This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Pennsylvania has a trio of star students in its congressional delegation. According to an analysis from Roll Call, U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, Brian Fitzpatrick and Summer Lee all had perfect attendance for House votes in 2023 – making them part of a select group of 18 House members who made it to every vote in the calendar year. That’s certainly not a bad statistic to have on your side in an election year. 

A Philadelphia jury delivered a $2.25 billion verdict against Monsanto, the maker of Roundup weed killer, deciding in favor of John McKivison, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma "after using Roundup on his property for 20 years," according to his attorneys. The verdict includes $250 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages.

Yinzers have something to celebrate this week: the naming of the Allegheny River as Pennsylvania’s River of the Year. The waterway, which starts as a stream in Potter County and flows through six western Pennsylvania counties, won the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ title and its riverkeepers will receive a $10,000 grant in recognition. For anyone upset their local river didn’t get the nod, tell them to go cry one. 

A Lancaster County Democrat has dropped out of a congressional race after he threatened a reporter at a campaign event over the weekend. Democrat Dave Baker, a 60-year-old Elizabethtown resident, threatened a reporter after telling them he “sold marijuana openly” in the past, according to LNP. Per the report, Baker retroactively asked for the comments to be kept off the record after making the comments on the record, and reportedly told the reporter “I will come after you” after his request was rebuffed. Free campaign advice: threats and politics don’t mix. 

A Cumberland County man – both a Mormon church group leader and chief operating officer of the Bravo Group in Harrisburg – has been charged with failing to report child sex abuse accusations against a former bishop, Boy Scout leader and lawyer in central Pennsylvania. The man, Rhett Hintze, has been placed on leave at the Bravo Group and faces one count of failure to report child abuse in connection to the July 2023 charges against Shawn Gooden. 

A new report from state Sen. Art Haywood’s office examines student experiences with racism at PASSHE universities, outlining “significant deficiencies” at the state-owned institutions when it comes to racism. The deficiencies highlight several areas of improvement the system can make, including the development of an incident reporting system, mandatory diversity training and hiring more faculty and staff of color. The report was informed by a listening tour with PASSHE students, and while it raises tough challenges for the system, Haywood made clear to thank PASSHE administrators and university presidents, showing a collaborative effort between lawmakers and education officials.