This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Rick Ebert recently added to his long list of accomplishments in Pennsylvania agriculture. The farmer and former Pennsylvania Farm Bureau president received the bureau’s Barnraiser Award, which goes to people who have “spent a lifetime in dedicated leadership to the agricultural committee,” with current bureau president Chris Hoffman saying Ebert exemplifies service to agriculture.

Another commonwealth canine is getting some well-deserved acknowledgment from his peers. K9 Rom, a member of the Pennsylvania State Police who was critical in tracking down escaped murderer Danilo Cavalcante, was honored at the National Dog Show in Montgomery County for his role in aiding in the capture of Cavalcante.

At long last, the saga between the Satanic Temple and Saucon Valley School District has finished. In what the ACLU is calling a “victory for free speech and religious liberty,” the Satanic Temple will collect $200,000 from the school district after it prohibited an “After School Satan Club” from meeting on school grounds. The judge ruled the school district “likely violated” the First Amendment and must pay for attorney’s fees in the case.

We’re not sure what’s gotten into the commonwealth’s mayors recently. One DUI case spotlighted this month was that of Michael Moreno, the mayor of Stroudsburg. Moreno was arrested in Wind Gap, Northampton County in September after he ran out of gas, and when asking police for assistance, displayed signs of driving under the influence of alcohol. Moreno, who was elected mayor during the Nov. 7 election, was also charged with a DUI in May 2022.

A Mechanicsburg man has been charged in a one-count criminal complaint with the interstate transmission of threatening communications. In layman’s terms, Robert Lee Ingalls, Jr. was charged with threatening to kill a congressman after allegedly leaving two voicemail messages on the main congressional office answering system in Washington, D.C., where he threatened to kill an unidentified U.S. congressman. Authorities have yet to reveal the congressman’s name, but Ingalls was arrested on Nov. 10. 

In another mayoral mishap, McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko was arrested and jailed in Nashville this month after reportedly becoming belligerent at the Whiskey Row gastropub. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Cherepko was charged with public drunkenness and criminal trespassing for returning to the location after being asked to leave. Cherepko has since issued an apology to constituents, calling the development “an embarrassing situation.”