Pennsylvania category, Page 136
A $10 minimum wage in Pa.? Two GOP senators are calling for it
Gov. Tom Wolf and Democratic lawmakers have been calling for an increase in the state’s $7.25 an hour minimum wage, and now they are finding support for this initiative in the Senate Republican Caucus. Sens. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie County, and Pat Browne, R-Lehigh County, are proposing to introduce legislation that...
A bill that criminalizes spitting on Pa. police includes extra penalties for people who are sick
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A bill moving through the Pennsylvania legislature that would criminalize spitting on a police officer is partially predicated on...
Pa. court again backs limits on abortion coverage
HARRISBURG — Planned Parenthood and other operators of abortion clinics lost in court on Friday in their bid to reverse a decades-old Pennsylvania court decision upholding limits on the use of state Medicaid dollars to cover the cost of abortions. The plaintiffs will appeal to the state Supreme Court, the...
Penn State leaders urge vigilance as covid-19 cases rise, variant detected
A more infectious variant of covid-19 has reached the Centre Region, Penn State officials confirmed Friday, as community leaders called for students and residents alike to take action and stem the concerning rise in cases. In a joint news conference involving leaders from both the university and State College Borough,...
Child sex abuse lawsuit ‘window’ amendment clears Pa. House
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Wednesday finished a new first round of approvals for a constitutional amendment giving victims of child sexual abuse the power to file what would otherwise be outdated claims, but it will be 2023 at the earliest before it takes effect. The House voted 188 to...
Allegheny, Westmoreland report highest daily covid totals in more than 2 months
Allegheny and Westmoreland counties on Friday saw their highest totals of newly reported covid cases in more than two months. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Allegheny reported 586 additional coronavirus cases, its highest since 670 on Jan. 13. Westmoreland’s total of 166 is its most since 173 on...
Gov. Wolf hints that vaccination phases could fade in light of open eligibility goal
Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday indicated Pennsylvania’s phased approach to vaccinations could be fading as the administration sets its sights on President Biden’s goal of open eligibility by May 1. He said the vaccine landscape “changed a little bit” when the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine received emergency authorization. As...
Pa. to only get 66K doses of Johnson & Johnson next week, upending plans to vaccinate certain essential workers
As the state climbs past 1 million coronavirus cases, Pennsylvania learned that it will not get nearly as many fresh doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as the federal government initially projected. The state said it will receive about 66,000 doses next week, not 200,000. Pennsylvania has used its...
Pennsylvania passes 1 million covid cases
Pennsylvania passed 1 million covid cases on Thursday. The milestone comes as vaccinations continue amid rising cases statewide and stable cases closer to home in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,000,240 cases, a rise of 3,623 cases from Wednesday. The seven-day average of cases is...
Wolf administration refuses to release details of wasted covid vaccine doses
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The Wolf administration is refusing to disclose details of wasted coronavirus vaccine doses, including how many have been discarded...
As thousands of unemployment claims expire, Pa. residents refile, wait on federal benefits
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Shawn McCreary has measured the last year in time waiting. As a substitute teacher, there have been exactly zero...
A first: U.S. Senate confirms transgender doctor, Rachel Levine, for key postVideo
Voting mostly along party lines, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation’s assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. The final vote was 52-48. Levine had been serving as Pennsylvania’s top health...
Highway construction firms oppose PennDOT’s bridge toll plan
HARRISBURG — A prominent highway construction trade association on Wednesday came out against a state plan to toll up to nine major bridges around Pennsylvania in need of repairs as lawmakers move to block the plan, although Gov. Tom Wolf’s top transportation official disputed the trade association’s criticisms. The Associated...
Faculty union blasts leader of Pa. state universities: ‘His job was to improve the system, not tear it down’
Instructors and coaches are blasting the leader of the state-owned universities for saying that the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education should be reorganized or dissolved. At a Senate budget hearing last week, Chancellor Dan Greenstein warned that if a proposal to consolidate some universities doesn’t happen, he will come...
Pa. museums, historical sites to reopen April 30
Twenty-three Pennsylvania-run museums and historical sites, including the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, Landis Valley Village in Lancaster and the Ephrata Cloister, will all reopen on April 30, albeit with reduced hours and at a limited capacity. According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,...
Allegheny County adds 498 covid cases, highest total since mid-January
Allegheny County on Wednesday added its most coronavirus cases since mid-January. The Allegheny County Health Department reported 498 additional cases, the highest since 516 were reported Jan. 17. It was also only the third time since the beginning of February that the county has surpassed 400 cases. Allegheny County had...
Penn State recommends covid-19 testing students as cases continue to rise
As cases of covid-19 continue rising on Penn State’s campus, the university has again — “out of an abundance of caution” — recommended that all students in three more dorms get tested. Students living in Pollock’s Beaver Hall and the East’s Geary and Packer halls were urged Monday to either...
Philadelphia cancels thousands of uninvited vaccine appointments
PHILADELPHIA — The city of Philadelphia is canceling tens of thousands of vaccination appointments for the Federal Emergency Management Agency-run vaccination clinic after links for people to get second doses were shared with others seeking first appointments. The FEMA site at the Pennsylvania Convention Center has shifted for the next...
Ticks present concern about Lyme disease as weather warms
As the weather warms and people once again take to the outdoors, state officials are reminding residents that in addition to health and safety protocols for covid-19, there is also one of the state’s most persistent pests to consider: the black-legged tick, the primary vector for Lyme disease in Pennsylvania....
More than 100,000 educators in Pa. vaccinated through state initiative
More than 100,000 educators have been vaccinated through a Pennsylvania initiative using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, state officials announced Tuesday. A total of 102,161 school teachers and staff have gotten the vaccine since the initiative got started across Pennsylvania. “Vaccinating more than 100,000 teachers and staff in less than...
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania see covid hospitalizations go up again
While progress had been made for covid hospitalizations in the past month, numbers appear to be going up again. Hospitalizations in the state and Allegheny County have been generally increasing over the past week, while Westmoreland County’s numbers tell a different story, according to state Department of Health data. Hospitalizations...
Pa. House passes bill to loosen rules on substitute teachers
Legislation to provide more flexibility when it comes to finding substitute teachers to staff classrooms won unanimous approval on Monday from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Barb Gleim, R-Cumberland County, now goes to the Senate for consideration. It aims to help ease the problem districts...
Ballot questions should be clear, but 2 written by Wolf administration don’t pass test, critics say
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. A version of this story originally appeared in our free weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — Amending the Pennsylvania Constitution is a lengthy process that ends at the ballot...
Pa. updates mask guidance for fully vaccinated residents
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has amended its mask mandate, updating guidance for fully vaccinated residents to fall in line with federal guidelines, officials said Monday. A previous state order went into effect that loosened mask restrictions in certain circumstances. “The vaccines that are currently available across the state and...
Pa. Senate GOP won’t fast-track child sex abuse lawsuit ‘window’
HARRISBURG — Majority Republicans in the state Senate announced Monday they will not employ a rarely used emergency process to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to give victims of child sexual abuse a two-year window in which to file civil lawsuits. Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward issued a statement that said...
