Hello. My Name is Paul Ricci, MS MA. I have been a statistician/blogger for 20 years who has written on a variety of topics in and around the Allegheny Mountain Region of Pennsylvania. This project is an expansion of these efforts to further study issues facing the area without fluff. Below is a video introduction […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
On May 12 the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection held a public hearing on a proposed AI data center in Homer City. Prior to the hearing, Concerned Residents of Western PA held a protest on Philadelphia Street in Indiana, PA. The concerns of those at the hearing include: The hearing lasted almost 2 hours in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 be held on July 8 at Studio 404 at 7pm at 404 Messenger St. […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
