Pennsylvania category, Page 168
Safety Council study: Pennsylvania among 39 states ‘lagging’ in covid response
A study by the National Safety Council has found that only a dozen states are “on track” with their response to the global covid-19 pandemic. Pennsylvania is not one of them. A new National Safety Council report reveals 39 states did not go far enough to protect residents from the...
Businesses that sued Wolf over shutdown orders now seek more than $135K in legal fees
The business owners who filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Tom Wolf over his covid-19 shutdown orders are asking the court to award them attorney fees. In a motion filed Monday before U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, the plaintiffs ask for $135,790 in attorneys fees and costs. That amount,...
Lawsuit against gun maker, seller allowed to proceed in Mt. Pleasant shooting case
The Pennsylvania Superior Court, in a strongly worded decision, ruled that a lawsuit filed by the parents of a 13-year-old Mt. Pleasant boy who was killed accidentally when his friend fired a gun at him can move forward. It is the first appeals court in the country to find that...
Mother, daughter get life terms in slayings of 5 relatives
DOYLESTOWN — A mother and her adult daughter were sentenced Monday to life in prison in the slayings of five close relatives, including three children, outside Philadelphia last year. Shana Decree, 47, and Dominique Decree, 21, were sentenced in Bucks County Court after entering guilty but mentally ill pleas to...
Pandemic delays revamp of Pennsylvania’s unemployment benefits claim system
Pennsylvania’s unemployed eventually will submit compensation claims on a weekly basis instead of every other week. But that planned shift, and arrival of online dashboard access to unemployment compensation account information, are on hold while the state Department of Labor & Industry catches up with a backlog of pandemic-related claims...
Federal judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts, echoing other edicts
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering a halt to recent Postal Service cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election. Six states and the District of Columbia presented “compelling evidence” from the U.S. Postal Service itself...
Could the Pa. GOP bypass the popular vote regardless of who wins? Here’s what we know.
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 weekly newsletter. HARRISBURG — It is the nightmare scenario Pennsylvania election officials have fretted over for months: a knock-down, drag-out fight over...
Pennsylvania adds more than 1,500 new covid cases in past 2 days
Pennsylvania’s coronavirus cases increased by 1,594 over the past two days, according to a report Monday from the state’s Department of Health. The department said 918 cases were added Sunday and 676 were announced Monday. The state has seen 156,826 covid-19 cases since the pandemic began in March. From Sept....
Feds target predatory lenders to small business, but Pennsylvania remains a haven for the industry
Last summer, Philadelphia lawyer Shane Heskin told Congress that Pennsylvania has robust laws to prevent consumers from being gouged on loans — but none protecting business owners. “Consumers have laws protecting them from usurious interest rates,” he said. “But for small businesses, those protection laws don’t apply at all.” Heskin...
Pennsylvania posts 1,000-plus new covid-19 cases, third highest this month
Pennsylvania has 1,029 new coronavirus cases Saturday, according to the state Department of Health. In addition, 22 new deaths were reported. The new cases and deaths bring their totals to 155,232 and 8,103, respectively. The positivity rate for new cases is 6.8% from 14,924 tests. Saturday’s new cases represent the...
Trump shifts focus to Pennsylvania to shore up reelection
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s campaign has grown increasingly focused on making inroads in Pennsylvania to offset potential vulnerabilities in other battlegrounds. The president will travel to the state for the second time in a week on Saturday, hoping to attract the same rural and white working-class voters who delivered...
Gov. Wolf blasts Trump campaign rallies as public health threat
A day ahead of President Trump’s scheduled campaign rally at Harrisburg International Airport, Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday blasted the president for disregarding public health advisories on masking and social distancing at a series of rallies across Pennsylvania over the past month. Trump, who held rallies that attracted thousands of...
Pennsylvania adds 806 new covid cases, 2 new deaths
Pennsylvania added 806 new cases of coronavirus to its tally Friday, according to the state’s Department of Health. It marks the sixth day in a row new cases have been under 1,000. In the past week, there have been 5,520 cases, a nearly 5% decline from the previous seven days...
Pa.’s failure to mandate quicker death reporting before the coronavirus fueled wild data fluctuations, mistrust
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 weekly newsletter. For years, Pennsylvania has had a hard time counting its dead. A new analysis shows that in 2017, Pennsylvania had...
Fraud, frustration continue to plague Pennsylvania unemployment claimants
As historically high unemployment compensation claims continue to inundate the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Labor Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said he knows people are struggling. Presiding over a virtual town hall Thursday afternoon, Oleksiak acknowledged that fraud is plaguing the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that temporarily expands unemployment insurance...
Federal probe focuses on discarded Trump ballots in Luzerne County
A federal investigation into irregularities with mail-in ballots at the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections has turned up discarded ballots that were cast for President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney David J. Freed said Thursday. In a prepared statement, Freed said FBI agents and Pennsylvania State Police who began investigating “potential...
What are ‘naked ballots’ and why they could determine the presidential election outcome in Pa.
HARRISBURG — Democrats are launching a digital ad targeting Pennsylvanians voting by mail to explain how to correctly fill out and return the ballots, hoping to avert worried predictions that 100,000 votes or more could be invalidated because the ballots aren’t put in the proper envelope. The so-called naked ballots...
New poll shows Biden still leading, but little change in presidential race among Pennsylvania voters
Nearly a month into the official 2020 general election campaign, with their camps moving full steam ahead and frequent rallies in Pennsylvania, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have done little to move the needle among Keystone State voters, a new poll shows. A Franklin & Marshall College...
Pennsylvania colleges take a hit in undergraduate enrollment
A new national survey of fall college enrollment trends by the National Student Clearinghouse found the impact of covid-19 and a shrinking pool of new high school graduates has left its mark on Pennsylvania colleges. The survey based on preliminary numbers from about 22% of the nation’s colleges and universities,...
More Pennsylvania inmates accused of fraudulently seeking jobless checks
HARRISBURG — Eighteen inmates in Pennsylvania state prisons and two girlfriends of inmates on the outside have been charged in what authorities describe as a scheme to fraudulently obtain jobless benefits for ineligible prisoners, prosecutors said Wednesday. The 20 sets of charges were announced by state Attorney General Josh Shapiro...
50,000 residents download Pennsylvania’s covid app in 24 hours
Pennsylvania’s new covid-19 contact tracing app has been downloaded by 50,000 people, Gov. Tom Wolf’s office said Wednesday. The mobile app, COVID Alert PA, was announced in August and officially launched Tuesday. The app notifies users if they have been exposed to covid-19 using Bluetooth technology. Without tracking identity or...
Republicans seek to stay Pa. Supreme Court decision on ballot drop boxes and mail-in ballots
Top Republicans in Harrisburg have asked the state Supreme Court to stay part of its order allowing the use of ballot drop boxes and granting a three-day extension to count mail-in ballots while they appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. In an application filed Tuesday, the Republican lawmakers...
Fishing license sales jump 20% with covid-19 outdoor recreation boom
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has already sold about 150,000 more fishing licenses this year than it did all of last year. “We certainly think that the pandemic situation has had an impact, as more people sought outdoor recreational activities, and either discovered or rediscovered a passion for fishing,”...
Pennsylvania adds 898 coronavirus cases, 39 deaths
Pennsylvania reported 39 deaths attributed to covid-19 Wednesday, the highest reported in a single day since 39 were reported June 25. Those deaths bring the state’s total to 8,062, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state also added 898 new coronavirus cases, bringing that total to 152,544. The...
Youngstown restaurant 1 of 11 in state to have liquor license suspended for covid violations
The Tin Lizzy Tap Room and Restaurant in Youngstown is set to reopen on Friday after its liquor license was suspended for two weeks because the establishment violated restrictions meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Owner Buck Pawlosky said he will play by the rules, but that...
