Latest news with #WITF
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Cumberland County student wins Central Pennsylvania Spelling Bee for second consecutive year
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A Cumberland County middle school student won the Central Pennsylvania Spelling Bee for the second consecutive year and will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May 2025. Akshaj Somisetty, an eighth-grader at Mountain View Middle School in the Cumberland Valley School District, won the 2025 Central PA Spelling Bee in Round 16 by correctly spelling 'prodition.' Somisetty earned a spot at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will occur on May 27 – 29, 2025, near Washington, D.C. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'Being on stage for the Bee helps build our Central PA spellers' confidence with public speaking and performing under pressure,' says WITF Central PA Spelling Bee Coordinator, Patrick J. Dennehy. 'Spellers also have the opportunity to connect with their fellow spellers, which makes the experience even more memorable.' Somisetty was first place of over 200 spellers from 10 Central Pennsylvania counties who participated in this year's Central PA Spelling Bee. After an online written test, 33 of those spellers qualified for the Grand Championship Spelling Bee, which was held on March 15, 2025, at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A greeting from the new guy
New Capital-Star Editor Tim Lambert spent more than 23 years at WITF in Harrisburg, where he worked as a host, reporter, multimedia news director and most recently special projects editor. (Courtesy of Tim Lambert) It's been a few days since I started this new gig, so I'm overdue for a little chat with you. How about we start things off with a simple, 'hello?' As the third editor-in-chief in the Pennsylvania Capital-Star's history, the pleasure is all mine. If you would have told me four months ago that I would be leading a three-person team covering politics and policy in Pennsylvania, I would have said you were nuts. But, the more I thought about it, the more I was intrigued. Here was an opportunity to shift toward a different approach – away from horse-race coverage and partisan bickering and toward a focus on how policy decisions impact you and your community. Here was an opportunity to make our work accessible to people who may have tuned political coverage out. Here was an opportunity to tell the story of the commonwealth during unprecedented times. So, here I am. But now, you may be wondering who I am. A lifelong Pennsylvanian and son of a steel worker, I grew up in Aliquippa in Beaver County, graduated from Hopewell High School and The Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and have worked/survived in radio/journalism for 32 years. Besides Hopewell and Indiana, Pa., I've lived my entire life in this great commonwealth – including stops in Lewistown, Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Millersville and my last one (knock on wood), New Cumberland. The majority of my career was spent at WITF, Central Pennsylvania's public media organization. During my time there, I held several jobs – morning news host, podcaster, reporter, news director and special projects editor. In my reporting role, I worked to bring the stories of Pennsylvanians to life, including one young woman's journey through the juvenile justice system and a mentorship program through handball. But, I may be best known for my work on and connection to Flight 93, the hijacked jetliner that crashed in Somerset County during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In a twist of fate, my family owned part of the land that is now part of the national memorial honoring the passengers and crew who fought back against the terrorists. For two decades, I returned to the site again and again to chronicle how family members dealt with their grief over the years as well as their fight to honor their loved ones' memory. It culminated in an hour-long documentary with my old colleague Scott Detrow – produced by NPR – that aired on public radio stations across the country. While I'm sure I'll continue to do some reporting at the Capital-Star, my main focus will be leading our three-person bureau in covering how policy and politics have an effect on your life. So, I'll be drawing on my more than a dozen years leading WITF's small newsroom where we consistently punched above our weight. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX How will that translate to what we do as part of States Newsroom? I'll implement lessons learned from Trusting News strategies to try to improve and build credibility with our audience. We will work to avoid treating politics as a sport and focus on what issues matter to Pennsylvanians by looking at approaches championed by Democracy SOS and America Amplified. Our coverage will try to connect what has worked in other communities and states through a Solutions Journalism lens. We will tap into our fellow States Newsroom outlets across the nation to enrich our coverage, while providing the proper context that is so often overlooked in the world of 'click bait' or 'outrage' viral stories. I will work to find creative ways for our team to bring stories to life to help people have a better understanding of issues and their communities. I firmly believe journalists need to meet their audience where it is. We're doing it with our digital stories, but I know some of you may prefer to get your news through audio stories, podcasts or video explainers. We will experiment in those spheres. Nothing that I have written here will happen overnight. Journalism is an evolving process. What I can promise you is our coverage will always be fact-based, smart, nuanced, fair, transparent and geared toward you. I'm so looking forward to having you along for the ride as a reader and – if we do our job right – a donor who recognizes the need for a strong, independent, free press. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tim Lambert is the new editor of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star
New Capital-Star Editor Tim Lambert spent more than 23 years at WITF in Harrisburg, where he worked as a host, reporter, multimedia news director and most recently special projects editor. (Courtesy of Tim Lambert) Central Pennsylvania news veteran Tim Lambert starts work today as the new editor of the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. Lambert joins the nonprofit online newsroom, which covers Pennsylvania government, politics and policy, after more than 23 years at WITF in Harrisburg, where he worked as a host, reporter, multimedia news director and most recently as the special projects editor. Under his leadership, which included oversight of the state Capitol bureau, the newsroom earned 13 Radio Television Digital News Association National Edward R. Murrow awards, four Pennsylvania Associated Press Association Joe Snyder awards for outstanding news service and numerous other accolades. He also oversaw the implementation of a nationally-recognized election accountability policy in 2021 and Trusting News strategies that aim to build better relationships between news organizations and the communities they cover. 'Covering politics and policy is very different in 2025 than it was a dozen or so years ago. So, it's important to me, as a lifelong Pennsylvanian, to help people understand how decisions within state government impact their lives,' Lambert said. Lambert, 54, grew up in Hopewell Township in Beaver County and graduated with a communications degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also worked as an anchor and reporter at WGET-AM/WGTY-FM in Gettysburg and as a sports reporter at the Gettysburg Times. 'My goal is to focus more on the stakes for people and their communities on key issues. That will include taking a solutions-oriented approach and avoiding horse race coverage,' Lambert said. 'I'm looking forward to finding ways to make our work accessible and indispensable to readers, while meeting them where they are.' The Capital-Star, which launched in 2019, is part of States Newsroom, the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, and is supported by grants and donations. 'With his deep knowledge of Pennsylvania politics and a creative and fearless approach to news coverage, Tim is the perfect editor to lead our Capital-Star newsroom through these challenging times,' Chris Fitzsimon, publisher of States Newsroom, said. 'We're excited to welcome Tim into our network.' Lambert replaces Kim Lyons, who left the position in January.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Scott Perry's next race declared an early toss-up in Pennsylvania's 10th; analyst
(WHTM) – Early analysis of the 2026 election shows Midstate Congressman Scott Perry's race as a toss up after he narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger in 2024. The Cook Political Report deemed Perry's 10th Congressional District race one of the 18 toss-up elections in less than two years. A seven-term incumbent, Perry defeated former television anchor Janelle Stelson in November by about 5,100 votes. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Stelson won the Democratic nomination in a crowded field, defeating military veterans Mike O'Brien and Rick Coplen, Harrisburg City Councilwoman Shamaine Daniels, businessman John Broadhurst, and former WITF executive Blake Lynch. Perry's victory over Stelson was his closest yet coming off a 24,000-vote win over Daniels in 2022. His most recent margin of victory (1.26%) ran close to Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, who took the state by 1.71% over Kamala Harris. Perry had been deemed a vulnerable candidate in recent years due to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Shapiro says Scott Perry 'full of s‑‑‑' for trying to contest Biden's 2020 victory but not his own Also, a projected toss-up in 2026 is Pennsylvania's 7th District in the Lehigh Valley after Republican Ryan Mackenzie unseated Susan Wild. Freshman Congressman Rob Bresnahan's race in the northeast is listed as 'lean Republican,' and Bucks County Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick's seat is considered 'likely Republican.' Western Pennsylvania's Chris Deluzio's seat is currently considered 'likely Democrat.' Before 2026, voters will cast their ballots in local races for mayor and other municipal elections on November 4, 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
