Pennsylvania category, Page 203
Report looks at impact of coal mining on ‘neighbors on the surface’
Pennsylvania’s coal mining industry has more active mines than five years ago but is causing less damage to water supplies and surface structures a new report on the industry shows. The report, which covers the years 2013 to 2018, is required by the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act...
State College man charged in alleged murder plot targeting ex-prosecutor
STATE COLLEGE — A man has been charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot against a former Pennsylvania prosecutor that involved two current or former prison inmates authorities said. Dana Elroy Smith, 56, of State College, faces charges in Luzerne County of criminal solicitation of criminal homicide and criminal conspiracy, state...
Parents of premature baby killed in Warren County crash
A GoFundMe campaign has raised almost $14,000 to help the four children of a couple killed in a car crash in Warren County. Stephen Charles Rothrauff, 39, and his fiancee, Jessica Lee Camp, 32, of Mead Township, had four children, including a premature baby born just five days before they...
2 reported trapped in Philadelphia row house collapse, fireVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Two people were reported to be trapped inside a Philadelphia row home that collapsed and caught fire Thursday, authorities said. More than 100 firefighters battled flames that shot out the top of the collapsed home and spread to three or four adjacent homes in south Philadelphia. News video...
2 killed, dozens hurt in I-80 pileup during Eastern Pa. snow squall
NEW COLUMBIA — A section of Interstate 80 remained closed Thursday in central Pennsylvania hours after a multi-vehicle wreck in snow squalls left two people dead and dozens injured. Westbound traffic was being diverted Thursday while tow trucks worked to remove 15 to 20 cars and trucks. The crash was...
Proposed methane emissions rule passes Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board
A proposed rule aimed at reducing methane emissions from the state’s existing oil and gas operations overwhelmingly passed the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board this week by a vote of 18-1. The rule, drafted by the state Department of Environmental Protection and recommended by Gov. Tom Wolf, immediately drew praise from...
Game commission: Reducing deer population not likely to stem spread of Lyme disease
For Ryan Johnson, Pennsylvania’s white-tailed deer are more than just a potentially dangerous nuisance. “Deer in Pennsylvania are playing a huge part in ruining lives and costing people major money through accidents and disease,” said Johnson, of Norvelt. “Lyme disease is a big deal and doesn’t get the attention it...
Firms to pay $386 million to settle price-fixing allegations
Thirteen large financial firms are agreeing to pay $337 million to settle claims by Pennsylvania’s treasury department and about a dozen other government agencies and pension funds accusing them of inflating the price of bonds issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to proposed agreements filed in federal court....
2 Penn State fraternities may keep State College houses, Pa. court rules
State College cannot shutter two fraternity houses, even though Penn State revoked its recognition of the frats, a state appeals court ruled Thursday. Sigma Alpha Mu, 329 E. Prospect Ave., was suspended in April 2017 for violating nearly all of the university’s tighter alcohol rules that were imposed after the...
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro classifies ‘ghost guns’ as a firearm
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Monday announced he has closed a loophole in the state’s gun laws by classifying self-assembled gun kits — sometimes called “ghost guns” — as a firearm, making it illegal for felons and others not permitted to have a gun to possess. Shapiro said his...
Policymakers order review of Pennsylvania juvenile justice system
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania policymakers announced a task force Monday that will take a broad look at the state’s juvenile justice system in hopes of improving the results it produces. Legislative leaders and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf announced formation of the group at a Capitol news conference, giving it nearly a...
La Salle University women’s soccer team on probation after hazing probe
PHILADELPHIA — La Salle University has placed its women’s soccer team on disciplinary probation through the end of next year — including restrictions on competition for the spring season — following an investigation that revealed what it called “nonviolent power-differential hazing.” The Philadelphia university said no action was taken against...
Online child pornography accounts for more than 3 out of 4 Pa. cyber crime convictions
Computer hacking and election tampering dominate the conversation about cyber crimes, but a new study by the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts found an even more insidious offense tops the list of criminal convictions for cyber crime: child pornography. Online child pornography accounted for more than three out of...
Police: Philadelphia father arrested after son fatally shoots twin
Philadelphia authorities arrested the father of a 18-year-old man who had been charged with fatally shooting his twin brother with a handgun that allegedly belonged to their father. Officer Miguel Torres confirmed the Thursday arrest of Aleem Gillard, 42, after the charges of murder and related offenses were dropped against...
Conor Lamb supports impeachment: ‘What the president did was wrong’
U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb said Thursday he plans to vote in favor of both impeachment articles Democrats plan to lodge against President Donald Trump. The Mt. Lebanon Democrat — a rising-star politician serving his first full year in Congress — said the last few weeks of evidence and testimony in...
Game Commission investigating shooting of 3 elk in Benezette
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is investigating the shooting of three elk along a highway with a small caliber firearm in Elk County’s Benezette Township. A cow and two bulls were found Thursday along Quehanna Highway. Anyone with information related to the incident should contact the Game Commission’s Northcentral Region Office...
Pa. auditor general urges shutdown of immigrant detention center
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s independently elected fiscal watchdog said Wednesday that his staff was repeatedly refused a tour of a Berks County facility that is one of three family detention centers in the United States that hold children and parents who are seeking asylum or entered the country illegally. Auditor General...
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey will vote against Trump’s new trade deal; here’s why
President Trump and House Democrats managed to bridge their differences on a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada, but Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said he’ll vote against the deal. Even though many Republicans have embraced the deal, Toomey, R-Pa., said the new agreement is going to hurt free...
Elizabeth Warren gets campaign effort going in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is moving to become the first in the Democratic presidential primary to hire field staff and open field offices in Pennsylvania, early moves in a late primary state that could become an important prize if the nominee remains in doubt past March. Warren’s campaign said...
Police kill barricaded gunman who shot Pennsylvania trooper
ELKLAND — A gunman who barricaded himself inside his house after shooting a Pennsylvania State Police trooper was shot and killed early Wednesday after a 14-hour standoff, authorities said. The man fired at troopers numerous times throughout the standoff in rural northern Pennsylvania and refused their attempts to get him...
Gov. Tom Wolf says ‘no’ to speculation about VP spot
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday that the answer is “no” to speculation that he would agree to join a Democratic presidential nominee’s ticket as the pick for vice president. Wolf reiterated that stance when asked during an appearance with his wife Frances on WITF-FM’s Smart Talk program...
Former Gov. Tom Ridge says Trump asking leader for political favor is ‘abuse of power’
Pennsylvania’s former Gov. Tom Ridge is leaving it up to Congress as to whether President Donald Trump should be impeached but in his mind, there’s little doubt the president abused his power when he asked Ukraine to investigate his rivals, including Joe Biden. Ridge was in Harrisburg on Tuesday to...
Pennsylvania trooper shot and wounded in Tioga County, prompting standoff
ELKLAND — A Pennsylvania state trooper was shot and wounded Tuesday afternoon at a home in a rural area near the border with New York state, prompting a standoff with the barricaded gunman that lasted into the evening, authorities said. Troopers were conducting a welfare check at the home in...
Feds’ rules threaten Pennsylvanians’ food stamps, state claims
HARRISBURG — Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians stand to lose food stamps or see their benefits reduced under three sets of changes to the program being advanced by the Trump administration, state officials said Tuesday. Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration opposes all three changes, saying that the federal government is simply...
DA: Ex-municipal official in Chester County stole $3M from taxpayersVideo
WEST CHESTER — A former township official outside Philadelphia stole more than $3 million from taxpayers, using some of embezzled funds to fund a lavish lifestyle that included trips to Italy and France and shopping sprees for designer clothing and jewelry, authorities said Tuesday. Lisa Moore, 46, the former manager...
