A sign reads "STOP. The beach is closed. Do not proceed beyond this point. No life guard on duty. Violators will be deemed as tresspassers and will be subject to punishment by the law." At right, in the background, is the edge of City Island Beach.
Brett Sholtis / WITF
Brett Sholtis / WITF
A sign reads "STOP. The beach is closed. Do not proceed beyond this point. No life guard on duty. Violators will be deemed as tresspassers and will be subject to punishment by the law." At right, in the background, is the edge of City Island Beach.
The last one left an impression even though I only watched a few episodes. I didn’t realize until reading this Vox article about the show’s 25th anniversary that the acclaimed teen drama had a Pa. connection: It is set in the Pittsburgh suburbs. –Ed Mahon, PA Post reporter
Brett Sholtis / WITF
A sign reads “STOP. The beach is closed. Do not proceed beyond this point. No life guard on duty. Violators will be deemed as tresspassers and will be subject to punishment by the law.” At right, in the background, is the edge of City Island Beach.
WITF reporter Brett Sholtis went looking for a “keep out” sign on Harrisburg’s City Island Beach for a story he wrote on water quality problems in the Susquehanna River. Brett found one but says it is pretty easy for any would-be swimmers or fishermen to miss.
Why it matters: An environmental advocacy group says it found dangerous levels of E. coli in the Susquehanna River, based on samples taken from City Island Beach and locations near the state office complex and the governor’s residence from June 15 to July 31.
Tom Pelton, spokesman for the non-profit watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project, said Harrisburg’s nearly century-old water system is to blame, as it “combines sewage and storm water and intentionally pipes raw human feces and urine directly into local rivers and streams” during heavy rainfall.
Our neighbors down river, no surprise, are concerned. The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has requested a briefing from Pennsylvania officials, as the Susquehanna River is the main source of fresh water for Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is pointing out that the governor’s Restore PA / severance tax plan would establish a storm water control grant program.
Bill Gorman / AP Photo
In this 2014 file photo, from left, Patrick Boyle, Linda Boyle, Lyn Coleman and Jim Coleman hold a photo of their kidnapped children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlan Coleman, who were taken by the Taliban in late 2012. The couple was freed in 2017.
Caitlan Coleman, a former Taliban hostage who grew up in York County, spoke to The Washington Post about her five years of imprisonment. She also alleges her husband, who was captured with her in 2012, abused and tormented her. “The whole captivity with the Haqqani network, obviously it was horrible,” Coleman said. “But in my mind, it paled in comparison to what was going on in my personal life.” Her husband faces criminal charges in Canada, including sexual assault and assault with a weapon, according to the CBC.
On the politics beat, The Washington Post took a look at the important role that Pennsylvania voters who skipped the 2016 presidential contest could play in 2020.
The Inquirer’s Joseph N. DiStefano takes a deep look at the two Twitter accounts of Pa. Treasurer Joe Torsella. Faithful Context readers might recall that back in July we thought one of those Twitter accounts was surprisingly funny. One interesting thing about DiStefano’s piece is that he focuses on the different ways the two accounts share the same criticism of private-equity investors.
I didn’t know the Masters of Musical Whistling international festival was a thing. But I feel invested in it after listening to this story about one of the competitors. Martin Melville, a self-described Quaker logger from Centre County, talked to WPSU’s Anne Danahy about trying to gain respect for whistling as an art form.
