Pennsylvania category, Page 183
Pennsylvania reports 504 new covid-19 cases, 20 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported 504 new coronavirus cases and 20 new covid-19 deaths. The new numbers brings the total case count to 81,266 and 6,419 deaths. The state considers 631 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state...
Pa. lawmakers review legislation to allow counting of mail-in ballots before Election Day
Lawmakers in the General Assembly are reviewing potential legislation that would allow election officials to begin counting mail-in ballots before 7 a.m. on Election Day, a provision that advocates say will be crucial in getting timely election results in November. While voting-by-mail election reforms have faced political pushback from Republicans...
Contact tracing IDs more than 4,000 exposed to covid-19 in Pennsylvania
More than 4,000 people who were exposed to covid-19 have been identified through contact tracing efforts throughout the state, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced Friday. “We are now equipped with hundreds of contact tracers that can help us mitigate the spread of this virus,” Secretary of Health Rachel Levine...
NAACP sues Pennsylvania over primary election access issues
Citing long lines at polls on primary day in Eastern Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Conference of the NAACP is suing the state, seeking to ensure additional protections for voter access are in place in time for the November presidential election. The suit, filed Thursday in Commonwealth Court, charges the state’s decision...
Gov. Wolf loosens restrictions in last of Pa.’s counties except Lebanon
Parts of Pennsylvania that were among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic will move next week into the less restrictive “green” zone for reopening businesses and restarting group activities, the Wolf administration announced Friday. The 12 counties going from yellow to green under Gov. Tom Wolf’s color-colored reopening system...
34 million criminal cases now removed from public view under Pa.’s Clean Slate law
More than 34 million criminal cases have been removed from public records under the Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law, state court officials say. The law, the first of its kind in the United States, was implemented last June and provides for the automatic expungement of public records pertaining to low-level crimes...
Momentum builds for making Juneteenth a federal holiday
There is a growing movement afoot to declare June 19, or Juneteenth, a federal holiday. The date marks the day in 1865 when Union Gen. Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, informing former slaves of their freedom provided by the order President Abraham Lincoln issued on Jan....
Pennsylvania reports 526 new covid-19 cases, 38 new deaths
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday reported 526 new coronavirus cases and 38 new covid-19 deaths, bringing the total case count to 80,762 and 6,399 deaths. The state considers 630 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state are in patients...
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health seeks $301M federal covid-19 grant
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health is pursuing a $301 million federal grant to strengthen its ability to respond to the covid-19 pandemic, and will earmark $100 million for local health departments if the grant is awarded. “This funding is essential to our future response to the covid-19 pandemic in Pennsylvania,” Secretary...
Pennsylvania’s jobless rate slides back from pandemic peak
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment began sliding down from its pandemic peak in May, even clocking in at below the national rate as payrolls grew by almost 200,000, the state said Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13.1% in May, down 3 percentage points from April’s adjusted rate, the state Department of...
Philadelphia man charged with blowing up cash machine
PHILADELPHIA — A 24-year-old Philadelphia man has been charged with using explosives to blow up a cash machine as demonstrations rocked the city this month. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it would oppose bail for David Elmakayes at a hearing scheduled for Friday. Elmakayes was charged Thursday with using an...
Pa. Supreme Court: Counties can’t ban probationers from using medical marijuana
Counties may not ban people on probation or parole from using prescription cannabis if they are registered in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court said that people holding a valid medical marijuana card are immune from “arrest, prosecution or...
Pennsylvania reports 42 new covid-19 deaths, 418 new cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday reported 42 new covid-19 deaths and 418 new cases in the state, bringing the total case count to 80,236 and 6,361 deaths. The state considers 630 patients as probable cases but not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in the state are...
FBI used Philadelphia protester’s Etsy profile, LinkedIn, other posts to charge her in arson
PHILADELPHIA — As demonstrators shouted, fires burned outside City Hall and Philadelphia convulsed with outrage over the death of George Floyd, television news helicopters captured footage of a masked woman with a peace sign tattoo and a light blue T-shirt setting a police SUV ablaze. Now, more than two weeks...
Pa. auditor’s race poses historic first for candidates of color
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s two major political parties have nominated candidates of color for state auditor general, a historic step that means that voters will for the first time elect a racial minority to lead a statewide executive branch office. Nina Ahmad, who came to the United States from Bangladesh as...
Pa. Supreme Court to decide lawsuit seeking end to Wolf’s pandemic shutdown
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Wednesday granted the Democratic governor’s request and took over a lawsuit by legislative Republicans that could end his pandemic shutdown order. The Supreme Court announced it will decide the case filed by Senate Republicans, seeking to enforce a resolution that both chambers passed last...
Pennsylvania reports 43 new coronavirus deaths, 335 new cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 43 new covid-19 deaths and 335 new cases in the state Wednesday. That brings the state’s total case count to 79,818, with 6,319 deaths. The state considers 629 patients as probable cases, but they are not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in...
Gas well impact fees drop in 2019; Westmoreland County gets $1.16 million, Allegheny County $1.8 million
Derry Township is sitting on a gold mine of natural gas trapped in the Marcellus shale, which drillers have tapped to the great benefit of the municipality — to the tune of $2.4 million in gas well impact fees since 2012. The township will get almost $232,000 from the 2019...
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe reveals 5 articles of impeachment against Gov. Tom WolfVideo
A state Representative from Butler County and 24 co-sponsors filed articles of impeachment against Gov. Tom Wolf. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Cranberry, introduced House Resolution 915 on Tuesday afternoon, claiming Wolf should be removed from office for his actions during the coronavirus pandemic and referred to the governor as “Dictator Wolf.”...
Erie officer seen kicking seated protester suspended, mayor saysVideo
ERIE — A Pennsylvania police officer seen on video kicking a protester sitting on the street during civil unrest in Erie last month will be suspended without pay for three days and will then be on desk duty until he completes sensitivity training, officials said. The Erie Times-News reports that...
Pennsylvania offers $1,500 to help cover dairy farmers’ losses
Dairy farmers can get at least $1,500 from the state to recover some of their losses if they dumped milk or could not sell products after markets dried up when covid-19 shutdowns closed schools and limited restaurants. Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday announced a $40 million aid package for Pennsylvania...
Penn State ex-president argues conviction properly tossed
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal appeals court grilled lawyers Tuesday about whether Penn State’s former president deserved to have his misdemeanor child endangerment conviction, related to his response to a complaint about Jerry Sandusky, overturned last year. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals focused on whether Graham Spanier was...
Health officials: Some Lyme, covid-19 symptoms are similar
Preliminary data is showing that Pennsylvania is on track for its third year of declining incidents of Lyme disease, but an estimated 8,500 cases in 2019 still puts the state among the top five nationwide. As tick season ramps up to its peak in July, state health officials urge residents...
Pa. reports 33 new coronavirus deaths, 362 new cases
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 33 new covid-19 deaths and 362 new cases in the state Tuesday. That brings the state’s total case count to 79,483, with 6,276 deaths. The state considers 630 patients as probable cases, but they are not confirmed. More than half of coronavirus cases in...
Ohio restaurant names Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf employee of the month for driving business
An Ohio barbecue joint just across the border from Erie named Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf its employee of the month for bringing so much business to the lakefront eatery over the past weeks. The Facebook post from Breakwall BBQ owner Mike Morgan is a wink and a nod to Pennsylvania’s...
