By Laura McCrystal and Justine McDaniel

Residents in Bucks and Montgomery Counties who participated in a blood-testing program because their drinking water was contaminated by chemicals on nearby military bases have a dramatically higher presence of some chemicals in their blood than the general U.S. population — in the case of one chemical, five times more than the typical American.

Stacy M. Brown | Tribune Harrisburg Correspondent

Raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania would go a long way in the fight against poverty, particularly in Philadelphia where the poverty rate is the highest of any big city in the United States, state Sen. Art Haywood said Tuesday during a news conference at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.

The Philadelphia Tribune

The first step toward a solution is admitting there is a problem.

We have a serious problem with poverty in our city.

New office buildings and gentrified neighborhoods tell only part of the story of what is happening in our city.

By Senator Art Haywood | The Philadelphia Tribune

I read the “Broke in Philly” feature in the Sunday Philadelphia Tribune. I agree that fair funding of Philadelphia schools is a priority for lawmakers. We are aware that about 275,000 adults in Philadelphia have incomes below the poverty level. About 136,000 hardworking Philadelphians work in poverty-pay jobs earning less than $10.10 per hour, according to the Keystone Research Center.

The Blade | Editorials

As 50,000 students returned to Detroit Public Schools earlier this month, they found themselves without running water. Tests had found elevated levels of lead in the schools’ drinking water.

“I am turning off all drinking water in our schools until a deeper and broad analysis can be conducted to determine the long-term solutions,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told the Detroit community.