Which Pennsylvanians are grateful this year

County and election officials across the Keystone State must be feeling thankful that the election went as smoothly as it did, with an outcome that was both clear and early – compared to 2020 and pundits’ worst fears – obviating conspiracy theories and legal battles. Minor skirmishes over the counting of improperly dated mail ballots in the U.S. Senate race’s automatic recount were resolved without the kind of drama seen in recent past elections, while President-elect Donald Trump’s indisputable victory ensured that Pennsylvanians wouldn’t revisit the tussles over vote certifications that have kept election officials up at night.

The No. 4-seeded Lady Hawks field hockey team upset top-seeded North Carolina in the Final Four, but were later vanquished by second-seeded Northwestern in the championship – a bittersweet end to a storybook season. And while the team will lose nine graduate students and two seniors, the 2024 team’s legacy will go down in program and school history.

Southeastern Pennsylvania’s transit system and its commuters are feeling grateful that for now, buses, trains and trolleys will continue to run as usual – thanks to a $153 million emergency infusion from Gov. Josh Shapiro. The last-minute cash helps plug a $240 million deficit hole that SEPTA had warned would necessitate drastic service cuts and fare hikes and lead to the system’s eventual “death spiral.” And transit officials bought time to right a system that, despite a 20% drop in ridership, has seen its costs climb 9% since 2019, while fares contribute a paltry 19% of revenue – half that of New York City’s MTA. Meanwhile, riders still have to worry about poor underground air quality in stations that Villanova researchers recently determined contain as much as 10 times the concentration of dangerous pollutants as the air outside.

All Pennsylvanians should be thankful for the first responders who have worked to protect the commonwealth against a historic spate of wildfires this year, particularly in the fall, with the state experiencing more fall wildfires than it did this past spring, according to StateImpact Pennsylvania. As for the firefighters themselves? They’re likely thankful that weather forecasts anticipate increased humidity and lower temperatures – both things that could prevent more fires from occurring.