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Special Projects & Investigations

The Waiting Game

Pauletta Fajinmi waited more than six months to receive help from a Pennsylvania program to help homeowners recover from the pandemic.

Backlogs and bottlenecks have dragged out wait times for a $350 million Pennsylvania mortgage relief program.

An illustration of the Nittany Lion sleeping on top of Old Main.

A yearlong Spotlight PA/CDT investigation of misconduct reporting systems at the university reveals widespread distrust, fear of retaliation, and reports of wrongdoing getting lost in the shuffle.

Voting Guides 2023

Pennsylvanians will be asked to vote on races for state Supreme Court, Superior Court, Commonwealth Court, and more in 2023. Here’s what you need to know to make an informed vote.

Shapiro's Promises

Gov. Josh Shapiro in his Capitol office.

In the coming months, Spotlight PA will track Shapiro’s progress on some of the key commitments he made on the campaign trail.

A Criminal Solution

Rachel Bridgeman spent 49 days in Allegheny County Jail waiting for treatment at a state hospital because a court found her incompetent to stand trial.

Determining whether someone is mentally fit to stand trial in Pennsylvania often traps them in the very place making them worse — jail.

Tioga borough, in northern Pennsylvania, seen in the fall from a bird's-eye view.

After Tioga hired Timothy Loehmann, long-simmering personal grudges and infighting exploded and brought local government to a halt.

Voting Guides 2022

The 2022 election for governor, U.S. Senate, and more in Pennsylvania could dramatically change the course of the state. Here’s what you need to know to make an informed vote.

One Vote, Two Pennsylvanias

This series clearly articulates through policy proposals and issue-based reporting the vastly different visions the candidates for governor have for the future of Pennsylvania.

In parts of rural Pennsylvania where internet speeds lag, some local governments are building their own broadband networks.

An obscure state law could blunt the impact of up to $1 billion in federal funding for Pennsylvania’s broadband expansion.

Compassionate Release

There are few ways for people getting older behind bars to get out unless their death is imminent.

State Sen. Tommy Tomlinson (R., Bucks) is shown here holding a sports betting ticket at Parx Casino. Tomlinson’s office asked lobbyists for the casino to write language for a bill to ban skill games.

Draft bills and late-night emails reveal cozy ties between Pa. state lawmaker, casino lobbyists.

Cannabis Card Game

A peeling billboard with a cannabis leaf, illustrating that Pennsylvania state regulators do little to ensure medical marijuana dispensaries are making accurate medical claims online.

A yearlong investigation into Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana card program, including questionable health claims, weak oversight, and unfair rules.

The Final Moments

In a redacted video released by the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, Christian Hall’s final moments are obscured. In unredacted footage obtained by Spotlight PA and NBC News, Hall is shown with his hands remaining in the air as troopers opened fire and struck Hall three times.

Christian Hall, 19, had his hands up when police fatally shot him, videos show.

Pat Loughney (right) cared for his wife, Candy, in their home until she became ill after eating medicated soap. Candy is one of 280,000 Pennsylvanians over the age of 64 living with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia.

The number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to swell exponentially in Pennsylvania, one of the oldest states in the nation. But efforts to prepare are falling short.

Unemployment Error

The state overcharged thousands of people millions of dollars in unemployment interest payments.

Tyler Cordeiro died of an overdose in October 2020 after being told he couldn't access treatment while uninsured and using medical marijuana.

Failure by Pa. officials to clarify rules around medical marijuana, addiction treatment had serious consequences

The PSERS Scandal

Chronicling an FBI investigation into Pennsylvania's $64 billion public school pension fund and the resulting fallout.

Taxpayers foot huge bill to run Pa.’s full-time legislature, but are blocked from many details.

Fundamental Flaws

Ian Kalinowski’s brother, Adam, died by suicide in 2014 while he was a client at a treatment center run by Addiction Specialists Inc., in Fayette County. An Allegheny County judge later said the business, two of its owners, and an ASI physician were negligent in caring for Adam.

A Spotlight PA/KHN investigation shows the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs uses an inherently flawed oversight system that does little to ensure high-quality or effective care.

The Milton Hershey School

An ongoing collaborative investigation with The Philadelphia Inquirer and ProPublica into oversight and operations at the Milton Hershey School, the wealthiest precollege educational institution in the U.S.

Short Days, Big Benefits

Despite good salaries, pensions, and health care paid by taxpayers, some of Pennsylvania’s elected magisterial district judges enjoy short days and light workloads.

At Risk, In The Dark

Tim Boyce — the emergency manager in Delaware County, where the Mariner East pipelines cut through a population of roughly 3,000 people per square mile — said planners like himself need more information from Sunoco. “You can’t just keep telling people, ‘It’s OK, don’t worry about it.’ We owe it to them to have thought this through beforehand,” he said.

As the Mariner East pipelines become a permanent underpinning of Pennsylvania, secrecy and a patchwork of emergency plans have left many communities in the dark about what to do in case of an accident.

'Highway Stop-and-Frisk'

A police cruiser on the highway

How Pennsylvania state troopers conduct illegal traffic searches.

An ongoing investigation into Pennsylvania's failure to help families at risk of eviction during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Dark Money Mystery

Next in line to lead the state Senate, Jake Corman helped raise cash for a nonprofit whose donors — and agenda — are largely a secret.

Condemn, Discuss, Repeat

Ada Bailor, a student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, said the "campus doesn’t allow Black students to feel safe."

Students of color say Pennsylvania's higher education system follows a tired formula to respond to racism instead of enacting the support they need.

Coronavirus Tracker

Live updates on the latest numbers of Pa. coronavirus cases, as well as a county-by-county coronavirus map.

Live updates on the latest numbers of Pa. coronavirus cases, as well as a county-by-county coronavirus map.

Decided in Secret

The Wolf administration decided the fate of thousands of businesses during the coronavirus shutdown with almost no transparency.

Big Spending, Little Accountability

The most powerful lawmaker in the Pa. Senate, Joe Scarnati, dined at the St. Peter Stiftskulinarium restaurant in Austria in September 2016 and charged $246 to his campaign account. State law requires campaign money to be used for “influencing the outcome of an election,” but what qualifies is largely open to interpretation.

A year-long investigation into how Pennsylvania lawmakers obscured nearly $3.5 million in campaign spending from 2016 through 2018.

State Police Race Data

The Pennsylvania State Police stopped tracking the race of drivers who get pulled over, making detecting potential racial bias nearly impossible.

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