(WHTM) — Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R) posed a unique challenge on Tuesday to Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), her opponent in this year’s gubernatorial election.

In a press release issued by her campaign, Garrity called for seven public debates between her and Shapiro, one in each of the state’s media markets, before November’s election.

The release noted that the Shapiro campaign agreed to engage “in good faith” with team Garrity on the details of a debate.

Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for Shapiro’s reelection campaign, reiterated the campaign’s willingness to talk but said, “We aren’t going to negotiate the terms of a debate through the press.”

Garrity’s proposal is unusually high. Shapiro and State Rep. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin) failed to meet for a debate ahead of the 2022 election. Former Gov. Tom Wolf (D) debated Republican challenger Scott Wagner just once in 2018.

Typically, there are just three presidential debates during the general election.

Garrity said the debates would give voters as much information as possible before they make their decision at the ballot box.

“Every voter should have the opportunity to learn where we stand on issues, what are our visions for the future of the Commonwealth, and what experience we bring to the table to lead 13 million Pennsylvanians for the next four years,” Garrity said.

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) — When the world’s top soccer players take the field in Philadelphia, the goals they aim for will have already been crafted in Pennsylvania.

Kwik Goal, a family-run company based in Quakertown, is the official goal maker for U.S. Soccer and supplies equipment for the FIFA World Cup.

Inside the company’s test area, workers check the strength of nets and frames.

President and CEO Anthony Caruso says the goal shown in the testing zone is the same model that will be used during the tournament.

Kwik Goal has been building soccer equipment for decades, but its story began far from Pennsylvania.

Caruso said the company started 30 years ago on Long Island, New York, when his uncle needed a portable goalpost for coaching.

“My uncle had the need for a portable goalpost. He was coaching my youngest cousin,” Caruso said.

His father stepped in to help.

“My father took out a tape measure. He went to a tube house, bought some pieces of aluminum, made this gold frame, and scrounged up a net somewhere,” he said. “And I was in welding school, and I could weld aluminum. So this prototype was built, and my uncle took it out to the field.”

The company later moved to Pennsylvania.

“Here we are today. We moved here in November of ’88 after being on Long Island from our inception. And we’ve been here ever since,” said Caruso.

Today, Kwik Goal operates out of four buildings and produces about 7,000 goals each year.

Its reputation for quality led to a partnership with the U.S. men’s national team three decades ago, followed by the U.S. women’s national team.

“We supply all their training sites, and actually, the new facility that they just built in Georgia, we did all the equipment for that,” Caruso said.

The World Cup, however, is the company’s biggest stage. In addition to manufacturing the FIFA game-day goals, Kwik Goal also produces the portable and pre-game models used throughout the tournament.

“This is a portable goal that mimics the game goals here, that are on the practice fields and what they’ll be using at the 60 training sites,” Caruso said. “And then this goal here that we have in the back is actually what we call a pre-game goal. So when they warm the teams up before the tournament, the day of the game on the field, before that, before the game, they actually bring this goal out.”

For employees, seeing their work on the global stage is a career highlight.

“Well, it is the pinnacle of my career,” one worker said.

“There’s a great amount of pride here at Quick Goal, and everybody who’s been here. We have a lot of long-term employees, and they’re just thrilled to be a part of this project,” said Caruso.

President Donald Trump is going to a Mack Truck facility in a battleground district in swing state Pennsylvania Tuesday, shifting attention to the U.S. economy in his first major public event beyond the capital since he signed an interim agreement to end the Iran war.

Trump’s trip to the Allentown-area business comes as he works to try to put the conflict — and the higher gasoline prices it caused — in the rearview mirror as November midterm elections draw closer.

It’s the president’s fifth second-term visit to Pennsylvania, a key state whose support in 2016 and 2024 helped him to the White House. The Macungie, Pennsylvania, facility is in the 7th Congressional District, where incumbent Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie faces Democratic challenger Bob Brooks in November.

The visit comes amid rising prices that could color the verdict voters render on Trump’s stewardship in the fall. About one-third of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s approach to the economy, according to a June Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. That’s in line with last month for Trump on the issue.

The Iran war, which began Feb. 28, has also been a politically difficult issue for the president. Most Americans continued to disapprove of his handling of Iran, according to the June AP-NORC poll, which was being fielded as Trump announced a tentative deal with Iran and concluded just before the interim agreement was signed last week. It found about two-thirds, 65%, of U.S. adults disapprove of how the president is handling issues with Iran, unchanged from May.

Still, while most Democrats and independents view Trump’s actions negatively, only about 3 in 10 of Republicans are unhappy.

Support from districts like the one he’s visiting Tuesday are pivotal to Republicans holding narrow control of the House, where a loss could hobble the president’s final two years in office. Mackenzie, a freshman lawmaker, is looking to hold onto a district Democrats have targeted to flip. Brooks, president of the state firefighters’ union, has support from Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who’s also seeking reelection this year.

Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, also visited the Mack Truck facility to highlight regulations aimed at promoting manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing employment peaked in 1979 at nearly 19.6 million jobs. It trended downward after the 2001 recession and the 2007-09 Great Recession. The figure now stands at 12.6 million as of May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The visits underscore Pennsylvania’s status as a crucial swing state.

Trump visited Mount Pocono in December to road test messages that he’s addressing affordability; in July 2025, he was in Pittsburgh to tout tens of billions of dollars of recent energy and technology investments in the state; in June 2025, he was in West Mifflin to tell steelworkers he was doubling the tariff on steel imports to protect the industry; and in March 2025 he attended the NCAA wrestling championship in Philadelphia.