This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

It was an auspicious week for Pennsylvania classrooms. Cellphones may soon be machina non grata in schools across the commonwealth, thanks to bipartisan legislation advanced this week by the state Senate Education Committee, which voted unanimously on a measure teachers have long advocated for. And in Greene County, Madeline Loring, a fourth-grade instructor at Jefferson-Morgan Elementary School, was named Pennsylvania’s Teacher of the Year.

New moms are especially fortunate in Central Pennsylvania, where Penn State Health’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center has been designated a 2026 High Performing Hospital for Maternity Care by U.S. News & World Report, its highest recognition. WellSpan Health’s Ephrata, York and Chambersburg hospitals and UPMC’s Lititz, Harrisburg and Carlisle locations were also lauded for excellence in maternity care.

Water isn’t getting more expensive – for now. The Public Utility Commission voted 5-0 this week to suspend and investigate a proposed rate hike from Pennsylvania American Water, which services about 682,000 water customers and 97,000 wastewater customers in 37 counties. The roughly 14.6% proposed increase – estimated at about $20 per month – is on ice until the PUC looks into the proposal further. 

Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams’ questionable ethics exploits continue. According to a report from PennLive, Williams has yet to pay a $912.70 fine levied by the State Ethics Commission, which is now more than 45 days overdue. The commission found Williams violated state ethics laws by using city-owned dumpsters to dispose of personal trash. A spokesperson for Williams said the mayor wasn’t given a deadline, but the Ethics Commission’s order stated that the fine was due within 30 days of Sept. 22, when the order was issued. 

The Pretzel Belt seems to be tightening in this economy. Our Home, a snack manufacturer whose brands include Food Should Taste Good and Popchips, announced it’s set to close its chip manufacturing facility in Berlin, outside of Pittsburgh. The company said it will begin laying off its 96-employee workforce in February, with the full facility closing by December 2026 – a salty situation.

Capitol Presort Services, a state-contracted vendor, failed to deliver roughly 2.7 million pieces of mail from state agencies to Pennsylvania residents last month, prompting the state to terminate the company for failing to fulfill its contract. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Harrisburg-based vendor failed to send letters from the Department of Human Services and the Department of Transportation. The state has since entered into a $1 million emergency contract with another company, Pitney Bowes, to address the backlog of letters.