The Pennsylvania stories that brought a smile to our face in 2024

As we prepare to say goodbye to an election year where divisiveness seemed to dominate the news cycle, we’re here to remind you that the news wasn’t all bad in 2024, especially here in Pennsylvania.

So inundated were we in 2024 with dire news and divisive campaign ads that it’s easy to forget the year also featured its fair share of good news, especially right here in Pennsylvania.

So, as we prepare to say goodbye to 2024, we’re here to remind you that the news wasn’t all bad this year. Here are some of our favorite stories from the last 12 months.

Adams County animal shelter emptied for the holidays for the first time in 47 years

Technically, this one is from last year, but since it happened so late in 2023 you may have missed it.

Just before last Christmas, the Adams County SPCA in Gettysburg announced that every dog had been adopted, marking the first time in 47 years that its kennels had been completely cleared.

“Two weeks ago our kennels were almost filled, now we don’t have any dogs in the building at all,” the shelter wrote on Facebook. “To say that we are beyond excited is an understatement! The staff and volunteers have worked VERY hard to take care of the animals in our care and to make sure they got adopted to the right home!”

The story went viral, thanks to being picked up by the popular Instagram account We Rate Dogs, and the Today show.

Female student athlete makes high school wrestling history

Sierra Chiesa made history March 1, becoming the first female in Pennsylvania high school wrestling history to win 100 matches.

The junior at Northwestern High School in Albion, Erie County, reached the historic milestone at the Class 2A Northwest regional quarterfinals, where she earned a consolation round pin. 

In 2023, Chiesa became the first (and only) female wrestler in the state to qualify for a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championship and win a match there.

Groundhog Club handler A.J. Dereume interacts with Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, during the 136th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger)

Punxsutawney Phil (finally) starts a family

The population of Punxsutawney increased by two in 2024. Two groundhogs, that is.

For the first time in 138 years, Punxsutawney Phil and his better half, Phyllis, became parents.

The world’s most famous groundhog became a first-time dad when Phyllis gave birth to the two woodchuck pups—a boy and a girl—March 23. Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle President Thomas Dunkel said a Groundhog Club member discovered the little groundhogs when he came to feed Phil and Phyllis. Dunkel told WTAJ in Harrisburg that the birth was a complete surprise. 

“We did not think that this would happen in captivity because it never has. But apparently, we were wrong,” Dunkel explained.

The club held a contest in May to name the pups, choosing Sunny for the female and Shadow for the male.

Philly native becomes highest ranking woman in Pirates’ baseball ops department

Throughout North American professional sports, more and more females are entering the front office ranks, disrupting what was once exclusively a boys’ club. 

Philadelphia native Sarah Gelles’ career trajectory is an example of the progress women are continuing to make in reaching the upper echelons of Major League Baseball organizations. Following internships with the Phillies and Pirates, Gelles joined Major League Baseball’s Labor Relations Department, after which she helped to build proprietary statistical models for the Baltimore Orioles before moving on to the Houston Astros, where her data mining helped the Astros beat her hometown Phillies in the 2022 World Series.

Earlier this year, Gelles returned to the Pirates as assistant general manager, becoming the highest ranking woman in the team’s baseball operations department.

“It’s come a long way since I even entered the industry,” Gelles told the Keystone in March. “I hope that people like me getting the opportunity I have (in Pittsburgh) can give more women a vision of what’s possible and that I can help continue to open doors and mentor young women who are interested in breaking in.”

Bucks County Taco Bell manager helps to save a baby’s life

A Taco Bell manager in Bucks County sprang into action to help save a baby’s life in April.

Security footage in this video shows Natasha Long jumping out of her car to retrieve her 11-week-old son, Myles, from the back seat when she noticed he was struggling to breathe. Long’s panicked screams alerted the Taco Bell manager Becky Arbaugh, who dropped everything and ran outside to perform chest compressions on the baby, helping him to breathe again.

Shelter mutt from Erie competes at Westminster Dog Show 

When you think of the dogs who compete in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, you don’t usually think of mutts who were returned to the shelter numerous times before finding their forever home. But unlike Westminster’s main competition, the dog show’s agility competition isn’t about bloodlines and poise. It’s about speed, smarts, and the ability to navigate tricky obstacles. 

That’s how Miles, a seven-ish-year-old cattle dog-border collie-lab-hound mix from Erie wound up competing at Westminster’s Masters Agility Championship back in May, marking the second straight year Miles competed at Westminster.

Chrstine Longnecker, a horseback riding instructor and animal communications specialist from Erie, told the Keystone in May that Miles has come a long way since she adopted him from the Because You Care animal shelter in McKean in 2018.

“Miles was pretty much considered unadoptable by the shelter when I got him,” Longnecker told The Keystone in May. “He was petrified of his own shadow, the car, almost all noises, and he had horrible undiagnosed colitis. It took a few years to really find the right food and feeding schedule to keep his colitis under control. It also took months before he was brave and secure enough to bring his tail out from between his legs and stop worrying about everything. Now he’s so confident that sometimes, I wish he wasn’t so confident!”

While Miles didn’t make the finals at Westminster, people took notice of this extremely agile mutt with the inspiring story, as ABC World News Tonight, the CBC, and the New York Times all profiled him.

Miles, a seven-ish-year-old mixed-breed dog from Erie is competing in the Westminster Dog Show’s agility competition. (Photo: Katie Carr)

100-year-old veteran from Western Pa. makes pilgrimage to Normandy for D-Day anniversary

In late May, Andy Negra turned 100. Less than a week later, the Western Pa. native and World War II veteran joined a group of 60 American veterans of that conflict who traveled to France to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Negra is among a dwindling band of WWII veterans who traveled to Normandy to take part in parades, school visits, and ceremonies—including the official June 6 commemoration of the landings by soldiers from across the United States, Britain, Canada, and other Allied nations on five beaches.

“Well to me, we fought for freedom, and we fought for peace, and we fought for a good life,” Negra, a native of Avella, Washington County, told the Associated Press.

Pennsylvanians young and old(er) crowned champs for throwback hairstyle

The 2024 Pennsylvania Farm Show was more than just elaborate butter sculptures, cows, and milkshakes. The Farm Show held its first mullet competition this year and two-year-old Neil Finkenbinder of Duncannon, Perry County, won first place in the under 18 category. 

Click here to check out some of the other mullets on display at the Farm Show, including that of Elizabethtown’s Peter Brubaker, who took first place in the over 18 category.

In August, Kamden Cunningham, of Swoyersville, Luzerne County, was crowned winner in the kid’s division of the USA Mullet Championship. 

After his big win, Cunningham told The Keystone that he was “super duper happy.” 

“I never thought I could be the winner, but I guess everyone loves my mullet,” he said.

Kamden Cunningham of Swoyersville has been crowned the winner in the kid’s division of the 2024 USA Mullet Championship. (Photo: Cunningham family)

Reading company designs Olympic outfits

The more than two dozen Pennsylvanians who competed at this year’s Olympics weren’t the commonwealth’s only connection to the Paris games. The U.S. women’s and men’s gymnastics teams wore apparel designed by GK Elite of Reading.

The women’s leotards were adorned with thousands of Swarovski crystals to provide an eye-catching sparkle and shine. They were on full display for all the world to see as Simone Biles and the U.S. women took the gold gymnastics team final.

The company has previously made sportswear for individual Olympic athletes, such as Biles, as well as the entire gymnastics teams for the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Simone Biles, of the United States, competes during the women’s artistic gymnastics individual balance beam finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Pennsylvania Paralympians shine in Paris

Team USA had 225 athletes competing at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, including eight Pennsylvanians.

Hershey’s Mason Symons won a silver medal with Team USA’s wheelchair rugby team in the Open Team Tournament.

Symons is a veteran of the U.S. military who took home gold with Team USA at the Parapan American Games Santiago 2023.