Speaking at the White House last week, President Donald Trump made a statement that Republican and Democratic candidates alike wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole right now.

“If I were the mayor of a town or the governor of a state, and I had a chance to get a big plant in, an AI plant or a data center,” Trump said, ”I would absolutely want it because the jobs are enormous and the money paid, the taxes paid, are just enormous.”

That’s an easy thing to say for someone not running in the midterms in a competitive state like Pennsylvania, where there are currently about 80 data center projects in various stages of development.

The race to build data centers, which power artificial intelligence and cloud computing, is a huge issue among Pennsylvania voters, for whom the cost of powering data centers has become deeply intertwined with concerns about the cost of living and quality of life.

Subsequently, it’s become a huge issue for candidates, some of whom are pivoting on data centers amid frustration from constituents who don’t want to live near the massive warehouse campuses. 

Last June, Gov. Josh Shapiro touted Amazon’s $20B investment to build two data centers in the state, saying it was “just the beginning” of a plan for the tech giant to build more data centers in the commonwealth. 

Last week, Shapiro, who is running for reelection against Republican State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, slowed his roll on data centers somewhat. He signed an executive order restricting data center development.

Data center developers must get local approval to move forward with the construction of any new data centers. Shapiro’s executive order also blocks data centers that do not generate their own power, are not transparent with local communities, or do not follow clean-air and clean-water standards. 

In the state Senate race, Republican Tracy Pennycuick (Montgomery) is walking back her support for fast-tracking data center approval through the state Legislature. 

Last July, Pennycuick was one of the co-sponsors of a bill that would have created the new Office of Transformation and Opportunity and allowed data centers to bypass any regulation that restricts their construction and operation.

Last month, her campaign ran Facebook ads touting her bona fides for taking on Big Tech and stripping fast-track language from that bill, which was in committee.

A customer orders pizza inside Scranton’s Green Ridge News Mini Mart and Grill. (Contributed)

As you may or may not be aware, I write and edit a twice-monthly newsletter for The Keystone about Pennsylvania’s pizza scene called Pizzavania. A few months ago, I sampled the pizza offerings at several Pennsylvania gas station/convenience store chains. I walked away from the experience underwhelmed, bestowing my highest praise on Wawa’s pizza by saying that it didn’t necessarily “look or taste like a pizza that’s been made at an establishment where you can also put air in your tires and purchase both loose bananas and condoms.” 

Following that story, a handful of Pizzavania subscribers urged me to check out the pizza at another gas station/convenience store, Scranton’s Green Ridge News Mini Mart and Grill. Several NEPA-reared friends confirmed that the two-and-a-half-hour trip would be worth my while, “for the accents alone,” one of them said. 

They were absolutely right, about both the quality of the pizza and the accents. But I wouldn’t dare put this stuff in the gas station/convenience store pizza category. Green Ridge News Mini Mart and Grill serves excellent Old Forge-style pizza that just happens to be available at an establishment where you can also gas up your car, and purchase lottery tickets and a newspaper—along with that NEPA lunchtime staple, Texas Weiners.

Read my full story about this hidden gem that serves pizza as good as anything I’ve ever had in Old Forge (I said what I said) below.

• Overlapping economic issues and federal policy changes have left food banks across Pennsylvania struggling to keep up with demand in the face of SNAP cuts. Get the story here.

• Pennsylvania is set to open grant applications for fruit farmers affected by the spring freeze that caused losses estimated between $150 million and $200 million statewide. Find out more here.

• Sean Nam and two park rangers were recognized for their life‑saving actions after Nam’s friend and former college roommate Bill Blandford suffered a cardiac arrest while cycling in Lebanon County’s Swatara State Park. Get the details here.

East Side Little League celebrates its trip to the 2026 Little League Baseball World Series after winning the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship.  (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)

The East Side Little League team from West Chester is still alive in the Little League World Series, but they’ll have to win tonight to keep their hopes alive of making it to the championship game Sunday, Aug. 30, in Williamsport.

East Side of West Chester, the Mid-Atlantic Region champion, plays Alabama, the Southeast Region representative tonight at 7 p.m. The winner will face the Northwest Representative on Tuesday.

You can watch the game on ESPN.

Four Pennsylvania teams have been crowned Little League World Series champions since the tournament began in 1947. The last championship team came from Levittown, Bucks County, who won the 1960 Little League World Series.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Patrick Berkery with stories from Sean Kitchen, The Associated Press, USA Today via Reuters Connect, and Ian Karbal of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. It was edited by Crystal Niforos.

The Keystone is free for everyone. Your support makes our work possible.