September 12, 2025
We at Triad send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down in Utah on Wednesday. As of this writing, a suspect is in custody, although we shall not bother to mention his name, as is our practice of not giving a**holes any more notoriety than they deserve. And being that today is 9/12, we would urge all of our readers to remember who we were on that day 24 years ago and try to be those people again.
Gabby Giffords, Steve Scalise, Donald Trump, Melissa Hortman, Josh Shapiro, Charlie Kirk…after every one of these horrific instances, elected officials tend to utter the same phrase, “this is not who we are.” Really? We sure about that? Or are we trying to speak a make-believe version of America into existence? Again, today is 9/12. It may be time to amend our annual “never forget” postings on social media into “never forget, and also, stop being evil jerks to each other.”
As we reflect on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we couldn’t help but take notice that there are now a whole lot of young adults out there who weren’t even alive when those events unfolded. Hopefully, we teach them well.
We learned this week that the October 1 federal budget deadline is likely gonna whistle past everyone like one of those slick, new Acela trains. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer emerged from his nap this week long enough to draw the battle lines, which are all about health care.
Back here in Pennsylvania, we are now one of only two states in the country without a finalized budget (we see you Michigan). We are also one of the few states in the country with a divided legislature, so take from that what you will. With schools now borrowing money and non-profits closing up shop, the pressure, which was largely absent these past ninety days, is gonna build with every passing day.
One thing that won’t be an impediment anymore is transit funding after Governor Shapiro engineered a way to squeeze some loot out of PennDOT to keep the buses running for a year or so. If can-kicking were an Olympic sport, we would LIVE on that medal stand. So, absent a long-term fix, we are all gonna do this dance again even though the music sucked and the lyrics were terrible.
Pennsylvania’s home care industry shined a bright light on its own fiscal woes by asking FanDuel, the company that bailed out game day transit riders with an $80,000 gift to SEPTA, to kick some cash their way as well. Scoff if you must, but unless you live under a rock, you know damned well that each time the commonwealth is short on cash, more legalized gambling is ALWAYS the answer (see games, skill.) So maybe the home care folks were smart to go directly to a gambling company. Cuts out that middleman, right?
When the budget debate finally ends, all eyes will be on cyber charter schools to see if they receive a bit of a haircut in their per pupil allocations, a hot topic all year amongst lawmakers. A new report came out this week showing that cybers have been stockpiling cash like Tony Soprano anticipating an FBI raid. Maybe that’s a sign that they are preparing for the worst.
When Governor Shapiro announced the implementation of a new automatic voter registration program, there was quite a bit of furor over whether or not he had the authority to do so. The initial results of that effort are in, and perhaps some folks who thought this was some sort of partisan ploy can calm down a bit. Overall, the GOP registered 92 thousand new voters, while the Democrats netted just shy of 88 thousand. The big winner? Independents, who grabbed a whopping 100 thousand new voters. Wait until they find out they can’t vote in Primaries.
Speaking of voting, Pennsylvania is about to be swallowed whole by national dark money groups seeking to influence our November elections, focused entirely on whether or not to keep three Democrat Supreme Court justices. Ousting all three would be a major victory for the national and state GOP, and this will be the first real test of the nation’s mood at the end of Year One of Trump 2.0.
Congratulations, farewell, and good luck to our good friend Darrin Kelly as he steps down from his leadership of the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council. Well done, our yinzer friend. Enjoy the peace!
Also, congrats to our friend Xavier Bancroft who was recently elevated to President and CEO of the Behavioral Wellness Center at Girard!
Of course, don’t forget to send along a shoutout to the one and only Triad OG Mike Acker, who landed on yet another City and State Power List for Labor!
And before we depart, we want to take a moment to remember our friend Dave Bonsick, who passed away tragically and suddenly over the weekend. David was a devoted family man, consummate professional, and simply a good friend to all of us. To Dave’s family and our friends at Cozen O’Connor, we send along all of our prayers to you.
In our We Can’t Make This Up segment this week, we take you to Alaska, where a promotional video for the NHL’s Seattle Kraken almost turned tragic when mascot Buoy the Troll had a run-in with a Grizzly Bear. For their part, the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies had no comment. Thank goodness the troll escaped unharmed and by the way…Buoy the Troll? The hell kind of mascot name is that?
That’s what passes for news this week, and our sincere hope is that you spend the weekend with some loved ones or friends, unwind, unplug (for God’s sake, UNPLUG!) and remember we all share this rock together, often for a very short time. Make the best of it. From all your friends at Triad, have a great weekend!