Pennsylvania category, Page 212
Governor signs new restrictions on robocalls in Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania law is ending a requirement that telephone customers who want to remain on the state’s do-not-call registry have had to renew their listing every five years. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday signed changes to the Telemarketer Registration Act that also allow business phone customers to sign up...
Pennsylvania reports vaping death, investigating injuries
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Health Department says one person in the state has died from lung injuries associated with vaping and it’s investigating dozens of other suspected or confirmed cases. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, announced the death Friday and said Pennsylvania has also reported nine confirmed cases...
Despite complaints, Penn State sticks with its traffic, parking plan
As more than 100,000 fans make plans to head to Penn State’s homecoming game in time for the kickoff at noon Saturday, university officials say they’re ready to give their new game-day parking and traffic system another try. Before this year, football fans could use any route through campus to...
On National Voter Registration Day, 16,000 Pennsylvanians got on the rolls
Initial estimates show that 16,000 Pennsylvanians registered to vote on National Voter Registration Day, which was Sept. 24. Nationwide, roughly 400,000 people registered, a number touted by organizers as unprecedented for an off year, when there is neither a presidential nor midterm election. More than 800,000 voters were registered nationally...
Gov. Tom Wolf looks to set price, caps on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is taking a big step in his effort to fight climate change in the nation’s fourth-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. Wolf, a Democrat, on Thursday ordered his administration to start working on regulations to bring Pennsylvania into a nine-state consortium that sets a price and...
Pennsylvania to move forward on power plant emission caps
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration will start working to bring Pennsylvania into a regional consortium that sets a price and caps on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, part of the Democrat’s agenda to fight climate change. Wolf will make a formal announcement Thursday that he is ordering a...
Pennsylvania bill would legalize pot, make state the only seller
Pennsylvania could be getting into the pot business. A bill under consideration in the state House of Representatives would legalize the recreational use of marijuana — and give the state a monopoly on its sale. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board would be responsible for establishing and operating pot shops, similar...
U.S. judge: Injection sites don’t violate federal drug laws
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that supervised injection sites designed to prevent overdoses do not violate federal drug laws, giving advocates in Philadelphia and perhaps elsewhere a boost in their efforts to open them. U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh said there’s no evidence that Congress intended 1980s-era...
Pa. senators weigh altering child sex abuse lawsuit time limits
HARRISBURG — A legislative tug-of-war over altering rules for child sexual abuse claims that occurred too long ago to file lawsuits resumed Wednesday in Pennsylvania’s Capitol, with victims and their advocates on one side and lawyers for religious organizations and the state’s insurance industry on the other. The Judiciary Committee’s...
Monday last day to register for Nov. 5 municipal electionVideo
People who need to register to vote in the Tuesday, Nov. 5 municipal election only have a few days left to do so. The deadline to register, or to change an address or party affiliation is Monday To qualify to vote, one must be a U.S. citizen at least one...
Wolf: Marijuana pardons won’t be rubber-stamped
A week after Lt. Gov. John Fetterman urged Pennsylvanians with low-level, nonviolent marijuana convictions to apply for expedited pardons, Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday cautioned that such pardons will not be automatically approved. Fetterman, who chairs the board of pardons, joined Wolf last week in announcing their support for decriminalizing...
Pa. marijuana grower urges regulation for disclosure of vaping ingredients
In the wake of national concern over illness linked to vaping, one Pennsylvania medical marijuana company is making sure users, in their catchphrase, “know it before you blow it.” Clinton County-based Terrapin Pennsylvania has disclosed all of the ingredients in its vaporizing products at DemandCleanVapes.com, and called on state lawmakers...
‘Unprecedented’ demand for shingles vaccine leads to shortage
High demand for the shingles vaccine means Pennsylvanians wanting to protect themselves against the painful, blister-causing virus might have to wait. “The demand has been unprecedented,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease physician. “We want to...
Growing pains: The state’s medical marijuana demand is outpacing supply
Pennsylvania’s still blossoming medical marijuana business has hit a supply choke-point — especially for the “flower,” or dry leaf products — as numbers of approved patients are continuing to grow faster than the buds in the state’s licensed grow rooms. One patient advocate has described it as a perfect storm,...
Pa. voters will decide constitutional amendment on rights of crime victims
Voters might be excused if they are confused when they scan the ballot in Pennsylvania next month and see a question asking to amend the state constitution to include a crime victims rights amendment. The proposed amendment, dubbed Marsy’s Law, seems to echo Pennsylvania’s Crime Victims Act. That law first...
Luzerne County man who went ‘fishing for cats’ pleads guilty to animal cruelty
A Pennsylvania man accused of “fishing for cats” has pleaded guilty this week to animal cruelty charges. Kenny Rowles of Plymouth, Luzerne County, was arrested in May on accusations he baited a fishing hook to catch a neighborhood cat. The cat, Tollie, was near the brink of death when he...
Pa. college athletes could earn financial compensation under proposed bill
The paid college athlete is an idea whose time has come, say two Allegheny County lawmakers. State Reps. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, and Ed Gainey, D-Pittsburgh, say they plan to introduce a bill that would allow college athletes to sign endorsements, earn compensation and hire agents just like the pros....
October events planned for Pennsylvania Wine Month
Wine lovers unite. If you needed an excuse to imbibe, now you have one. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is partnering with the state Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Winery Association to promote October as Pennsylvania Wine Month. And they are asking residents to help celebrate it. Don’t know...
New chapter opens in Pennsylvania in fight over suing church
HARRISBURG — When post offices close Monday, the last victim compensation funds at Pennsylvania’s Roman Catholic dioceses will also close, hours before lawmakers plunge back into a years-old fight over whether to let long-ago victims of child sexual abuse sue perpetrators and institutions that may have covered it up. It...
3 hurt in Pennsylvania helicopter crash at fair
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Authorities in Pennsylvania say three people have been hurt in a helicopter crash at a state fair. WNEP-TV reports a pilot and two passengers were in the helicopter when it crashed Saturday about 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the fairground in the town of Bloomsburg....
Pennsylvania high court passes on death penalty review
PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined a special petition to review the constitutionality of the death penalty but says it will still consider the fairness of individual cases. The decision Friday comes after the court heard arguments this month from critics who call the punishment cruel and arbitrary...
AG Shapiro supports legalized marijuana as Gov. Wolf pushes support in OakmontVideo
Pennsylvania’s top law enforcement official announced Friday his support to legalize pot. Attorney General Josh Shapiro took to Twitter to outline his support for “efforts to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana use for Pennsylvanians over the age of 21.” He said the decision to support the federally outlawed drug came...
Report: Pa. natural gas royalty payments on the rise
Natural gas royalties paid to Pennsylvania landowners rose significantly in tax year 2017 due to increased production and higher prices, the state Independent Fiscal Office said in a recent report. The report said $1.06 billion in royalty payments were made in 2017 — a 64% increase from tax year 2016....
‘Gross’ lanternflies causing big bug problem for someVideo
KUTZTOWN, Pa. — In the Great Spotted Lanternfly War, Pennsylvania’s citizen-soldiers are fighting back with fly swatters and vacuums, dish soap and sticky tape. They’re stomping and spraying and zapping and bragging about their kills on social media. “DESTROY THEM,” a propaganda poster urges. “Die, die, die, spotted lanternfly,” a...
Cosby ‘doing very well’ on 1-year prison anniversary, determined to continue appeal, spokesman says
Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, once known as “America’s Dad,” marked his one-year prison anniversary touting his new paternalistic role behind bars, his spokesman said Wednesday. “He’s doing very well regarding this unwanted anniversary,” spokesman Andrew Wyatt told the New York Daily News. “I just ended a visit with him. He...
