Pennsylvania category, Page 130
Pa. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. pushes police reforms aimed at dealing with those with disabilities
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and other Pennsylvania lawmakers are sponsoring legislation aimed at reducing the chance police encounters with those with disabilities or mental health issues will end tragically. Casey, D-Pa., is sponsoring what he’s dubbed the Law Enforcement Education and Accountability for People with Disabilities (LEAD) Initiative. It...
Citizen group appeals to Commonwealth Court to overturn Murrysville fracking ordinance
The Murrysville Watch Committee, a citizen group seeking to overturn the municipality’s unconventional gas drilling ordinance, had its appeal heard this week by the state’s Commonwealth Court. The hearing began with attorney John Smith, representing the Watch Committee, requesting that Commonwealth Court Judge Drew Crompton recuse himself from the proceeding....
Pennsylvania Republicans’ plans for election reform take shape in new report
PHILADELPHIA — As Republican lawmakers across the country have moved to tighten voting laws following former President Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election, Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature has waited to act during months of hearings. Now Republicans in Harrisburg are making their first moves, with the state House GOP releasing...
Sean Parnell expected to announce run for Pennsylvania Senate seat
HARRISBURG — Sean Parnell, a decorated Army veteran and regular guest on Fox News programs who became a favorite of former President Donald Trump, is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat. Parnell, who unsuccessfully challenged Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb in...
Wolf: Indoor, outdoor event spaces in Pa. can increase capacity next week
Pennsylvania officials will increase capacity limits for indoor and outdoor event spaces Monday, though neither type can operate at full capacity yet. Gov. Tom Wolf said in a release Tuesday that occupancy limits for indoor events can increase to 50% and capacity for outdoor events can increase to 75% of...
Pa. covid case average drops to October level
The start of May has seen covid case numbers decline in Pennsylvania. With the declining figures, a key statistic has also dropped to a level it hadn’t been since October. Cases Pennsylvania reported 2,385 additional covid cases (1,669 confirmed, 716 probable) to its total Tuesday, according to the state Department...
Pa. Senate bill would give parents option of having child repeat grade
Allowing parents to hold back their child from being promoted to the next grade in 2021-22 due to learning loss during the covid-19 pandemic is now on track for consideration by the full Pennsylvania Senate. The Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to advance this legislation that also gives parents of...
High school graduations: With covid-19 restrictions set to end, some schools are changing plans
The coronavirus pandemic almost took out all the pomp and circumstance out of graduation again this year. Now, with covid-19 mitigation efforts about to end, some schools are scrambling to change graduation plans in the hopes of giving seniors as traditional a commencement as possible. Some schools are allowing more...
State posts lowest number of new covid cases in 7 months
Not since early October has the daily covid case report for Pennsylvania been so low. New case numbers were down across the state, with Allegheny and Westmoreland counties posting their lowest numbers of the year — marks not seen for seven months. On Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health posted...
Trib earns 26 Keystone Awards, top honor for ‘Tragedy at Brighton’Video
The Tribune-Review received 26 Keystone Press Awards in the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s annual competition, including its most prestigious recognition, the G. Richard Dew Award, for its “Tragedy at Brighton” project. The Dew Award is presented to a news organization or individual across all circulation categories that has made an outstanding...
Pa. politicians walk fine line on vaccine endorsements to hesitant constituentsVideo
As vaccine rates slow with the threat of a new surge looming this fall, elected officials on both sides of the aisle are stepping forward to encourage constituents to get a covid-19 vaccine — even as they acknowledge this is a personal decision. While experts say such efforts could be...
Pennsylvania’s covid cases, hospitalizations continue to drop as more get vaccinated
Cases of covid-19 continue to trend downward in Pennsylvania, decreasing related hospitalizations and deaths. The state on Saturday added 2,610 cases, staying below 4,000 for the eighth consecutive day, according to data from the Department of Health. The seven-day average sank to 2,598 cases, the lowest since it was 2,570...
Slow reporting from labs can hinder coronavirus response, create doubt
More than a year into the covid-19 pandemic, some virus cases identified during the first outbreak across Western Pennsylvania only recently were reported in Westmoreland County. The cases were part of a data dump on Wednesday from one lab that included cases from March 2020 to March 2021, causing the...
Pa. Department of Health moves to new federally run vaccine locator map
Pennsylvania has revamped the map used to help residents locate covid-19 vaccine providers, moving to a federally run search tool that will let users narrow their search to a specific brand of vaccine, officials said Friday. It is another move in the state’s push to get 70% of adults vaccinated....
Former Bradford County DA drops ‘vicious lies’ defense, pleads guilty in sex case
A Pennsylvania district attorney who had cast the sex case against him as a pack of “vicious lies” pleaded guilty Friday to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney and then coercing them to keep quiet about it. Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman admitted guilt and...
Allegheny County’s average of new covid cases hits low not seen since November
Allegheny County’s seven-day covid-19 case average dropped to 210 on Friday, a low that hasn’t been seen since November. The Allegheny County Health Department reported 191 additional coronavirus cases. The last time the county’s current seven-day case average was this low was 207 on Nov. 8. The overall number of...
Superintendents call on General Assembly to back Gov. Wolf’s education budget proposal
If the $1.3 billion investment in education comes through that Gov. Tom Wolf included in his proposed state budget, it would just about make up for the increased costs Pennsylvania schools are set to absorb between this and next school year, according to Jamie Baxter, policy director for nonprofit Allies...
Covid cases in Allegheny, Westmoreland, state remain steady; vaccine efforts inch along
Allegheny County saw a second day of under 200 covid cases reported, while cases in Westmoreland County dropped after a data dump inflated cases for Wednesday. On Thursday, the Allegheny County Health Department reported 177 additional covid-19 cases — 148 confirmed and 22 probable. This is down 17.2% from last...
Republican Sen. Kim Ward endorses covid vaccine for return to normalcyVideo
State Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward is encouraging constituents to get the covid-19 vaccine. The Hempfield Republican, who has been at odds with Democratic leaders over the covid-19 shutdown for the past year, went public with her endorsement in a radio interview with 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR news station. “It’s...
Pennsylvania GOP wants to restore work-search rule for jobless benefits
HARRISBURG — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature are advancing legislation to reinstate work-search requirements for people claiming unemployment benefits, with one survey showing that workers aren’t taking open jobs at a record rate. The bill cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday. Lawmakers suspended the...
Allegheny County reports 2nd-lowest covid case total in past month
The Allegheny County Health Department on Wednesday reported its second-lowest covid-19 case total in the past month. The county added 158 new cases Wednesday. Only the 94 cases reported April 26 was lower. It’s also the second-lowest total dating back to March 15, when 124 were reported. The county’s coronavirus...
Report: Barbecuing his dog lands Bucks County man behind bars on $1 million bailVideo
A Bucks County man is facing charges after police say he shot his dog and barbecued it. Nikolay Lukyanchikov, 49, is facing charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and related offenses after the incident on Friday, NBC 10 is reporting. Lukyanchikov remained...
2 Bucks County women charged with trying to vote for deceased mothers
DOYLESTOWN — Two suburban Philadelphia women are facing misdemeanor voter fraud charges after authorities allege they completed mail-in ballots for the November 2020 election by signing the names of their deceased mothers. Bucks County prosecutors say Danielle Dooner, 56, of Buckingham Township and Melissa Ann Fisher, 51, of Quakertown were...
Wolf: Covid restrictions end Memorial Day; mask mandate ends when 70% of Pa. adults fully vaccinated
Pennsylvania plans to lift its covid-19 mitigation orders on Memorial Day, and Gov. Tom Wolf said the state’s masking order will be dropped once 70% of Pennsylvanians 18 and older are fully vaccinated. Mitigation measures that remain in effect until Memorial Day include capacity limits on restaurants, theaters, indoor and...
Declining covid hospitalization streak ends in Pa., Allegheny County
Recent covid hospitalization numbers have been declining for several straight days in the state and Allegheny County. But those streaks ended Tuesday, when both saw increases to its current covid hospitalization total. The state saw its first increase to its current covid hospitalization total after having 12 consecutive days of...
