Winners & Losers

This week's biggest Winners & Losers

This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

By City & State

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From animals to audits, we’ve got you covered for the week in Pennsylvania. A Skippack couple was in for a surprise when they came across nearly half a million bees that had been living in the walls of their home for almost 35 years. As the homeowners are feeling the sting from paying for the bee removal and renovation, Tioga County critics are feeling one from their local state senator. County commissioners began receiving death threats for their decision to not submit voting machines for an election audit. State Sen. Cris Dush, who has expressed support for an audit, condemned the threats, stating that he is outraged by the behavior. 


Scroll down for more of this week’s winners and losers!

WINNERS:

Conor Lamb -

Conor Lamb hasn’t even officially entered the Democratic primary for Sen. Pat Toomey’s U.S. Senate seat yet, but he’s already picked up a key endorsement: that of Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s endorsement brings some early political weight to Lamb’s burgeoning U.S. Senate campaign, with Lamb expected to clash with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (also a western Pennsylvania native) in the early stages of the Democratic primary. Buckle up, folks, because this one’s going to get intense.

Drew Svitko -

Drew Svitko and Gus (the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania, duh) are likely celebrating this week, because the Pennsylvania Lottery, for once, was the one that hit the jackpot. Lottery officials announced a record profit of more than $1.3 billion during the 2020-21 fiscal year, which will go toward programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians. The lottery also broke another record, selling more than $5.3 billion in traditional games, such as scratch-off tickets, Powerball and Mega Millions. Now, if only we were as lucky with our scratch-offs as the lottery was last year, eh?

Thomas Parisi -

As many tenants worry about the eviction moratorium ending, one Berks County judge stepped up for those in need. President Judge Thomas Parisi issued an order allowing district judges to stay eviction orders for up to 90 days while renters seek emergency relief. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court backed up the decision, approving the request to pause cases for up to 60 days if someone is waiting on a relief application. As the federal moratorium comes to a close, it’s nice to see a local official lending a hand.

LOSERS:

Kevin Boyle -

Under the new president, it’s not often a Twitter fight makes it into political news. But this week, state Rep. Kevin Boyle attacked Philadelphia City Councilman Isaiah Thomas in a Twitter post after Thomas referenced the city’s spiking homicide rate and police reform bill. Boyle criticized Thomas for “playing the race card” and for his efforts to “further restrict policing.” The tweet was promptly deleted, and Thomas put out a statement saying it’s not the first time the two friends disagreed. My friends don’t call me a “total fraud” often in public, but maybe that’s just me.

Daniel Hawbaker -

This week probably wasn’t a good one for Daniel Hawbaker, the president of state construction contractor Glenn O. Hawbaker, Inc. After charging Glenn O. Hawbaker with four counts of theft for alleged Prevailing Wage Act violations earlier this year, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced this week that the State College-based construction and design firm pleaded “nolo contendere” to the four counts and agreed to pay $20 million in stolen wages to over a thousand workers in Pennsylvania. Hawbaker? More like lawbreaker, amirite?

Anna Marie Shreiner -

Anne Marie Shreiner’s jail time will likely be a lot longer than first anticipated thanks to a phone call she made on May 19. The Strasburg-resident was set to be arraigned that morning on drug charges, before she decided to call in a bomb threat to the magisterial district judge’s office. Shreiner allegedly told a staff member on the phone “you’re gonna blow up today. There’s a bomb in there and you don’t know where it is.” As a result, the building was evacuated and police issued a warrant for Shreiner’s arrest. She’s already facing drug charges, so why not add terroristic threats to the list?

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