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U.S. electric grids are changing strategy

HARRISBURG — With the explosive growth of Big Tech’s data centers threatening to overload U.S. electricity grids, policymakers are taking a hard look at a tough-love solution: bumping the energy-hungry data centers off grids during power emergencies. Texas moved first, as state lawmakers try to protect residents in the data-center hotspot from another deadly blackout, like the winter storm in 2021 when dozens died. Now the concept is emerging in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid and elsewhere as massive data centers are coming online faster than power plants can be built and ...

Bus carrying junior high football team crashes near Pittsburgh

ECONOMY BOROUGH, Pa. (AP) — A bus carrying a junior high football team to a game crashed Saturday north of Pittsburgh, sending 21 of the 28 people on board to the hospital, officials said. Twenty-five Aliquippa Junior High students and three adults were headed to a game in nearby Gibsonia. The crash occurred in Economy Borough, about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. Economy Borough Police Chief Michael O’Brien said he didn’t have information on the medical status of those taken to hospitals. O’Brien said he understood the bus turned on its side during the crash but came back ...

Pennsylvania’s Chautauqua is a summertime haven

MOUNT GRETNA, Pa. — It takes a 54-page pamphlet to list all the classes, concerts, outdoor recreation and other self-improvement and entertainment going on at the Pennsylvania Chautauqua in Mount Gretna this summer. The area springs to life every June, July and August, when a year-round population of about 1,000 more than doubles and thousands more crowd in for big events. The picturesque front porches that define the town are abuzz with energetic cottagers who punctuate their days with cooking lessons, nature walks, yoga, professorial lectures, music and plays. In short, it’s ...

As electric bills rise, evidence mounts on data centers

HARRISBURG — Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers. It’s not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta. But more than a dozen states have begun taking steps as data centers drive a rapid build-out of power plants and transmission ...

PSP, Shapiro honor Rougeau and other fallen state troopers

HARRISBURG ­­— In the 120-year history of the Pennsylvania State Police, 104 state troopers have lost their lives while serving the Commonwealth. The most recent was Trooper Jacques “Jay” F. Rougeau, of the Pennsylvania State Police at Lewistown, who was killed by a gunman who had ...

Campgrounds at federal lakes, including Raystown, closing amid budget cuts

TOPEKA, Kan. — Campgrounds, boat ramps and other facilities in at least 30 locations at federal lakes and reservoirs in six states will be closed or have their hours curtailed as of mid-May as the Trump administration tries to rapidly shrink the U.S. government. Officials at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the lakes and reservoirs and their amenities for boating, camping, hiking and sightseeing, said they are dealing with staffing shortages and other budgetary restrictions. Corps spokesman Douglas Garman said concentrating staff at fewer recreational sites will ...