Three Marines killed in America’s longest war

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Patrick Semansky / Associated Press

A U.S. Marine Corps carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman on April 11 at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

From The Context, PA Post’s weekday email newsletter:

‘We have never forgotten we’re at war’

Patrick Semansky / Associated Press

A U.S. Marine Corps carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman on April 11 at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

• Philly.com’s Jason Nark talked with the family of Staff Sgt. Christopher K. A. Slutman, a decorated New York City firefighter who was one of three Marines killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last week. Slutman’s parents live in York County. “Everybody loved him,” Slutman’s father told Nark. “Everybody has reached out to say they loved him.”

• One of the other Marines killed was 31-year-old Sgt. Benjamin Hines, a 2006 graduate of Dallastown Area High School in York County, the York Daily Record reports.

• Several dozen service members from Pennsylvania have died as part of the 17-year war in Afghanistan. Late last year, a special tactics airman and a soldier from western Pennsylvania were killed by a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan.

Best of the rest

Jacqueline Larma / Associated Press

Pennsylvania state House Rep. Summer Lee, D-Allegheny, right, and Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Allegheny, left, take the oath of office Tuesday Jan. 1, 2019 in Harrisburg.

• The Washington Post profiled three new Pennsylvania state representatives — who were all elected with the support of the Democratic Socialists of America.

• A Bucks County police officer will not face criminal charges after shooting a man in police custody, Philly.com’s Vinny Vella reports. The officer mistakenly grabbed and fired his gun instead of a stun gun, the Bucks County district attorney said. A somewhat similar case in York County did lead to criminal charges against a police officer last year, although in that case the person was shot while handcuffed.

• GoErie.com profiled a dairy farmer who sold his cows and shut down the farm. The number of farms in Erie County fell from 1,422 to 1,162 between 2012 and 2017, Jim Martin reports.