Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
City & State
From sunshine to shadow, it was a tale of two Pittsburghs this week. The city’s White Whale Bookstore was named Pennsylvania’s friendliest small business, a cheery blue-and-white emporium that welcomes patrons with a display about local icon of friendliness, Fred Rogers. But a far darker story unfolded on the Steel City airwaves, which heard an as-yet-unidentified misanthrope interrupt a public-safety channel for three straight days with antisemitic, racist and threatening commentary – including paeans to Hitler and a warning that “the mayor of Pittsburgh will be killed soon.” City and county officials are working with the FCC to shed light on the creepy episode.
Keep reading for more winners and losers!
PA National Guard -
Pennsylvania’s own won an award far from home. In Huntsville, Alabama, a team of soldiers from the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th Infantry Division won the innovation category at the U.S. Army’s inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition. The project – which utilized a drone equipped with AI-enabled object-recognition software to identify downed drones and a robotic, 3D-printed, carbon fiber arm with a claw to grab the downed drones and fly them back – took home first place in three categories: Best Operator, Best Tactical Squad and Best Innovation.
Philly-area hospital systems -
If the health of a region depends on the health of its hospitals, Philadelphians should be in good shape this year. Six of the region’s eight nonprofit health systems announced their finances improved during the first half of fiscal 2026. The most profitable health system continues to be the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, while Jefferson – which has undergone restructuring after recent mergers – and Temple University Health System both reported losses.
Pittsburgh river law -
How would it look if the nation’s top athletes landed in Pittsburgh for the NFL draft next month – only to have their vistas marred by rotting, abandoned boats? Not good, according to the Pittsburgh Safe Boating Council, a coalition that is leading an effort to rid the city’s famous tributaries of marine blight – at least 21 sunken and derelict vessels, some decades old. A new state law that took effect in January accelerates the process of identifying the owners of the hulls and coordinating removal efforts.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Robbers -
A group of seven men accused of staging distraction-style robberies at rest stops along the Pennsylvania Turnpike in April 2023 have pleaded guilty. The men – John Black, Wendell Compton, Robert Murphy, Darrell Noel, Robert Chandler, Adam Smith and Danny Williams – each pleaded guilty to five counts of third-degree felony robbery, according to Attorney General Dave Sunday, landing each of them with a minimum three-month prison sentence for literal highway robbery.
Quantum gravity program -
This story comes off as a PA-centric dystopian Mad Libs: Jeffery Epstein, the convicted child-sex solicitor and frequent donor to scientific research programs, reportedly made a common mistake, mixing up Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that while Epstein noted his interest in the “Quantum Gravity Program” at Penn, there is no such program. The reporting found that Epstein was actually funding researchers working on a similarly named program based at Penn State in the 1990s.
Banilla Games -
Ahmedine Maham, a Philadelphia convenience store clerk, is suing the North Carolina-based skill game manufacturer Banilla Games, alleging that the high amount of cash required to be on hand for gaming payouts contributed to a September 2025 armed robbery that led to him getting shot in the face. The suit was filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas this week and could complicate ongoing efforts in Harrisburg to regulate skill game machines, which currently are not taxed or regulated under the state’s gaming statutes.