Pennsylvania category, Page 221
How the Pennsylvania liquor lottery came to be
Before the days of limited-release lotteries, savvy liquor aficionados would invade the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s website with internet bots in search of highly sought-after bourbons and whiskeys. The web robots significantly slowed down the state website, said Shawn Kelly, a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board spokesman. Pennsylvania residents often lost...
Millions of records sealed in Pennsylvania criminal justice reform effort
In an experiment being watched across the country, Pennsylvania court officials began scrubbing more than 3 million old, nonviolent criminal charges from the public docket over the weekend. They are scheduled to repeat that feat every month for the next year under the provisions of the state’s Clean Slate law....
Limited-release lottery features 7 highly sought-after whiskeys
Pennsylvania residents have until 11 p.m. Saturday to opt in to the latest limited-release lottery by the state Liquor Control Board. The July lottery features seven highly sought-after whiskeys, the board said. Entry is limited to one bottle per household, per lottery. Featured products include: Lottery One features two bottles...
About 1,700 fireworks sold in Pennsylvania recalled ahead of July 4 holiday
Pennsylvania is among four states where fireworks have been recalled just ahead of the July 4 holiday. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced four fireworks-related recalls this week for fireworks that were “overloaded with pyrotechnics.” That can result in a greater than expected explosion, which poses explosion and burn...
Pennsylvania begins sealing criminal files under ‘clean slate’ law
HARRISBURG — Lower-level criminal convictions are starting to be automatically sealed under a year-old Pennsylvania state law touted as a way to give offenders a fresh start. State officials and other supporters on Friday called the “clean slate” legislation a model for other states. The court system plans to be...
Pennsylvania poised to take over health insurance exchange
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is poised to roll out its own online health insurance exchange to take the place of the one run by the federal government for the state’s residents since 2014, saying it can save money for hundreds of thousands of policy-buyers. The Republican-controlled Legislature gave final approval Friday...
No license required: July 4 is Fish-For-Free Day in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will offer its second and final Fish-For-Free Day of the year on July 4 when anyone can fish, even without a state fishing license. All other fishing regulations apply, though. The commission offers the free days to open up fishing opportunities for the public,...
Gov. Tom Wolf to sign $34 billion ‘divided government’ budget
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf prepared Friday to sign a $34 billion compromise budget after lawmakers wrapped up the week with a flurry of votes on hundreds of pages of legislation that in some cases drew angry protests from his fellow Democrats. Fueled by strong tax collections, the budget boosts...
Pennsylvania’s top health official stresses need for vaccinations
Pennsylvania’s health secretary emphasized the importance of vaccination in the wake of a national measles outbreak. “Vaccines are a safe and effective way to protect yourself from a number of serious, life-threatening diseases,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a statement. “Getting your vaccinations can help protect those...
Pennsylvania group to keep pushing for independent redistricting commission
Pennsylvania advocates for redistricting reform will keep pushing for an independent commission to oversee the process in light of Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision to keep courts out of state efforts to address gerrymandering. The high court’s conservative majority decided in a 5-4 ruling that partisan gerrymandering — drawing congressional...
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman expects to move forward after Senate dispute
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said he isn’t harboring any ill will over the chaotic scene that unfolded Wednesday while he was presiding over the state Senate. “I don’t take any of this personally,” he told the Tribune-Review on Thursday ahead of an expected vote on the state budget. Shouting, name-calling...
Pa. budget brinksmanship leaves last-minute bills in doubt
HARRISBURG — Republicans who control the Pennsylvania Legislature are inserting some pet policy objectives into hundreds of pages of just-unveiled legislation with the annual budget deadline days away, forcing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to make hard choices. Amid the deadline brinksmanship, measures expected to advance Thursday included a $34 billion...
Chaos erupts in Pennsylvania Senate over welfare billVideo
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate devolved into partisan shouting, name-calling and bare-knuckled procedural tactics Wednesday over a bill to end a decades-old program that offers $200 a month to people deemed unable to work. The bill ultimately passed the GOP-controlled chamber, 26-24, with two Republicans siding with Democrats against it,...
Pennsylvania Senate votes to allow hunting on 3 Sundays
HARRISBURG — A proposal to end Pennsylvania’s ban on Sunday hunting has the approval of the state Senate. Senators voted 36 to 14 on Wednesday for a bill that would permit hunting on one Sunday during deer rifle season, one during deer archery season, and on a third day. The...
Pa. Senate passes bills to change emissions testing in Westmoreland, statewide
A slate of bills passed this week by the state Senate could bring sweeping changes to vehicle emissions test requirements in Pennsylvania. The five-bill package would exempt vehicles less than eight years old and eliminate seven counties — including Westmoreland — from the emissions program. Drivers with older vehicles in...
Chaos erupts in Pennsylvania Senate over welfare bill
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate devolved into partisan shouting, name-calling and bare-knuckled procedural tactics over a bill to end a decades-old program that offers $200 a month to people deemed unable to work. The bill ultimately passed the GOP-controlled chamber, 26-24, with two Republicans siding with Democrats against it. The...
Pennsylvania Auditor General plans to revisit dog-law enforcement audit
A 2013 audit that found Pennsylvania lax in dog-law enforcement will be revisited, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale announced this week. The 2013 performance audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Dog Law Enforcement Office found several problems, including: $8 million from the restrictive dog law account being spent for unrelated...
Report: Pa. students would have to do triple time to work their way through college
Once again, Pennsylvania is ranked No. 1 — only of a list no one wants to top: college costs. The state’s public universities are among the priciest in the nation and landed Pennsylvania at the top of a list that calculated how many hours a week a student would have...
Pennsylvania highway deaths slightly increased last year, despite national dip
The number of highway fatalities dipped nationally last year even as Pennsylvania’s overall traffic deaths saw a bump, federal and state data analyzed by the Tribune-Review shows. Early estimates show 36,750 people died in motor vehicle crashes nationally in 2018, a roughly 1% year-over-year decrease, according to the National Highway...
Assembly eyes open primaries, end to straight ticket voting
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania voters would be able to vote in primaries even if they aren’t Democrats or Republicans and have easier absentee ballot deadlines under election law changes being considered by the Legislature. The Senate on Tuesday voted 42 to 8 on Tuesday for a bill that would let unaffiliated...
Pennsylvania House passes pyramid scheme protection bill
A bill designed to protect consumers against pyramid schemes unanimously passed the Pennsylvania House Monday. House Bill 1534 amends the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law and highlights the distinction between direct-sale companies with a pyramid-like structure and “fly-by-night” operators attempting to rip off the public. “My bill would...
Pa. GOP chair Val DiGiorgio resigns after report of sexually explicit messages
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican Party chairman stepped down Tuesday as a result of a published report that he had traded sexually charged text messages with a Philadelphia City Council candidate and also sent her an explicit photo. Val DiGiorgio’s resignation was announced by the state Republican Party. In a letter...
Philadelphia police must use transgender person’s chosen name, new policy says
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police must use a person’s chosen name and pronoun when interacting with transgender people, regardless of what is listed on their government-issued identification card. The change is part of a new police department policy announced Tuesday that addresses how police should interact with transgender and non-binary people....
Pa. woman uses shovel to kill cobra slithering on her patio
FALLS, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman used a shovel to kill a cobra she saw slithering on the patio of her apartment. Kathy Kehoe says the squawking of some blue jays outside her unit caught her attention Monday. When she looked outside, she saw a 4 to 5-foot-long serpent. Kehoe,...
Owners of banned fraternity house sue Penn State
More than two years after the February 2017 death of Timothy Piazza, a Penn State student who died of injuries he sustained during an alcohol-fueled fraternity pledge event, the lawsuits just keep coming. The Associated Press is reporting the fraternity corporation that owns the shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity house...
