Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Supreme Court says GOP subpoena for voter information over 2020 election ‘unenforceable’

Published

5 months ago

February 22, 2024

Pennsylvania Supreme Court says GOP subpoena for voter information over 2020 election ‘unenforceable’

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that state GOP subpoenas for voter information after the 2020 election are “unenforceable,” overturning a lower court ruling.

Republican Pennsylvania Senate lawmakers moved to subpoena voter information in 2021, but the state’s Democratic attorney general legally challenged the effort and argued the real purpose of the subpoenas was to bring 2020 election results into question.

The Supreme Court threw out the subpoenas on procedural grounds Wednesday, declaring they are no longer valid because the legislative session has ended.

Pennsylvania Republicans argued at the time voting took place to issue the subpoenas for voter information that they were intended to investigate possible changes to election law. State Sen. Cris Dush (R), who led the effort, labeled it an “election integrity investigation” that would “uncover information which is necessary for the legislature to potentially take future legislative action.”

President Biden defeated Trump by more than 80,000 votes in the Keystone State in 2020.

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Pennsylvania

Want to camp in Pennsylvania? Check out these campgrounds, RV parks

Published

1 hour ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

Want to camp in Pennsylvania? Check out these campgrounds, RV parks

2-minute read

Hikers and campers, in tents or RVs, are flocking to Pennsylvania’s campgrounds and RV parks, and whether you’re into glamping, prefer a more rugged outdoorsy experience or are looking for a family-friendly excursion, you can’t miss with any of these top campgrounds in Pennsylvania.

Where are the best campgrounds in Pennsylvania?

While Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park’s Camp and Resort in Mill Run, Fayette County and Lake Raystown Resort in Entriken, Huntingdon County, were ranked by USA Today’s “10Best” panel as two of the top RV campgrounds in the county, here are a few others to check out.

Allegheny National Forest: Located in Marienville, the Allegheny National Forest covers 514,029 acres in the northwestern section of the state. There are areas for camping and paddling, along with designated ATV and off-highway vehicle trails.
Bear Run Campground: If more of an organized campaign experience is your thing, this Portersville-based campground has you covered with family-friendly attractions including a recreation center, picnic pavilion and available barbecue and fire pits.
Beaver Valley Family Campground: Located in Ottsville, the Beaver Valley Family Campground has areas for basketball and volleyball with a swimming pool and shuffleboard courts.
Nockamixon State Park: Campers who prefer cabin life should consider the Nockamixon State Park in Perkasie. You can book modernized cabins that overlook the south side of Lake Nockamixon. The Nockamixon State Park also has two areas for EV charging.
Pocono Mountains: Anyone looking for a plush country getaway mixed with rugged outdoor adventurism should head to the Pocono Mountains. The Pocono Mountains offer everything from adventure parks and waterfall hikes to the Wildflower Concert Series and the Blueberry Festival at Country Junction.
Raccoon Creek State Park: Located in Beaver County, Raccoon Creek State Park sits on 7,572 acres and is home to the 101-acre Raccoon Lake. Raccoon Creek State Park has 44 miles of trail and roughly 7,000 acres open to seasonal hunting and camping.
Stony Mountain Family Campground: The 57-acre Stony Mountain Family Campground sits just outside of Tunkhannock, and is home to a 12-acre fishing and rowing lake and has hiking trails and areas for skywatching.

How can I find the best campgrounds in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania has 124 state parks that offer different amenities to appeal to a wide range of hikers and RV campers.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources created a “Find My Park” website, which lists the state parks in alphabetic order with links to the park’s respective websites.

Campers might want to also check Visit PA’s guide to the top campsites in Pennsylvania for other great camping locations.

Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.

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Pennsylvania

David McCormick claims he created ‘hundreds of jobs’ in Pa. Records say otherwise

Published

8 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

David McCormick claims he created ‘hundreds of jobs’ in Pa. Records say otherwise

The merger

In June 2003, McCormick initiated discussions with Robert Calderoni, chairman and CEO of Ariba, a Palo Alto-based FreeMarkets competitor, about the possibility of a “strategic relationship of some form” and potentially a “business combination.” After more discussions, McCormick approached his board about the idea in September.

From the beginning, the company made clear its intent was to save money by reducing “redundancies,” including those resulting from duplicative jobs. According to SEC filings, FreeMarkets told its shareholders that a benefit of the merger would lead to “at least $25 million in annual potential cost savings, through the consolidation of redundant facilities, personnel and overhead.” Jim Frankola, chief financial officer for Ariba at the time, told analysts on a January 2004 conference call, “Of those savings, we anticipate approximately one-third to come from duplicative G&A functions, plus the one-half from redundant R&D efforts, and the remainder from other functions.”

Later that month, Michael Schmitt, Ariba’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, told San Jose Mercury News that FreeMarkets would consolidate its headquarters into Ariba’s, with the companies trying to “eliminate redundant jobs.” That same day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted an analyst saying it was likely “a lot of people in Pittsburgh will lose their jobs,” adding “that’s certainly what typically happens” with a merger.

McCormick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “There will certainly be redundant functions and consolidation of those functions.” In a July 2004 deposition regarding the merger, he told the court that job losses were expected “particularly in our technology development organization where our plan as part of the merged company is to eliminate that completely.” The next month, McCormick told Ariba shareholders what they “accomplished” leading up to the merger: “We have already eliminated 150 positions and have plans to eliminate another 100 positions over the next two quarters.”

Indeed, by the time the merger was complete, in July 2004, FreeMarkets had laid off or eliminated 150 positions. By December 2005, the combined company had reduced its workforce by an additional 100 employees, for a grand total of 250 lost jobs. At least 100 of those jobs were in Pittsburgh.

Calderoni defended McCormick in an interview with the New York Post, saying, “When we bought FreeMarkets, Dave insisted on keeping jobs in Pittsburgh. It really mattered to him as part of the transaction. In fact, he pushed for us to move jobs from California to Pittsburgh.”

It was a difficult time to run a startup tech company. The early aughts saw the bursting of a tech bubble that had grown during the late 1990s thanks to easy access to capital but started to pop in the early 2000s. As the Pittsburgh Gazette reported, the merger married “two unprofitable online business-to-business software and service firms that made names for themselves at the height of the dot-com boom, only to see their fortunes turn sour with the industry, forcing them to struggle to grow.”

McCormick wrote in his book that “creative destruction along with the bursting of the tech bubble eventually found its way to our sector as well.” However, he also admitted, “We didn’t move fast enough to become one of the true ‘software as a service’ companies that would eventually dominate the landscape. As CEO, I hadn’t built a team around me capable of evolving our business model quickly enough,” leading to the decision to merge with Ariba.

The merger, however, profited McCormick quite well. He became president of Ariba and a member of its board of directors, drawing $500,000 in annual salary, compared to the $350,000 he made at FreeMarkets, and was eligible for an annual bonus targeted at $300,000. He was also awarded 83,333 shares in Ariba, valued at $921,663, and 500,000 shares of stock options that had a potential realizable value between $3.4 million and $8.8 million. In September 2005, McCormick resigned as president of Ariba to work in the George H.W. Bush administration and received another $1,701,699 in severance.

McCormick spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory told WHYY News in a statement, “Dave is proud to have helped create hundreds of jobs in Western Pennsylvania during his time at FreeMarkets.”

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