People march through Pittsburgh’s streets as part of the “Every Voice Heard, Every Vote Counted,” rally to call for an accurate count of votes in Pennsylvania and to celebrate Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden winning the presidency, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020. The rally which was organized by Pennsylvania United and the Alliance for Police Accountability drew several hundred people.
Politics
Coal Miner's Daughter /
Sara Vance, 33, a third-generation coal miner, holds her 11-month-old daughter, Alexis, at her home on October 12, 2020, in Tridelphia, W.Va. Vance voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and will do so again on Election Day. “I look at my job as patriotic. What I do powers office buildings and homes, the grocery stores where people get their food, as well as schools and churches and companies that build things that build our country. We help keep the lights on and keep people warm as well,” she says
Fayette County /
Kids ride their bikes past a church along Pittsburgh Street in Connellsville, Pa., part of Fayette County, on October 25, 2020. Democrats in Fayette County lead Republicans with 39,857 voters compared to 34,460 Democrats, with another 8,028 independents. However, Democrats once held a 3-to-1 advantage in the county just 10 years ago. In the 2016 election, Trump won Fayette County with 64.4% of the votes over Hillary Clinton’s 33.4%.
Guns in America /
Bill Perkins of Gibsonia, Pa., stands with his wife, Marilyn Boulet, carrying their AR-15 style rifles, as they join a rally of 150 people to show their support for the Second Amendment and Rostraver Township Police Officer Martin Palla on April 22, 2018 in the courtyard of the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg, Pa. Officer Palla came under intense criticism last month when he stood across the street from the March for Our Lives event held at the same location with an AR-15 style rifle over his shoulder
Coal Miner /
“Where Trump goes we all go,” says Kevin Backus, 32, of Mt. Lookout, W.Va., a coal miner at CONSOL Energy’s Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pa. Backus has worked in coal mining for 10 years.
At the Harvey Mine, most of the miners are supporting President Trump, believing that his rollback of regulations has helped their industry survive.
In the early 1920s, coal miners accounted for 2% of the country’s workforce with over 800,000 miners. Today, there are about 45,000 coal miners left in the U.S. Pennsylvania is one of the nation’s largest coal producing states behind Wyoming and West Virginia, producing about 7% of the the coal.
East Palestine Derailment 3 of 3 /
Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.
The settlement, if approved by a court, would pay class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the accident and personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius.
Residents, many of which still complain about respiratory issues, anxiety, unexplained rashes, and nosebleeds, fear it isn’t enough and doesn’t take into account potential costs from long-term health impacts of the derailment that spilled more than a million pounds of hazardous chemicals into the soil, water and air.
View full gallery here.
Decline of Small Town Life /
“I’ll probably be one of the next ones to go,” says Lee Goldthwaite, 79, the caretaker of the Sheffield Township cemetery, as he walks through the tombstones.
Sheffield, the small Warren County town that sits along the edge of the Allegheny National Forest, shares a similar story to other rural Pennsylvania towns as the number of deaths outpace births and population loss accelerates. The town, which once was a hub for timber had the largest sawmill east of the Mississippi River, has lost nearly a quarter of the population it had 20 years ago. Many expect the decline of small-town life to be a topic in this presidential election.
Along Main Street, few businesses remain. The local bank and liquor store have closed, the town’s daycare shuttered as the number of children dwindled to the single digits. The local ambulance service was discontinued, and the town’s beloved Johnny Appleseed Festival doesn’t have enough volunteers or money to continue this year. When asked if the town has a doctor, Goldthwaite points through the cemetery. “The last doctor we had is buried right up the hill,” he says. While he sees the town’s decline firsthand, Goldthwaite isn’t ready to give up, “we’re gonna make it work,” he says.
Published in @washingtonpost.
Beto O'Rourke /
Beto O’Rourke, the former three-term Texas congressman and Senate hopeful, campaigns at Penn State University a week into his presidential bid on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 in State College, Pa. O’Rourke’s stop in Pennsylvania follows visits to Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan before heading to New Hampshire.
Shawn Jones /
Shawn Jones, 30, of Baldwin holds his AR-15 in an alley in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood on Tuesday evening, January 15, 2019. Jones was part of the pro-gun rally in Pittsburgh on Jan. 7 that was held in response to Pittsburgh City Council legislation calling to ban assault-style weapons and types of ammunition in the wake of the Oct. 27 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue. "I believe its important for any human to have the ability to protect themselves," says Jones.
Second Amendment Rally /
Several hundred supporters of the Second Amendment gather at the City-County Building on Monday, January 7, 2019 in Downtown, Pittsburgh. The protesters gathered to rally against the city council's proposed restrictions and banning of semi-automatic rifles, certain ammunition and firearms accessories within city limits.
Nick Grimes /
Nick Grimes, who keeps an arsenal of firearms in his Oakmont, Pa., home, sees a practical line between his right to own those weapons and the federal government’s right to ban so-called “bump stocks,” which allow semi-automatic weapons to fire like machine guns.