Pennsylvania regulators are pursuing new rules for the state's sprawling and unchecked network of addiction recovery houses, saying lives are at stake. But there is broad disagreement over how to proceed while avoiding unintended consequences for the people who call these houses home, Spotlight PA reports.

Pushback from groups like the Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations Alliance led the Wolf administration to withdraw a plan in March that would have required recovery house operators to pay more than $10,000 annually to be licensed through a forthcoming state program.

The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs is still preparing to roll out the licensing system this year, and officials haven’t committed to any specific changes.

But recovery house advocates warn that if participation and compliance prove too costly, more people could be pushed from homes offering a safe, drug-and-alcohol-free environment and into the streets. 

THE CONTEXT: Pennsylvania's recovery homes have operated without state oversight for years despite a 2017 law that gave the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs new power to license them.

It already oversees licensed addiction treatment facilities, but as a Spotlight PA/KHN investigation found, the agency lacks resources and regulatory power.

Now, with the department focused on unregulated recovery homes, advocates warn too much oversight could pose similar risks as too little.

"It’s sort of like a Goldilocks situation," William Stauffer, executive director of the Pennsylvania Recovery Organizations Alliance, explained.

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AGE GAP: The Democratic primary for Pitcairn mayor is pitting one of the oldest mayors in Pennsylvania against a challenger who, if elected, would be the youngest mayor in the state. Twenty-year-old Mika Petrosky is running against 81-year-old incumbent Margaret Stevick, TribLIVE reports. 

SPEED LIMITS: Pittsburgh wants Pennsylvania to change how it sets speed limits and give cities more power to lower limits on their own, per KDKA-TV. The state uses the so-called "85th percentile rule" to set them now, a flawed metric Grist says lets drivers dictate how fast they want to go.

TAKE TWO: Philadelphia's Four Seasons Total Landscaping is still leaning into its Trump-found fame, tweeting about the raid at Rudy Giuliani's home this week and, true to form, deploying another rapid-response T-shirt team. There's also a documentary in the works, PhillyVoice explains.

SMOKE-FREE: Smoking was banned in Pennsylvania casinos during the pandemic, and anti-smoking advocates want it to stay that way, per FOX43. While gambling revenue plummeted last year, smoking foes say a ban might actually help long-term, with demand for smoke-free spaces growing. 

PRETZEL-VANIA: Pennsylvania is a pretzel powerhouse, producing about 80% of all pretzels sold in the U.S., per the Morning Call. How did it come to this? NPR took a trip to York County — the "Snack Food Capital of the World" — in 2019 to find out.