Pennsylvania
Local Media in Pennsylvania Ho-Hum on Zelensky Ammo Plant Visit
A high-profile visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to an artillery shell production facility in the do-or-die US election battleground state of Pennsylvania was a medium-grade news item in Keystone state media. Some outlets shoved the Ukrainian leader in news feeds crammed with information about weather, crime, sports and entertainment, while others just ignored his presence in the state entirely.
According to recent polls Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, an advocate of strong US military support to Ukraine, is locked in a near dead-heat with former President Donald Trump, who supports Ukrainian concessions to Russia and reduced US involvement in European conflicts. Both parties’ leadership have deemed Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral college votes and voters almost 50/50 on the candidates, as a must-win state.
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In Ukraine, Zelensky’s Monday tour of the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, his first major media event during a planned five-day US trip for meetings on war-fighting policy with DC leadership, and later a speech at the UN, topped national news in his home country.
Major Ukrainian media flooded airwaves and websites with images of Zelensky shaking hands and patting shoulders with shop workers. Details about thousands more American 155mm shells possibly reaching Ukrainian battlefields dominated and usually led evening news reports during a busy Monday that saw a Russian glider bomb hit the city of Zaporizhzhia and injure civilians for the second time in 48 hours, the invasion of Russia by an elite Ukrainian assault infantry brigade widening Kyiv’s incursion in Russia’s Kursk region, and a Kremlin decision to de-crew Russia’s only aircraft carrier and convert hundreds of unlucky sailors into infantrymen.
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In Pennsylvania, on Monday, some news platforms limited coverage of Zelensky’s presence in Scranton to the Associated Press (AP) wire service story and one or two photographs. The Pittsburg Post-Gazette headlined “Ukraine’s Zelensky visits Pennsylvania ammunition plant to thank workers.”
The AP article itself laid out numbers about Scranton shell production, quoted a pair of local residents stating they support increased US ammunition support to Ukraine, but made reference neither to Trump nor the election.
A few outlets went the extra mile. ABC affiliate Action News 6 in Philadelphia offered viewers both the AP article and a 20-second video. CBS Harrisburg affiliate Local21 News published not only the AP article on the day of the visit, but a heads-up to readers two days prior to Zelensky’s arrival.
WWIA Radio, the local PBS/NPR affiliate, deployed reporter Borys Krawczeniuk to Scranton and the factory entrance, where he interviewed Zelensky supporters, snapped photos of citizens standing with blue-yellow Ukrainian flags, and watched a massive US-Ukrainian official motorcade roll past the plant’s guarded entrance.
Probably the most thorough coverage in all Pennsylvania, Kyiv Post researchers found, was in the Times Leader, a publication delivering news to northeastern Pennsylvania, Luzerne County and specifically Scranton for more than a century. Zelensky’s visit to the munitions plant led the Times Leader’s Monday daily news roundup, and reporter/columnist Bill O’Boyle in a 590-word article quoted Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s (D) position on Ukraine in detail.
“Pennsylvania is the birthplace of American freedom – and our Commonwealth proudly stands with the people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom against naked aggression. I’m proud to welcome President Zelensky and his delegation to Scranton – to visit with the women and men who are fueling his country’s fight for freedom,” Shapiro said. His social media feeds showed him signing a 155mm shell with a patriotic slogan.
O’Boyle went on to inform readers that a Pennsylvania National Guard unit deployed in September to Germany to help train Ukrainian soldiers, and that Shapiro’s office had just signed a cooperation agreement with Ukraine’s industrial Zaporizhzhia region to help Pennsylvania businesses assist Ukraine with rebuilding after the war.
But some major Pennsylvania news outlets did not report the Scranton visit at all, Kyiv Post researchers found. Typical was the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, one of two major newspapers serving Pennsylvania’s biggest city, whose most recent searchable reporting on Ukraine, of any kind, was a three-week-old article on US technicians planning to help investigate the loss of a Denmark-donated F-16 fighter jet in combat in Ukraine.
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania’s most widely read newspaper and one of the oldest news publications in the US, did not report the Zelensky visit either. That paper’s most recent reference to the Russo-Ukrainian War in context with US elections was printed on Sept. 20, in an opinion piece by columnist Trudy Rubin calling on the Biden/Harris administration to green light use by Kyiv of long-range American weapons against targets in Russia, and calling Trump an appeaser of dictators.
On Sept. 24 Rubin in another opinion piece praised Vice President Kamala Harris for respecting the voting weight of Pennsylvania’s 700,000-member Polish-American community.
The Keystone Newsroom, a local web-based outfit focusing on delivering weighted news and analysis to people unlikely to be willing to negotiate mainstream media paywall (“Pennsylvania News You Can Use”) in a Sept. 23 piece, mentioned neither Zelensky nor Scranton, but reported in detail on an endorsement Harris had just received from the Polish-American activist group Pennsylvania Polonia.
“Trump bowed to dictators like Putin before and he will do it again if he is reelected… The last presidential election in Pennsylvania was decided by just 80,000 votes, which is why we are calling on our friends and neighbors to cast their votes for the leaders who will maintain alliances that make our world safer, expand our freedoms here at home, and protect the American dream for us all,” the endorsement said in part.
The article points out that 800,000 Pennsylvania residents have Polish backgrounds. The Pennsylvania Polonia endorsement argues that since Pennsylvania is one of the most critical swing states, if not the most critical, in upcoming Presidential elections, Pennsylvania’s Polish-Americans can and should become Harris’ victory margin in the Keystone state.
The influential Philadelphia Inquirer on Sept. 11 seemed to see the numbers and voting groups much the same way, praising Harris for mentioning Pennsylvania’s Polish-American residents by name during debate with Trump and her telling him she thought Pennsylvanians are opposed to appeasing the Kremlin. The Inquirer called it a “shout-out on the national debate stage… (to) a group that is consistently civically engaged.”
Political reporter Nick Field in a Sept. 23 editorial in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star on voter trends in the state said that falling Democratic voter registration in central regions of the state might play to Trump’s advantage, but, the former President’s stance on Ukraine could damage his election chances even more.
“With Scranton Joe [Biden] off of the ballot, Trump has a unique opportunity to pick up votes throughout this region, especially in Lackawanna [county]. However, there remains a danger that the Trump/Vance team’s hostility to Ukraine could hurt them in the heavily Ukrainian-American rural areas out here,” Field wrote.
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — Pennsylvania State Police is investigating an incident in Salisbury Township on Saturday.
Lancaster County dispatch confirmed that troopers were called to the 4900 block of Strasburg Road for an incident that was reported around 11 a.m.
Fire and EMS was called to the area but have since been cleared, dispatch said.
This is a developing story. CBS 21 is working to learn more.
Pennsylvania
What’s old is new again in Pennsylvania as the Penguins and Flyers renew a long-simmering rivalry
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Sidney Crosby would not take the bait, even though the smile on his face and the gleam in his eye hinted that maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins captain kind of wanted to.
Told that Philadelphia Flyers coach Rick Tocchet – an assistant with the Penguins when Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 – knew his current team was going to have to “get after” Crosby and longtime running mates Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang when the cross-state rivals open their first-round series on Saturday night, Crosby just grinned.
“I mean, to be expected, what else can you expect me to say?” the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer said with a small laugh. “We’re all out there competing. We all are after the same thing. That’s how it works.”
Technically, that’s how it always seems to work whenever the Flyers and Penguins get together, regardless of circumstance. Things only figure to be ramped up considerably during the eighth – and perhaps most unlikely – playoff meeting between two teams separated by 300 miles geographically and considerably more in terms of postseason success.
The three Cups that Crosby has won during his 21-year career are one more than the Flyers have in the franchise’s nearly six-decade history, and yes some are still keeping track of Philadelphia’s long nuclear winter since its last championships.
The chances of either club being the last one standing when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hands the Cup to the victors in early June are slim. Oddsmakers put the resurgent Penguins in the middle of the pack to win it all, while the Flyers – who needed a 14-4-1 sprint to the finish to return to the postseason for the first time since 2020 – are among the longest shots in the 16-team field.
Not that any of that will matter when the puck is dropped and the venom that has long defined the contentious relationship between the clubs bubbles back up to the surface.
That venom on Philadelphia’s side has long been targeted at Crosby, who has beaten the Flyers three times in four playoff meetings, with the one loss coming during a frantic six-game series in 2012. Almost all the faces from those teams are gone.
Except, of course, for perhaps the most important one. Crosby, the only player in NHL history to average a point a game in 21 straight years, remains a threat and highly motivated by the return to the playoffs following a three-year absence.
“We have a ton of respect for Sid,” Tocchet said. “He’s an unbelievable person and player. But we’ve got to get him in the ditches right? We’ve got to make it hard on him.”
A long-awaited debut
Rasmus Ristolainen’s agonizing wait to feel the vibe of playoff hockey is over.
The Flyers defenseman will make the first postseason appearance of his 13-year, 820-game career when he hops over the boards at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night.
Ristolainen’s wait before his playoff debut is the third-longest in NHL history. The 31-year-old even played in the Olympics before a postseason game. He won a bronze medal in February while playing for Team Finland at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
“Just really excited to play meaningful games this time of year,” said Ristolainen, who played in just 44 games this season while battling elbow injuries. “It’s been a really, really fun last month or so.”
Skinner or Silovs?
First-year Pittsburgh coach Dan Muse has flip-flopped between goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs since the Penguins acquired Skinner in a trade with Edmonton in December.
Whether that will continue in the postseason is anybody’s guess. Skinner has a decided advantage over Silovs in playoff experience, having backstopped Edmonton to consecutive Cup appearances in 2024 and 2025.
Yet Muse has kept his thoughts close to the vest, and statistically speaking, Silovs and Skinner posted nearly identical numbers, none of them particularly great. Silovs finished the year with a .887 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average while Skinner had a slightly worse save percentage (.885) and a slightly better goals against (2.99).
“We’re looking at all factors,” Muse said. “As I’ve said multiple times, I think both guys have been great for us. Both guys are a big part of why we’re here today preparing for Game 1.”
What’s old is new again
Philadelphia forward Sean Couturier has played for the Flyers for so long that he was actually teammates with his boss, general manager Danny Briere.
Couturier was once a key cog during a previous rebuilding phase in Philadelphia, back when he was the eighth overall pick in the 2011 draft. Couturier made his debut that season and has largely remained a steady presence in the lineup – save for back injuries that cost him the 2022-2023 season – and is the only Flyer still around from the franchise’s last home playoff series victory against, yes, the Penguins in 2012.
Couturier, Travis Sanheim and Travis Konecny are the only three Flyers on the roster to have played in a home playoff game, back in 2018.
“We were for a lot of years kind of in the middle, competing hard,” said Courtier, who had 12 goals and 24 assists this season. “We had some good teams. Just always missing a little something to get to the next step. I think it was maybe time to take a step back and rebuild. I’m just glad with how everything’s gone, honestly.”
___
AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania man takes Terrible Towel to Mount Everest as tribute to late friend
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Terrible Towel is a symbol of celebration known around the world, but it was recently taken to new heights.
Allen Dean, a Steelers fan from Sewickley, recently took a Terrible Towel with him as he climbed Mt. Everest.
“I had to show myself that I can do whatever I set my mind to,” says Dean, who spoke with KDKA-TV’s Barry Pintar after his climb from Pokhara, Nepal, near Mt. Everest. “By doing that, I was an example to my kids that, through all the hardships our family has gone through, if you put your mind to something, you can do it, and if it is something as big as Everest, whatever it is, that if you put your mind to it, you can do it.”
Allen says a man called “Big Mike” was a long-time father figure who died a few months ago. His window gave Allen Big Mike’s Terrible Towel. It was then, by way of tribute, that an idea was born.
“She asked me, ‘Allen, would you be able to take the terrible towel to Everest if you make it?’ I said, ‘Absolutely, for Big Mike, anything,’” Dean recalled. “Big Mike was like my last father figure that I had around, so it meant a lot to me to just bring peace. It just meant a lot to me to finalize the loss of such a male role model in my life.”
Allen says he trained vigorously for this climb, often spending weekends taking his kids to hike just about every regional state park imaginable.
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