There is a stronger correlation between poor mental health and asthma in the Alleghenies vs. Outside for the states of NY, PA, MD, VA, and WV Above is a graph showing the correlation between the % of poor mental health and the % with asthma in zip codes for the states of NY, PA, MD, WV, and VA. The data is from the…

Why can’t our congressmen connect the dots? This post is reprinted from John Frederick’s Substack Allegheny Matters. The recent storms with 80 mph winds on Labor Day in the Johnstown area also underscore climate change’s impacts. An average five-year-old can draw a connect-the-dots picture, transforming a scattered bunch of numbers into a coherent image. And no matter how hard one tries, it’s impossible to turn the picture into something else if you count properly.

by Paul Ricci The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) made a shipment of sutures to Cuba. The Trump Administration has ramped up sanctions to the island making life miserable there. The video above shows the Pittsburgh DSA chapter's contribution to this shipment. Speakers in the video are Scott Tyson, Lisa Valenti and Tyler Blau. Below is a video discussion of the Trump Administrations efforts to thwart aid to Cuba.

On Wednesday, September 23, Sally Simpson of Unite Armstrong held a AI data center meeting in Kittanning, PA. It was at the United Steelworkers Local 159. Video of it is above. Panelists were: Kat Marquez of Penn Future on the relationship between fracking and AI data centers. Matthew Shorraw of Physicians for Social Responsibility on the health impacts of data centers and on local ordinances and what can be done to combat these centers.

Last week's post on Diphtheria Pertussis and Tetanus (DPT) vaccine coverage in the Alleghenies showed a large cluster of 722 zip codes with a low coverage of 82.2%. Looking more closely at those zip codes reveals that all of them are located in West Virginia. West Virginia is almost completely covered by either the Allegheny Mountains or the Allegheny Plateau…

by Paul Ricci On Saturday, September 12, there was a protest against AI data centers in Homer City. This part of a sustained effort to stop the spread of these centers. The candidates for governor have heard the cries of the protesters and have at least modified their positions. There were art projects to show that AI can replace creativity. State House candidate Trajan Jones spoke with Allegheny Independent Media on AI Data Centers. Also at the protest was State House candidate Trajan Jones. He is a Democrat running in the 62nd PA house district against incumbent Republican Jim Struzzi.

On December 31, 2004 I was at a spiritual retreat for New Years Eve.  We were having a discussion about moral dilemmas.  An older woman wearing a mink coat was asking about how much money she should g...

By Paul Ricci Much has been made of the clash between Gov. Josh Shapiro and HHS secretary Robert Kennedy Jr with Kennedy disputing the 2 measles deaths in the state. The state maintains a dashboard showing the measles outbreak numbers in the Pennsylvania. I will now look at what these numbers are saying. The image above shows that there are 540 cases in the state with 91 hospitalized (16.9% of the total cases) and 2 fatalities.

by Paul Ricci We received a large response to the post on the 100 least healthy zip codes in Pennsylvania. This time I thought that I would take a look at the other side of the coin. The data comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The 100 healthiest zip-codes in Pennsylvania as defined as the 100 zip codes with lowest unmet need scores (UNS) in Pennsylvania.

by Paul Ricci Fire Show at the Festival On Saturday August 22, the 2026 Johnstown LGBTQ Pride Fest was held at the Cambria County War Memorial. It is also known as the 1st Summit Arena. It was organized once again by John DeBartola. It was indoors and in August because Central Park was still under renovation. DeBartola has criticized this renovation in the past.

Right after completing the previous post on the HRSA data set I came across this article in the Guardian titled Trump 2.0 has deleted or altered nearly 400 US datasets, endangering public health, education and more. As someone who relies on these releases to find meaningful social, environmental, political and economic trends for the Alleghenies, this is a disturbing development.

by Paul Ricci Annually the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) comes out with an Unmet Need Score (UNS) for every zip code in the U.S. The UNS is a composite of 33 health variables at the zip code level. This post will focus on the 100 zip codes with the highest UNSs in Pennsylvania. These are the 100 least healthy zip codes in Pennsylvania.

Nick Brisini has written this piece on the great Cassandra coal strike in 1932. Miners hall in Puritan The battle for human rights in the Appalachian coal fields had a long history and, if studied, has a lot of lessons for workers today. One strike, barely known, was the great Cassandra coal strike of 1932. It was a yearlong battle between the miners and coal bosses of the Hughes Coal Company at the Benscreek No.

Jackie Allison wrote this humorous piece, Working Class Majority, for the online magazine Funny Times in 2015. It is still relevant today and is reprinted with permission. I suggest a new government party, the Working Class Majority. Note that it would be called a majority, not a party. The working class isn’t a hedonistic picnic. By saying the name Working Class Majority, our candidates would remember who they worked for and what they were supposed to do. The Working Class Majority would employ a candidate. If a candidate didn’t do their job, they’d be fired just as it is in the real world.

by Paul Ricci Watching Dr. Anthony Fauci get grilled by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee brought back a lot of memories of the struggles of the pandemic. The committee is chaired by Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky). He is a trained ophthalmologist. Senator Paul is now pursuing contempt of Congress charges against Fauci after he plead the fifth amendment hundreds of time before his committee. Another physician in Congress who spoke out against Fauci was John Joyce of Altoona. Aaron Rodgers is not a physician but he has also joined the…

I went to two events: one in Pittsburgh and one in Bellwood. Though the groups for both events were small, the ideas discussed were big.

Nick Brisini has written the poem Appalachian Fire. Below is a video of him doing another poetry reading. Discarded snuff cans, empty beer bottles line back roads to a cold hell below. In the mines of Appalachia men and women worked and some died. Others spent their final days gasping for breath. Then the mines shut down sounding like a shotgun blast in the night. Leaving a burning emptiness. Like a life lived in ramshackle taverns and bars, With nowhere to call home. In a broken shack. 2 miles from desolation row.

On Saturday, July 18, I went to the second annual Justice Jam at the Oakhurst Homes in Johnstown. The event was run by Put People First PA. They cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. There was also music and speakers who spoke on their struggles with poverty and healthcare. The video above shows the speakers and the musicians. The event was inside because it was a stormy day. They were grilling the hot dogs and hamburgers outside. The fire department came because smoke was coming into the room. They cleared it up and the program resumed.

Nick Brisini has written a review of the book Working Class Radicals: The Socialist Party in West Virginia, 1889-1920 by Frederick Barley. The capitalist brainwashing of works over time to convince us that socialism has no place in "our" country. It is, they proclaim, Un-American as if capitalism was synonymous with America. Reading Working Class Radicals: The Socialist Party in West Virginia 1889-1920 one is introduced to a slice of the American Socialist that existed and continues to exist with more and more youth identifying as socialist. Barkley's study is filled with stories substantiated with evidence of the advances and successes of socialism.

The Recently, the Southern Poverty Law Center has published its new hate map for 2025. Last year they tracked 1,263 groups nationwide. The year before they tracked 1,371 groups and 1,430 in 2023. There was a 12% decrease between 2023 and 2025 in the raw number of groups. When adjusting for population there were 3.81 groups per million residents in 2025, 4.14 groups per million in 2024, and 4.31 groups per million in 2023. Nationally there appears to be a decrease. The national map can be seen above. Next lets look at the numbers for Pennsylvania.

Hear ye hear ye, 'tis one week 'til the Allegheny Independent Media 501(c)3 launch party at Studio 404 on July 8 at 7pm at 404 Messenger St in the Hornerstown section in Johnstown. Full details can be seen here. We will have a DJ, hors d'ourves, a presentation, and unveil our new website. Consequently, what better way could there be to celebrate America 250? On June 27 I took this brief video of the All of US rally in Johnstown. The turnout was smaller than the No Kings rallies at around 30.

DCIM\100GOPRO\GOPR0541.JPG On June 23 I went to a Pharmacy Town Hall Meeting held by Martella's Pharmacy in Boswell, Pa. There was a panel discussing how the Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) corporations like Express Scripts refuse to include local pharmacies like Martella's Pharmacy in their networks. This is a major loss of revenue for these pharmacies. There is a bill in the state legislature HB2431 to prevent PBM from excluding local pharmacies. With the closure of Rite Aid the need for local pharmacies is greater than ever. Somerset County lost 7 local pharmacies since 2020.

The last day of the Netroots Nation Conference in Philadelphia was a whirlwind of activity. In the morning I filmed this panel with state legislators from Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania on pursuing Medicare for All healthcare systems in their states. Later, I interviewed U.S. reps Summer Lee (D-PA) and Jaime Raskin on their views on Medicare for All or single payer as well as other issues. Medicare for All The Medicare for All panel was moderated by Reverend Rodney Sadler. The panelists were State Rep. Carrie Rheingans of Michigan, State Rep Gregory Scott of Pennsylvania, and State Senator Gustavo Rivera of New York.

The Netroots Nation Conference was held in Philadelphia this year to coincide with America 250. I attended to network and interview some attendees. One of the things I noticed at Netroots Nation 2026 was the proliferation of Data and AI trainings and exhibitors. Data Storytelling The first training that I recorded was one titled Beyond the Numbers: Using Data to Effectively Communicate. It was taught by a panel from a company called Navigator Research. They discussed how to write and interpret survey questions and results. They have a nice online data tool showing monthly trends in American's net approval of the economy.

Photo By Darcy Trunzo Darcy Trunzo has written this piece on the 1889 flood legacy in Johnstown on her Substack. It is reprinted with permission. Though I was raised in Indiana County - I was born here. As was my mother. Her side of the family lived up the road a bit in another mining town called Portage and a handful of others in a tinier patch town called Martindale. My maternal grandmother reminded us often that she would bring the train into Johnstown every week and take the…

In the post on flu vaccination rates and Trump's 2024 vote, I was asked on reddit what the relationship was between gas prices and Trump's approval rating. I told them that this data was not available on the county level but it was available on the state level. AAA keeps track of average gas prices in each state. As of this writing, the national average for a gallon of regular gas is $4.507. Pennsylvania's is $4.605.  California has the highest price at $6.116 while Indiana has the lowest at $3.917.

On May 12 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a public hearing on a proposed AI data center in Homer City.

In a follow up to the last post on flu vaccinations and the Trump 2024 vote in Pennsylvania, county level white rates will be looked at. Out of the 67 counties in PA, 44 of them have flu vaccination rates for whites, 43 have rates for African Americans, 38 have rates for Asian Americans, and 35 have rates for Hispanics. The correlations with counties with white flu vaccination and Trump vote were the only ones significantly correlated. The above graph shows the correlation between white flu vaccination rates on the x axis and the Trump 2024 vote on the y axis.

The next variable in the County Health Rankings updated is Flu Vaccinations. The data is from 2023 from the Medicare database for Medicare enrollees. The overall flu vaccination rate for the state was 52% which was higher than the U.S. rate of 44%. Potter county had the lowest rate at 26%. Montgomery had the highest at rate at 61%. This post will look at how Flu and vaccinations predict Trump's 2024 Vote in Pennsylvania. The graph above shows 2023 flu vaccination rates on the horizontal axis and Trump's 2024 vote is on the vertical axis.

Allegheny Independent Media has received 501(c)3 status from the Internal Revenue Service. This means that we are now an independent non profit news organization for the Alleghenies. To celebrate we are having an Allegheny Independent Media Launch Party. The party will on July 8 at Studio 404 at 7pm at 404 Messenger St. in Johnstown. This will be a celebration of independent media in the area. With local papers losing staff and closing down, the need for independent media is greater than ever. Since we launched the website in 2022…

On Cinco de Mayo I went to a community meeting at Mayor Sylvia King's Christ Centered Community Church. It was by Vision Together (formerly Vision 2025) on Capture Teams. Capture teams are groups of people with projects intended to improve the quality of life in Johnstown. You can see their presentations in the video below. The interest categories for the teams include: Bikes and Trails - Run by Mike Cook to "create new hiking and biking opportunities as well as maintain some of the trail systems in the area"

Another measure from County Health Rankings recently updated was suicide rates. This is a moving average for the years 2019-2023. The rates adjust for the population and age distribution in the county to enable comparison of the counties. This post will focus on new suicide rates in Pennsylvania. The map above illustrates counties with higher rates in the state. The table at the bottom of the post shows suicide rates for the U.S., Pennsylvania, and each of the 67 counties in the state. The state’s overall rate was the same as the U.S.

I have used County Health Rankings for years on this site to provide insight into the social ills plaguing the Allegheny mountains. Last year they lost their main funder, the Robert Wood Johnston Foundation. They are not doing major data releases now, but they update their site as new data is released. This post focuses on one variable that recently updated, Low Birth Weight (LBW) Babies in PA by race. The table at the bottom of the post shows the low-birth-weight rates for each county in Pennsylvania with the state and U.S.

I have used County Health Rankings for years on this site to provide insight into the social ills plaguing the Alleghenies. Last year they lost their main funder, the Robert Wood Johnston Foundation. They are not doing the major data releases now, but they are updating their site as new data are released. This post focuses on a rebound in life expectancy after the pandemic in the Alleghenies. An Average of the Worst Counties for African Americans The graph above shows the average change in African American (AA) and white life expectancy for the 15 counties in Pennsylvania with the lowest AA life expectancies.

Scrolling through the feed on LinkedIn I came across this photo showing the Catholic Dioceses with the largest rise in converts. The Altoona-Johnstown Diocese reports an 84% increase in converts to the faith. Could this increase in converts be an example of a Pope Leo XIV effect? He is the first Pope to be born in the United States. Catholic Diocese in Pennsylvania The 84% increase in converts in Altoona-Johnstown is the highest in Pennsylvania. It is followed by the Harrisburg Diocese at 77% and Philadelphia at 60%. The image from LinkedIn did not provide a source or a date range for the data.

Starting on April 5, the group Frontline Dignity sponsored a march from the Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) office in Pittsburgh to the Moshannon Valley ICE Detention Center near Phillipsburg, PA. On Sunday, April 12, the group reached the facility and held a rally to raise awareness of the abuses in the detention centers. Ice Facility Above is a video I took before the group arrived. I rode my bike up to the facility. As I was riding up a woman named Jeri drove up and told me what she saw.

On day 2 of the 49th Appalachian Studies Association Conference at Marshall University I took video of 2 individual sessions. There were many that day. The first session I filmed is on Race and Health in the Appalachians. The second session I filmed is on emergency response to climate change disasters such as Hurricane Helene. Race and Health in Appalachia…

On April 4,2009 I was eating breakfast in my apartment when my dad called me to tell me that there was a police standoff in my neighborhood.  I turned on the news and saw that there was a swat team ca...

Jackie Allison has submitted this article on how the Iran War and all wars are rackets. “War is a racket,” said Major General Smedley Darlington Butler USMC (1881-1940) in the book of the same name. Major General Butler received many outstanding medals and commendations during his years of military service including two Medals of Honor. The man knew war. He knew war was a way to provide the few with extraordinary profits at high costs to those who served their country in the military and to the average citizens. He cited examples of these profits/costs' margins during the First World War.

Nancy Coleman wrote this piece on Johnstown's third No Kings rally on March 28. I was unable to attend. Several hundred like-minded people from Johnstown and surrounding areas assembled once again at Johnstown's Haynes and Bedford streets Saturday, March 28, for the third No Kings Day demonstration organized by indivisible. The graveled area under the billboards was especially crowded for the first hour of the demonstration. Although I did not count the attendees, it certainly appeared that the crowd was somewhat larger than the October turnout. The honking of car horns from passers-by also seemed to have grown exponentially this time around.

Exhibitors After viewing the Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, WV, Larry Blalock and I went to the 49th Appalachian Studies Association Conference at Marshall University in Huntington, WV. We were tabling for our site and took videos summarizing day 1 of the Appalachian Studies Conference. The above video summarizes the exhibitors at the conference. It was a hodgepodge of book publishers, authors, activists, academics, and artists. The West Virginia Mine Wars Museum was also one of the exhibitors. There were more than 1,100 people registered for the conference from all over Appalachia.

On the way to the Appalachian Studies Association conference, Larry Blalock and I took a side trip to the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, WV. They allowed us to take video of their display in the Museum which can be seen above. Striking minors endured violence by the mining companies for their efforts to unionize. There were several skirmishes between unions and owners before the large battle. The mine wars resulted in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. The battle was between the miners and the strikers which led to a long gun battle.

This post discusses the Cambria County Commissioners 287g agreement with the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE and the upcoming Appalachian Studies Association Conference in Huntington, West Virginia. Cambria County and ICE Last Thursday I went to the Cambria County Commissioners meeting. A group of local activists came to speak out against the county’s collaboration with the ICE. Madeline Burrows, Will Dill, Reed Ludwig and Nick Brisini spoke about their concerns about the 287g agreement with the Cambria County Prison. Commissioner Scott Hunt responded to their concerns. He timidly stated that the agreement with ICE was made long before Trump became President.

Many liberal pundits often predict that Trump’s MAGA followers will desert him every time he breaks one of his campaign promises. Except for the Epstein files, these predictions have not come to fruition. The latest prediction of a MAGA revolt is over Trump’s Iran war, which began on February 27. The polls so far tell a different story.   It usually takes about a week before we know if a significant event has an impact on the polls. Pundits at MSNOW (formerly MSNBC) tend to focus on their own network’s polling. Alternatively, pundits at Fox News and other conservative media prefer their own polling data.

Last week I went to two different political events in Cambria County. The first was the biweekly county commissioners meeting on February 26. On Sunday March 1, the Cambria County Democratic Party held their campaign kickoff meeting for the upcoming midterm elections. This post profiles the Cambria County Commissioners and the Cambria Democrats. Cambria Commissioners This was a brief meeting, only 24 minutes. Most items were unanimously approved. The minutes of the meeting can be read here. Items discussed were staffing issues, approving contracts for intellectual disability services, mosquito borne disease control services, and AI software for the public defenders office.

The Epstein files are like our generation’s Pentagon Papers. One can go to the Department of Justice’s website to query the files. Donald Trump’s name appears in 1,747 documents in the database. Jon Stewart, in the video above, explained how his name appears in the files. Out of curiosity I entered the name Paul Ricci into the Epstein files database. To my surprise, the name did appear on one document. The document where Paul Ricci appears is a 7-page pdf of an email written by Gregory Brown. He was chairman and CEO of Global Cast Partners LLC.

When posting the previous posts on poverty on the sub-reddit for Pennsylvania I was asked repeatedly how many of the poor counties voted for Trump. This post is an attempt answer their question. I looked at the correlation between median income, poverty rates and Trump's % of the vote for 2024. What I found was that median income predicts Trump's 2024 Pennsylvania vote but poverty is at best a weak predictor.

Map showing all of the school districts in Pennsylvania. Poorer districts are in darker colors. My third post on the new Small Area Income Estimates (SAIPE) focuses on the poorest school districts in Pennsylvania. This is expressed as a percentage of their student bodies who meet the federal definition of poverty. When summarizing the top 20 poorest school districts in PA, 14 of the 20 are in the Alleghenies. The list of the top 20 (out of 500 school districts in PA) is in the table below. Eight of the top 20 (or 40%) offer prekindergarten services.

Last week I posted on the new Small Area Income and Poverty Esimates (SAIPE) for the U.S. and Pennsylvania and for Cambria and Forest Counties. The poverty rates for the U.S., Pennsylvania, and every county in the state are presented in the table at the bottom of the post. Subsequently, this post will look at different poverty measures for Pennsylvania. Median Income The graph above shows the trend in median income for Pennsylvania. A statistical median is the value that appears in the middle when all values rank from highest to lowest.

In the Cold, the Community Spoke: Johnstown Residents Rally Against ICE and Federal Overreach On Friday, January 30 at 4:30 p.m., residents gathered at the corner of Main Street and Market Street in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, despite frigid temperatures, to protest the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) The rally, held directly in front of City Hall, sent a clear and intentional message: the people are paying attention, and they are no longer silent. Speakers used a bullhorn to voice frustration over what many described as violations of free speech, civil liberties, and democratic principles.