Court documents say a man who authorities say scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a hammer if he found him.

Arson suspect Cody Balmer, a 38 year old Harrisburg man, was charged with 8 criminal offenses by the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office for setting fire to the governor’s residence on Sunday.

Around 2:00 A.M. on Friday, the Harrisburg Bureau of Fire responded to a fire report at the Governor's Residence in Harrisburg. Pennsylvania State Police are actively investigating but have said they believe this was an act of arson.

There are two public defenders in Bradford, managing hundreds of cases each year. A 2024 report from Penn Carey Law says Bradford’s public defender’s work an average of 6,674 hours a year. That is the 6th worst average in the entire state.

To highlight a growing multi-billion dollar industry, New York has declared April 11th New York Craft Beer Day. 

On Thursday, Governor Josh Shapiro announced that roughly $185 million in federal funds for Pennsylvania public education was revoked. Shapiro has joined a multi state lawsuit in response.

Over 400 people were stuffed into the capitol this week, advocating for higher wages for home health care workers.

A helicopter crashed Thursday into the Hudson River off Manhattan, authorities said.

"For individuals and families who may have lost loved ones, [it’s] an opportunity to take something from their experience and their loss and then pass it on to someone else,” Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) said, the bill’s sponsor.

There are around 600,000 public sector workers in the Commonwealth— from county administrators to public school teachers, to sanitation workers and plow drivers.

More than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell and around $790 million for Northwestern have been frozen as the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at both universities.

Advocates in Harrisburg today were focused on gun violence prevention, and what the state can do to keep violent trends going down.

Insurance companies list one drug price at $5,000.
The cost to produce is around $90.

Pharmacies, the middleman, and local healthcare.

New York state school officials have told the Trump administration that they will not comply with its demands to end diversity, equity and inclusion practices, despite the administration’s threats to terminate federal education funding.

Not everything in the bill is dirt and tractors. And that’s why it gets politically messy.

Farm advocates that are tuned in to Washington D.C. decision making are keeping track of canceled contracts, the avian flu, tariffs, and the elusive farm bill.

New York State announced that Saturday April 26th will be the second annual Caring for your Cemetery Day at dozens of cemeteries across the state.

Pennsylvania has joined 22 other states in suing the federal government for canceled funding from the U.S. Health & Human Services department. 

In the past two months, over 24,000 federal workers got termination notices… then most got re-hired (through court cases and agency re-assessments). Around 2,000 are on administrative leave.

Today, dozens of advocates and state officials honored the memory of children who died from child abuse… while celebrating the efforts of workers who keep kids safe everyday.