This week's biggest Winners & Losers

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Chair Tim Holden has good reason to celebrate this week. The PLCB announced record numbers this week, including record net income and the largest annual sales increase in the board’s history. The state saw a 13.7% increase in sales in the most recent fiscal year, amounting to an increase of $349.4 million in sales. The PLCB also reported $264.9 million in net income, a 26.9% increase from the prior year. With Holden at the helm, liquor sales seem to be flourishing in Pennsylvania. We’ll drink to that.

There will always be debate over whether adding penalties to the Crimes Code is the right way to respond to horrific crimes. But few can deny state Rep. Dawn Keefer’s commitment to protecting Pennsylvanians from the threat of suicide. The House approved legislation from Keefer this week that would levy harsher criminal penalties against those who encourage another to commit suicide. The bill, entitled Shawn’s Law, was named after Shawn Shatto, a Newberry Township woman who took her own life after receiving advice on how to die by suicide from an online chat forum. Keefer’s bill is now on its way to the governor’s desk, where it awaits a signature.

Pittsburgh’s first director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure is leaving for greener pastures. Karina Ricks, who took over the newly created department in 2017, will be joining the Biden administration at the Federal Transit Administration. She helped bring the MOVE PGH program to the region, so perhaps she’ll borrow a city e-scooter for the trip to D.C.

In a week’s time, state Rep. Kevin Boyle was stripped of his committee chairmanship and had his access to the state Capitol curtailed, a rare move that received little public attention until it was reported by Spotlight PA. House Democratic leaders have not commented publicly on what prompted the decision, though Boyle has attributed it to “incorrect information” that was given to the House Democratic Caucus.

This was not what the doctor ordered. Timothy Forester, of Washington County, pled guilty to federal charges he fraudulently obtained and sold painkillers, oxycodone and hydrocodone. The owner of Prescription Center Plus pharmacies now faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. I don’t think insurance will cover those charges.

Even those sworn to protect the law can break it, and in this case, may have done so in horrific fashion. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas was arrested this week and faces charges for rape, strangulation and criminal trespass following an incident last Saturday where he allegedly entered a female acquaintance’s home and attacked her. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro described it by saying the charges are “deeply disturbing.”