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What last week’s election means for 2020

  • Ed Mahon
Elaine Paul Schaefer (left center), Christine Reuther, and Monica Taylor celebrate their historic win for the 3 open seats on the Delaware County city council. Their win flips the majority on the council for the first time in county history. They celebrated at the Democratic election night party in Swarthmore November 5th 2019.

 Emily Cohen for WHYY

Elaine Paul Schaefer (left center), Christine Reuther, and Monica Taylor celebrate their historic win for the 3 open seats on the Delaware County city council. Their win flips the majority on the council for the first time in county history. They celebrated at the Democratic election night party in Swarthmore November 5th 2019.

NPR’s The Indicator recently visited Lancaster County to look at why the economy is so great there (despite having traits similar to counties that continue to struggle). Some things going in Lancaster County’s favor: farming, tourist attractions, a revitalized downtown and population growth (thanks in part to immigration).  A Part II of the episode is expected soon, focusing on the way that immigrants “contribute to the Lancaster economy in other interesting, subtle ways,” according to co-host Cardiff Garcia. –Ed Mahon, PA Post reporter

As suburbs get bluer, GOP gets stronger in rural areas

Emily Cohen for WHYY

Elaine Paul Schaefer (left center), Christine Reuther, and Monica Taylor celebrate their historic win for the 3 open seats on the Delaware County city council. Their win flips the majority on the council for the first time in county history. They celebrated at the Democratic election night party in Swarthmore November 5th 2019. (Emily Cohen for WHYY)

Best of the rest

Ximena Conde / WHYY

Pa. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean says her legislation would protect service members from harassment. (Ximena Conde/WHYY)

  • Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, a Montgomery County Democrat, wants to protect military service members from aggressive debt collection tactics, including threats of punishment through the Uniform Code of Military Justice. WHYY’s Ximena Conde has the details.

  • WHYY’s Nina Feldman looks at ways to reduce suicide among veterans. Her story includes details from a recent trip to Philadelphia by U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie who praised the use of acupuncture, tai chi and yoga to help veterans. “The culture is changing, and along with that, people are doing better,” he said.

  • Our newest PA Post reporter, Joseph Darius Jaafari, has a piece today about formerly incarcerated men who voted in last week’s election. Pennsylvania allows people who have completed their sentences to regain their voting rights. Joseph includes some powerful photos in his story.

  • Joseph came to us after working at The Marshall Project, a news organization focused on the criminal justice system. A story he worked on there was published on Monday. It describes how a 24-year-old veteran became the victim of a “sextortion” plot — allegedly carried out with contraband cell phones by inmates at South Carolina maximum security prison.


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