officially confirmed as secretary for the Department of Banking and Securities after being nominated by Gov. Josh Shapiro back in July. Spicher, who has been with the department since 2008 and has more than 25 years of experience in the banking sector, gets to lose her “acting” title now that she has been confirmed.

Animal welfare advocates have been calling for updates to the state’s Dog Law for years, arguing that the dog license fees in the statute – which regulates dog breeders and kennels – needed to be increased to cover the cost of enforcing the law. After years of unsuccessful efforts, lawmakers sent such a bill to Shapiro’s desk and the governor signed it this week, giving a big win to the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement, as well as canines across the commonwealth.

With no shortage of focus on judicial races this election cycle, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s endorsement of Supreme Court candidate Dan McCaffery is nothing to scoff at. After one-on-one interviews with each candidate, the Inquirer’s Editorial Board determined that while both candidates have a breadth of experience, Republican candidate Carolyn Carluccio’s responses, which included eliding on abortion rights and questioning the 2020 election ultimately resulted in McCaffery getting the nod.

Fallout from the Palestine Writes Literature Festival that took place on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus continues. Weeks after the event – which featured several speakers who were previously accused of antisemitism – the school’s administration faces an overwhelming backlash from donors, many of whom are pulling their funds and calling on the Ivy League institution’s president to resign.

Outside of several weeks of legislative inaction during the U.S. House’s speakership saga, there were plenty of losers to come out of the House Republicans’ leadership shuffle. One of the defeated candidates includes U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, whose run for speaker lasted just over 24 hours – prompting the creation of a new political time measurement.

A former hospital director in Doylestown is facing felony charges for allegedly embezzling upwards of $600,000 from a charitable hospital account. According to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, from 2008 to 2021, Doylestown Hospital director Norma Galagarza reportedly made more than 890 unauthorized transactions that totaled $604,702.29, which she used to pay taxes, cell phone bills, car payments and credit card payments.