This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday endorsed four Democrats running in state Senate races, looking to lend his political clout to candidates running in races that could determine control of the chamber. The candidates – Jim Wertz, Nicole Ruscitto and state Reps. Patty Kim and Nick Pisciottano – are seeking election to the General Assembly’s upper chamber in this November’s elections. If Democrats pick up three seats this fall, they will take the majority in the chamber with Democratic Lt. Gov. Austin Davis serving as a tie-breaking vote on certain occasions.

Two Republican state senators saw their legislation pass through the chamber this week. State Sen. Lisa Baker’s bill amending and extending the underground utility line protection law – alongside the law’s 50th anniversary – passed the upper chamber, as did state Sen. Michelle Brooks’ bill extending lemon law protections to motorcycles. Here’s to protecting drivers and those working along the roadways.

First responders from across the commonwealth are lending a helping hand to communities affected by Hurricane Helene, the storm that devastated portions of the southeastern U.S. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that Pennsylvania Task Force 1 – a team that responds to disasters in Pennsylvania and other locations across the country – traveled to North Carolina to assist with recovery efforts. The Fire Department Relief Mission of Western Pennsylvania is also helping with recovery efforts, according to KDKA, as is the American Red Cross of Greater Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Education Department had strong words for former Norwin School District Superintendent Jeff Taylor and said the district violated civil rights laws when it allowed what the U.S. Department of Education called repeated, racially harassing conduct over 10 months in 2021. The district, which agreed to a seven-point plan to comply with the law, reportedly failed to remedy the effects of harassment and to eliminate the racially hostile environment after one student informed the administration about social media posts with students wearing Confederate flag clothing. The department also raised concerns about posts that promoted the hanging of Black people and setting them on fire.

Attorney General Michele Henry’s office announced that two former Penn State University students were sentenced over a hazing incident that resulted in the death of Timothy Piazza in 2017. The students, Brendan Young and Daniel Casey, were sentenced by a Centre County court this week and will serve between two and four months in prison. Young and Casey previously pleaded guilty to hazing and reckless endangerment charges, according to the AG’s office.

The AG’s office had a busy week. Henry also announced charges against Kaahir Teagle, a man accused of attempting to defraud the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue of more than $1 million by making online deposits to his income tax account using stolen bank account information. Teagle, a 22 year-old from Philadelphia, is charged with numerous felonies, including theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, identity theft and access device fraud.