The good news is that after a long, cold, harsh winter in Pennsylvania, baseball is back.

The bad news is that if you’re driving to the Phillies home opener against the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon, or the Pirates home opener against the Baltimore Orioles next week, you’re going to be paying more for gas.

Drivers in some parts of Pennsylvania are now paying around $4 a gallon for the first time in four years.

The last time prices spiked this high in Pennsylvania was in spring and summer 2022, when gas surpassed $5 per gallon during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and lingering pandemic disruptions.

According to motor club AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped to over $3.98 on Thursday, up from $3.88 last week—and from $2.98 before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. 

In Pennsylvania, the average price is now $3.95, up from $3.82 this time last week and $3.12 just before the war started.

Find out where prices have eclipsed $4.00, tips on how to find the cheapest gas, and what state lawmakers are trying to do about the pain at the pump below.

About 20% of Pennsylvanians previously enrolled in the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace plan, Pennie, have dropped their health coverage following the lapse of enhanced federal subsidies that reduced their monthly premiums. The average premium increased by 102%, with some reporting monthly premiums that tripled. 

For our QOTW, we want to hear from Pennie customers who are struggling with those increased costs:

Have rising premiums on your Pennie plan made you rethink your health coverage—have you dropped it, or are you considering dropping it?

“As a senior who won’t qualify for Medicare until August, I’m caught between escalating costs and limited options. The premiums are crippling, and out-of-pocket medical expenses only add to the strain. I’m skipping essential care I can’t afford—physical therapy sessions, prescription medications, even routine follow-ups—because each visit or refill pushes my budget further into the red. The result is not just financial stress but worsening health and the constant anxiety of choosing between medical needs and other basic living expenses. Until Medicare coverage begins, I’m left navigating a system that feels increasingly unaffordable for those of us on fixed incomes.”

— Patricia B., Glenside

“I left a job with employer-provided health insurance to make a career change and went back to school. Had decent Pennie coverage that I could afford thanks to subsidies. Now that the subsidies have been suspended, I’m paying about $80 a month more for that same plan. For now, I can weather it. Being single helps because I’ve got low overhead. Hoping to land a gig with good benefits in my new field by the end of the year. Until then, I’m sticking it out.”

—Erica, Wayne County

“It’s been rough. I got divorced a couple of years ago and lost health insurance I had through my ex-wife’s work plan. Got laid off from my job not long after and went on Pennie. The federal subsidy definitely helped. Now, I’m paying $135 more a month. I have a pre-existing condition so the plan is helpful with prescriptions that I need to take. But if it gets any higher, or if prescriptions go up, I’ll have to make some cuts.”

—Terry, Harrisburg

Let us know how you’re navigating higher health insurance premiums through Pennie, and please let us know where you live.

(Shutterstock)

Don’t look now, but another electricity rate hike could be coming for Pennsylvania households.

In December, electricity rates in the state jumped by as much as 10%. And as our Ashley Adams reports, another increase of about 5% is expected this June, just as many residents start cranking up their air conditioners to stay cool in the summer heat. 

The rising costs are already hitting families hard: about 1 in 5 Pennsylvania households reported struggling to pay energy bills in 2025, and more than 338,000 households experienced utility shutoffs last year—a 38% increase from the year before.

In response, Democrats in Washington have introduced the Energy Bills Relief Act, a proposal aimed at lowering electricity costs and helping households stay current on their bills.

We’re focused on documenting what’s actually happening in our communities, and providing Pennsylvanians with the clear, factual information they need about the local impact of the current partial government shutdown, affordability, the stakes of this year’s important midterm election, and so much more.

Your donations during our current Supporter Drive allow us to make this important work free and accessible to all. No paywalls here.

• Another round of No Kings protests is planned for Saturday across the US. We’ve got a roundup of Pa. events here.

• Union members from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and a coalition of advocates are calling on Gov. Shapiro to embrace a packet of bills that taxes Pennsylvania billionaires. Our Sean Kitchen has the details in this story.

• Who should pay when state police are the local law enforcement patrol in Pennsylvania? A bill in the state House aims to address that issue by imposing a fee on municipalities that use state police for local coverage. Find out more here.

• A proposal aimed at expanding property tax relief for Pennsylvania’s veterans is moving forward after receiving strong support in the state House. Learn about the measure here.

• Two teenage boys who used AI to create fake nude photos of their classmates at a private school in Lancaster County received probation Wednesday after dozens of victims described the images’ traumatizing effect on them. Get the story here.

Otto Schellhamer, an eighth-grader who has the only perfect bracket after the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s NCAA college basketball tournaments, poses in his backyard in Plum Borough, Pa., Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (The Associated Press)

The only perfect bracket left after the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments—from more than 40 million entries across all the major contests—was produced not by some college basketball expert or betting guru but an eighth grader from suburban Pittsburgh.

His name is Otto Schellhammer. He is 14 years old.

And despite his perfect-so-far women’s bracket, he admits to knowing nothing about hoops.

“I know people say this a lot about March Madness,” Schellhammer told The Associated Press, sitting beside his mom, Amy, between school and lacrosse practice on Wednesday, “but it was 100% luck. I know basically nothing about any type of basketball.”

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Patrick Berkery with stories from Ashley Adams, Sean Kitchen, Ava Edwards, The Associated Press, and USA Today via Reuters Connect. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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