Emily Previti

Emily Previti

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Emily Previti is an audio reporter at the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. She is an award-winning journalist who’s spent the past decade telling overlooked stories about challenges facing communities across Pennsylvania and beyond. As an audio producer for Kouvenda Media, Emily launched longform podcast Obscured. She was senior reporter for statewide public media collaboration Keystone Crossroads and covered voting rights for NPR affiliate WITF and The GroundTruth Project. Emily also covered Harrisburg’s debt crisis for PennLive, served as a watchdog reporter for The Press of Atlantic City and reported for the Northwest Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Schuylkill County wrestles with spectre of immigration detention center plan
Key points A 7,500-person ICE detention center planned for a former Big Lots warehouse in Tremont Township would add more people to the area than live in any community in Schuylkill County, except the largest – Pottsville (pop. 13,000). Residents...
ICE fighting DEP orders on two Pennsylvania detention center sites
This story was updated to add responses from the state Department of Environmental Protection and federal Department of Homeland Security at 5:15 p.m., Thursday, April 9. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has decided to appeal state orders stalling two detention...
Pa. lawmakers announce caucus to fight human trafficking
This story was updated Wednesday, March 25, to add comment from Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration. State lawmakers have launched a bipartisan caucus focused on combatting human trafficking. The goal is to facilitate passing legislation to address the issue, according to...
Compassionate release expansion among justice reforms with bipartisan state House support
Just 54 people have been freed from prison during the past 15 years through Pennsylvania’s system to release incarcerated people with serious medical conditions. A measure with bipartisan support would overhaul the process, expanding eligibility and saving the state millions...
Lawmakers confirm Shapiro’s Board of Pardons nomination over objections
State lawmakers have confirmed Gov. Josh Shapiro’s controversial nomination for the Board of Pardons over several objections, including that the pick has too frequently provided expert testimony that children can’t be rehabilitated. John S. O’Brien II – whose term on...
Gov. Josh Shapiro kicks off budget process with $53B spending plan
This story will be updated throughout the day with more details about the governor’s budget plan, as well as reaction from lawmakers, county commissioners, advocates, and other groups. It was last updated on Feb. 3, 2026 at 4:58 p.m. to...
What is the fate of some two dozen ICE bills before Pa. state lawmakers?
This story was updated at 3:48 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 29, to add two related bills. About two dozen proposals related to immigration enforcement are percolating in the state legislature in response to the Trump administration’s crackdown and tactics – including...
Gov. Shapiro critical of ICE escalation in Minneapolis and other cities
Gov. Josh Shapiro addressed mounting fear about immigration enforcement tactics Saturday hours after federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis amid escalating confrontations with the city’s residents, government and public safety officials. “What we are seeing in Minnesota...
Pa. lawmaker moves to ban warrantless civil immigration arrests near state buildings
This story was updated at 1:44 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 21. Civil immigration arrests would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of state-owned or leased facilities absent a judicial order or warrant under a proposal being developed in the Pennsylvania Senate. The...
What Pennsylvania communities are raising or dropping to ring in 2026
New Year’s Eve events across Pennsylvania have gained a reputation for the unique, bizarre and creative objects raised or dropped as part of the celebration. Many are tied to host communities’ identities – through connections to business, industry, traditions or...
Staff favorites: Emily Previti’s picks for the Capital-Star’s greatest hits of 2025
As the year ends, we’re taking an opportunity to highlight our favorite stories of 2025. I started in late May as the Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s first audio reporter, a role focused on expanding on we tell stories through audio, public media...
Seven people facing charges for alleged SNAP fraud in Dauphin County
Criminal charges have been filed against seven people for alleged fraudulent use of more than $775,000 in Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Benefits Program benefits. If convicted, they’d be responsible for repayment and restitution, according to a statement released Thursday by the...