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Conspiracy-laden notes keep popping up in cereal boxes and Pennsylvania parks

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Conspiracy-laden notes keep popping up in cereal boxes and Pennsylvania parks


Neatly folded notes crammed with just about every conspiracy theory and internet buzzword imaginable keep popping up in rural Pennsylvania, some illegally tucked inside cereal boxes and others pinned to pine trees in state and local parks.

Unfolded, the notes are mostly indecipherable, containing a coded run-on sentence of secret societies, sci-fi movie mentions, and name drops like “Musk”, “Bill Gates,” and “Oprah.”

“It’s tied to Saturn, Lord o/t Rings/time,” one line reads.

The FBI, the Federal Drug Administration, and elected officials in Pennsylvania are all aware of the notes, but no one’s been caught in the act of actually planting them.

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Philly had its own strange “note” phenomenon with its Toynbee Tiles, which were found embedded into city streets and, eventually in other states, with messages about Stanley Kubrick and Jupiter, mostly in the 1990s and 2000s.

While the Toynbee Tiles had an art house vibe, the Schuylkill Notes feel a bit darker. Some notes mention international conflicts and hate groups, and are often riddled with intentional misspellings and out-of-place apostrophes, making them all the more confusing.

“Secret society (SS) ties to terror’m, shoot’gs, staged confront’ns & other crises aren’t report’d but JFK/Lincoln warn’d of SS,” another reads.

Amateur web sleuths have taken up the case, mostly on Reddit, and they’ve dubbed the bizarre messages the “Schuylkill Notes” because so many, initially, were found in Schuylkill and surrounding counties.

“The content of the notes themselves, it’s clear they’re warnings, not threats,” one early member of the Reddit group r/schuylkillnotes said.

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The notes, which often differ slightly in content, have also been found in Huntingdon and Lycoming Counties. One Reddit user mapped out dozens of specific locations where notes have been found, including Walmarts, Goodwills, and various locations on the Appalachian and other trails. The bulk of the discoveries appears to be situated between Allentown and State College.

Zachary Zimmerman, 23, was hiking in Lebanon County’s Swatara State Park while squirrel hunting last month when he discovered a handful of the notes attached to trees and wrapped around stones.

“I picked it up and read it and it really doesn’t make any sense to me,” Zimmerman, a Lebanon County native who lives in the Adirondacks, said.

Zimmerman said he thought about calling the Pennsylvania Game Commission or Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, but didn’t. He kept a few notes and left others in the woods.

“It’s just a bunch of crazy stuff,” he said.

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It’s unclear exactly when the notes began appearing in Pennsylvania. Some posts say 2015 and at least one recalled something similar happening in the 1980s, in the Poconos. In December, a Luzerne County man named Joe Miller found a note in a sealed box of Lucky Charms.

“It’s the note that really bothers me,” Miller told WBRE/WYOU out of Scranton. “These notes are found inside food like kids’ food.”

While elected officials have notified the FBI, Carrie Adamowski, a spokesperson with the agency in Philadelphia, said she could neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation.

Wendy Wilson, a spokesperson for Rep. Matt Cartwright in northeastern Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, said an officer received an anonymous call reporting that 20 notes had been found on state game lands in Mainville, Columbia County.

“So far, there have been no reports of people getting sick from these notes, but we don’t want to take any chances and we want to find out who is doing this,” Wilson said.

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The FDA, according to a spokesperson, is aware of the situation, and said the agency “evaluates product defects and other complaints that it receives.” Tampering with food products, the spokesperson said, is a federal crime.

On Reddit, at least one discussion asked whether the note’s original creator or copycats could be in the group. Zimmerman said it seemed like a lot of work for one person and he wondered whether people were copying them and putting them out for attention.

Anyone who finds a note, particularly in a food item, is asked to call Pennsylvania’s FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator at (877) 689-8073. Notes found in state parks can be reported to DCNR here.



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Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania man rubs raw chicken on door, dumps oil on vending machine: police

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Pennsylvania man rubs raw chicken on door, dumps oil on vending machine: police


A Mifflin County man was arrested Thursday after Pennsylvania State Police say he dumped oil on a vending machine and rubbed raw chicken on the door of a nearby business.

Timothy Peachey, 33, is accused of committing the acts on May 17 on East John Street in McVeytown, according to a state police release.

The oil caused an estimated $10,843 in damages to the vending machine and the items inside of it, troopers said.

Peachey allegedly rubbed raw chicken on the front glass door of McVeytown Market. The reason for these actions is unknown.

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Peachey is charged with criminal mischief — a third-degree felony due to the total property damage — as well as a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and a summary offense for scattering rubbish.

He was released on bail and is awaiting a preliminary hearing, according to his court docket.



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Pennsylvania lawmakers introduce bills targeting data center development

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Pennsylvania lawmakers introduce bills targeting data center development


HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A Luzerne County legislator introduced a bill this week intended to allow local governments to place a moratorium on data center applications.

Rep. Jamie Walsh (R-Luzerne) introduced House Bill 2533 on Wednesday.

“Our municipalities, which decide local land use policies, have struggled to understand the myriad environmental and community impacts of this new industry and to review and revise their zoning ordinances to keep up with the influx of interest from data center developers,” Walsh said in a co-sponsorship memorandum. “I am therefore proposing to give municipalities the option of placing a moratorium on data center applications so that, if they choose, they can revise their ordinances and establish conditional use policies addressing issues like power supply, water consumption, noise and setbacks which they determine protect the community’s interest.”

It is a companion bill, he said, to Senator Jarrett Coleman (R-Bucks/Lehigh)’s Senate Bill 1345.

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They both would allow an 18-month moratorium on both unapproved and new data center applications.

The two legislators also introduced legislation they say would repeal the state Computer Data Center Equipment Exemption program enacted in 2021, which the legislators say incentivizes data centers to locate in Pennsylvania by exempting computer data center equipment from the Sales and Use Tax when it is sold to, used or consumed in a certified data center by an owner, operator or qualified tenant. This is in the form of House Bill 2532 and Senate Bill 1344 respectively.

“While we all appreciate the technological advances that are driving the development of new data centers, I am certain most Pennsylvanians want a more thoughtful approach to where and under what requirements they can operate and don’t want to subsidize them with tax incentives,” said Coleman. “The bills Rep. Walsh and I partnered on will do just that.”

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Data centers have been a hot topic issue across Pennsylvania as communities have rallied to oppose developments, including in Columbia and in the Annville area.

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Man accused of using excavator to destroy home with family inside

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Man accused of using excavator to destroy home with family inside


Court records show a man is facing numerous charges after local news outlets reported he was accused of partially demolishing his Pennsylvania home with members of his family still inside.

Erik Pierwsza, 48, is charged with three counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count each of causing a catastrophe and disorderly conduct, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY.

According to local media outlet WTAE, Pierwsza allegedly destroyed a portion of his home with an excavator, while his wife and two children were inside. Pierwsza is a resident of Buffalo Township, roughly 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The Buffalo Township Police Department did not immediately return USA TODAY’s request for more information. Court records did not list representation for Pierwsza and noted that he is not currently represented by a public defender.

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According to a criminal complaint reported on by WTAE and WPXI, Pierswza had allegedly got into an argument, at which point Pierswza threatened to tear down the house.

He then allegedly climbed into the excavator and began demolishing the home, per the outlets.

According to WPXI, no one was injured.

Pierwsza is being held at Butler County Prison on $10,000 bond, per court documents.

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Drew Pittock covers national trending news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at DPittock@usatodayco.com.



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