Pa. Game Commission to vote on increasing number of Sundays in deer rifle season
The Pennsylvania Game Commission will vote Saturday on potential adjustments to the deer rifle season, which officials believe could bolster interest in hunting among youth and young adults. The game commission’s nine-member board met in Dauphin County Friday to discuss opening deer rifle season on Nov. 28, a Saturday, and...
Pennsylvania teens who plotted ISIS-inspired NYC terror attack sought to kill up to 60, feds say
Two Pennsylvania teenagers accused of instigating an ISIS-inspired terrorist plot outside New York’s Gracie Mansion last month watched “radical content” online and hoped to kill up to 60 people in the attack, according to new court documents. Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown, were charged...
Shapiro outraises Garrity by 10-to-1 margin in 1st quarter, filings show
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity raised more than $1 million for her gubernatorial campaign during the first three months of the year but was outraised by incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro by more than a 10-to-1 margin, campaign finance reports show. Garrity, a Republican from Bradford County, filed paperwork Tuesday showing that...
Laurel Caverns opens as Pennsylvania’s 1st underground state parkVideo
Laurel Caverns, the popular Fayette County tourist attraction, has officially opened as Pennsylvania’s first underground state park. On Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Laurel Caverns State Park’s official opening alongside Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn and local Fayette leaders. “Right here in our backyard,...
Parents charged after toddler is injured by wolf at Hersheypark zoo
A 17-month-old was hurt Saturday after crawling under a fence at Pennsylvania’s Hersheypark zoo and sticking his hand into a wolf enclosure. Now, the boy’s parents face charges. The child, who has not been publicly identified, was “unsupervised” at ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, which is inside Hersheypark, a police...
Bill would designate the scarlet tanager as Pennsylvania’s official migratory birdVideo
This time of year, backyard bird enthusiasts are keeping an eye out for flashes of red. Most of the year, it would probably be a male cardinal. But in the spring, it might also be a scarlet tanager, which has been proposed for designation as Pennsylvania’s official state migratory bird....
Driver said he fell asleep before crash that killed 2 Pa. firefighters, police say
RICHMOND TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Berks County man told investigators he fell asleep while driving on Saturday before crashing into a utility vehicle, killing two firefighters who were helping search for a missing person, police said. Alexander Sepulveda Rivera, 26, of Reading, was charged on Sunday with two counts each...
2 Pennsylvania firefighters in UTV killed in head-on crash during search for a missing woman
RICHMOND TOWNSHIP — Two firefighters traveling in a utility vehicle along a Pennsylvania road during a search for a missing woman were killed in a head-on crash with a car, officials said. The two members of the Walnuttown Fire Company died after the crash with a Toyota Camry at about...
Toddler who crawled under fence at Hersheypark’s Zoo America injured by wolf
HERSHEY — A toddler was lightly injured by a wolf at a Pennsylvania theme park zoo after he crawled under a fence and stuck his hand into the animal’s enclosure, officials at the zoo confirmed Sunday. The child was never inside the wolf habitat at the ZooAmerica North American Wildlife...
Hershey’s promises to use only real chocolate after backlash
For weeks, Brad Reese, a grandson of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup inventor, has been on a mission to restore the legacy of the candy that bears his family’s name. It started when he bit into a Reese’s Mini Heart: “It was disgusting,” he said in an interview. Ever since,...
Shapiro’s reelection campaign reports raising over $10M during first quarter
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reelection campaign said it raised more than $10 million during the first three months of the year — twice as much as the previous record for a gubernatorial campaign in the first quarter of an election year. “This remarkably strong showing underscores the broad support for...
Shapiro holds wide lead over Garrity in race for Pa. governor, poll shows
A new poll shows Gov. Josh Shapiro with a commanding lead over Treasurer Stacy Garrity in his bid for a second term. The Susquehanna Polling and Research poll, released Wednesday, has Shapiro leading Garrity by 22 percentage points (58% to 36%). Just 5% of likely voters remain undecided at this...
Shapiro vows to ‘protect’ voters from Trump order on voting by mail
Gov. Josh Shapiro opposes an executive order by President Donald Trump that attempts to place tighter restrictions on mail-in voting. “President Trump can sign whatever the hell he wants to, but it won’t change the Constitution. The authority to set our election rules belongs to the states — and as...
As Shapiro opposes ICE detention centers, his GOP opponent for Pa. governor stays vague
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Stacy Garrity’s gubernatorial campaign won’t clarify where the Republican stands on ICE detention centers, only saying the...
Trump hosts Stacy Garrity at Mar-a-Lago fundraiser, calls Josh Shapiro ‘a stiff’
Stacy Garrity, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, had the ultimate fundraiser this weekend: An event at President Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Garrity’s campaign, a GOP source confirmed, cleared six-figures in proceeds from the event, secured commitments for future fundraisers, and got some...
More Pa. Democrats consider challenging Fetterman in 2028 primary
A former Democratic congresswoman is the latest name being touted as a possible primary challenger to Sen. John Fetterman. The news site Semafor reported recently that former Lehigh Valley Rep. Susan Wild is pondering entering the 2028 Senate primary as Democrats become increasingly frustrated and angry over Fetterman’s continued support...
Flight 93 memorial added to state’s new Highway of Heroes trail
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — Flight 93 National Memorial is one of six locations along the U.S. Route 30 corridor now included in Pennsylvania’s new Highway of Heroes trail. “Together, the sites present Pennsylvania’s historic places as part of a broader, connected story and illustrate the commonwealth’s enduring role in American history,...
Pa. child advocates demand independent watchdog after Renesmay Eutsey death
Nearly 20 years after a grand jury first demanded it, advocates returned to Harrisburg this week with a haunting reminder of why Pennsylvania still needs an independent watchdog for its children: the death of 9-year-old Renesmay Eutsey. Child advocates, young people and survivors joined community leaders in calling on state...
Susan Wild responds to reports she’s considering Senate run against John Fetterman: ‘Nothing is off the table’
A D.C.-based news outlet reported this week that former Rep. Susan Wild, who represented the Lehigh Valley in Congress before narrowly losing to now Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in 2024, is weighing a primary challenge against Sen. John Fetterman in 2028. Semafor, a political news source, reported this week that Wild...
Some Pa. lawmakers call for suspending state taxes on gas and dieselVideo
With average gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, and diesel prices nearly $2 a gallon higher, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are exploring temporarily suspending the state’s taxes on both. “Everybody is talking about affordability, but what are we doing about it? I think we can do something,” state Sen. Lisa...
Mandatory life in prison for 2nd-degree murder is unconstitutional, Pa. Supreme Court rules
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday that mandatory life in prison without parole for those convicted of second-degree, or felony, murder is unconstitutional. In a 72-page opinion, Chief Justice Debra Todd, writing for the majority, said such an automatic sentence is “inconsistent” with the protection guaranteed under the state constitution...
‘A fundamental right’: Pa. House again passes bill to end state’s unenforced gay marriage ban
A bill to repeal Pennsylvania’s currently-unenforceable same-sex marriage ban cleared the state House for the second time on Wednesday, with the partisan divide on the issue little changed in two years. The measure, which would strike the line in state law saying that marriage is “between one man and one...
John Fetterman’s support for Trump’s DHS secretary has made his bad relationship with Democrats even worse: ‘He needs to go’
When Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta lost a bitter U.S. Senate primary to then-Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in 2022, he immediately threw his support behind the Democratic nominee — vowing to campaign vigorously for Fetterman, who went onto win the general election as he was recovering from a stroke. Fetterman...
Pa. teens get probation after using AI to create fake nudes of classmates
LANCASTER — Two teenage boys who used artificial intelligence to create fake nude photos of their classmates at an exclusive private school in Pennsylvania received probation Wednesday after dozens of victims described the images’ traumatizing effect on them. The boys were 14 at the time. They admitted this month that...
Pennsylvania joins multi-state lawsuit against EPA for repealing Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding
Pennsylvania has joined 21 other states in a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal of the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding. On March 19, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed onto a lawsuit over the February finding that the EPA lacks statutory authority under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air...
