Kate Giammarise

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Stories by Kate Giammarise

Tom VanKirk, left, is chair of the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust. He's said the trust intends “to be as transparent as possible.” But he defended holding meetings in secret and barring the public from speaking at meetings. (Screenshot from a video of the board's May 18, 2023, meeting.)

Secret meetings by board overseeing Pa.’s $1 billion in opioid settlements draw criticism

by Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA and Kate Giammarise of WESA

June 1, 2023

Opioid overdoses kill thousands of people each year in Pennsylvania, and settlement money is meant to help the state respond to the epidemic.

Expecting more than $1 billion in opioid settlement money, Pa. grapples with policing versus treatment

by Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA and Kate Giammarise of WESA

April 18, 2023

Gioia Maynor, a single mother who lives outside Pittsburgh, said the state’s Child Care Works program has been “a blessing.”

Waning signups for Pa. child care program could forecast weak economic recovery

by Ed Mahon of Spotlight PA and Kate Giammarise of WESA

March 7, 2022