Author

A 3-decade veteran of the news business, John L. Micek is the Pennsylvania Capital-Star's Editor-in-Chief. An award-winning political reporter, Micek’s career has taken him from small town meetings and Chicago City Hall to Congress and the Pennsylvania Capitol. His weekly column on U.S. politics is syndicated to 800 newspapers nationwide by Cagle Syndicate. He also contributes commentary and analysis to broadcast outlets in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Micek’s first novel, “Ordinary Angels,” was released in 2019 by Sunbury Press.
Advocates score a partial win in Pa’s other important abortion fight | Wednesday Morning Coffee
By: John L. Micek - May 22, 2019
Crisis pregnancy provider, Real Alternatives, which gets millions in taxpayer dollars, didn't meet the burden of proof to show some of its records are off limits, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.
Pa. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon calls for Trump impeachment inquiry
By: John L. Micek and Robin Bravender Capital-Star Washington Bureau - May 21, 2019
Scanlon joins U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-3rd District, who called for an impeachment inquiry in 2017.
This Pa. woman remembers a time when abortion was illegal: ‘We’re not going back’ | John L. Micek
By: John L. Micek - May 21, 2019
It's also a world that Jessica Marquez-Gates, of Cumberland County, Pa., thought she left behind a long time ago.
Why Trump’s Pa. trip was really about the president’s favorite topic: Himself | Tuesday Morning Coffee
By: John L. Micek - May 21, 2019
The president returned to Pennsylvania for a rally. Republican 12th CD hopeful Fred Keller was also there.
On the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, iconic Philly journalist Mark Segal looks back — and forward
By: John L. Micek - May 20, 2019
Pa. shouldn't be the state, the founder of the Philadelphia Gay News said Monday, "where you can get married, but be refused the honeymoon suite."
With Trump headed for Pa., Toomey says China tariffs are ‘absolutely painful’ but ‘could be worth the price’ | Monday Morning Coffee
By: John L. Micek - May 20, 2019
Worried about a key state, Pennsylvanians will be seeing a lot of Trump in 2020.
An anti-abortion group sent Jewish lawmakers Holocaust imagery to protest their vote on a ban bill
By: John L. Micek - May 17, 2019
By Friday afternoon, the group had apologized. But some weren't buying it.
Pa. advocates line up against Trump’s predatory changes to payday lending rules | Friday Morning Coffee
By: John L. Micek - May 17, 2019
Pa. is ahead of the curve on this one.
Wolf’s approval rating reaches its highest point in new Quinnipiac poll
By: John L. Micek - May 16, 2019
Gov. Tom Wolf’s popularity with Pennsylvania voters is at its highest point, as the Democrat gets ready to embark on his fifth year of budget negotiations with the Republican-controlled General Assembly. A clear majority of state voters, 54 percent, approved of Wolf’s job performance, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Not quite a […]
Pennsylvania voters would pick Joe Biden over Trump, all other Democrats, new Quinnipiac University poll finds
By: John L. Micek - May 16, 2019
Get ready for a deluge of polls.
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, House Dems will hold a public reading of the Mueller Report | Thursday Morning Coffee
By: John L. Micek - May 16, 2019
Sure, it's not Shakespeare in the Park, but ...
These Pa. schoolkids wanted people to skip using plastic straws for a day. They got a crash course in politics instead
By: John L. Micek - May 16, 2019
Some suburban Philly fourth graders had a plan to help the environment. It didn't take long for things to go to (Eastern) hellbender.