Pennsylvania category, Page 169
Pennsylvania has 27,000 acres of public land that you may not use
The public owns 27,000 acres in Pennsylvania that the public can’t get to and use, according to a new report from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and onX. They are landlocked lands, which the report, The Mid-Atlantic’s Landlocked Public Lands, defines as “public land where there is no permanent, legal...
Pa. Senate passes bill to ensure coroners are told of coronavirus deaths
The day after the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s tally of deaths attributed to covid-19 surpassed 8,000, the state Senate passed a bill to strengthen the role of coroners, who have questioned the accuracy of the counting system. The bill, backed on Tuesday by all Senate Republicans and 10 Democrats, adds...
Pennsylvania takes step to stop jobless benefits fraud
The state is taking additional steps to prevent criminals from illegally siphoning money from a federal unemployment compensation program by filing fraudulent claims, including delaying payments to allow for more time to verify the identity of those seeking the benefits. Those benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits, are designed for...
Pennsylvania doles out half of federal $300 weekly benefit fund
Pennsylvania has distributed more than one-half of its allocation of $2.8 billion in federal money that is the source of the $300-a-week checks being sent to the eligible covid-19-related jobless, state officials said. The state has sent $1.5 billion to unemployed Pennsylvanians through the federal government’s Lost Wages Assistance Program,...
Pennsylvania nears launch of new health insurance website
Pennsylvania is getting ready to launch its own website to sell Affordable Care Act-compliant policies that will replace the federally operated Healthcare.gov to enroll people for the 2021 insurance year, state officials said Tuesday. It is named “Pennie” and lawmakers approved the idea last year in a bid to get...
Sen. Toomey says he will consider Trump’s high court nominee
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey will not try to block President Donald Trump’s attempt to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court less than 40 days before the election, he said Tuesday. The Lehigh Valley Republican joined the successful effort to block President Barack Obama from filling a vacancy on...
Bill freezing pay for Pa.’s legislators, judges, top executive branch officials heading to Gov. Wolf’s desk
Pennsylvania lawmakers this year likely will be spared the grief that often accompanies the annual automatic pay raise that state law authorizes them to receive. Legislation is on its way to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk that would not only freeze lawmakers’ salaries at their current level through 2021 but judges...
Pennsylvania sees 7th straight day with double digit new covid-19 deaths
Pennsylvania has 834 new covid-19 cases Tuesday, per the state Department of Health. The state also reported 19 additional coronavirus-related deaths. Total cases are now 151,646, and the death total is 8,023. Pennsylvania surpassed 150,000 covid-19 cases Sunday. The state surpassed 100,000 cases on July 18 and 50,000 cases on...
Pennsylvania launches new coronavirus exposure notification app
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s new coronavirus exposure notification app became available in app stores Tuesday and could soon be compatible with those of three neighboring states, including New York. The release of the app, named COVID AlertPa, is part of Pennsylvania’s effort to more quickly break chains of transmission by using...
In battleground states, Catholics are a pivotal swing vote
For decades, Roman Catholic voters have been a pivotal swing vote in U.S. presidential elections, with a majority backing the winner — whether Republican or Democrat — nearly every time. How they vote in the battleground states this year could well decide the outcome, and the rival campaigns are targeting...
Sen. Toomey mum on Trump’s rush to replace Justice Ginsburg; Casey balks at GOP hypocrisy
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has not said whether it’s critical to let the American people have the chance to “weigh in and select a new president” before filling the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That’s what Toomey, a Lehigh Valley Republican, described as...
Voting victories for Democrats in Pa. might have closed the door on more election reform
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 — With less than seven weeks to go, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has significantly altered how the state’s election...
Pennsylvania Lottery officials warn players about new phone scam
Lottery officials are warning Pennsylvanians of a phone scam that claims commonwealth contestants have won a prize — they just have to pre-pay taxes or processing costs, though the cash never comes. The Pennsylvania Lottery issued a release on Monday morning advising residents that they have received notifications of a...
Frances Wolf urges USDA and Congress to extend child food services
Pennsylvania’s First Lady Frances Wolf joined 17 other first spouses and partners to urge federal leaders to continue child nutrition programs for the rest of the school school year. In letters to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and to congressional leadership sent Friday, Wolf and her counterparts asked the entities...
Pennsylvania sees 2-day increase of 967 in coronavirus cases
In the past two days, there were 967 new coronavirus cases added in the state, the Pennsylvania Department of Health reported Monday. On Sunday, the state added 733 new cases, while on Monday it added 234. All but 21 of those cases are confirmed. From Sept. 14-20, the state reported...
More Biden, Trump visits this week in fight for Pennsylvania
President Donald Trump will make his fourth and fifth appearances in September in Pennsylvania, flying into and out of rallies at two different airports this week. Tuesday’s event is at Pittsburgh International Airport and Saturday’s event is at Harrisburg International Airport. Trump’s visits underscores the importance of Pennsylvania to the...
Small plane crash lands on street in Pennsylvania, 2 injured
MOOSIC — A small plane traveling from Vermont crash landed on a residential street in Pennsylvania, injuring the pilot and a passenger. The single-engine aircraft was trying to land at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Sunday night when the pilot apparently had engine trouble and brought the plane down on Stone...
Pennsylvania reports 1,162 new coronavirus cases, 22 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 1,162 new coronavirus cases — a whopping 402-case jump from yesterday’s 760. The state Department of Health reported 22 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus after posting 21 on Friday. Wednesday’s total of 28 deaths was the highest of the week. Of the 22 deaths reported...
Pennsylvania’s cut of $300-a-week jobless aid half gone, apply now before it’s too late, state says
A week after the Trump administration abruptly announced that hundreds of thousands of covid-19-related jobless Pennsylvanians would receive an extra $300 weekly for six weeks only rather than through the end of the year, as initially promised, the state said it already distributed almost half of its allocation. Pennsylvania sent...
Gov. Wolf’s on-site alcohol sales order extended an hour to 11 p.m.
Alcohol sales at bars and restaurants won’t have to end until 11 p.m. starting Monday, according to orders for on-site alcohol consumption from Gov. Wolf and state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. Wolf had earlier said that alcohol sales would be required to end at 10 p.m. Alcoholic beverages must...
Wolf administration asks schools to voluntarily enforce gathering limits
The updated guidance for high school sports and spectators promised by Gov. Tom Wolf was a no-show Friday. Instead, the state Department of Education released an afternoon statement encouraging schools “to voluntarily enforce the 25-person indoor and 250-person outdoor gathering limitations while all of us wait for the court to...
Justices stop Philadelphia from broadcasting trials on YouTube
Pennsylvania’s highest court has put a stop to a local policy that allowed streaming of Philadelphia criminal trials over the internet. The state Supreme Court in an order dated Thursday halted the pandemic-prompted policy. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner asked the justices earlier this week to put an end to...
Philadelphia puts ban on police chokeholds into law
The Philadelphia City Council formally banned police from using certain modes of restraint on crime suspects Thursday, including kneeling on a suspect’s neck, and voted to open contract negotiations with the police union to the public. The contract bill passed by the council requires a public hearing to be held...
Pennsylvania sees big drop in jobless rate in August
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate took a steep drop in August as the labor force shrank and payrolls shot up again in a continuing rebound from shutdowns and the worst economic effects of the pandemic, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 10.3% in August, down 2.2 percentage points...
Wilkes-Barre hospital accused of altering records wants case sealed
A Pennsylvania hospital wants a judge to seal all records and issue a gag order in a long-running wrongful death suit that alleges hospital officials altered the medical records of a 44-year-old man who died after going to the emergency room with chest pain and breathing difficulties. In an unusual...
