Pennsylvania category, Page 172
Pennsylvania adds 570 coronavirus cases to its total
The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 570 positive covid-19 cases and 24 deaths on Wednesday. The new cases bring the state’s total to 126,149. The health department added 24 deaths to its totals, with 21 from August, two from July and one from April. The state’s death total now sits...
AG Shapiro, Sen. Casey won’t back down on Postmaster General, even as changes scrappedVideo
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s announcement that he is suspending changes to the postal system until after the November election was met with skepticism by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. The announcement Tuesday afternoon came as Shapiro and Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson were announcing a pair of multi-state federal...
Pa. parole violators may be considered for ‘safe return’ through Sept. 4
Pennsylvania parole absconders will be given an 11-day window to voluntarily turn themselves beginning next week to receive a better chance of staying out of prison. The state Department of Corrections and the Parole Board on Tuesday announced a statewide Safe Return Initiative. The program will be offered Aug. 24...
Pennsylvania adds 735 new coronavirus cases, 31 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health added 735 coronavirus cases and 31 deaths on Tuesday. The counts come a day after the state reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than a month and no deaths Monday. Those figures were slightly skewed because data from Philadelphia County —...
Pennsylvania increases contact tracing staff
Pennsylvania has increased its contact tracing staff to 1,205 people, the Department of Health announced Monday. Of that number, 955 are already working, while an additional 250 are being hired and trained through a partnership with the private firm Insight Global, according to a news release. “Pennsylvania has prioritized and...
Sen. Bob Casey: Problems at USPS a ‘5-alarm fire’ for democracyVideo
SCRANTON — Senator Bob Casey appeared at a United States Postal Service facility in Scranton today — a facility which has had three of its large-scale sorting machines removed in recent months — and called changes at the post office a threat to our very democracy. Case, D-Scranton, was scheduled...
Pa. to spend $10M on surplus produce, milk, more from farmers for struggling familiesVideo
The demand to get nutritious food to struggling families may have slowed slightly since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, but not much: At its Aug. 10 distribution day, Westmoreland County Food Bank officials estimate they served about 1,000 families. To continue that effort — and to lend a hand...
Pennsylvania adds 2nd lowest new covid case count in 2 months
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in more than a month on Monday. The department added 384 new cases, the lowest since it posted 328 on July 13. It’s also only the second time since June 17 — exactly two months ago —...
Pennsylvania prepares to launch virus-tracing app next month
Pennsylvania plans to launch a coronavirus exposure-notification app in early September in an effort to more quickly break chains of transmission by using the new technology to notify people who may have been exposed, officials said Monday. The state has a $1.9 million contract to deploy and maintain the app...
Hersheypark denies boy, 9, had ‘near death’ experience on the Storm Runner rollercoaster
A father who claims his 9-year-old son faced a near death experience on the Storm Runner rollercoaster has no legal grounds to sue Hersheypark, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts is contending in a bid to have the case dismissed. The son of Anthony DeNoto III wasn’t physically injured when he leaped...
Pennsylvania reports 660 new coronavirus cases, 3 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Sunday reported 660 new coronavirus cases and three additional deaths. The new data brings the total cases to 124,460. Officials said of those, 3,474 are considered probable cases. The seven-day average of cases is 801. The total number of covid-19 deaths in Pennsylvania now stands at 7,468. The...
Trump to campaign in Old Forge this week
President Trump will make a campaign appearance in Old Forge on Thursday, his reelection campaign announced Saturday. Trump will visit Mariotti Building Products at 3 p.m. Thursday, according to a campaign announcement. The president will speak about the record of his challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, the announcement said....
Philly Naked Bike Ride called off because of the coronavirus
PHILADELPHIA — The coronavirus pandemic has slammed the brakes on this year’s Philly Naked Bike Ride. The annual event, which usually draws thousands of nude cyclists for a trip around Philadelphia and its tourist sites, had been set for this month. But organizers who had been gearing up for it...
Pennsylvania reports 850 new coronavirus cases, 20 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 850 new coronavirus cases, as the case count inches slowly upward from the weekly average of 813. The state Department of Health reported 20 new deaths attributed to coronavirus after posting 36 on Friday — which was the highest total of the week. Of the newly...
Sens. Casey, Toomey demand U.S. Health Secretary Azar take action to protect nursing homes
Sens. Bob Casey and Pat Toomey are giving U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar until the end of the month to respond to their calls for urgent federal actions to protect residents of nursing homes during the pandemic. The bipartisan pair of Pennsylvania lawmakers requested that the Trump administration’s top public...
Pennsylvania prisons to upgrade video visitation for inmates
For many prison inmates, maintaining contact with the outside world is a challenge. The covid-19 crisis has made in-person visits impossible. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has facilitated video visits through the ZOOM internet platform since March, coinciding with the start of the pandemic in the U.S. But these visits...
States can’t afford Trump’s jobless aid plan, Gov. Wolf says
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania does not have the money to provide $100 a week as President Donald Trump pushes states to help pay for a new round of federal unemployment assistance, Gov. Tom Wolf told the state’s members of Congress. In a Thursday letter, Wolf, a Democrat, urged Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation...
Pennsylvania reports 829 new coronavirus cases, 36 new deaths
Pennsylvania on Friday reported 829 new coronavirus cases, just slightly above the seven-day average of 810. The Department of Health reported 36 new deaths attributed to coronavirus. That’s the most in more than a week. One of those deaths was from June and one from July. The rest were in...
Tim Benz: Gov. Wolf’s latest high school sports quotes are even more absurd and dismissive than last week’s
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf made an out-of-nowhere recommendation that scholastic sports be postponed until at least Jan. 1. The PIAA didn’t know that statement was coming. Wolf provided no context for how his office came to that decision. And he put forth no explanation for the logic behind the...
Pennsylvania posts near-1,000 covid-19 case increase, largest thus far in August
Pennsylvania reported 991 new covid-19 cases Thursday, according to the state Department of Health. The new coronavirus cases mark the largest increase thus far in August and bring the case total to 122,121 in the state. In addition, 24 deaths were reported, bringing Pennsylvania’s death toll to 7,409. Of the...
Pennsylvania reports 849 new coronavirus cases, 33 deaths
Pennsylvania remained in triple digits for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday — as it has so far in all of August. The state’s Department of Health added 849 new positive covid-19 results, bringing the state’s total to 121,130 since the outbreak began in March. For the month, daily new cases...
Sesame Place theme park worker assaulted in mask disputeVideo
LANGHORNE — A teenage employee at a children’s theme park near Philadelphia was assaulted as a result of reminding a couple about the requirement to wear a mask over the weekend, authorities said. A man and woman assaulted the 17-year-old employee of Sesame Place shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, police...
Pennsylvania mayors appeal to Congress for federal aid
HARRISBURG — Mayors in Pennsylvania are challenging the state’s members of Congress to help them get direct budget aid from the federal government, warning that cities of all sizes face steep deficits and deep service cuts as a result of the coronavirus’ impact on the economy. With Washington in a...
Pennsylvania surpasses 120K cases of covid-19
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced 828 new covid-19 cases on Tuesday, making a solid two weeks in which daily cases were below the 1,000 mark. With its latest tally of cases, Pennsylvania’s total of covid-19 cases stands at 120,281. For the second time in the past week, the state...
Lawsuit seeks to ensure all mail-in ballots are counted
A federal lawsuit aims to ensure that legitimate ballots don’t get tossed out because of bad penmanship as record-high numbers of Pennsylvanians opt to vote by mail in the November presidential election. The suit seeks to force election officials in Allegheny County and statewide to implement changes that give voters...
