Lisa Scheid
@lisafscheid.bsky.social
Spotlight PA Berks Bureau managing editor. Former LNP|LancasterOnline biz trends reporter. ❤️ good tacos, my kids & husband, pugs. Will still take factory tours.
Not surprising to me after covering Retreat Behavioral Health
ProPublica@propublica.org · 5d agoKentucky’s largest recipient of state funds under Gov. Andy Beshear’s Medicaid policy was Addiction Recovery Care. Amid an ongoing FBI investigation, the company recently reached a $16 million settlement with the DOJ over fraud allegations. w/ @kentucky.com
County will offer $7.2M to buy a Reading building to use while historic courthouse is repaired https://www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/07/berks-county-wells-fargo-building-purchase-courthouse-market-value-local-government/
Berks County moves ahead with 600 Penn St. purchase in Reading
Berks County approved a letter of intent to buy the former Wells Fargo building for $7.2 million as officials prepare for long-term courthouse renovations.
spotlightpa.org
I'll be in Scranton for an in-person event hosted by Spotlight PA! We'll be discussing my reporting on the mental health system, and hearing from people directly affected. Please join us!
Kevin Barnhardt, Berks County's COO, said commissioners had a brief conversation with U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R., Pa.) at a recent event who indicated DHS still plans to sell the warehouses, but "has nothing in writing." Meuser's office did not respond to Spotlight PA's request for information.
ICE sale led PA district to temporarily freeze HS renovation
While Hamburg officials say the financial impact is limited, it does demonstrate the uncertainty that the ICE project is creating locally.
spotlightpa.org
When Pa. lawmakers passed a state budget, leaders praised it for being a fiscally responsible $50.8 billion product that doesn’t dip into the rainy day fund. That’s a misleading picture. To reach that number, they had to employ some accounting tricks. www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/07...
PA’s budget is only balanced because of accounting tricks
The budget delays billions in payments to organizations that manage healthcare for PA Medicaid recipients
spotlightpa.org
oil jumped ~9% yesterday- since yesterday evening, stations buying gasoline have been paying much more- but there's a lag- stations will have waited 12-24 hours before they *start* to move higher, even then, they're already behind. Look for ~$3.90/gal maybe today, then $4 soon.
Lawmakers break without addressing unconstitutional murder sentences, leave 1K PA lifers in limbo https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/07/pennsylvania-felony-murder-deadline-state-legislature-justice-system/
@jaxonwhite.bsky.social and @stephenjcaruso.bsky.social report: The deal allows the state to sell $125 million in tax credits to insurers that will subsidize venture capital firms and fund grants for the life sciences and biotechnology industries, under an “Innovate in PA 2.0” program.
PA poised to adopt $50.8B budget
The plan also preserves the state’s nearly $8 billion rainy day fund — a key priority for Republicans, who control the state Senate.
spotlightpa.org
Advocates want stronger renter protections in Reading. Here's which proposals City Council could adopt and which require state approval. https://www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/07/reading-rental-cap-discrimination-rights-proposal-housing/
We still have no details on the supposed abandoning of the Hamburg and Tremont warehouses.
Project Salt Box@projectsaltbox.com · 4w agoICE left WEXMAC, the Navy-run construction program it used for warehouse conversions and detention camps around the country. Now, it’s building a replacement of its own — a new contract vehicle that could give the agency a faster in-house path to expand its detention infrastructure.
Albright College in Reading, PA, received an accreditation warning and has until 2027 to demonstrate compliance with financial standards.https://www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/07/albright-college-middle-states-accreditation-higher-education/
What a great piece. The Most Iconic American Artwork Is the Hardest to See www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Most Iconic American Artwork Is the Hardest to See (Gift Article)
The Statue of Liberty is caught between the sublime and the souvenir, our critic Jason Farago explains. Look again: She’s much stranger than you think.
nytimes.com
I'm not saying it's cause and effect, but I'm also not not saying it. Either way, the manufacturing revival never came.
AI bots are showing up to remote meetings faster than humans can create social norms to guide them.
The Uninvited Meeting Guest Is an AI Notetaker
AI bots are showing up to remote meetings faster than humans can create social norms to guide them.
bloom.bg
BREAKING: A federal judge has DISMISSED a case brought by the Trump Justice Department seeking access to Pennsylvania’s voter rolls, including voters’ sensitive information. Background story in next post.
NEW: The Trump administration told a federal court judge in Michigan that it plans to sell the warehouse it purchased to detain immigrants in the state. This is the first public acknowledgement of plans to sell warehouses after our story last week.
Orolua Eluonyechie has been held in immigration detention for more than two years. He filed a habeas petition to be released, but it sat for nine months without ever being reviewed. “It is a black hole. Nobody is paying attention to him,” his lawyer says.
“Stuck in Purgatory”: ICE Detention in Louisiana Can Stretch on for Years - Bolts
Louisiana has more ICE lockups than almost any other state. Now as a surge in habeas petitions overloads courts, people are held “unfathomably” long without recourse.
boltsmag.org
@ashaprihar.bsky.social is such a great writer and this short video is great. www.instagram.com/reel/DZw9o41...
spotlightpennsylvania on Instagram: "How did pretzels become so popular in Pennsylvania?Reporter Asha Prihar explains the history of pretzels while she bakes them for t…"
How did pretzels become so popular in Pennsylvania?Reporter Asha Prihar explains the history of pretzels while she bakes them for the first time.
instagram.com
Also to re-up our reporting: emails and texts revealed local county officials talked about “positive messaging” on turning the warehouse into an ICE facility with Dan Meuser who wanted to exclude Dems from mtgs with DHS. www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/0...
Internal emails reveal tensions over Berks ICE detention plan
Internal records detail local concerns, DHS negotiations, and political tensions surrounding a proposed ICE detention center in Berks County.
spotlightpa.org
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 2mo agoICE plans to sell or give away seven warehouses it bought for $700 million to detain migrants, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. The decision, a major reversal, is a rejection of a signature initiative under the previous homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem. trib.al/o5iUEu3
For those interested. The locations include: Romulus, Michigan Social Circle, Georgia Flowery Branch, Georgia Hamburg, Pennsylvania Tremont, Pennsylvania Salt Lake City Roxbury, New Jersey
Hamed Aleaziz@haleaziz.bsky.social · 2mo agoSCOOP: ICE is planning to offload seven warehouses purchased for more than $700 million by either giving them to other federal agencies or selling them outright, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/u...
New: @jaxonwhite.bsky.social and I look at what's next for skill games. With potentially billions in revenue up for grabs, few talk about upholding an outright ban. But how to regulate the devices and what to do with the money (say, funding public transit) will define coming talks.
Skill games are illegal, PA court says. Now what?
Skill game taxation rates and ensuring public safety are among the policy questions PA lawmakers need to hash out.
spotlightpa.org
Emails detail how Berks County leaders worked behind the scenes after detention center surprise https://www.spotlightpa.org/berks/2026/06/ice-detention-center-berks-county-pennsylvania-warehouse-internal-emails-local-government/
