News • Ideas • Events
EDITOR’S DESK
Continuing the Conversation
In college, I used to think my mass communication teacher invented TMI — too much information. Week after week, he buried us in data: articles, news stories, magazine clippings — you name it, he dumped it on us. Reams of information flowed down the aisle in each class. This was long before email, so data overload was something you physically carried around with you.
Given the sheer volume, our concern was how much of it would be on the exam. As it turned out, none of it. He was just showing us mass communication in action. To him, if we got something out of all that information — if we found something interesting, or if we learned something new — then the transfer of knowledge was a success.
The Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association (PREA), the service organization that represents your local electric cooperative, has long believed information is essential to empowering cooperatives, their communities, and their members. PREA launched Penn Lines in 1966 with that purpose in mind: “To keep you up to date on matters pertaining to and affecting rural electric cooperatives.” As we celebrate 60 years of Penn Lines, that cooperative mission continues.
This year, PREA is introducing another effort to keep co-op communities informed. Launched last month, “Inside the Lines” is a new podcast that highlights issues facing electric cooperatives across our region. In addition to important policy updates, the monthly podcast will also feature insights from cooperative leaders and the people who make our rural communities special.
The debut episode featured a discussion with Steve Brame, president & CEO of PREA and its sister organization, Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc., the generation supplier for our electric cooperatives. This month, the podcast explores data centers, which is also the focus of our February cover story in Penn Lines. “Inside the Lines” is available on Spotify, Apple Music, and wherever you get your podcasts, so please consider subscribing.
Rural electric cooperatives have a long tradition of communicating with their members. The podcast is just another way to continue the conversation — and keep that information flowing. I think my college professor would approve.
PETER A. FITZGERALD
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
COMPANY IN THE COMMONWEALTH?
More than 100 UFO sightings reported across Pa. in 2025
Triangle-shaped lights in Clearfield. Teardrop-shaped lights in Altoona. A shaky, floating orb coinciding with a power outage in Bradford County. These were just some of the reports that the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) received from Pennsylvanians in 2025.
In all, the center claimed 135 reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were recorded throughout the Keystone State last year. Of those, the organization confirmed at least 20 came from satellites or rockets launched at night.
The NUFORC believes many sightings can be attributed to everything from Chinese lanterns to blimps, balloons and even search lights. That said, the organization acknowledged that some reports continue to have no solid explanation.
For humans — and aliens — who might be interested in launching their own investigations, the 2025 Pa. UFO reports can be found at nuforc.org.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: Pennsylvanians, puzzled by what they were seeing in the sky, have been sharing their stories with the National UFO Reporting Center. According to the group’s records, 135 unidentified flying objects were reported in such places as Clearfield and Altoona in 2025.
MAKING NO CENTS
Penny production ends after more than 230 years in circulation
A penny can no longer be offered for your thoughts now that the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia has said it will end circulation of the one-cent coin in early 2026. The decision came after it was revealed that production costs outweighed the coin’s value. In 2024, it cost 3.69 cents to make a single penny, which resulted in an $85 million loss for the U.S. Treasury.
Despite the halt in production, pennies will remain legal tender, as 114 billion of them remain in circulation and won’t be recalled or demonetized.
It was 1792 when the penny’s life began — the same year the U.S. Mint opened. Early copper coins featured Lady Liberty, while the familiar Lincoln cent was introduced in 1909. The most recent design, which began production in 2010, featured the Union Shield.
CELEBRATING 250 YEARS
Special exhibits, programs in Pa. celebrate founding of United States
With the United States turning 250 in 2026, the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission has announced an array of events and programs to honor the anniversary.
“Pennsylvania 250: The Keystone of American History,” is a statewide initiative designed to showcase the Commonwealth’s central role in the founding and evolution of the nation.
At the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, “Revolutionary Things: Objects from the Collection” will feature more than 140 artifacts spanning three centuries of Pennsylvania and American history. The exhibition runs concurrently with “Illuminating Independence,” which features 35 original hand-illuminated copies of the Declaration of Independence created in the 1920s by Harrisburg penman Sherman Notestine. They will be on view at the museum through Aug. 2.
Other events slated for 2026 include those at Old Economy Village in Ambridge, which will explore craftsmanship as a civic tradition, an event that will culminate with a Civil War Weekend May 2; and the Erie Maritime Museum, which will mark the return of the U.S. Brig Niagara on July 2 followed by a major July 4th celebration.
TRAVEL EXPENSES
Pa. Turnpike tolls to increase for 18th straight year
For nearly two decades, the price to travel along the Pennsylvania Turnpike has increased with the start of a new year, and 2026 is no different. On Jan. 4, a 4% hike in tolls went into effect across one of the state’s most traveled throughways. The increase is the lowest since 2014.
The additional revenue will be used to pay the Act 44 debt service. Act 44 requires the Turnpike Commission to provide $450 million for repairs to statewide roads. As such, the commission said it will be required to raise tolls through at least 2051 because of its Act 44 obligations.
TIME LINES — February 2016
A decade ago, Penn Lines examined something sweet for the month of February — but it wasn’t chocolate. Instead, it was Pennsylvania’s maple syrup scene, which continues to thrive today. Among those profiled were a Northwestern Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) member who had a 200-tap sugar camp in Cambridge Springs, and another producer who carried on a syrup tradition started by his grandparents at Patterson Farms, served by Tri-County REC. In all, their stories proved how sweet it is to call rural Pennsylvania home.
Also in this issue
