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Dear Reader,

What happens when national issues collide in a small community where trust in local government has eroded? How are decisions made, who gets a say and who is left out?

A quiet river town east of Pittsburgh, Springdale has become a local flashpoint for two of the nation’s most divisive issues. Plans to build a hyperscale data center on the site of a former power plant have been approved and nearby residents are concerned. Meanwhile, the borough’s police department have been actively assisting ICE, making several arrests over the past year. Residents asking officials for answers have faced new limits on public participation, with one public testimony leading to a forceful arrest.

As our team spent time in the square-mile suburb covering developments around ICE arrests and the data center earlier this year, a deeper story about the confluence of these two national issues emerged. So we started digging.
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Deputy editor Jamie Wiggan and photojournalist Stephanie Strasburg spent months documenting the people at the center of both issues — an ICE detainee’s spouse, residents living near the planned data center, and local activists speaking out. Public Source also collaborated with nonprofit newsroom 100 Days in Appalachia ([link removed]) filmmaker P. Nick Curran on a short documentary following several Allegheny Valley residents opposed to the planned data center.

At the same time, local government reporter Charlie Wolfson started digging into one of the town’s biggest power players: the borough’s police chief. His investigation uncovered past civil and criminal complaints, an earlier firing and more recent encounters with Springdale residents. Other residents shared concerns but declined to speak on the record, saying they feared retaliation.

The result is "ICE, a data center & a town divided." ([link removed])

The response to these stories has been remarkable. Our reporting has been widely shared on social media and republished by more than 50 other outlets, including the Washington Post and the Associated Press, who also made a Spanish translation ([link removed]) available.

It's one of the farthest-reaching stories Public Source has ever had, showing that this deeply local reporting resonates far beyond one town.

This is the kind of journalism I believe Public Source is here to do: stay with a community, keep asking questions as the story deepens and give readers the facts they need to understand how power is being exercised around them.

We're going to continue to follow how these issues are playing out in Springdale — including attending next week’s borough council meeting — but we need your help to keep going. Your donation to our nonprofit newsroom helps ensure that readers near and far have the facts and context to understand how the defining conflicts of this country are shaping people’s lives locally. Donate now to help sustain our work ([link removed]) .
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Above image caption: ICE protesters respond to a man who jumped out of his truck amid a peaceful protest spurred by the arrest of resident Randy Cordova Flores, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, in Springdale Borough. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

Sincerely,

Halle Stockton

Editor-in-Chief, Co-Executive Director

Pittsburgh’s Public Source

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Pittsburgh's Public Source is a nonprofit news organization that informs and inspires the Pittsburgh region through the power of deep, independent journalism.
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