From electricity to gas to water, the cost of utilities is going up. A rate increase may come as a surprise on your monthly bill, but almost every time that happens, it’s the end result of months of discussion and approval. WVIA’s Borys Krawczeniuk keeps tabs on those discussions frequently, and he’s here now to explain why rate hikes happen.

Starting next school year, all K-5 students in Pennsylvania must have 30 minutes of recess every day. Recess had been waning, but it’s not completely gone - WVIA's Sarah Hofius Hall recently spent some time on a unique playground in Schuylkill County.

Last month, the Susquehanna County Correctional Facility was demolished. County officials hope new programs for formerly incarcerated people will take its place. WVIA’s Roger DuPuis has been covering the prison’s closure and next steps.

Big changes are coming to Medicaid in 2027, set in stone by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Anyone who’s signed up for Medicaid knows it’s confusing, so WVIA Healthcare Reporter Lydia McFarlane has been working to explain some of those changes.

This month marked 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and WVIA’s Sarah Hofius Hall spent the weeks leading up to the solemn anniversary gathering stories of people from our region whose lives changed that day. She joins News Voices to share some of those stories.

What secrets live beneath Hazleton? That’s a question WVIA producer, director and editor Tim Novotney has been digging into for more than a year. His documentary “The Secrets Beneath Hazleton” debuts on WVIA-TV tonight. He joins WVIA's Sarah Scinto in the podcast studio to discuss the film and the impact it's already had in Hazleton.

A recent study that used data from Geisinger’s MyCode genetic database identified a gene mutation that could lead to new treatments for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. WVIA Healthcare reporter Lydia McFarlane joins News Voices to talk about the study and how Geisinger contributed to the findings.

We tend to think of fire as destructive and damaging, but on Moosic Mountain, sometimes it can be reviving. That’s what WVIA’s Kat Bolus learned on a recent trip to Eales Preserve in Lackawanna County, and she joins WVIA's Sarah Scinto this week to talk about it.

Since Luzerne County Council passed an anti-discrimination ordinance in June, the local law has been tied up in a petition battle to either repeal it or put it up for a county-wide vote. WVIA's Roger DuPuis sits in as host to discuss the ordinance and petition with WVIA’s Sarah Scinto.

Luzerne County has a new sheriff, and she’s already made history. WVIA’s Sarah Hofius Hall stops by the podcast studio to explain how Genesis Arias became the first woman to hold the job in Luzerne County and the first hispanic woman to do so statewide.