Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
It was a week of dizzying highs and lows for Pittsburgh, which is still recovering from the 2026 NFL Draft. The event drew a national spotlight and broke records for attendance, drawing more than 800,000 participants – but it also cost at least $3 million, which the city is unlikely to fully recoup. Meanwhile, fans of hickory-smoked BBQ are mourning the loss of the last Western Pennsylvania locations of Smokey Bones, which closed after the chain’s latest owner filed for bankruptcy. The biggest winners in the Steel City this week? A quartet of kittens rescued from a utility trailer at the U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Plant. The furry foursome is recovering from chemical exposure at an area cat shelter.
Keep reading for more winners and losers!
Pennsylvania drivers -
Pennsylvania drivers could soon have multiple ways to display their driver’s licenses if a bill passed by House lawmakers this week ultimately becomes law. The state House voted in bipartisan fashion this week to approve House Bill 1970, a bill from Democratic state Rep. Ed Neilson that would allow PennDOT to issue an electronic driver’s license or ID card to those who already hold a physical driver’s license or ID. Under the legislation, traffic stops would still require a person to show physical ID, and the law, if enacted, would create a process for verifying electronic IDs.
PHEAA grantees -
The price of higher education is growing – and so are the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency’s PA State Grants, which for 2026-27 will increase the maximum student award to $6,000, the highest-ever amount and the first increase in four years. The agency also approved a $15 million supplement to the program.
Philadelphia’s new bus station -
Philadelphia’s former Greyhound bus terminal has a fresh look after $5 million in renovations, with a new waiting room, vending machines and bathrooms available for travelers. The station even has a new name – The Philadelphia Parking Authority Transportation Center – and is scheduled to open early Friday morning, – in plenty of time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and United States sSemiquincentennial celebrations.
Harrisburg School Board kidnapper -
How not to get ahead in local politics: felony burglary, trespassing, and kidnapping of a minor. Those were the charges filed last week against Harrisburg School Board member Jamie Johnsen, who later saw the kidnapping charge downgraded to interference with the custody of children (in this case, a 4-month-old baby). Police say Johnsen broke into a South Middleton house through the window, cut the TV power cord, absconded with the baby the same way she entered – and still showed up for that evening’s school board meeting.
Dr. Ala Stanford -
Dr. Ala Stanford, one of several Democrats seeking the party’s nomination in the state’s 3rd Congressional District, backed out of a scheduled WHYY debate this week just hours before it began, citing the debate’s format and “misogynistic attacks” from her opponents. Her opponents in the primary, state Sen. Sharif Street and state Rep. Chris Rabb, pushed back on Stanford’s claims and said they have defended her when she was heckled at previous forums.
Bimbo Bakeries -
Southeastern Pennsylvania’s corporate landscape feels a little less sweet with the announcement that Bimbo Bakeries USA, the American branch of the Mexican multinational behind Sara Lee and Entenmann’s, is moving its U.S. headquarters out of the Philadelphia area after 17 years. It’s unclear how many of the company’s 600 local jobs will remain, but even after its corporate flagship returns to Texas, Bimbo says the company will continue to serve as the main jersey sponsor of the Philadelphia Union soccer team, as it has since 2011.