Pennsylvania category, Page 177
Philadelphia trash piles up as pandemic stymies its removal
What would Ben Franklin think? The Founding Father who launched one of America’s first street-sweeping programs in Philadelphia in the late 1750s would see and smell piles of fly-infested, rotting household waste, bottles and cans as the city that he called home struggles to overcome a surge in garbage caused...
Gov. Wolf, GOP critic spar over social media post parroting health secretary’s LGBQT comments
A public back-and-forth between Gov. Tom Wolf and one of his vocal House critics played out Thursday over the Lebanon County lawmaker’s parody of the health department secretary. The feud ended in calls from both parties for censures, resignations and dismissals. The incident started Wednesday with a social media post...
Pennsylvania reports 860 new coronavirus cases, 14 deaths
Pennsylvania’s total cases of coronavirus has reached 111,078. The state’s Department of Health on Thursday reported 860 new cases. Officials said the number of tests administered statewide within the past seven days is 163,936, with 6,822 individual positive cases being found. With 14 new deaths, the statewide total is now...
Fast-moving Pa. building fire kills roughly 42,000 chickens
MARTIC — A fast-moving fire roared through a building at a southern Pennsylvania site, killing about 42,000 chickens and causing nearly $2 million dollars in damages, authorities said. No humans injuries were reported in the fire in Martic Township, which was reported around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The building was one...
Pa. House speakers get reprieve from criminal history plaques
HARRISBURG — The portraits of three former Pennsylvania House speakers who went to prison on corruption-related charges have received a reprieve of sorts. In one of his last acts in office, Mike Turzai, who in June resigned from his post as House speaker and his House seat, quietly ordered the...
Western Pa. residents among those receiving ‘mystery seed’ packets
Shawn O’Mahony of Penn Hills ordered a bunch of seeds online to jump-start his 2020 garden. So, when a couple of packets he didn’t recognize showed up in the spring, it didn’t seem like a big deal. “I received two of them a couple months ago,” O’Mahony said. “They were...
Pa. commissions denounce Trump memo excluding those in U.S. illegally from census
Several Pennsylvania commissions are denouncing an executive memorandum signed by President Donald Trump last week that seeks to bar people who are in the United States illegally from filling out the census, the once-a-decade survey that determines federal funding and congressional seats. Trump, who signed the memorandum July 21, said...
Pennsylvania coronavirus case total breaks 110,000
Pennsylvania surpassed 110,000 coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to a report from the state’s Department of Health. A total of 834 new positive results brought the state’s total to 110,218. The state also reported 16 additional deaths to bring the total to 7,162 attributed to covid-19 since the state’s outbreak...
Online courses offer mental health resources for firefighters, EMS personnel
Pennsylvania’s State Fire Commissioner on Wednesday announced online mental health resources for firefighters and emergency services personnel in a move to help dismantle the stigma surrounding seeking mental health services. “More and more of our first responders are affected by the invisible wounds of traumatic experiences they have been through...
Professional strippers stage clothing-optional strike at Pa. parkVideo
Community members are angry after getting an eyeful during a stripper protest at Philadelphia’s Malcolm X Park earlier this week. As 6ABC in Philly reports, the irate community members and the group Stilettos Inc. don’t see eye-to-eye on the worth of the flesh-exposing labor strike, aimed at covid-19 restrictions and...
Dr. Rachel Levine responds to transphobic comments: ‘I do not have time for intolerance’
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine on Tuesday broke her silence about people who have harassed and directed transphobic comments at her in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. At the start of a news briefing, Levine said she felt compelled to “personally respond to the multiple incidents of...
Covid-19 testing of all nursing home residents, staff complete, Pa. health department says
All of Pennsylvania’s 693 nursing homes have completed at least one round of covid-19 testing for all residents and staff, Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine announced Tuesday. This first round of testing will help to prevent further spread of the virus by detecting residents and staff who...
State, Westmoreland see drop in OD deaths; Allegheny sees increase
Pennsylvania saw a slight decrease in drug overdose deaths in 2019 for what could be the second consecutive year the number has dropped. The state health department on Tuesday released preliminary data that shows 4,348 people died in Pennsylvania from a drug overdose last year, a 1.7% decrease from 2018...
Pennsylvania reports 1,120 new covid-19 cases, 24 deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,120 new coronavirus cases and 24 new deaths Tuesday. The number of new reported state covid-19 cases was the second highest this month, with the highest coming July 24 with 1,213 cases. Total coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania now sit at 109,384. The state surpassed...
Penn State Extension plans online series on creating food plots for deer
Hunters who create food plots are not just looking to bring deer to an area with a good food source. They’re also playing a key role in sustainability, helping along the next generation of fawns. Penn State Extension officials will host a four-week webinar series on food plots beginning Wednesday....
Pa. school leaders to state officials: We need specifics, not guidance, for reopening plans
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s existing reopening guidance for schools is too vague, and superintendents and school boards need more specifics from the state Department of Health about how to do it safely, a superintendents group said Monday following a call with Wolf administration officials. The superintendents asked for more concrete recommendations...
Pennsylvania posts 839 new covid-19 cases on Monday
The Pennsylvania Department of Health announced 839 new cases of covid-19 on Monday. For the second straight day, the state reported a new case count below 1,000. There have been a total of 108,264 cases of covid-19 in Pennsylvania since the beginning of the pandemic in March. On Monday, there...
Wolf sides with transparency in allowing Right-to-Know bill to become law
Saying he was “erring on the side of transparency,” Gov. Tom Wolf allowed legislation requiring his administration to process Right-to-Know Law requests during emergency declarations to become law without his signature. Wolf previously said he would veto the legislation. Unanimously approved in both chambers, House Bill 2463 requires all agencies...
DA: Man charged in slayings of wife, mother-in-law
ELKINS PARK — A man has been charged in the shooting deaths of his wife and mother-in-law in a home near Philadelphia in which two small children were also present, authorities said. The Montgomery County district attorney’s office said Sunday police called to a Cheltenham Township home shortly after noon...
Pennsylvania reports 800 new coronavirus cases, 4 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 800 new cases of covid-19 and four new deaths in the state on Sunday. The new data brings the total cases to 107,425 with a death toll of 7,118. Sunday’s report of 800 cases comes after the state had reported back-to-back days (Friday and...
Jewish groups call for ouster of local NAACP head over anti-Semitic Facebook post
PHILADELPHIA — Jewish leaders expressed outrage Friday and Saturday over an anti-Semitic meme posted on the Facebook page of Rodney Muhammad, president of the Philadelphia NAACP. They called for Muhammad’s removal as head of the local civil rights group. “This vile behavior from a civic leader is incredibly dangerous for...
PennDOT extends expiration dates on driver licenses, ID cards, learner permits
PennDOT has again extended the expiration dates on driver licenses, identification cards and learner permits because of covid-19, the agency announced Friday. Driver licenses, photo identification cards and learner permits scheduled to expire from March 16 through Aug. 31 have been extended until Aug. 31. The extensions are in addition...
Pennsylvania reports 1 million negative virus test results, 13 new deaths
A week after reaching the milestone of 1 million tests administered, the state of Pennsylvania has reported 1 million negative tests for the coronavirus. Saturday’s report shows a total of 1,016,705 tests have come back with negative results for the new virus in the Keystone State. The commonwealth also reported...
Nuclear power bailout stalled in Harrisburg as feds allege bribes fueled Ohio aid package
An effort to help Pennsylvania’s nuclear power industry snag an estimated $500 million a year ratepayer bailout should not be hurt by an alleged bribery scandal involving FirstEnergy Corp. in Ohio, a state representative said. Federal prosecutors say the Akron-based company pumped $15 million into a $60 million pot of...
Wolf calls on General Assembly to raise minimum wage in Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday called on lawmakers to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania, which has not been increased in 11 years. The state’s minimum wage was set at $7.25 on July 24, 2009, the last time the federal government raised wages. Prior to that, the minimum wage was...
