Pennsylvania category, Page 178
Iconic Philly cheesesteak shop founder, son face tax charges
PHILADELPHIA — The founder of an iconic Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant and one of his sons have been indicted on federal tax evasion and fraud charges for allegedly hiding nearly $8 million in sales over the course of a decade. A spokesperson for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s office...
Pennsylvania schools setting in-person teaching rules as pandemic spreads
HARRISBURG — The many Pennsylvania school districts that have not settled on how and when they will restart instruction this fall will be making decisions in the coming weeks, and the pandemic plans that have been produced so far are all over the map. That’s by design, the state education...
Pennsylvania reports highest new covid-19 case count in over 2 months
The Pennsylvania Department of Health posted its highest number of new cases of covid-19 in two and a half months on Friday. The day’s report of 1,213 new cases was the highest new daily total since May 10, when 1,295 new cases were counted. The state has amassed a total...
Let’s go Bucks: Gov. Wolf’s tweet to Pirates wished good luck with gaffe
Gov. Tom Wolf wished the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies good luck for the MLB season. Or at least tried to. Wolf tweeted the message Thursday afternoon, but included the wrong spelling of the Pirates’ nickname, writing “Bucks” instead of Bucs. @GovernorTomWolf That’s a swing and a miss, sir! But...
Pennsylvania’s rate of covid-19 testing among lowest in country, data show
The percentage of Pennsylvanians being tested for covid-19 is among the lowest rates in the country, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The Commonwealth came in 47th out of the nation’s 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico with 8,244 tests performed per 100,000 people, the...
Gov. Wolf on open records bill he intends to veto: ‘I would have voted for it too’
Gov. Tom Wolf this week said that he would have backed legislation that aims to require his administration to process Right-to-Know Law requests during emergency declarations if he were a lawmaker. Yet the Democrat still plans, later this week, to veto the legislation that lawmakers recently unanimously approved in both...
PennDOT adds 3rd gender identity option for non-binary drivers
Pennsylvanians who identify as non-binary can now make that designation on their driver’s licenses or ID card, and anyone wishing to change that designation can do so without a physician’s or social worker’s signature. Having only male and female as designations “was not meeting the needs of our customers,” PennDOT...
Pa. sees 1st West Nile case of the year in Potter County
Pennsylvania recorded its first probable human case of West Nile Virus this year, according to state health officials. A resident of Potter County was tested for the virus, with samples sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation. The state recorded seven cases of West Nile in...
Pennsylvania school openings hinge on case counts, Health Secretary Rachel Levine warns
HARRISBURG — Every region of Pennsylvania has seen an increase in the rate of positive coronavirus cases and failing to stop that could jeopardize the reopening of schools for the fall semester, the state’s top health official said Thursday. In addition, Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the majority of counties...
Pennsylvania reports 962 new coronavirus cases, 16 additional deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 962 new coronavirus cases statewide and 16 additional deaths. The state’s total now sits at 104,358 cases and 7,079 deaths attributed to covid-19. Pa. coronavirus by dayInfogram The number of tests administered within the last seven days is 147,837, with 5,731 cases...
Gov. Wolf speaks out in support of health secretary after Bloomsburg dunk tank incident
Gov. Tom Wolf came to the defense of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine Wednesday afternoon after her gender identity was again mocked in a public incident. “The covid-19 pandemic has brought hate and transphobia into the spotlight through relentless comments and slurs directed at Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine,...
Protesters in Harrisburg rally against mask mandates, Gov. Wolf’s coronavirus restrictions
HARRISBURG — No more masks. No more restrictions. And, they said, no more tyranny. That was the rally cry of several hundred people who gathered Wednesday on the Capitol steps, calling for Gov. Tom Wolf to lift all coronavirus-related restrictions. Organizers called the “Pennsylvania Assemble for Freedom” event a gathering...
Report: Veterans home failed to protect residents from coronavirus
HARRISBURG — A state-run veterans nursing home in Pennsylvania where 42 residents have died of covid-19 failed to take steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state Health Department inspectors concluded. Health inspectors said in a report that Southeastern Veterans’ Center, a 292-bed facility outside Philadelphia, ignored state and...
Lebanon County sues Gov. Wolf for withholding $13M in virus funding
A Pennsylvania county sued Wednesday to compel Gov. Tom Wolf to release $12.8 million in federal coronavirus relief funding that he withheld after county leaders defied his shutdown orders and sought to reopen on their own. Wolf yanked the funding from Lebanon County, where local Republican leaders voted in mid-May...
Pennsylvania health department looking to hire more contact tracers, nurses
State health officials are looking to hire more contact tracers and nurses to better control the spread of coronavirus and prepare for any potential surges in covid-19 cases. Contact tracing is the process of identifying, notifying and monitoring anyone who came in close contact with an individual who tested positive...
Pennsylvania adds 25 coronavirus deaths, 631 new cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 25 coronavirus deaths and 631 new cases on Wednesday. The 25 deaths raise the state’s total to 7,063 attributed to covid-19, while the 631 cases bring the statewide total to 103,396. Wednesday’s report doesn’t include Philadelphia County, whose data wasn’t received. Allegheny County had...
Pennsylvania hopes to encourage 10,000 landowners to create stream-side buffersVideo
The riparian buffer at the headwaters of Steele’s Run in Murrysville mostly offers aesthetic benefits. But, each year, its physical value will continue to grow as it protects the cold-water fishery stream from erosion, provides shade, cools the stream and offers a habitat for native wildlife. Officials with the state’s...
Pennsylvania announces new grant recipients to fight opioid epidemic
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration announced new grant recipients to fight the opioid addiction epidemic. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced that the latest Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication Assisted Treatment (PacMAT) grant recipients would build medication-assisted treatment programs for uninsured, underinsured or privately insured residents who suffer from addiction. These grants...
Man charged with raping 4 Penn State students over 2010-17
STATE COLLEGE — A 36-year-old man was charged Tuesday with raping four young women in State College over several years, and police said DNA was used to identify him as a suspect. Police said genealogical tools also helped lead them to Jeffrey P. Fields of Port Matilda, who worked in...
Ex-DHS Secretary Tom Ridge: ‘It would be a cold day in hell’ before ‘personal militia’ would be welcomed uninvited in Pa.
Former Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge ripped his former agency’s current actions in Portland, saying it is not the office’s mission to act as domestic law enforcement. Ridge, a two-term Republican governor from Pennsylvania and President George W. Bush’s first head of DHS, said Tuesday the Trump administration’s decision...
Pa. attorney general vows to back schools threatened with loss of funding over distance learning
As schools across the region continue to finalize arrangements for a return to class next month, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has added his voice to the debate. In a letter this week to district superintendents, Shapiro threatened to intervene on behalf of schools should the federal government withhold money...
Bloomsburg Fair denounced for dunk tank mocking Pa. Health Secretary Rachel Levine
A fair in Eastern Pennsylvania was criticized this week for perceived mocking of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine in a dunk tank. At the Columbia-Montour County Fireman’s Relief Carnival, hosted by the Bloomsburg Fair, a man wearing a dress and wig sat on the dunk pedestal, claiming to resemble Levine....
Pa. Turnpike drivers without E-ZPass face 45% higher tolls next year
Turnpike travelers who have not made the switch to E-ZPass will face a hefty increase in the cost of tolls beginning next year. The 45% average increase for drivers who use the toll-by-plate option is necessary to cover the high cost of collecting those tolls, Pennsylvania Turnpike Chief Executive Mark...
Pennsylvania reports 1,027 new covid-19 cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 1,027 new coronavirus cases and 20 new deaths Tuesday. Tuesday’s reported cases represent the second time in the last six days that cases surpassed 1,000 cases, as 1,032 cases were reported Friday. However, cases in the 700 range were reported four times in that...
Former Pa. senator sentenced to prison for child pornography possession
A former state senator from Lebanon County was sentenced to one to two years in prison for possessing child pornography and related offenses, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday. Mike Folmer was charged in September 2019 after an online tip led investigators to discover images of child pornography on...
