Pennsylvania category, Page 215
Gov. Wolf calls for sweeping reforms for charter schools in Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday vowed to level the playing field between Pennsylvania’s traditional public schools and charter and cyber charter schools. He said the latter lack accountability and transparency and are draining millions of dollars from struggling school districts. Calling the state’s 22-year-old public charter school law flawed and...
Fire chief: There was a lack of smoke detectors at Erie day careVideo
ERIE — There weren’t enough working smoke detectors at a Pennsylvania home day care center where a fire killed five children, the fire chief said Tuesday. There was one detector in the attic of the Harris Family Daycare in the lakeside city of Erie, Fire Chief Guy Santone told a...
22 states sue Trump administration over new coal rules
A coalition of 22 Democratic-led states has sued the Trump administration over its decision to ease restrictions on coal-fired power plants. In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency eliminated the its Clean Power Plan and replaced it with a new rule that gives states more leeway in deciding required upgrades...
U.S. appeals court hands truckers defeat in Pennsylvania Turnpike toll suit
HARRISBURG — High tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike do not violate the right of truckers and other motorists to travel between states, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, upholding a lower-court dismissal of a lawsuit against state agencies and officials. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Pennsylvania’s use...
Penn State police K-9 handler placed on leave after report of animal abuse
A Penn State police officer was placed on administrative leave in July after the department received a report of possible animal abuse by one of its K-9 handlers, a university official said Monday. The department immediately referred the report to state police, which is investigating the report, university police public...
Fortnite world champ swatted at Pennsylvania home
POTTSGROVE — The Pennsylvania teen who won $3 million as the first Fortnite World Cup solo champion has been swatted. Kyle Giersdorf was live-streaming on Saturday when his father interrupted the 16-year-old to say armed police were at the door of their Pottsgrove home. Upper Pottsgrove Police Cpl. Albert Werner...
A year later: Pennsylvania report on Catholic sex abuse still making an impactVideo
Mark Rozzi was surprised to receive the first one, and then another letter from the Allentown Catholic Diocese. The letters were a reminder that the deadline to apply for the compensation fund for victims of child sexual abuse was fast approaching. The 48-year-old Berks County Democrat, who has served in...
Nearly 600 priests, lay people have been publicly named in Pa. sex abuse scandal
The 2018 grand jury identified 301 priests who had sexually assaulted and abused hundreds of children over the past several decades. As large as that number is, the true scope is much higher. Last year’s grand jury report has been the largest in scale, covering six of the state’s eight...
Gov. Wolf wants answers on 4 kids separated from families
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s governor says at least four children from his state were recently separated from their parents by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and wrote Monday to demand the agency halt the practice until it has a plan to ensure the welfare of children. Gov. Tom Wolf asked Homeland...
Woman, teens accused of dumping over 300 tires in lot
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — State police say a woman and two teenagers dumped over 300 tires in a parking lot of a vacant motel in Pennsylvania. The Reading Eagle reports troopers found 61-year-old June Kuzowski and the two 15-year-olds throwing the tires out of a truck and onto the lot on...
5 children killed in fire at Erie day care centerVideo
ERIE — A day care center where children could stay overnight as their parents worked was ravaged Sunday by a fire that killed five and sent the owner to the hospital, authorities said. The victims in the lakeside city of Erie ranged in ages from 8 months to 7 years,...
Workers neutralize toxic chemical at Philadelphia refinery blast site
PHILADELPHIA — Workers have started to neutralize a highly toxic chemical on the site of a massive Philadelphia refinery that’s been shut down since explosions and a blaze earlier this summer. Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel says workers are at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions site around the clock, seven days...
Poll: Majority of Pennsylvanians support additional regulations on gun ownership
Retired steelworker Arthur Flowers of Derry Township is among thousands of Pennsylvanians who have a license to carry a concealed handgun. But he’s also among nearly two-thirds of registered voters in a recent statewide poll who said they favor some type of additional laws regulating gun ownership. A Franklin &...
Pennsylvania Boy Scout sex abuse lawsuit could be first of many
A Philadelphia sex abuse lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America could be the first of hundreds, according to Abused in Scouting, a coalition of law firms created to pursue cases of sexual abuse. The organization has a list of more than 540 alleged instances of child abuse, including more...
Bedford County man charged with sale of guns stolen from federal custody
A Bedford County man has been charged in connection with the theft and sale of multiple guns from a federal facility. Richard A. Schreiber, 38, of Everett in eastern Bedford County faces eight charges related to the sale of weapons found to be stolen from the National Firearms and Ammunition...
Bloody weekend renews hope of passing new gun control measures in D.C., Pennsylvania
A weekend of bloodshed, bookended by mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, may have moved the needle on gun control measures. U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, says he is optimistic the bill he and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., first partnered on in 2013 to expand background...
Pennsylvania school safety tip system fielded 23K reports this year
HARRISBURG — A state report released Monday said bullying, self-harm and suicide were the most common concerns fielded during the first half-year of operation for a new threat reporting system that covers Pennsylvania schools. The 21-page report by the state attorney general’s office said the Safe 2 Say Something program...
Man accused of threats against Temple University, police
TULLYTOWN — A Pennsylvania man has been charged with making threats against Temple University and its police department as he was buying ammunition in a Walmart store, authorities say. The Bucks County district attorney’s office says 29-year-old Patrick Buhler, who has addresses in Morrisville and Mount Bethel, was arraigned Saturday...
Pa. cash welfare program ends, court rejects injunction request
HARRISBURG — A state program that provided $205 a month in cash payments to poor or disabled Pennsylvanians has ended. The program known as general assistance ceased Thursday under a month-old law, while state Commonwealth Court rejected an injunction request that would have kept it operating during a legal challenge....
Settlement to allow Midwest gas to flow to Pittsburgh, beyond through Laurel Pipeline
Parties to a three-year dispute over the Laurel Pipeline say American consumers will be the winners when bi-directional service begins in October. The Laurel Pipeline, operated by Houston-based Buckeye Partners LP, carries petroleum from Philadelphia refineries to central and Western Pennsylvania. But since 2016, Buckeye has sought to reverse the...
Philadelphia officials declare health emergency over Hepatitis A outbreak
Philadelphia health officials have declared an emergency over an outbreak of Hepatitis A in the city that has affected 154 people since January, and are calling for health providers to increase vaccinations to combat the liver disease. Hepatitis A is caused by a virus that spreads through oral contact with...
7 Philadelphia officers resign over offensive Facebook posts
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police Department says seven officers have resigned in the last two weeks following an investigation into offensive and sometimes threatening Facebook posts. Last month, the department suspended 13 officers with an intent to fire them after a nonprofit group published the results of a two-year review...
PennDOT to roll out gender-neutral driver’s license option
Pennsylvanians who prefer not to be identified as male or female will soon have a gender-neutral option on their state-issued driver’s licenses. The Daily Item of Sunbury reported PennDOT expects to have the new procedure in place by the middle of next year. It will let motorists use “X” as...
Ex-Attorney General Kathleen Kane released from jail
EAGLEVILLE — A former Pennsylvania attorney general who served about eight months in jail for leaking grand jury material and lying about it was released Wednesday. Kathleen Kane left the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in the Philadelphia suburbs about 8:20 a.m. When asked by a reporter how she felt, Kane...
Ex-Attorney General Kathleen Kane set for release from jail
A former Pennsylvania attorney general will be released from a county jail after serving about eight months for leaking grand jury material and lying about it, the warden said Tuesday. Montgomery County Correctional Facility Warden Julio Algarin said Kathleen Kane shaved about two months off her minimum sentence by serving...
