Pennsylvania category, Page 186
Pennsylvania reports 124 more coronavirus deaths as total case count tops 60,000
State health officials reported more than 100 more coronavirus deaths on Friday as the case total pushed past 60,000. Of the 124 deaths added to the total, 89 came from the Department of Health’s continued work to catch up with reporting by individual counties. The other 35 were reported to...
Leaders warn that coronavirus in care facilities presents wide-reaching public health concern
As coronavirus cases in nursing and personal care homes continue to rise, a growing chorus is calling for those numbers to be recorded separately from the overall number of cases and deaths. Those cries are getting particularly loud in Pennsylvania, where one of the metrics for easing pandemic-related restrictions focuses...
Pennsylvania coronavirus death toll tops 4,000
The coronavirus death toll in Pennsylvania surpassed 4,000 on Thursday, a day before more than a dozen new counties were set to ease restrictions and resume some semblance of everyday life. State health officials reported 275 more covid-19 deaths and 938 newly identified cases of the virus. The Department of...
Pennsylvania audit to determine whether lobbyists, legislators influenced business waivers
There have been numerous cases in which the state granted waivers allowing some businesses to operate during the state’s coronavirus shutdown while other, similar businesses were denied, according to state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. That’s not an inherent sign of improper behavior by the state Department of Community and Economic...
Pandemic put $1 billion hole in Pennsylvania’s transportation budget
PennDOT is delaying new construction and downgrading resurfacing to patching and sealing as state highway workers return to work after a seven-week coronavirus pandemic shutdown. Acting Secretary of Transportation Yassmin Gramian said the shutdown that halted driver’s license renewals and triggered a dramatic reduction in travel and a corresponding loss...
‘A pressure cooker’: Gov. Wolf aims to contain GOP revolt in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — By many accounts, Gov. Tom Wolf has helped mitigate Pennsylvania’s coronavirus outbreak and avoided the full-blown disasters seen elsewhere. His success in the next challenge — containing the growing resistance to his efforts — is to be determined. The Democrat at the helm in one of the premier...
Online group plans Harrisburg protest over continued covid closures
A private Facebook group that has gained more than 90,000 members in the past month is planning a protest Friday in Harrisburg against Pennsylvania’s quarantine measures to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. ReOpen PA, described as a non-partisan group “for residents of Pennsylvania to organize and work towards...
Judge sets deadline for abuse claims vs. Harrisburg diocese
HARRISBURG — A federal judge is giving most claimants until Nov. 13 to seek compensation over child sexual abuse from the Harrisburg Roman Catholic Diocese, which sought bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The order signed last week by Chief Bankruptcy Judge Henry Van Eck also gave governmental entities until Dec....
Penn State Extension extends discounts for online courses due to high demand
When Penn State Extension officials made online courses free during April, public interest was overwhelming. “We would’ve filled Beaver Stadium with students,” said Extension Director Brent Hales. “We had over 109,000 people sign up.” There was so much demand — it initially crashed extension servers, Hales said — that officials...
E. coli contamination prompts health alert for frozen beef ravioli made in Pennsylvania
Federal food safety authorities are concerned that some people could have beef ravioli in their freezers that is contaminated with E. Coli. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert because about 70 pounds of raw beef ravioli produced by P&S Ravioli Co....
Pennsylvania receives $523.8M to support schools during pandemic
Pennsylvania will receive $523.8 million in federal funding to help schools respond to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday. The money from the U.S. Department of Education is available through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The Pennsylvania Department of Education applied for a grant last...
State police say they will continue to enforce closures through education
With multiple counties, including Beaver, vowing to rebel against Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order — some with the backing of local district attorneys — state police maintained Wednesday that “a county doesn’t have the authority to supersede a governor’s order.” However, state police Lt. Col. Scott Price, deputy commissioner, said...
Pennsylvania reports 137 more coronavirus deaths, 707 new cases
Another 137 Pennsylvanians have died from the coronavirus, state health officials said Wednesday, as the statewide death toll nears 4,000. Officials recorded 707 new cases of the virus between 12 a.m. Tuesday and 12 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the total to 58,698 cases since the first covid-19 cases in the state...
Pleasant Unity man charged with threatening Gov. Wolf over business closures
A Pleasant Unity man has been arrested and charged with threatening Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, officials in York County announced Tuesday. Rocco Anthony Naples, 28, faces a third-degree felony charge of threats and other improper influence in official and political matters and related misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and harassment,...
Pa. man accused of repeatedly punching female store clerk for telling him to wear face mask
A female convenience store clerk who reminded a customer about wearing a face mask ended up beaten and bloody after the customer attacked her while rambling about “martial law,” police say. As MontgomeryNew.com reports, it happened in Perkasie Borough, Bucks County, at the Olde Towne Convenience Store late last week....
Trump to make 2nd visit of year to Pennsylvania
President Donald Trump will visit the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Thursday to tour a distribution center of medical and surgical products for healthcare facilities, including personal protective equipment in the fight against the coronavirus. Trump’s visit is to a warehouse of Virginia-based Owens and Minor in suburban Allentown. The...
Long-term care residents, employees to be tested weekly for covid-19, Gov. Wolf says
All nursing home patients and employees will be tested for the coronavirus, Pennsylvania officials said Tuesday, and the facilities will be required to publicly report the number of covid-19 deaths, cases and tests. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said how often the nursing homes test their patients and employees...
Pennsylvania reports 75 more deaths, 837 new coronavirus cases
State health officials reported more than 800 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday along with dozens more deaths as the statewide death toll surpassed 3,800. The 837 covid-19 cases reported between 12 a.m. Monday and 12 a.m. Tuesday brought the state’s running case count to 57,991. Statewide, there were 75 more...
PennDOT to renew driver’s licenses with old photos during pandemic
A lot of people don’t like their driver’s license photo and, for the time being, Pennsylvanians won’t have to worry about taking one. PennDOT announced Tuesday it will use existing photos on file for customers who renew their driver’s license and identification card. The move is designed to lower the...
Pennsylvania lawmakers’ spending on their own operations
HARRISBURG — The Associated Press combed through more than 6,000 pages of line items to get a clearer picture of how the Pennsylvania General Assembly spent taxpayer money on its own operations during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Highlights of the findings: • Total spending: The 253-member Legislature...
From frames to furniture to food, here’s how Pa. lawmakers spent millions of taxpayer dollars
HARRISBURG — It takes hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars a year for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to maintain one of the country’s largest legislative staffs, a small army that needs food, shelter, transportation, office supplies and modern electronics. An Associated Press review of invoices and more than 6,000 pages...
State says workers don’t have to report if business reopens illegally
Pennsylvania workers who refuse to report to any business that opens in violation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders will not lose their unemployment benefits, a state official said Monday. “If a business opens in defiance of the governor’s orders … those employees may stay home and not lose their benefits,”...
Pennsylvania schools planning to reopen in fall, says education secretary
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is planning to allow schools to return to the classroom in the fall but continues to prepare for a worst-case scenario. “It is fully our intent that we’re going to be at a place where we are going to reopen schools for the next academic...
Execution notice signed for convicted cop killer Eric Frein
Convicted cop killer Eric Frein has been scheduled for execution, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections announced Monday. According to a release from the department, Secretary John Wetzel signed a Notice of Execution setting June 22, 2020 as the date of execution for Frein. A Notice of Execution was signed for...
Pennsylvania customs officials seize unapproved medication shipped from Hong Kong
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials seized a shipment of 1,200 capsules of an unapproved medicine shipped from Hong Kong to Pennsylvania. Working out of the Port of Harrisburg, agents seized the Lingua Qingwen capsules en route to an address in Union County, in the central part of the state....
