Pennsylvania category, Page 202
Steelers’ mascot Steely McBeam recreated in butter at Pa. Farm ShowVideo
HARRISBURG — The butter sculpture for this year’s Pennsylvania Farm Show was unveiled Thursday, featuring three of the state’s professional sports team mascots. This year’s sculpture, crafted from about 1,000 pounds of donated butter, shows Steely McBeam, Gritty and Swoop — mascots for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Flyers and...
Blackface again mars Philadelphia’s troubled New Year parade
PHILADELPHIA — The mayor of Philadelphia sharply criticized two men who wore blackface while marching in the city’s annual — and often racially troubling — New Year’s Day Mummers Parade, calling their actions “abhorrent and unacceptable.” The group the men apparently were affiliated with, the Froggy Carr Wench Brigade, was...
Pa. Farm Show opens Saturday with some new food offerings
Food is one of the biggest draws to the Pennsylvania Farm Show, and this year is no exception. The Pennsylvania Dairymen’s Association, famous for its milkshakes, is introducing a new sandwich — Grilled Cheese Stix. The offering features mozzarella cheese sandwiched between Martin’s potato bread, served with a side of...
Gov. Wolf outlines effort to bolster Pa. mental health services
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s governor announced a broad effort Thursday to improve mental health services and change public perceptions of mental illness. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf rolled out an initiative that includes more resources and a public outreach campaign, saying the approach was inspired by a similar strategy the state has...
Reminder: Pennsylvania’s ‘Do Not Call’ list is now permanent
Perhaps you were too busy holiday-ing to notice, but as of Dec. 3, your protection from phone spammers got a lot stronger. As of that date, Pennsylvania’s “Do Not Call” list dropped the requirement that customers re-register their number every five years. That means once you are on, you are...
Video: SUV swallowed by sinkhole in Easton streetVideo
2019 may have to go out as the year of the sinkhole — at least in Pennsylvania anyway. On Monday, surveillance from a doorbell camera showed an SUV falling into a sinkhole as it approached a stop sign in the city of Easton. Located in Northampton County, Easton is 55...
Hershey is retiring fleet of KissmobilesVideo
The Hershey Co. will soon retire its vehicles that are shaped like its Hershey’s Kisses. The Hershey Kissmobiles, which are each made up of three massive Kisses candies, have traveled across the country since 1997. The chocolate company has confirmed that the 26-foot-long vehicles won’t return in 2020. The company...
Final Pennsylvania county OKs new paper-trail voting system
A decision this week by Dauphin County to purchase new paper-trail voting systems means all 67 Pennsylvania counties have taken action under a state law that helps fund the upgrades, the Wolf administration said Tuesday. Officials called the vote a milestone toward ensuring the integrity of the state’s future elections....
Board issues letter to Lancaster County judge over his traffic stop behaviorVideo
HARRISBURG — A written reprimand from the entity that investigates claims of judicial misconduct in Pennsylvania was made public Monday, describing a county judge’s behavior, captured on video, challenging a patrolman who stopped his SUV. The Judicial Conduct Board’s ” letter of counsel ” to Lancaster County Common Pleas Judge...
New overtime rule affects 61,000 in Pennsylvania
A new year could mean additional earnings for thousands of Pennsylvanians as a new federal rule guaranteeing overtime pay goes into effect. The rule that takes effect Wednesday guarantees time-and-a-half payments to nearly all hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per week as well as most salaried workers...
Philadelphia names 1st black female police chief
Philadelphia appointed a new police chief to lead the troubled department that has been plagued by sexual harassment lawsuits and racial discrimination — issues she will be suited to tackle with “conviction,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Monday. Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney announced his choice of Portland Chief Danielle Outlaw to...
Philly refinery, a big polluter, shut down 6 months ago. So, do we have cleaner air?
PHILADELPHIA — The vast Philadelphia Energy Solutions refining complex was the single largest stationary source of air pollution in the city before it shut down after a catastrophic June 21 fire. So it would be reasonable to assume the city’s air quality has improved in the six months since the...
Giant Eagle, Dollar General scramble to alert customers under 21 they can’t buy cigarettes, chew, vapes
Western Pennsylvania shoppers soon will spot signs popping up inside Giant Eagle grocery stores and GetGo gas stations alerting everyone to a new federal rule: People under 21 are barred from buying any tobacco products or vapes with liquid nicotine. “As a responsible retailer, Giant Eagle, Inc. takes seriously its...
Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls increasing for 12th straight year
Motorists using the Pennsylvania Turnpike will pay more in tolls starting Jan. 5, marking the 12th straight year the Turnpike Commission has raised prices to help it cover state-mandated payments to PennDOT. The commission said tolls are going up 6% next year, but they’re actually increasing more because the commission...
Man in ‘I Believe’ hat swipes $250, tip jar on Christmas in Philadelphia
Police in Philadelphia are looking for a thief who sported a hat that said “I Believe” as he swiped a tip jar stuffed with $250 on Christmas Day. Yalli Avitan at first thought an employee had moved the jar to empty it during the Christmas dinner rush at her family’s...
GPS tool to help restore dwindling Pa. ruffed grouse populationVideo
As the population of the state bird collapses, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced a new GPS tool to identify prospective locations to restore numbers of ruffed grouse. Population decline has been blamed on West Nile virus killing the birds and the scarcity of young forests, according to the Game Commission....
Berks County crash kills 81-year-old man, his adult daughter
A crash on a highway in Berks County killed an 81-year-old man and his adult daughter. The crash on Route 422 in Heidelberg Township occurred around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, when a car driven by Richard Raihl was trying to turn onto Route 422 West. The vehicle and a pickup truck...
Wawa facing lawsuits over data breach at all of its storesVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The Wawa convenience store chain is facing a wave of lawsuits over a data breach that affected its 850 locations along the East Coast. Wawa Inc. discovered malware on its payment processing servers this month before stopping the breach Dec. 12, the company has said. Officials with the...
Pennsylvania dioceses offer $84M to 564 clergy abuse victims
Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses have paid nearly $84 million to 564 victims of sexual abuse, a tally that’s sure to grow substantially in the new year as compensation fund administrators work through a backlog of claims, according to an Associated Press review. Seven of the state’s eight dioceses launched victim...
Skiing accident at Pennsylvania resort kills Virginia man
MACUNGIE — A skiing accident at an eastern Pennsylvania resort claimed the life of a Virginia man, authorities said. Matthew Rosenstein, 23, of Arlington, Va., died Monday of multiple blunt force injuries, the Lehigh County coroner’s office said Wednesday. The coroner’s office said he struck snowblowing equipment while skiing at...
Man killed, woman wounded after car ambushed in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — A man was killed and a woman wounded when almost two dozen shots were fired at a car in southwest Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, police said. Chief Inspector Scott Small told The Philadelphia Inquirer that two gunmen ambushed the car just after 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Elmwood...
PennDOT: 6.6 million expected to travel Pa. Turnpike this holiday season
If you’re traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike, while reading this on Christmas Eve — hopefully while sitting in the passenger’s seat — you’re among millions of motorists doing so this holiday season. PennDOT officials estimated about 6.6 million drivers will travel the turnpike through the first day of 2020. “We have...
Pa. official confirms that, despite that red nose, Santa’s reindeer are ready to fly
Santa’s reindeer have been cleared for entry into Pennsylvania for temporary toy delivery duty, according to Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. The nine reindeer were recently given a clean bill of health by Dr. Robert Gerlach, Alaska’s state veterinarian, and inspected by Pennsylvania state officials during a quick stop at Hersheypark...
Gov. Tom Wolf, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman mark Festivus by reading mean tweetsVideo
In the spirit of Festivus, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman read some mean tweets by the citizens of the state. Think of it as a sort of airing of grievances. Wolf and Fetterman seem to enjoy reading the tweets in the video posted Monday on social...
York County man accused of killing parents says he was off medicationVideo
YORK — A Pennsylvania man accused of killing his father and stepmother with a sword last week has told investigators he was off his schizophrenia medication at the time, authorities said. Levar Fountain, 38, is charged with criminal homicide in the slayings of John Fountain, 74, and Mary Fountain, 65,...
