The Saturday after millions of Americans received $1,200 economic relief checks from the federal government, Alex Corn decided to open the Verona Gun Safe early. He’s owned the Verona, Pennsylvania, gun shop on the outskirts of Pittsburgh since 2011. Pennsylvania gun stores operate by appointment only, the result of a […]
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At age 15, Crystal Snyder was on her own and felt the authorities breathing down her neck. Her mother, a truck stop worker in Huntington, West Virginia, left with a long-haul driver. Her father was in prison. Crystal wasn’t going to school and spent most of her time with her […]
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The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing is considering a “risk assessment” tool, which, according to social justice activists, would reinforce existing bias in the criminal justice system. But the tool’s designers say it would give judges more data to base sentencing decisions on as opposed to primarily relying on uniform guidelines. […]
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Karen Frey is dressed head to toe in mementoes of the 2016 election. Offering cookies on a platter to passersby from beneath a tent outside a shopping plaza, she wears tennis shoes bearing “Trump” logos. She bought them online. Her hoodie reads, “Deplorables Club Est. 2016 Lifetime Member.” The words […]
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Jean Ripepi, 87, remembers her first mass at St. Anthony Church. The building had two wings separated by a bell tower and stood atop a hill overlooking downtown Monongahela. She was entering a new faith and a new marriage. Ripepi had been raised in the Polish Catholic Church — a […]
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