Rural Economy
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We asked, you answered: What is your family doing to save money right now?
With the cost of everything from clothing to energy rising, we asked Keystone newsletter readers what they’re doing to save money right now.
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Pennsylvania farm bankruptcies increased 160% in 2025
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Samantha Ayoub reported that “the U.S. Courts report that 315 farm bankruptcies were filed in calendar year 2025, up 46% from 2024. While still down from recent highs, this is the second year in a row of increased filings.”
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Federal agriculture secretary asks struggling Pennsylvania farmers for patience
Pennsylvania farmers have faced a combination of issues, like the fallout from trade wars impacting exports, as well as rising equipment and fertilizer costs.
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Pennsylvanians grapple with surging premiums, expiring subsidies in Pennie Marketplace
Central Pennsylvania counties like Fulton and Juniata will have some of the highest monthly increases at 411% and 485%.
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What potential funding cuts to NPR, PBS will mean in Pennsylvania
A House vote is all that stands in the way of President Trump’s effort to claw back more than $1 billion in funding to the public radio and television stations that serve Pennsylvania’s biggest cities and smallest rural communities.
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‘Will solar panels replace farms?’ Answering your questions about clean energy in PA
Is clean energy expensive? How do windmills help when it’s not windy? How does clean energy get stored? Pennsylvania’s Lightning Plan is helping make the Keystone State an energy innovator again—but how does it work? We break it down.
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Here’s how (and when) the Lightning Plan could save you money
The Lightning Plan is a laundry list of bills to help Pennsylvanians save money on energy and improve efficiency across the state—but it can be confusing. We’ve broken down how the changes could affect your wallet.
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Elon Musk turned this once-popular Pennsylvania tourist destination into a ghost town
Memorial Day traffic plummeted at one of Pennsylvania’s largest lakes thanks to Elon Musk and DOGE’s cuts to the US Army Corps of Engineers.
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Gwen Frisbie-Fulton: ‘The people closest to the problem are often the ones who can find the solution’
About two years ago, tents started to show up in my neighborhood along the creek beds and in small stands of trees. Most only became visible when the leaves fell, exposing their orange rainflies and blue tarps. This increase in houselessness didn’t feel surprising to me or to my neighbors: The rent has nearly doubled…
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A love letter to the working class, from Gwen Frisbie-Fulton
It started in the back seat of my family’s Jeep Cherokee, the one with the broken AC and vinyl seats that stuck to my thighs in the late summer heat. After school we would wait, all the doors flung open, for my dad to get off work. My mother reading in the front seat, her…
