This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Keli Neary, who most recently served as executive deputy attorney general for the civil law division in the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, is the latest Pennsylvanian to be nominated by President Joe Biden for a U.S. district court seat. Biden nominated Neary this week to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, a move that drew praise from U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman. Fetterman said her time in the AG’s office was “marked by a tireless defense of the Constitution and the rights of Pennsylvanians,” while Casey praised her “extensive” legal experience.

Prosecutors have charged nine men who allegedly ran a gun-trafficking ring in the Philadelphia region. Montgomery County authorities said the men, who bought and sold guns in the region, made the guns “exponentially more deadly” by using 3D printers to make switches, which convert handguns into automatic weapons and to produce silencers.

These Adams County girls are twinning and winning. Twins Emma and Sarah Simmons, seeing their parents depend on telehealth appointments with doctors during the pandemic, saw a better way for doctors to gather medical data such as respiration rate – and turned the idea into an award-winning invention. Their Respitronics invention, which involves placing a belt made of conductive fabric around the patient, allows the doctor to receive clinical-level readings digitally during telehealth appointments – and culminated in a first-place finish among ninth-grade entries in the nationwide eCYBERMISSION competition. 

A 26-year-old fashion designer was taken into custody by an FBI tactical squad this week after being charged with four federal counts related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Tristan Sartor, the Westmoreland County designer, was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building and disorderly and disruptive conduct, among other charges, per the outlet. Sartor’s sense of style reportedly helped agents track him on Jan. 6.

Nearly 70 plaintiffs are suing 10 juvenile detention facilities across Pennsylvania, alleging that they were sexually abused as kids while housed in the facilities, according to The Associated Press. Some plaintiffs said they were repeatedly raped by staff members and were threatened by staff if they reported the incidents. Per the outlet, 22 accusers were housed in the Northwestern Academy facility outside of Shamokin, and another 20 accusers spent time at state-run facilities near Gettysburg and in Danville. 

The audit of state bridge inspections, in an abridged version, revealed “concerning inconsistencies” in critical reviews. State Auditor General Tim DeFoor said his office’s latest findings show that PennDOT inspection documentation varied based on where bridges were located and who was scrutinizing them. DeFoor said the agency does have strong safety requirements for rundown bridges – in fact, they exceed national inspection standards – but must do a better job of complying with them.