Tom Fontaine stories, Page 2
Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus up big in bid for 2nd term
Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin Kraus held a commanding lead Tuesday night over Republican challenger Brian Weismantle and appeared on his way to a second term in office. As of 11:30 p.m., with 90% of precincts reporting unofficial results and about 115,000 mail-in ballots counted, Kraus, a Democrat, had collected 64.4%...
Election Day storylines: What to watch
About a third of Western Pennsylvania’s voters were expected to cast ballots in today’s election, deciding key races for local, county and state office. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m. Allegheny County spokeswoman Abigail Gardner said there was one report of a delay in opening. Pittsburgh...
Trump, Shapiro weigh in on Pa. Supreme Court retention elections
President Donald Trump took to social media Sunday night to urge Pennsylvanians to vote against retaining three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court. In separate posts on Truth Social, Trump also endorsed numerous members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly and Guy Reschenthaler of Western Pennsylvania, although they...
High-stakes Pa. judicial races, mail-in voting to boost election turnout, experts predict
Voter turnout typically craters in the year after a presidential election, but experts predict it will be higher than usual Tuesday because of high-stakes judicial retention races and the ease of mail-in voting. Allegheny County Elections Director Dave Voye estimates that about 35% of the county’s registered voters will cast...
Fetterman, McCormick back Senate-rejected plan to pay some federal workers during shutdown
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators — Republican Dave McCormick and Democrat John Fetterman — voted Thursday to pay some federal workers during the government shutdown, but the GOP measure failed to get enough support in the Senate. Democrats tried to push through a measure of their own that would have paid...
Pa.’s new Democratic chairman focused on pivotal upcoming races, growing the party
Pennsylvania’s new Democratic chairman is pulling a page from Ronald Reagan’s playbook in an effort to unify and grow his party. “We’ve got to get back to politics being a game of addition, trying to add to our coalitions and becoming a bigger tent,” Pennsylvania Democratic Chairman Eugene DePasquale said...
Some GOP leaders deem ‘No Kings’ rallies as anti-American
Some Republican leaders are describing Saturday’s planned “No Kings” demonstrations across the country as anti-American. “We call it the ‘hate America’ rally,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a news conference this week. “Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you you’ll see Hamas supporters, I bet...
Marjorie Taylor Greene said she hasn’t changed, despite recent breaks from the GOP
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been making life uncomfortable for some members of her own party in Congress. Greene, a conservative firebrand who has been a staunch supporter of President Trump, has been critical of how Republicans have dealt with several key issues in recent weeks and months....
Shapiro joins states in legal action against Trump’s National Guard deployments
Pennsylvania has joined nearly two dozen states in taking legal action in an attempt to stop President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to U.S. cities. The multistate amicus brief argues that the deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon was “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic,” according to Gov. Josh...
Fetterman breaks with Dems on reining in Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats; approval rating up among Republicans
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman went against the Democratic grain again. Fetterman on Wednesday was the lone Democrat in the Senate to vote against a measure to prevent President Donald Trump from using military force against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean without congressional authorization. Even with the support of two...
Treasury defends proposal to put Trump on $1 coin
The Treasury Department is defending a proposal to mint a $1 coin with images of President Trump to help celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday, citing a bill signed into law by Trump during the last week of his first administration. “(Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) is honored to exercise the authorities...
Pittsburgh native Larry Hailsham Jr. named executive director of Pa. Democratic Party
Pittsburgh native Larry Hailsham Jr., a top aide to Gov. Josh Shapiro, has been named executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. State Democrats also announced this week that Shapiro donated $250,000 to the party as it gears up for pivotal elections in November and next year. Hailsham was appointed...
Fetterman breaks with Democrats to support stopgap spending bill
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the U.S. Senate blocked a stopgap spending bill that would fund the government through late November. The proposal needed support from 60 senators to end a filibuster and advance to a final vote, but it fell short Wednesday with just 55...
Pa. Senate Republicans look to forgive interest on state loans to help counties, Head Starts
Republican leaders in the state Senate said Tuesday they plan to introduce legislation to forgive the interest payments on Treasury loans designed to help county governments and Head Start providers weather Pennsylvania’s budget impasse. “They should not be penalized because of what is happening here in Harrisburg,” state Senate President...
As Pa. budget impasse drags on, proposals aim to prevent future ones
The failure of Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass a budget for the fiscal year that began nearly three months ago is inspiring several pieces of legislation aimed at preventing such impasses in the future. In the House, a bill from state Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Murrysville, would suspend paychecks for the governor,...
Pa. budget impasse nears 3 months as schools, counties and others feel the pain
Pennsylvania is one of just three states that has yet to adopt a complete budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to an analysis by the National Association of School Budget Officers. In North Carolina, lawmakers passed a stopgap “mini budget” over the summer to keep the government running while...
Fetterman, McCormick call for end to political violence, extreme rhetoric
U.S. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick condemned political violence and extreme rhetoric during a joint appearance Tuesday on Fox News’ “Special Report.” The senators said their joint appearance was an attempt to turn down the political temperature following last week’s assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. “I feel like...
Shapiro calls for ‘universal condemnation’ of political violence during Pittsburgh summit
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and former Gov. Tom Corbett, politicians from different political parties and parts of the state, appeared together at Tuesday’s Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Downtown Pittsburgh to condemn political violence less than a week after the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. “Political violence is particularly...
Shapiro to speak about political violence at Pittsburgh summit
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is scheduled to speak about political violence at Tuesday’s Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Downtown Pittsburgh, less than a week after a gunman assassinated conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Shapiro, a Jewish Democrat, survived a violent attack in April. He and his family had been sleeping inside...
Experts warn of ‘spiral’ if U.S. doesn’t address worst political violence in over a half-century
Several leading authorities on political violence say they are concerned about what happens next in America following the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The experts say this latest era of political violence is the nation’s worst since the turbulent 1960s. Without a unified, full-throated repudiation of the violence from...
PRT weighs whether to use money for transit projects to plug budget hole
Pittsburgh Regional Transit said Monday it hasn’t decided whether it will request permission from the state to temporarily shift money intended for capital improvements to help cover operating expenses. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration approved a request from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to use up to $394 million earmarked for...
Shapiro approves $394M funding shift to prevent SEPTA cuts
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has approved a request from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to use up to $394 million earmarked for capital improvements to help the deficit-plagued transit agency cover operating costs. Shapiro’s office said in a news release Monday that the move would prevent service cuts at the...
White House pans Shapiro for questioning National Guard deployments
The White House dismissed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s opposition to President Trump potentially deploying National Guard troops to Philadelphia to fight crime, touting the results of the deployments elsewhere. “Another wannabe presidential candidate is desperate to get into the news cycle by attacking the president’s highly successful operations to drive...
Shapiro says Pa. prepared should Trump decide to send National Guard to Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state has been preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump could deploy the National Guard to Philadelphia ever since the White House sent troops to Los Angeles in June — a move that a federal judge ruled Tuesday was illegal. “Ever since the...
Fetterman, McCormick call on Pa. universities to combat antisemitism
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators are calling on five of the state’s universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, to ensure that Jewish organizations on their campuses are “equipped to protect the students they serve.” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said their request comes on the heels of...
