The town of Centralia, Pennsylvania was once a bustling mining community. BUT after a series of failures culminated into a never-ending mining fire, Centralia turned into a modern-day ghost town.

Sources
Hillary's Story
All That's Interesting
Inside The Eerie Ghost Town Of Centralia, Pennsylvania That’s Been On Fire Since 1962--By Katie Serena

Artillary Magazine
Graffiti Highway: Crude and Sophisticated; Now Gone Forever--by Anthony Ausgang

Atlas Obscura
Centralia

The Travel
The Fires Continue: What Centralia Looks Like Today--by Lilliana Tedesco

The Travelling Blizzards
Visiting Centralia, PA & the Abandoned Graffiti Highway

Wikipedia
Molly Maguires

Photos
Danger Sign in Centralia, PA--via Legends of America
Smoke Rises from Crack in the Road--by Don Emmert via Business Insider
Sinkhole in 1981--via PennLive
Graffiti Highway--by Laurie Lobbregt
via Artillery
Centralia, PA in the 1960’s--via Legends of America

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Bill Higgins was as County DA, BUT when he traded favors for lesser sentences, he traded in his career.

Sources
Tina's Story
ABC27
Ex-DA pleads guilty to accusations he aided drug dealers--by Myles Snyder

Altoona Tribune
Higgins gets 8 years of probation--by SHEN WU TAN

The Legal Intelligencer
Central Pa. District Attorney Accused of Protecting Drug Dealers, Outing Police Informants--by PJ D'Annunzio

Pennyslvania Attorney General's Office
ATTORNEY GENERAL SHAPIRO ANNOUNCES CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST BEDFORD COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY WILLIAM HIGGINS

Pennsylvania Bar Association
William J. Higgins Jr., Zone 8 Governor

Penn Live Patriot News
Pa. prosecutor who's accused of helping drug dealers for sex resigns

Speaker Hub
Bill Higgins Never Quit

The Tribune Democrat
AG says Higgins betrayed Bedford County’s trust; ex-DA's attorney wants change of venue--By Jocelyn Brumbaugh
'Big believer in second chances': Former Bedford DA Higgins aims to 'move the ball forward' after criminal charges, disbarment--By Jocelyn Brumbaugh
Former Bedford DA sentenced to house arrest--By Jocelyn Brumbaugh

WPSU
Top Bedford County Prosecutor Arrested On 31 Charges, Resigns

Photos
Bill Higgins--via Speaker Hub Bio Page
Press Conference About Higgins's Indictment--Screenshot from Altoona Mirror via YouTube

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Representative Malcolm Kenyatta currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Philadelphia Delegation and as a member of the Governor’sTaskforce on Suicide Prevention and a host of committee leadershippositions. He received a B.A. from Temple University, a M.S. from Drexel University, and completed the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executives in State and Local Government program. As the first openly LGBTQ person of color and one of the youngest members elected to the PA GeneralAssembly, he is deeply committed to creating an equitable and inclusive society.
As a legislator, he has championed proposals to address generational poverty, raise the minimum wage, protect workers' rights, increase access to mental healthcare, common-sense measures to address gun violence, and protect our digital infrastructure.

In 2016 and in 2020, he was elected as Delegate to the Democratic Convention (PA 2nd), both times garnering the second-highest vote total of any delegate in the Commonwealth. He has also appeared on local and national media outlets to discuss systemic poverty, affordable education and childcare, and making government more accountable to citizens. He was the subject of an award-winning short documentary about his election run, ‘Going Forward’ produced by Seven Knot Productions, which premiered on ‘The Atlantic Magazine Selects’ in 2018. In 2020 he was chosen by Vice President Joe Biden to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention along with a group of other ‘Rising Stars.’ He was one of twenty Electoral College votes cast for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, in Harrisburg on December 14, 2020. He lives in North Philadelphia with his partner Dr. Matthew Miller.

For show notes and links to our sources, please click here.

Special Guest: Malcolm Kenyatta.

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For show notes and links to our sources, please click here.

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Tina’s Story:
In 1986, Budd Dwyer found himself mired in a political bribery scandal. His alleged decision to take a 300K kickback mucked up his pristine reputation as Pennsylvania state treasurer. Dwyer professed his innocence and had a loyal following of supporters, but with an upcoming sentencing, Dwyer’s back was up against the wall. Then, he made a fateful decision that shocked Pennsylvania residents and gripped the nation.

Hillary’s Story:
In 1887, Kentucky House Representative William Preston Taulbee faces major repercussions after local journalist Charles Kincaid exposes Taulbee’s affair with a young, beautiful teenage clerk. With a marriage on the rocks and ruined career, Taulbee terrorizes Kincaid for years, until a fateful encounter on the stairs of a basement restaurant in the Capitol Building.

Sources:

Tina's Story
Wikipedia
R. Budd Dwyer

From Eighty Four Films:
Honest Man: The Life of R. Budd Dwyer

All That’s Interesting
R. Budd Dwyer and the Death of an “Honest Man”

Ranker
The Video of Budd Dwyer’s Suicide is Infamous, but Do You Know Why He Did It?

Associated Press--Michael Hirsh
“Dwyer Eulogized as Innocent Victim”

Penn Live
“Former Pennsylvania Treasurer R. Budd Dwyer's controversial death re-examined in new film”

The Morning Call
“DWYER SOUGHT SPECTER'S HELP TO GET A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON”

Washington Post--Elanor Randolph
“WITNESSES TO DEATH JOURNALISTS QUESTION THEIR ROLE"

Associated Press--David Morris
“Pennsylvania Treasurer Kills Self At News Conference”

LA Times
“Family to Get $1.28-Million Pension in Suicide of Pennsylvania Official”

PetaPixel
“The Day That Made AP Photographers Switch to 100% Color Film”

New York Times
“Governor’s Widow Goes to Senate”

Photos
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Photograph of Budd Dwyer--1980s

Dwyer Family
Budd Dwyer swearing in as Pennsylvanian state treasurer, 1984

News Lanc
Dwyer Final Statements

Observer Gazette
Dwyer Moments Before Death

Hillary's Story
Encyclopedia.com
Charles Kincaid Trial: 1891--Mark Thorburn

NPR
"A Historic Killing at the Capitol Building"

Law Library
"Kincaid Pleads Self-Defense"

Photos
Skeptical Inquirer
Taulbee as a young man--copy by Joe Nickell

WAMU Radio
Charles Kincaid Drawing--Robert Pohl

NPR
Taulbee Scandal Article--from 1887 Washington Post

Quest-France
Bloody Staircase Photo

NPR
Bloody Staircase Close Up Photo--Peter Overby

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