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DAVID MARCUS: Bedford, Pa., has a history picking presidents. Trump's surge is talk of the town
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Bedford, Pennsylvania is as pretty as a picture postcard and has almost as long an association with the American presidency as is possible, which is to say, yes, George Washington slept here.
The cover of the Bedford Gazette said it all, as I scooped it up on Wednesday entering my lovely 18th Century hotel, “County Preps for Upcoming Election,” blared the headline, and it isn’t just the county, it’s the residents.
I met Carol at the Village News, a restaurant which is aptly named. Not only was it a newsstand back when such things existed, but it is now where the denizens of this historic town share the news, both local and national.
Carol was on her way to buy a stamp, to mail her husband’s voter registration. It seems he hadn’t voted for some time, but this year he is.
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“Is that because he sees this election as uniquely important?” I asked her.
“Maybe,” she said, with the laconic charm I saw all over the town.
“The country is a business”, she told me, “And we need a businessman to run it.” Needless to say, Carol supports Donald Trump.
Her friends, Joel, Scott, and Tom, who owns the joint, concurred. They feel ignored. And they also feel that Trump won’t ignore them. That he listens. It’s what I hear all over the country. And it is a big part of why the Real Clear Politics average of Pennsylvania polling has Trump pulling ahead with a narrow lead.
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Back at my hotel, the Golden Eagle Inn, where I climbed the steps to my room and had an actual metal key, I met Meredith and her husband as I sat for dinner. They have a mixed political marriage. She’s all in for Harris, though she admits she wishes Kamala Harris would be clearer about who she is.
Her husband isn’t voting for Trump or Harris, he’ll vote for local candidates in their home in Virginia, but he can’t bring himself to support either top ticket dwellers on the national scene.
Such was the case with Matt, as well, a local who told me, “My first priority is my children, not politics.” And before we cast the first stone, it’s worth considering that he doesn’t think any politician has done much to help him.
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But Nathan was different, he had heard that I was in town, and sought me out. He had something to say and he darn well said it.
“Agriculture is more important than people think,” he began, “multiple farmers are being squeezed out,” he told me. “We have trade deals that are bad, we have Bill Gates, we have the Chinese who are buying up everything,” and with a flourish he landed on, “We have farmers who are being paid not to farm their property. Why is that?”
If either candidate or their running mates have a good answer for that, I’ve yet to hear it.
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I’ll tell you a little something about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where I was born and raised. These people know their history and they care about it. Every town has a little museum and a local story. Ever heard of the Indian Adam and Eve? Go look it up.
The people I met in Bedford? Their families have been here for generations, some since the French and Indian War in the 1750s. They want answers, they want leadership, and they are finding it sorely lacking.
In the 19th Century, Bedford was known for its curative springs. Ten presidents, starting with James K. Polk, took the dip at the local resort, and the town still brims with the charm and history of America, younger than the mountains, but older than the trees, as they say where I live.
Pennsylvania is serious about how it takes its history and its present role as the key swing state.
These are the places in Pennsylvania that will decide the political future of our nation come November 5th, as residents of this state have done since before there even was a nation. And while voters have questions about both candidates, it is obvious that an excitement exists with the Trump campaign that Harris cannot match.
There is anxiety, even fear about where we are going as a country, but at least from some, also a resolute belief that voting matters. That we all do really have a say.
Carol got her husband’s voter registration card to the mailbox, and if there are enough Carols to compete with the Democrats’ political machine, then Trump has a real chance. But this is Pennsylvania, a place that has changed the world, and every vote here has to be earned.
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FSU softball focuses on rival Florida. Here’s its approach on Wednesday
Here’s how Lonni Alameda and Florida State softball are preparing for its rivalry matchup against Florida. First pitch is at 6 p.m.
Jazzy Francik returned to the site of one of the toughest outings of her career and delivered a dominant performance.
The Florida State sophomore tossed her third career no-hitter and powered the Seminoles to a 10-0 win over Boston College in six innings Saturday at Harrington Athletics Village, moving FSU within one win of clinching the ACC regular-season title.
Francik (19-2) was in control from the first pitch, striking out six and allowing only one baserunner on an infield error in the fifth inning. She needed just 67 pitches to complete the no-hitter, the third of her career and one of the most efficient outings of her season.
Florida State’s offense gave its ace plenty of support, collecting 12 hits and scoring 10 runs. After a scoreless first inning, the Seminoles broke through in the second with three runs on RBI doubles by freshmen Haley Griggs and Makenna Sturgis.
FSU added four more runs in the fourth inning behind a two-run double from Jaysoni Beachum and an RBI single by Ashtyn Danley. The Seminoles put the run-rule into play in the sixth, scoring three times on an RBI single from Sturgis, an RBI double by Isa Torres and a sacrifice fly from Danley.
Beachum, Torres, Sturgis and Danley each drove in two runs as Florida State continued to pressure Boston College despite several highlight-reel defensive plays from the Eagles.
Francik and the Seminole defense sealed the no-hitter in the bottom of the sixth to end the game early.
Florida State is one win away from securing at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship. A sweep of Boston College on Sunday would clinch the title outright.
How to watch FSU vs. Boston College Game 2
- Date: Saturday, May 2
- Time: 4 p.m.
- Where: Harrington Athletics Village, Brighton, Massachusetts
- TV/Stream: ACC extra
Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics and Big Bend Preps for the Tallahassee Democrat. If you like to pitch a story on a high school athlete, don’t hesitate to get in touch with him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
Outrage is building in a quiet Pittsburgh neighborhood.
Residents say they were blindsided by a plan to convert the former Fraternal Order of Police lodge on Banksville Road into a reentry center. The building could be turned into housing for up to 100 federal inmates, officials said.
Dismas Charities, an organization that operates federal halfway houses across the country, is behind the proposal. But neighbors say this isn’t the place.
“What will these people be doing when they’re not in the halfway house? Will they be law-abiding citizens and respect our community and its members?” questioned Judi Perry, a Shady Crest resident.
Concerns range from safety to proximity. Some fear the risk of repeat offenses, even though the facility is designed for rehabilitation. Residents point to past incidents tied to similar programs, including a case in Kentucky where an inmate left a facility and killed a police officer.
“We need to be better educated about how this facility would operate, what the parameters are for the people who stay there, and maybe, if we had more information, it would comfort us,” Perry said.
Inside a recent Pittsburgh Planning Commission presentation, Dismas Charities pitched the facility as a second-chance model.
“Over the past five years, we’ve had almost 40,000 residents participate in our programs nationally, and the rate of recidivism is .08 percent,” a Dismas Charities representative said at the meeting.
But that message isn’t landing here. Petitions are already circulating with hundreds of signatures collected. Neighbors say this fight is just beginning.
“We have preconceived notions about these people who were convicted and committed a crime. We don’t know what their crime was, and so maybe our concerns are exaggerated. But in general, you don’t like the idea of that facility being so close to our community,” Perry said.
A decision could come soon, as the commission is set to take this up in the coming days. If approved, it would still need additional sign-off before any inmates move in.
A strongly worded memo raised new questions about how much work Department of Children and Families (DCF) staff were doing from home, and whether that level of teleworking was hurting child protection.
Telework expanded during the pandemic and later became part of the state’s labor agreement, allowing some DCF employees to work remotely up to 80% of the week.
While social workers continued to handle court appearances, home visits, and foster placements in person, they were allowed to start and end most workdays at home. Staff must reapply for telework permission every six months and face losing that privilege if performance slips.
Concerns over the workflow quickly followed. The state’s Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) warned that extensive teleworking could be undermining case practice and supervision inside an agency already struggling with high turnover and many inexperienced workers.
In a critical letter sent Thursday, the Child Advocate suggested that telework should be limited unless workers met specific, data‑driven performance standards, citing the loss of in‑office collaboration, supervision, and real‑time support.
NBC Connecticut Investigates also spoke exclusively with a longtime former DCF employee who remained in the child welfare field. That former worker said telework simply did not function on multiple levels at DCF, describing widespread belief among current staff and those in the judicial system that bringing people back into the office was a necessary step toward restoring the agency.
Lawmakers from both parties echoed those concerns. House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora (R) said staff working remotely were missing daily interaction, training, and support, instead operating in silos. House Speaker Matt Ritter(D) said the newly formed oversight committee was expected to examine the policy.
Those warnings were backed up by troubling findings. According to the OCA’s report, a review of in‑home cases in 2024 and 2025 found face‑to‑face interactions did not happen in about 40% of cases—something the OCA called alarming and in need of urgent attention.
As scrutiny over DCF intensified, teleworking became the latest flashpoint in a broader debate over accountability, supervision, and whether the systems meant to protect vulnerable children were being stretched too thin.
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