Pennsylvania category, Page 194
Feds close Title IX investigation at Penn State, nearly a decade after Jerry Sandusky scandal
Nearly a decade after state prosecutors charged former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky with multiple counts of child sexual abuse in and around campus facilities, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has closed its Title IX investigation. That portion of the Civil Rights Act prohibits...
Gov. Wolf pledges $50M toward supplies for virus-battered Pa. hospitals
Gov. Tom Wolf said he will spend up to $50 million to get equipment into the hands of medical workers to help fight the continued spread of the coronavirus. “We’re not fighting a battle here, we’re fighting a war,” Wolf said Thursday. “We need to do everything we can to...
Pennsylvania reports 560 new coronavirus cases as state total tops 1,600
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania jumped by more than 500 from Wednesday to Thursday, according to state health officials, and five more people have died. The state Department of Health tallied 560 new cases, bringing the statewide total to 1,687. That’s a 50% increase in 24 hours. That total includes 45...
Pa. grocery store dumps $35,000 worth of food after woman coughs on it
A grocery store in Hanover Township in Luzerne County said it dumped $35,000 worth of produce, meat, bread and other groceries after a woman coughed on the products. Gerrity’s Supermarket posted on Facebook Wednesday that the woman, “who the police know to be a chronic problem in the community, came...
Gov. Wolf extending stay-at-home order to 2 more counties
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration reported more coronavirus-related deaths in Pennsylvania on Wednesday and ordered residents of Lehigh and Northampton counties to stay home, with few exceptions, as more of the state is put under the directive in an effort to slow the virus’ spread. Wolf’s office said the order will...
Pennsylvania lawmakers vote to delay primary until June 2 over coronavirus
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers voted Wednesday to delay the state’s primary election by five weeks to June 2, potentially past the spike of the state’s spreading coronavirus cases. The measure passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled state Legislature on Wednesday and Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said he will sign...
Pa. buying ventilators, N95 masks as hospitalizations due to coronavirus grow
Of the more than 1,000 coronavirus patients across Pennsylvania, 38 have been admitted to an intensive care unit, state health officials said Wednesday. Hospitals statewide have a collective 3,400 ICU beds, according to Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, and about 40% of them are available. Covid-19 cases reached 1,127...
Pa. coronavirus cases top 1,000; 4 more deaths reported
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania crested 1,000 Wednesday, health officials said, and four more patients have died. From Tuesday to Wednesday, 276 new cases were identified, according to Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. The cases now total 1,127. She noted 11 deaths in the state, up from seven reported deaths...
Pennsylvania saw 400K jobless claims, labor leader saysVideo
HARRISBURG — More than 400,000 Pennsylvanians filed for unemployment compensation benefits last week amid a tidal wave of coronavirus-related business shutdowns, eclipsing the high-point during the recession a decade ago, the state’s top organized labor leader said Wednesday. Rick Bloomingdale, president of the Pennsylvania chapter of the AFL-CIO, said Gov....
Pennsylvania House votes to delay primary election for 5 weeks
The House voted preliminarily on Tuesday to delay Pennsylvania’s primary election on April 28 for five weeks, until June 2. The House is expected to send the bill to the Senate with another vote on Wednesday. The Republican-sponsored amendment would also let counties consolidate polling places, in part because some...
Erie Mayor Joe Schember declares state of emergency over covid-19
Erie Mayor Joe Schember on Tuesday issued a state of emergency declaration for the city, effective immediately, because of the covid-19 pandemic. Schember said the declaration is necessary to protect city residents. He also said that by officially declaring a state of emergency “it helps ensure that we can be...
Penn State confirms case of covid-19
Penn State reported its first case of covid-19 on its University Park campus on Tuesday. An alert was sent to students and the rest of the university community. No information about the individual was immediately available. “It is up to public health authorities to determine what information is shared publicly...
Fake meme claims hunting and fishing seasons are canceled in Pennsylvania
A meme circulating on social media channels falsely claims that the Pennsylvania Game Commission has canceled all hunting and fishing seasons for 2020. But as the commission noted on its official page, it “has not suspended, altered or changed any hunting regulations, seasons or bag limits in response to the...
Pennsylvania reports 207 new coronavirus cases, bringing total to 851
Pennsylvania recorded more than 200 new cases of the coronavirus in one day, state health officials said Tuesday. The 207 new cases brought the statewide total to 851, including 58 cases in Allegheny County. Deaths in the state are now at seven — a second person in Allegheny County died...
Corrections officers push Pennsylvania to stop inmate transfers
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state corrections officers’ union wants the state prison system to stop all transfers of inmates as a preventative measure against potential spread of the new coronavirus from one institution to another. Meanwhile, more businesses are challenging Gov. Tom Wolf’s order closing the physical locations of businesses determined...
PennDOT reopens 23 rest stops on Pennsylvania interstates
PennDOT has reopened 23 of the state’s 30 rest areas, which had been closed to slow the spread of coronavirus. The department partially reopened 13 facilities last week but kept indoor restrooms closed while providing portable restrooms and handwashing facilities. Those 13 are among the 23 rest areas returned to...
Confusion and objections still rampant over Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown order
Confusion is the order of the day in businesses across the Pennsylvania seeking clarity on Gov. Tom Wolf’s sweeping order closing non-life-sustaining businesses. Even as State Police prepared to begin enforcing the governor’s order Monday at 8 a.m., many insisted it was ill-constructed and could have unintended consequences. Greensburg lawyer...
Pennsylvania income tax deadline moved to mid-July, following IRS lead
Pennsylvania residents will have longer to file their 2019 state income tax returns, matching the new July 15 filing deadline for federal returns. The later deadlines, moved from April 15, are meant to help people cope with the upheavals triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. “This is a necessary step that...
Gov. Wolf issues stay-at-home order for Allegheny, 6 other counties; school closures extended
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday ordered residents in Allegheny and six other Pennsylvania counties to stay at home unless “someone’s life depends on your leaving.” The order, which also affects Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Monroe, Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, is an effort to staunch the spread of the coronavirus in the...
6 deaths reported in Pa. from coronavirus pandemic; state cases jump to 644
Deaths from the coronavirus in Pennsylvania jumped to six statewide, health officials said Monday, the same day the state saw its highest one-day increase in positive cases. In addition to one death in Allegheny County, a second person has died in Northampton County. Monroe, Montgomery and Lackawanna counties have each...
Pa. Supreme Court dismisses challenge to Wolf shutdown orderVideo
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by a gun shop that challenged Gov. Tom Wolf’s authority to shutter businesses determined to be “non-life-sustaining,” paving the way for enforcement to begin Monday. Without comment, a majority of the state’s high court late Sunday denied the petition by...
Pa. toilet paper factory gets Gov. Wolf’s OK to stay open
You can wipe another factory off the list of Pennsylvania businesses forced to close amid the coronavirus outbreak. And we can all be thankful for it. According to a report in USA Today, Gov. Tom Wolf has granted an exemption for Procter & Gamble’s largest factory, in Wyoming County, to...
Gov. Wolf doesn’t rule out stay-at-home order; reaffirms plan to enforce business closure order
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf stopped short of issuing a statewide stay-at-home order Sunday evening, but he also left it on the table. “That’s something that has to be under consideration,” he said during a livestreamed news conference. “We can’t overload our health care system. We need to buy time.” Earlier...
Pennsylvania eyes later primary as coronavirus outbreak continues
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is confirming another big increase in coronavirus cases Sunday as lawmakers are drafting legislation to delay the state’s April 28 primary election and relax rules around how mail-in ballots can be processed in advance of polls closing. Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Chairman Garth Everett, R-Lycoming, said...
Pa. reports another 108 confirmed cases of coronavirus; state total now 479
Another 108 new confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Pennsylvania, the state Department of Health announced Sunday. In all, 479 cases have been confirmed in the state, with 5,443 people having been tested. That means 4,964 people have tested negative. Two people have died as a result of...
