Pennsylvania category, Page 224
State Democratic Party adds to calls for Sen. Daylin Leach to resign
HARRISBURG — Leaders of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party on Friday added to calls for a state senator to resign over accusations of sexual misconduct. The statement came a day after the Senate’s top Democrat said an inquiry he commissioned into complaints about Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, found a “lengthy pattern of...
Pennsylvania ranked 20th in nation for nursing home complaints
Pennsylvania ranked 20th in the nation for complaints per nursing home last year, according to a new study that analyzed federal data for all 50 states. The report by The Senior List found nursing homes in Pennsylvania averaged 8.42 deficiency complaints per facility last year. Washington state topped the list...
Evanchick confirmed to head up Pennsylvania State Police
HARRISBURG — The man who’s been serving as acting Pennsylvania State Police commissioner for more than a year is now in the job on a permanent basis. The state Senate this week voted unanimously to confirm Col. Robert Evanchick to oversee the agency of more than 6,500 troopers and other...
Catholic school worker charged with sex assault of student
RADNOR — Police say a worker at a suburban Philadelphia Roman Catholic high school has been charged with sexually assaulting a student. The Delaware County District Attorney’s office says 33-year-old Christopher Serpentine, listed as a member of Archbishop Carroll High School’s fine arts department, was arrested Wednesday. He’s charged with...
Pa. Supreme Court says state candidates can’t be nominated by 2 parties
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has upheld a ban on state-level or federal candidates being nominated by more than one political party for the same office, a rule that helps the two major parties. The decision Wednesday said state Rep. Chris Rabb was properly prohibited from getting on the ballot...
Philly stray cat population almost at half a millionVideo
It’s cat-a-strophic issue for some Philadelphia residents. The City of Brotherly Love’s feral cat population has almost reached the 500,000 mark and many locals aren’t happy about it, according to Fox News. Frustrated residents are fed up with having to clean up cat feces and vomit on their property. The...
Federal government will update list of troubled nursing homes monthly
The federal government will release an updated list of the nation’s most troubled nursing homes monthly, officials with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said. CMS previously kept a list of about 400 of nursing homes with serious patterns of poor care under wraps from the public, even...
Feds to go public with formerly secret lists of troubled nursing homes
Federal regulators said Wednesday they plan to go public with lists of troubled nursing homes in the future, days after Pennsylvania lawmakers unveiled a secret list of 400 such facilities. Kate Goodrich, the chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said on a call...
New opioid response team aims to get OD victims in treatment
PHILADELPHIA — A new opioid response team in Philadelphia is pairing paramedics with social service case workers with the goal of getting overdose survivors into treatment, officials announced Wednesday. The new unit hit the streets in April and works with a firehouse in Kensington — an area of the city...
Pennsylvania moves to take over health insurance exchange
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is moving to take over the online health insurance exchange that’s been operated by the federal government since 2014, saying it can cut health insurance costs for the hundreds of thousands who buy the individual Affordable Care Act policies. New legislation introduced Tuesday has high-level support in...
2 Kennywood roller coasters make ‘tallest, scariest’ list
Just in time for summer, two Kennywood roller coasters — one wooden, one steel — make the Pennsylvania Tourism Office’s list of the 10 “tallest and scariest” roller coasters in Pennsylvania. Coming in at No. 3 is Phantom’s Revenge, a steel coaster that reaches speeds of 85 mph and a...
Penn State finds digital divide wider than reported for broadband internet in rural Pa.
The “digital divide” in rural parts of Pennsylvania may be growing instead of closing, according to a new study by Penn State University. The “Broadband Availability and Access in Rural Pennsylvania” study found there isn’t a single county where at least 50% of the population received broadband connectivity, defined by...
State police: Animals suffer in hot cars just like humans
State police are reminding residents as warmer weather comes on: Don’t leave your pet in the car. A little less than two years ago, Gov. Tom Wolf signed Act 104, also known as the “Hot Car Bill,” which provides protection for law enforcement and emergency responders when a dog or...
School cafeteria pepper spray release sends kids to hospital
EASTON — Authorities say pepper spray released in an eastern Pennsylvania middle school cafeteria sent some children to the hospital and prompted a hazardous materials response and early dismissal. Emergency dispatchers in Northampton County responded to Easton Area Middle School after the 10:30 a.m. Monday incident. Director of emergency management...
Report: Pennsylvania natural gas production shows ‘significant’ jump
Total natural gas production in Pennsylvania grew by 14.7% in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year, a report by the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office said. “Despite decelerating from the previous two quarters, production growth continued to show significant strength,” the report said. Pennsylvania remains...
Pa. minimum-wage hike may be big horse trade in Capitol
HARRISBURG — June in Harrisburg is when mayflies swarm from the Susquehanna River and the state Capitol teems with lobbyists and politicians horse-trading over the tens of billions of dollars that will keep Pennsylvania ticking for another year. This year, Pennsylvania’s minimum wage might be the biggest horse traded. Raising...
Death penalty repeal movement surfaces in Pa. Legislature
In a turnabout that few could have predicted, Pennsylvania appears poised to join at least a half-dozen other states where Republicans and Democrats together are pushing to repeal capital punishment. Four Keystone State lawmakers — three Democrats and a Republican — have launched a drive seeking support to repeal the...
Public invited to trade meds for rides at Pocono Raceway
Ever wanted to take a spin around a NASCAR track? Pennsylvania’s Attorney General Josh Shapiro is offering you that chance. This weekend’s Pocono 400 at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond is, for the second straight year, the setting for the AG’s drug take back event. Bring in outdated prescription...
Man accused of vandalizing Scranton school while naked
SCRANTON — A man accused of entering a Pennsylvania elementary school, stripping naked and spilling Murphy Oil Soap on the gym floor is in custody. Scranton police tell WNEP-TV the man is undergoing a mental health evaluation and faces charges stemming from the vandalism. His name has not been released....
Fire destroys barn at popular Amish country produce stand
STRASBURG — A barn fire in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country sent up a plume of smoke visible for miles and required a hazardous materials team to respond to runoff into a stream. LNP newspaper reported the Wednesday night blaze in Strasburg occurred on the site of Pop’s Produce...
Mixed verdict reached in Penn State frat-fall death case
BELLEFONTE — The former manager of a Penn State fraternity where a pledge fell during a night of hazing and drinking and later died has been convicted of hindering apprehension but acquitted of evidence tampering and obstruction. The Centre Daily Times reported a jury deliberated about five hours before issuing...
Report shows many underage kids get alcohol from parents, friends’ parents
One in four Pennsylvania kids who drink underage get the alcohol from their parents, according to a report released Thursday by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. One in five got the alcohol from a friend’s parent, the report said. The biennial Report on Underage and High-Risk Drinking details current trends...
Pennsylvania ranked among 10 worst states for job seekers
Pittsburgh may well be among the nation’s top cities for new college grads. A study last month by personal finance tech site SmartAsset put the city among the top 10 in the nation for grads looking to market their new degrees. But another study released Thursday — by WalletHub, a...
Pennsylvania abortion law unlikely to budge
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has vowed to veto any anti-choice bill that crosses his desk as a wave of new laws limiting abortions floods the country, but his pledge is not stopping state Republicans from working to pass stricter laws. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill this month...
Finance experts call for charter school funding reforms
Echoing complaints of school superintendents across Western Pennsylvania, public school finance experts Wednesday warned that charter school costs are reaching a breaking point for many of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts. Finance experts with the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) said lawmakers must change the way charter costs are...
