Aug 30, 2024 3 min read

HIT: It’s been almost 15 years since U.S. Rep. John Murtha died unexpectedly. In the final years of his life, the Johnstown Democrat was mostly known nationally as a critic of the United States’ invasion of Iraq, but for the 35 years he served in the House of Representatives Murtha was also a strong advocate for Southwestern Pennsylvania and was someone who could “bring home the bacon.” That being the case, it was fitting that Murtha was honored this week by a newly expanded lock on the Monongahela River being named for him. The new lock is more than double its original size, and is part of a long-running project on the river that is expected to boost the regional economy by $200 million every year. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and he said, “To have it renamed after Congressman Murtha is extremely fitting. He spent his entire career advocating for projects like this in our region. There is no more fitting way to honor his memory than to have this named after him.”

MISS: It’s election season and, unfortunately, it looks like it’s going to be a season that will bring forth fresh scams targeting unsuspecting voters. The elections offices in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties all report that they have received calls from concerned residents after those residents received text messages claiming that they are not registered to vote “in our records,” and that they should go to a website to complete their registration. Elections officials all emphasize that they would not contact any voter through a text message, and if the voter has any questions or concerns about their registration status, they should contact their local elections office or go online to vote.pa.gov. According to Melanie Ostrander, Washington County’s elections director, “It’s a shame knowing the larger turnout and the more involved people are for a presidential election, that there are individuals using that to their advantage, to collect information from voters.”

HIT: Al Schmidt is Pennsylvania’s top elections official, and on a visit to Washington County this week, he pointed out there is no statewide law that would allow voters to fix minor errors on mail-in ballots – to “cure” them – but that he and his colleagues in Harrisburg “obviously encourage counties to provide as many options to voters so those voters can cast their ballots and have their votes counted.” Earlier this year, Washington County decided to take a more draconian approach to ballot curing, and simply not count the mail-in ballots that had mistakes or oversights like a missed signature or date. In the April primary election, this meant that 259 county voters had their votes tossed out. The decision has been met with fierce criticism, and this week Judge Brandon Neuman of the Washington County Court of Common Pleas agreed with the critics, ruling that the county should at least inform voters of the errors and allow them to cast a ballot provisionally. What is needed over the long term, though, is that statewide standard on ballot curing that Pennsylvania does not now have.