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Endangered status proposed for eastern hellbender | StateImpact Pennsylvania

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Endangered status proposed for eastern hellbender | StateImpact Pennsylvania


  • Rachel McDevitt

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Eastern hellbenders are indicators of good water quality.

Courtesy: Pa. Department of Environmental Protection

Eastern hellbenders are indicators of good water quality.

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing new protections for the eastern hellbender five years after denying endangered status for the state’s official amphibian.

“This is definitely a massive win for the species, for the habitats and the areas in which they thrive,” said Ted Evgeniadis, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper.

Evgeniadis’s organization, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and others, sued in 2021 over Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2019 determination that the eastern hellbender did not warrant protection. Last year a federal judge vacated the 2019 decision and ordered a new finding.

The eastern hellbender – which can grow to be 29 inches long and live up to 30 years – breathes through its skin, and needs cool, clean water to thrive. Its population has been shrinking, due to stream sedimentation, poor water quality, disease, habitat loss and collection for use as a pet, according to FWS.

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The Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association said extreme storms due to climate change are also  devastating hellbender populations. In a statement on the proposed listing, it said, “Hurricane Helene destroyed the healthiest part of their range in North Carolina, and forest damage and contamination from the storm will continue to pollute these areas.”

Less than 60% of documented hellbender populations still exist. Of those, only 12% are stable and 59% are in decline, according to FWS. Eastern hellbenders historically were found across Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Ozark hellbender, a separate subspecies that’s found in Missouri and Arkansas, was listed as an endangered species in 2011.

The federal Endangered Species Act prohibits harming, harassing or killing a species listed as endangered.

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That creates restrictions for developers who want to build in an area where the hellbender lives.

Whether it’s a gas station, a shopping center, or a housing development, Evgeniadis said, “it makes it much more difficult [to get permits], because earth disturbing activities are going to affect critical water resource areas.”

Evgeniadis noted there are risks for environmental protections under incoming president Donald Trump. In his first administration, Trump rolled back 125 environmental safeguards, according to tracking by the Washington Post.

“It’s yet to be seen what could potentially happen,” Evgeniadis said. “Some of the rollbacks that we saw were pretty much unprecedented rollbacks.”

Evgeniadis said he hopes the proposal leads to more federal and state resources going to help protect and restore the hellbender population and habitat in Pennsylvania.

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The Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed listing is subject to a 60-day public comment period, which closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 11, 2025. To comment on the proposed listing, people can go to regulations.gov, search for docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0152, then click “comment.”

Written comments can also be mailed to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R3-ES-2024-0152, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.






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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania principal axed after ranting about ‘Jew money’ in voicemail to parent

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Pennsylvania principal axed after ranting about ‘Jew money’ in voicemail to parent


A Pennsylvania principal whose antisemitic tirade about “Jew money” was inadvertently recorded has been fired.

Lower Gwynedd Elementary School Principal Phillip Leddy was axed Tuesday by the Wissahickon School Board.

Leddy, 45, was returning a call from a parent when he got the dad’s voicemail and left a message, but then apparently failed to end the call, Philadelphia’s ABC 7 reported.

Philip Leddy was axed after allegedly leaving an antisemitic voicemail on a parent’s phone. Wissahickon School District

Leddy allegedly accused the parent of having “Jew money” and could be heard muttering “they control the banks,” according to recording, which was posted by the advocacy group StopAntisemitism.

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”They go to Jew camp… everyone at the camp hates that family… ” he was also caught saying, according to the group’s recording.

Parents in the district have accused the school board of attempting to paper over their longstanding issues with antisemitism by hanging Leddy out to dry.

“It was an easy one for them because it was old school anti-semitism versus more modern, like anti-Zionism antisemitism,” Beth Ages, who has two kids in the district, told The Post.

They point to a mural in Wissahickon Middle School, which depicts Linda Sarsour — who was forced to step down from the Women’s March amid an antisemitism scandal and later apologized — and Japanese-American activist Yuri Kochiyama, who once praised 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden.

“I’m glad that you are curious why I consider Osama bin Laden as one of the people that I admire. To me, he is in the category of Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Patrice Lumumba, Fidel Castro, all leaders that I admire,” she said in a 2003 interview.

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Lower Gwynedd Elementary School in Lower Gwynedd Township, Pa.
The principal allegedly ranted about “Jew money” in the recording. Google

“Jewish families are leaving in droves,” said Lynn Simon, who has two kids in the district.

Leddy and the Wissahickon school district did not respond to a request for comment.



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Pennsylvania ice storm warning map shows where hazards possible 

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Pennsylvania ice storm warning map shows where hazards possible 


Portions of Pennsylvania are under an ice storm warning on Friday night going into Saturday morning as the National Weather Service (NWS) warns of possible “slick and hazardous” conditions.

Newsweek reached out to the NWS via email for comment Friday night.

Why It Matters

Severe winter weather is presenting significant hazards across Pennsylvania, as the NWS issues multiple ice storm warnings and advisories for the region.

Residents, travelers, and utility providers face potentially elevated risks of power outages, hazardous road conditions, and vehicle restrictions in counties identified as most at risk. Understanding where these warnings are in effect is crucial as post-holiday travel collides with potentially hazardous ice accumulations and freezing precipitation.

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What To Know

According to the NWS, portions of central and western Pennsylvania are under the warning until 7 a.m. ET Saturday.

“Significant icing” along with “Additional sleet accumulations up to a coating and ice accumulations between one tenth and one quarter of an inch,” are possible in the cities of DuBois, Somerset, Warren, St. Marys, Bradford, Clearfield, Johnstown, Ridgway, Tionesta, Franklin, Punxsutawney, Oil City, Ford City, Brookville, Indiana, Armagh, Kittanning, and Clarion, the NWS says.

Below are maps of the regions impacted by the warning:

Paired with these ice warnings, Winter Weather Advisories remain in effect for Harrisburg, Lancaster, Gettysburg, York and Altoona through Saturday morning. The NWS forecasts additional snow and ice potential across the region, with potential accumulations up to an inch possible in some locations.

“Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous. Power outages and tree damage are likely due to the ice. Travel could be nearly impossible,” the NWS says in the ice storm warning.

What People Are Saying

NWS Pittsburgh on X on Friday: “If you’re safely able, send us those ice measurements. Ice can be measured radially around branches as described below in steps 1-3, or on top of flat surfaces. Let us know which you measured!”

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Meteorologist Cody Barnhart on X on Friday: “Our ice storm continues across PA and anything that’s been exposed is a sheet of ice. Major accidents state wide. Greencastle coming in slick @NWSStateCollege @mikestanislaw @MatthewCappucci @tornadopaigeyy @TOMRUSSELLCBS21”

What Happens Next

The NWS expects conditions to improve from west to east across Pennsylvania by Saturday afternoon.



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Winter Storm Warnings in effect for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, U.S.

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Winter Storm Warnings in effect for New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, U.S.


Multiple Winter Storm Warnings are in effect across the Northeast U.S. from the afternoon of December 26 through the late morning or early afternoon of December 27.

Warnings cover much of the region from northeastern Pennsylvania through northern New Jersey, southeastern New York, and southern Connecticut.

The warning is in effect from 16:00 EST on December 26 until 13:00 EST on December 27 for New York City’s five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, and Fairfield, Westchester, Rockland, and Bergen Counties.

For northern and southern New Haven Counties, Connecticut, the warning begins slightly later, from 19:00 EST on December 26 to 13:00 EST on December 27.

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In northeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey, including Monroe, Warren, Sussex, and Morris Counties, warnings remain in effect from 13:00 EST on December 26 until 10:00 EST on December 27. These areas may experience a combination of snow and sleet, with local ice accumulations in elevated terrain.

Farther north, in the Catskills, mid-Hudson Valley, and Litchfield County, Connecticut, are under warnings from 16:00 EST on December 26 until 13:00 EST on December 27.

Snow will begin spreading from southwest to northeast during the afternoon and intensify through the evening. Peak snowfall rates may reach 2.5–5 cm (1–2 inches) per hour at times.

Snowfall totals of 13–23 cm (5–9 inches) are forecast across the New York City area, Long Island, southern New York, and southern Connecticut.

Meanwhile, Albany, Ulster, Greene, Dutchess, and Litchfield Counties are forecast to receive around 13–25 cm (5–10 inches) of snowfall.

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Snow totals are forecast to reach 10–20 cm (4–8 inches) in northern New Jersey, and northeastern Pennsylvania, with localized totals of over 20 cm (8 inches) being possible for higher elevation areas.

The heavy snow and winter weather will create dangerous travel conditions across major routes, including Interstates 80,87,95, and 287, through the warning period.

The snowfall is expected to begin tapering off by the morning of December 27 as the storm moves out into the Atlantic.

References:

1 Winter Storm Warning – NWS – December 26, 2025

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