Allegheny Front

02/07/2026

One of the coolest things about Lake Erie is the beach glass that washes up on the shores. Many beaches along the lake allow visitors to come and hunt for these glass pieces.

There are many tips and tricks to keep in mind to find these little treasures, while also being safe. Some people just collect the glass, while others decide to make amazing art with it.



Read more about Lake Erie beach glass at https://www.alleghenyfront.org/how-to-find-beach-glass-lake-erie/

10/06/2026

One year ago, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro stood before a crowd in Berwick, Columbia County, exclaiming that it was a good day. Shapiro said that Amazon was planning to invest at least $20 billion to build data center campuses in the state.

But the political winds for data centers have shifted since last year. Vocal opposition is growing in communities in Pennsylvania, around their impact on energy prices, noise, and other disruptions in neighborhoods where they’re built, along with environmental concerns such as energy and water usage.

The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant spoke with Jael Holzman, a reporter with Heatmap News, a climate news outlet, who recently wrote a piece about the difficult position this has created for Governor Shapiro, and how he’s navigating it.

03/06/2026

The U.S. Forest Service is closing research sites across the country, including four in Pennsylvania that have studied deer management, invasive species and black cherry and oak trees. What will the impact be on the Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania? A former head of research lab in Warren, Pa., and foresters say projects spanning decades will come to a halt and Pennsylvania's $21 billion forestry industry could be impacted.

11/05/2026

How do you know if owning an electric vehicle could save you some money in the long run?

Coltura, a nonprofit focused on the transition from gasoline to electric vehicles, has a new online tool that calculates the difference between the money spent driving a gas-powered car and an EV based on car type, mileage and fuel costs.

In Pennsylvania, for example, if you drive 25,000 miles a year, you could save $3,378 per year on fuel and maintenance driving any sort of electric vehicle..

https://www.alleghenyfront.org/electric-vehicle-savings/

29/04/2026

An Ohio commission is considering proposals to lease thousands of acres of a state-owned wildlife area for fracking. Some people who live near the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area and hunting conservation groups think the leases make sense for the revenue it will bring in for conservation, while others are concerned about truck traffic that has plagued other Ohio communities near fracking sites.

Research shows that bird communities shift in areas where fracking is happening: more sensitive, forest-dependent species like blue-headed vireo and Canada warblers move out, while more generalist species, like cowbirds, a native species that can take over habitat, move in. Cowbirds are often considered a threat to vulnerable songbird species.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has placed conditions on potential fracking leases to help minimize noise and impacts to hunting.

Read more at https://www.alleghenyfront.org/trucks-habitat-loss-fracking-ohio-egypt-valley-wildlife-area/

23/04/2026

Gov. Josh Shapiro announced he was moving to extend the lives of two Western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plants for through 2032. The decision means that Keystone Generating Station in Armstrong and Indiana counties, and Conemaugh Generating Station in Indiana County will have more time to meet new federal rules on toxic wastewater discharged from coal plants. The company cited growing energy demand for data centers are a reason to keep them open.

The local union president cheered the move, while environmentalists say it's a way for the company to delay compliance with water pollution rules and another negative consequence of AI.

As energy demand from data centers grows, the plants will remain open through 2032, and have more time to meet water pollution standards.

17/04/2026

The Pennsylvania state House has approved two bills related to data center construction. One bill would produce a model ordinance that municipalities could adopt with recommendations on concerns such as building height and size campuses. Another would require centers to report yearly water and electricity use and estimate future use. Facilities that fail to submit such a report would face a $10,000-per-day penalty. Read more for WESA's Tom Riese.

The Pennsylvania state House has approved two bills related to data center construction. The votes are the latest moves by Harrisburg lawmakers to regulate a fast-growing industry that some communities and environmental groups have opposed.

15/04/2026

Residents in southwestern Pennsylvania fear they could lose their homes and properties if the PUC grants eminent domain for the project that will power data centers in Virginia.

NextEra Energy Transmission MidAtlantic Inc. is planning the 107-mile MidAtlantic Resiliency Link Project from Dunkard Township, Greene County, Pa., to an endpoint in Northern Virginia.

The 10-mile Pennsylvania portion of the line runs along the southern border with West Virginia, through portions of Greene and Fayette counties.

The 500-kilovolt line would be able to send electricity from the mostly coal-fired grid in West Virginia and the natural gas-fired grid in southwestern Pennsylvania to power-hungry northern Virginia, the data center capital of the world.

https://buff.ly/HoZFY9Z

Residents fear they could lose their homes and properties if the PUC grants eminent domain for the project that will power data centers in Virginia.