VERSAILLES, Pennsylvania — As if to emphasize that this river town of 1,200 has zero in common with the royalty that once ruled at the eponymous location outside Paris, royalty far removed from the concerns and the despair of its people, this Youghiogheny River town is pronounced in its own […]
Salena Zito
36 posts
IMPERIAL, Pennsylvania — In the last 22 years, protecting and caring for the planet has gone from a “we’re all in this together” part of our culture to a political wedge issue. And it isn’t just your average pedestrian wedge issue that surges and wanes with each election cycle. No, […]
ERIE, Pennsylvania — If you are looking for conventional wisdom metrics that D.C. reporters and strategists use to outline what is going on in the race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, the short and the long answer is there are none. The Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, with […]
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Inside the Allegiance Flag Company’s facilities, it is hard not to notice that the employees making the flags reflect the beauty and diversity that has always been the promise and purpose of our country. They use their skills to make American flags in America, perfectly encapsulating […]
WEST NEWTON, Pennsylvania — As the sun dipped below the horizon of the Laurel Mountains off in the distance of the Evergreen Drive-In Theater, families with children were spread out on their sleeping blankets in front of their cars. A cluster of couples were sitting in folding chairs, enjoying each […]
SWANTON, Ohio — Twenty years ago, the Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport here in western Lucas County was abuzz with commuter traffic. The planes flying in and out were bigger, the fares were more competitive, and there was a multitude of options to choose from at this Midwest port […]
PITTSBURGH — When the Hampton Battery was dedicated here in 1871 to a young Civil War soldier who lost his life protecting the Union at Chancellorsville, Virginia, the granite monument was a point of pride for residents of this neighborhood. They would stroll along the trails of the lush park […]
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pennsylvania — In truth, the last Howard Johnson’s restaurant closed long before the one in Lake George, New York, did last week. The only thing that particular location had in common with the fried clams and 28 flavors of ice cream the restaurant was famous for was maintaining the […]
CHARLESTON, South Carolina — Tim Scott knows the hassle that comes with being both black and conservative. Recently “The View” host Sunny Hostin said that being a black Republican is an oxymoron, and Scott, who is the only black Republican in the U.S. senate, just shook his head. “The comments […]
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said his decisive win on Tuesday had everything to do with focusing on the concerns of Georgia voters and not getting stuck on past grievances, no matter whether they came from former President Donald Trump, Stacey Abrams, or the corporations that sought to punish Georgia last […]
FANNETTSBURG, Pennsylvania — The first time I accidentally stumbled onto the cracked Back Road street sign in this Franklin County unincorporated town years ago, while covering the 2012 presidential race between then-President Barack Obama and Sen. Mitt Romney, I knew I had to turn onto it even though I had […]
Sarah Palin is standing on the back deck of her father’s home in Wasilla, Alaska, spending the day like she usually does: getting her youngest child, Trig, ready for school while checking in with her 84-year-old dad as he adjusts to life without her mom, who passed away suddenly last […]
CARLISLE, Pennsylvania — It was called the political storm of the century. It would end with the largest single turnover of power in American history — and one for the ages. It was fall of 1894. People were still feeling the effects of the Panic of 1893, which had shut […]
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says he is certain one thing won’t happen before the Republican gubernatorial primary May 24: an endorsement from former President Donald J. Trump. After Trump called him “a turncoat, a coward, and a complete and total disaster” in front of a crowd of supporters at a rally […]
Nikki Haley has been busy. The former ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor has spent the past few months not discussing herself but rather conservative candidates running for office with voters across the country. Her goal is to encourage people to vote for candidates she believes best embody […]
On Monday evening, each of Michigan’s 83 county parties held Republican conventions. Conservatives met with the purpose of electing delegates to the state endorsement convention to begin the process of nominating candidates for attorney general and secretary of state, as well as to the Supreme Court and state education boards. […]
When Ken Miller changed his party registration from Democrat to Republican in September 2020, he said he wasn’t doing it for Donald Trump. He had not voted for Trump nor Hillary Clinton in 2016. Rather, he said, he was doing it for himself and his community after watching Democrats govern […]
WILLS, Pennsylvania — Andrew Ayers is busy working on loading and unloading several machines at Guy Chemical — a massive, 30,000-square-foot industrial facility that sits tucked along the border of a tiny unincorporated town in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. People call Ayers one of the lucky ones for surviving his addiction […]
As most true heroes will tell you, if you can get them to talk about themselves, they are drawn to running toward the fire rather than away from it — not because they possess extraordinary courage or remarkable strength, but because of a deep sense of purpose. One week ago, […]
PITTSBURGH — Evelyn Wade was standing in a line with her friends, Sandra Owen and Janet Mundy. The queue not only filled the long hallway of the Allegheny Elks Club lobby but went out the door and down the steps. It then stretched around the city block of Cedar Avenue. […]
RIDGWAY, Pennsylvania — While outsiders like to say there are more elk than people here in Elk County because of the abundance of the former and the sparse population of the latter, today is a different day as thousands of people from across Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland descend here […]
In March of last year, days after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed new voting reform legislation, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said, “This legislation is unacceptable. It is a step backwards … and needs to be remedied, and we will continue to advocate for it both in private and now […]
LUSBY, Maryland — Tracy Wilson is sitting in the cutest little ranch house in this Calvert County town. It is her dream house — literally her dream house, she explains, as she has had the image of this very home in her mind, down to the color scheme of the […]
INDEPENDENCE, Missouri — The half-circle of 13 chairs that framed the statue of President Harry Truman in the heart of the historic Independence Square this past fall was placed there in the days after 13 American soldiers were killed in the attack on the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in late […]
PITTSBURGH — Word travels fast in places like this city’s iconic small-business district filled with third- and fourth-generation family-owned businesses, the majority of which are centered on two things: relationships and food. Relationships and food, but not politics. At least not usually, thank goodness. The relationships come not just from […]
More than a year after the 2020 presidential election cycle, signs for former President Donald Trump still graced the front lawns of homes across the country. And it wasn’t just lawns. Front porches, sides of barns, boats and motorcycles all proudly flew Trump flags. It was and remains a phenomenon […]
CAMP HILL, Pennsylvania — With 48 seconds to go in a high school football matchup last fall between Cedar Cliff and Cocalico, the game came down to a shootout between the two central Pennsylvania rivals. To say that the intensity level was through the roof would be an understatement. Yet […]
Of the four restaurants Rick McQuaide owns across several counties in Western Pennsylvania, one is barely making a profit, two are losing money and the fourth has been “temporarily” closed for far longer than he ever anticipated. The 58-year-old small businessman from nearby Cambria County has one word for why […]
If President Joe Biden’s disorderly and lethal Afghanistan withdrawal was the moment that fractured voters’ regard for him, then his vicious Atlanta speech last week may be the moment that defines his presidency. Speaking Tuesday at Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University, Biden uttered venomous, brutal accusations lacking factual basis. […]
TRAFFORD, Pennsylvania — For the first couple of weeks in December, a tiny, bare tulip tree, common in Appalachia, grows on the trail that hugs Turtle Creek and the eye of passersby. Decorated with cheerful homemade Christmas ornaments, it brought smiles to the faces of cyclists, runners and walkers who […]
The “Let’s Go Brandon” message on the Hoods Up Quick Lube sign was up for four days, but it was long enough for the owners to make their point. Ever since Oct. 3, when an NBC reporter interviewing NASCAR driver Brandon Brown mistook a vulgar chant from the crowd — […]
BOZEMAN, Montana — Steven Rinella has a very hard time sitting still. This is not just an observation. It is, he says, what makes him who he is. “I was born with this wanderlust to move, constantly, as far as I could. It’s more than I have a very hard […]
BROWNSVILLE, Pennsylvania — Just before 10 a.m., cars begin pulling into the parking lot of the Country Thrift Market, a sprawling former grocery store 40 miles from Pittsburgh. Normally, folks in the area shop for gently used clothing, toys and deeply discounted home goods here. But today is different because […]
OLDTOWN, Maryland — This ancient colonial town nestled along the north branch of the Potomac River could not be more different from the upscale suburbs of Chevy Chase located much closer to the tidal portion. While both are in the same state, this town of 86 people is more culturally […]
HANNIBAL, Missouri — During a visit here in 1882, Mark Twain wrote to his wife Olivia of the rush of sentiments he experienced returning to the town of his childhood. “I have spent three delightful days in Hannibal, loitering around all day long, examining the old localities and talking with […]
Brian Murray knows just how fierce an opponent Arizona’s Sen. Kyrsten Sinema can be. The Republican strategist saw his candidate lose to Democrat Sinema in their 2012 race for the House. Calling the experience “unpleasant,” Murray admits his candidate, Vernon Parker, was flawed, but “flawed candidates win all of the […]