Pennsylvania category, Page 16
More elder abuse transparency, accountability is coming as Shapiro administration denies ‘crisis’
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. HARRISBURG — The public will soon have easy access to critical information about whether county protective services agencies are keeping at-risk older adults safe from...
Medical plane’s voice recorder likely wasn’t working for years before Philadelphia crash
PHILADELPHIA — The cockpit voice recorder was not working on a medical transport plane that killed seven people when it plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January and likely had not been functional for several years, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Thursday. The NTSB also...
2.3M birds culled in Pa. this year as flu spreads in commercial, backyard flocks
Ken Pounds has a coop full of turkeys, and with justifiable concerns about bird flu, that’s all he wants in there. No flies if he can help it. Definitely no people who don’t need to be there. And certainly no other birds. “The biggest thing you can do is have...
Fetterman calls out Democrats for ‘unhinged petulance’ during Trump address
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, called out members of his own party for their protests during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night. “A sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained,” Fetterman wrote Wednesday afternoon on the social media...
Pennsylvania to spend $10 million on new voter registration system
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is spending more than $10 million to replace its electronic voter registration database with an election management system that will also provide election night results and handle campaign finance filings and lobbyist registration. Secretary of State Al Schmidt announced Wednesday the Civix system should be fully in...
Police: Pa. man charged after mistaking hunter for turkey, shooting him in the face
A Huntingdon County man is facing charges after police said he mistook another hunter for a turkey and shot him in the face and head. Scott Huber, 51, is charged with reckless endangerment and violations of Pennsylvania’s hunting laws, according to WTAJ. The incident occurred on Nov. 9 in Barree...
Employees cut by feds could get Pa., Allegheny County jobs
People who lose their federal government jobs are being recruited to fill positions with Pennsylvania and Allegheny County government. It remains unclear how many of the more than 16,000 federal employees who live in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area will be affected by the cuts. But, on Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro...
No limits on Sunday hunting proposed for Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania lawmakers are taking another look at making hunting a seven-day-a-week activity, when in season. State Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, this week introduced Senate Bill 67 to fully repeal Pennsylvania’s prohibition on Sunday hunting. It builds on Act 107 of 2019 that permitted hunting on three Sundays. A similar bill...
Are Pa. residents at risk of a measles outbreak? Here’s what the experts say
Measles, a highly contagious disease that was at one point believed to be largely eradicated in the United States, has seen an increase in cases over the past year. Among the most recently diagnosed cases of measles are several instances in New Jersey in mid-February and a confirmed case in...
Pa. GOP House members vote for measure that could cut Medicaid, threaten care for constituents
Pennsylvania faces billions in Medicaid and other health funding cuts, which could force tens of thousands out of programs, under a budget resolution approved by Congressional Republicans, according to opposition groups. The Center for American Progress (CAP) and Commonwealth Communications’ PA Accountability Hub, both left-leaning outfits, have criticized Republican U.S....
Pennsylvania Republicans who narrowly won their House seats feel the heat of early votes back home
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Newly minted U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan swore he wouldn’t support gutting government benefits such as Medicaid that residents of his northeastern Pennsylvania district rely on. Then the first-term Republican voted for a bill that could do just that. Bresnahan and two other Pennsylvania Republicans won in November...
Measles risk is real for those unvaccinated, experts say
A child’s death from a measles outbreak in West Texas has raised concerns about vaccination rates and the resurgence of preventable diseases. But about one in 1,000 cases of measles can be deadly or cause lasting harm, said Dr. Paul Offit, the Maurice R. Hilleman Chair of Vaccinology at the...
Hundreds of officers on hand as slain Pennsylvania patrolman’s casket arrives for funeral
RED LION, Pa. — Police vehicles from across Pennsylvania and beyond were arriving at a church Friday for the funeral of a police officer who was shot and killed while coming to the rescue of medical personnel and patients during an attack on a hospital intensive care unit last weekend....
Nurses’ stories recount terror of armed man’s attack at York County hospital
HARRISBURG — A nurse who survived an armed man’s attack on an intensive care unit in a York County hospital said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that she was held against him as a shield at gunpoint, arms zip-tied behind her back, as they walked through a doorway and...
Pa. Republican says he’ll protect Medicaid’s ‘core mission’ while looking for budget savings
Democratic members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation railed against the budget blueprint that passed the House on Tuesday night, warning it could result in steep cuts to Medicaid. But an Altoona Republican who serves on a committee tasked with coming up with $880 billion in savings over 10 years says he...
Funeral set for officer killed while responding to gunman in a Pennsylvania hospital
HARRISBURG — A funeral service will be held later this week for a Pennsylvania police officer shot and killed while responding to a hospital intensive care unit where authorities said a gunman had shot three hospital employees and taken staff members hostage last weekend. West York Patrolman Andrew Duarte’s funeral...
Gov. Shapiro says the Trump administration has unfrozen billions in grants, loansVideo
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday that President Donald Trump ‘s administration has freed up billions in federal aid that the Democrat had accused it of withholding illegally and unconstitutionally. Shapiro said in a news conference that more than $2 billion that his administration had identified as either...
Pennsylvania hostage-taking and shootout highlight rising violence against U.S. hospital workers
A man who took hostages in a York County hospital during a shooting that killed a police officer and wounded five other people highlights the rising violence against U.S. healthcare workers and the challenge of protecting them. Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, carried a pistol and zip ties into the intensive care...
Motive in Pennsylvania hospital shooting unclear, but officials say man had recent contact with ICUVideo
YORK — The man who authorities say entered a Pennsylvania hospital with zip ties and a pistol over the weekend had recent contact with the hospital’s intensive care unit, where he took staff members hostage and was killed in a shootout that left a police officer dead and others injured....
Officer killed after a gunman took hostages at UPMC hospital in York
YORK — A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit on Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said. Three staffers at UPMC Memorial Hospital, including...
Crow is not the only thing they eat at a wild game dinner in rural Pennsylvania
PINE GROVE — The buffet line inside the fire hall in rural Northeast Pennsylvania was a familiar sight last weekend as a crowd of about 150 people heaped dinner onto their plates before sitting down to eat, hear a little live music and wait for the raffle. Aside from a...
Lowering the bar: Centre County tops Pennsylvania in underage drinking citations
Centre County led Pennsylvania in underage drinking citations during the most recent five-year period for which data is available, the administrative arm of the state Supreme Court said earlier this month. Not including DUI offenses, about one in 10 offenses in the county that’s home to Penn State were for...
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro appointed by Trump to bipartisan governors panel, will visit White House
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve on a little-known panel alongside other governors to strengthen partnerships between states and the federal government. Shapiro joins the council at a challenging time for governors — particularly Democratic ones — as Trump’s administration tries to slash the...
Trump names Josh Shapiro to bipartisan Council of Governors
President Donald Trump has appointed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to a bipartisan council that works with federal officials on issues related to the National Guard, national security, and disaster preparedness and response. Shapiro, a Democrat from Montgomery County, joins four other Democratic governors and five Republican governors on the Council...
More staff members exit Sen. Fetterman’s office as he seeks a political middle ground
The staff churn in Sen. John Fetterman’s office continues. NBC News is reporting that two of Fetterman’s longest serving staff members are exiting as the Pennsylvania Democrat seeks to find a working lane between his party and the president. The departures of Charlie Hills, the communications director, and Tre Easton,...
