— TribLive: Pittsburgh Leaders, Residents Seek Answers After Poor-Rated Bridge Collapses: ‘It Is Outrageous’ [The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Provide Needed Resources To Address These Issues, But Also Mine Reclamation, Plugging Oil & Gas Wells Left Behind By Conventional Drillers, All But 1 Republican Voted Against It In PA]

— AP: Federal Investigators Vow To Put Collapsed Pittsburgh Bridge Under A ‘Microscope’

— TribLive: 1 In 8 Bridges In PA Rated In ‘Poor’ Conditions: ‘It’s A Resource Problem’

— TribLive Editorial: Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse Shows Infrastructure Failings

— PG Editorial: Bridge Collapse Won’t Be Last Infrastructure Failure

— PG Editorial: Repairing Western PA’s Other Regional Superhighway: The Rivers

— COVID Pandemic In PA

— Dept. Of Health Weekly Update On COVID Trends In Cases, Vaccinations, Hospitalizations

— Inquirer: Declining COVID Surge A Promising Sign, But It’s Not Over Yet

— PG: New COVID Cases Drop By Nearly Half In Allegheny County

— MCall: Lehigh Valley COVID Case Rate Plummets 72% In 12 Days

— ScrantonT: New COVID Cases Trending Upward Again In NE PA

— CitizensV: NE PA Hospitals Still Stressed As COVID Patient Numbers Level Off

— MCall Guest Essay: Lehigh Valley Health Systems – Hospitals Need Your Help Ending COVID Surge

— WilliamsportS: Community Marks 472 Local Deaths Due To COVID

— TribLive: COVID Surges Through Westmoreland County Prison

— AP: General Assembly Fast-Tracks $225 Million More In Pandemic Aid To Hospitals

— Gov. Wolf Celebrates Passage Of Bipartisan Bill Providing $225 Million To Support Health Care Workforce

— MCall – Ford Turner: PA Senate Approves Spending $225 Million To Recruit, Retain Nurses, Other Bedside Hospital Workers

— PA Cap-Star: Patient Limits For Nurses Bill Has Majority Support, But Won’t Advance In Harrisburg, Why?

— WITF: With PA Hospitals Desperate For Nurses, ‘Travelers’ Make The Best Of A Bad Situation

— TribLive: Holding Onto Hope Inside A COVID ICU: ‘It’s Like Working In A War Zone’

— TribLive: PA Hospitals Wrestle With Nurse Staffing Issues As Pandemic Drags On

— AP: PA Deploys First ‘Strike Team’ To Ease COVID-Related Hospital Crunch In Bucks County

— PennLive: Patients Still Waiting Hours In ER For Care In Central PA Hospitals

— WHYY: Chester County Limits COVID Contact Tracing Amid High Community Spread

— Inquirer: PA Nursing Homes Playing Catch Up On Staff Vaccinations As Mandate Starting

— PA Cap-Star: Wolf, Lawmakers Need To Release Pandemic Relief Funds To Nursing Homes

— TribLive: How To Pick Up Free N95 Masks In Western PA

— PG: Medical Debt Buries Some Employees At UPMC

— AP: State Prisons To Halt In-Person Visitation Thru February Due To COVID-Related Staff Shortages

— COVID – Schools

— LancasterOnline: Large Majority Of Lancaster County Children Are Unvaccinated, Data Shows

— TribLive: Federal Court: 2 Different Decisions On School Masks In Pittsburgh, Same Facts

— TribLive: Federal Court Issues Injunction Ordering Upper St. Clair Schools To Keep Mask Requirement In Place

— ReadingE: Masks Optional And No Encouraging COVID Vaccines In Hamburg Schools

— PG: Carnegie Mellon Plans Return To Mostly In-Person Classes

— Opioid Epidemic

— AG Shapiro: All 67 Counties Join Opioid Settlement

— Inquirer: Here’s How Much Each PA County Will Get From Opioid Settlement

— WESA: Allegheny County Expected To Get $90 Million As Part Of Opioid Settlement

— Inquirer: Philadelphia Joins $1 Billion Opioid Settlement And Is Getting At Least $186 Million

— PA Cap-Star: PA’s Opioid Settlement Is Bad For Philly, DA Says, As He Waits For Another Deal

— PennLive: PA Plans Better Help For Children Born Into Addiction, Including Undoing Pandemic Harms

— School Funding/Administration

— Inquirer: 4 Highlights From Landmark PA School Funding Trial, As Plaintiffs Rest Their Case This Week

— Inquirer: Decisions In Philly Schools Revenue-Driven, Not Needs-Driven, CFO Testifies At School Funding Trial

— CitizensV: Superintendent Details Funding Hardships At Wilkes-Barre Area Schools In School Funding Trial

— PA Cap-Star: What The Right For Voting Rights And PA School Funding Lawsuit Have In Common

— ErieT Guest Essay: A Quality Education… With A Side Of Fries [School Funding Trial]

— CitizensV Editorial: Fair School Funding Would Have Huge Impact On Students’ Futures

— PA Cap-Star: U.S., PA Students Getting More Diverse, Their Teachers Aren’t

— Spotlight PA: Massive Republican Tax Credit To Fund Private Schools Lacks Basic Accountability, Report IFO Finds [Diverting Funds From Public Schools]

— Gov. Wolf Repeats Call For Private Charter School Reform Legislation

— Inquirer: Taxpayer Funded Private Cyber Charter Schools Grew Faster In PA Last Year Than Any Other State

— PA Cap-Star: Study PA Private Cyber-Charter Schools Lead On Cost; Lag On Results

— Spotlight PA: PA School Pension Fund Won’t Require Board Members To Sign Secrecy Oaths To Hear Investigation Report

— YorkD: York Suburban School Board Member Faces Global Conservative Backlash For Op-Ed

— PG: Pittsburgh School Superintendent Says ‘This Is Not Who We Are’ Amid Recent Spate Of Violence

— PG: Pittsburgh School Officials Offer Few Solutions To Ongoing Turmoil

— TribLive: 2 Teens Charged In Fight Involving Pepper Spray At Pittsburgh H.S.

— WESA: ACLU Finds Allegheny County Students Arrested More Often Than Anywhere Else In PA

— PennLive: Police Officer Uses Stun Gun Against Middletown H.S. Student Who Broke Free Of His Grasp And Was Walking Away

— PG: Pittsburgh Promise Unveils Scholarship Aimed At Increasing The Number Of Black Educators In City

— YorkDR: York Is A Microcosm Of The Collateral Damage That ‘Just Ripples Out’ From Youth Violence

— WITF: Midstate School Districts Grapple With Substitute Teacher Shortage

— ErieT Guest Essay: Erie County Community College Offers Region New Opportunity And Access

— MCall Guest Essay: How My Generation Ended Up Overeducated, Underemployed And Buried In Debt – Kutztown & Lehigh University Grad

— LancasterOnline: Elizabethtown College To Bridge Leadership Gap With Interim President

— Gun Violence/Law Enforcement

— WITF/AP: PA Lawmakers OK Veto-Bound Bill Aimed At Killing Local Gun Laws

— Gov. Wolf Vows To Veto Republican Bill Preempting Local Gun Ordinances

— ScrantonT Editorial: At PA Capitol, It’s Ready, Fire, Aim On Reducing Weapons Trafficking

— ScrantonT Editorial: Gun Violence Requires Broad Response

— PA State Police: Gun Background Checks Increased 11% In Last Quarter Of 2021

— PennLive – Jan Murphy: Republican House Members Call For Extending Attorney General’s Jurisdiction To Address Philly Gun Violence

— WHYY: Philadelphia Releases Findings After Reviewing Over 2,000 Shootings In City– 80% Of Shooting Victims, 79% Of Those Arrested For Shootings Are Black

Inquirer: A Philadelphia Committee Spent 18 Months Examining The City’s Gun Violence Crisis, Here’s What It Found

— WHYY: Philly DA: City’s 2022 Murder Rate Already Outpacing Record-Deadly 2021

— Gov. Wolf Announces $23 Million In 2nd Round Of Gun Violence Intervention And Prevent Grants

— ScrantonT: Loaded Gun Stolen From Sen. Marty Flynn’s Car Used In August Shooting By Teenager, Police Say

— ScrantonT Column: ‘Dirty Marty’ Votes For A Gun In Every Glovebox [Sen. Marty Flynn]

— ScrantonT Editorial: Sen. Flynn’s Carelessness With Guns Mirrors His Carelessness On Gun Legislation

— LancasterOnline: ATF Agents Seize Illegal Guns From Leacock Twp. Property

— AltoonaM: Blair County Eyes Gun Rights Sanctuary Language

— ScrantonT: 2 Teens Charged In Plotting Columbine-Style Attack On Dunmore H.S. Waive Hearings

— Inquirer: Philly DA Discusses Gun Violence After Officer’s Son Gunned Down

— KYW: Son Of Philadelphia Police Officer, Killed In Targeted Shooting, Sources Say

— PG – Tony Norman: Mysterious Shooting Death In Venango County, Family Deserves Real Answers

— PG Editorial: Pittsburgh Mayor Should Release Jim Rogers Investigation

— AP: Driver Charged In Alleged Dragging Of Philly Police Officer After SUV Stop

— WHYY: Philadelphia Man Cleared After 37 Years In Prison Sues City

— WITF/PennLive – Charles Thompson: Cumberland County Unveils New Mental Health, Counseling Program For First Responders

— Gov. Wolf Announces $4.5 Million Available For Organizations Targeted By Hate Crimes To Increase Security

— TribLive: Accused Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Says Jury System Is Flawed, Wants Charges Dismissed

— PennLive: ‘Intimidating’ Stickers Left On Jewish Center At Dickinson College

— PG Editorial: Antisemitism Is A Sickness We Can’t Allow To Spread

— MCall/TNS: Poconos Resort Under Fire After Video Of Black Guests Wrongly Accused Of Shoplifting Goes Viral

— TribLive: Civil Rights Activist And Pittsburgh Resident Alma Speed Fox Has Died

— PennLive: Republican-Led Chambersburg Becomes First PA Town To Revoke LGBTQ Inclusive Law

— PennLive: Lawmakers Call For Anti-Discrimination Statute After Chambersburg Revokes LGBTQ+ Ordinance

— PG Editorial: Treating Addiction In Jail

— PA Economy

— Gov. Wolf Accelerate Deadline For $15/Hour Minimum Wage For State Employees

— Gov. Wolf: Stop Disrespecting Workers By Finally Raising The Minimum Wage

— Gov. Wolf: DCED Secretary Dennis Davin To Depart; Neil Weaver Named Acting Secretary

— PA Housing Finance Agency To Launch $350 Million Pandemic PA Homeowner Assistance Fund Feb. 1

— WESA: Need Help Paying Your Mortgage? New PA Program Opens Next Week

— MCall: Lehigh Valley Renters Struggle To Find, Keep Affordable Housing As Prices Spike

— PennLive: PA Restaurants Hope For Even More Financial Aid As They Struggle ‘More Than They Did In 2020’

— MCall Guest Essay: How My Generation Ended Up Overeducated, Underemployed And Buried In Debt – Kutztown & Lehigh University Grad

— PG: Report: Smaller Companies Sidelined In PA’s Legal Pot Market