Pennsylvania category, Page 225
Senate GOP leader wants to unload lieutenant governor’s residence
HARRISBURG — A senior Republican in the Pennsylvania Senate said Thursday the state should sell the lieutenant governor’s residence at Fort Indiantown Gap, saying it would save money and the proceeds could help fund housing for military veterans. President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati asked for co-sponsors for legislation he is...
Tree of Life synagogue attack inspires new hate crimes bills
HARRISBURG — Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania are introducing a package of hate-crimes bills that are inspired by a mass shooting at a Squirrel Hill synagogue that killed 11 worshippers. Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa said Thursday the October attack at the Tree of Life synagogue showed that Pennsylvania law has...
Pennsylvania’s board of education backs changes to school start, dropout ages
Pennsylvania’s State Board of Education is giving its support to proposals by Gov. Tom Wolf to require students start schooling by age 6 and continue until they’re at least 18. The board voted unanimously Wednesday for the Democratic governor’s proposals that he unveiled in February. The Republican-controlled Legislature still must...
No prison after Bucks County baby dies from drug-laced breast milk
CHALFONT, Pa. — A Pennsylvania mother who prosecutors say killed her 11-week-old son with a lethal mix of drugs in her breast milk is not going to prison. Under terms of a plea agreement, a judge has sentenced 31-year-old Samantha Jones to three years’ probation and 100 hours of community...
Pennsylvania ranks as 3rd best state to spot Bigfoot
Don’t we all have that one odd relative that insists on having spotted Bigfoot while camping one time? No? Just me? Turns out, for those living in Pennsylvania it’s not such a far-fetched situation. In fact, Pennsylvania seems to be among the best states to see the big, hairy creature...
Gov. Tom Wolf started 2nd term with hefty raises to senior aides
HARRISBURG — About a dozen of Gov. Tom Wolf’s senior aides are starting his second term with pay raises that ranged from $25,000 to $33,000. The recipients include members of the Democratic governor’s public relations staff and deputy chiefs of staff who coordinate between the governor’s office and various executive...
How risky are ticks in Pennsylvania? Survey hopes to find out
Jesy Murcko spent Saturday clearing brush from a hillside at her family’s camp in the Allegheny National Forest, so she wasn’t surprised to find a tick on her. She wasn’t crazy, however, about finding two ticks on her 2-year-old son Wade, who was playing in short grass near the woods...
Trucker charged in crash that killed couple en route to Pittsburgh weddingVideo
HAMBURG — A truck driver has been charged with vehicular homicide in a fiery crash last fall that killed a couple driving to their wedding in Pittsburgh. State police say 24-year-old Jaspreet Singh Chahal, of Frenso, Calif., is also charged with reckless endangering and misdemeanors in the Nov. 14 crash...
92-year-old liberator still grapples with Holocaust horrors
SCRANTON — Alan Moskin knew he was fighting Nazis. He didn’t know he was on a humanitarian rescue mission. Like most U.S. soldiers fighting in World War II’s European theater, Moskin didn’t understand the breadth and depth of Adolf Hitler’s hatred toward Jewish people until he discovered the concentration camps....
Orphaned bear cub rescued behind Rite-Aid in Pottsville
Pennsylvania Game Commission wardens received a call last month about a lone bear cub behind a Rite-Aid drugstore in Pottsville, Schuylkill County. Sure enough, Game Warden James Macunas and state police found the small cub without a mom in sight on April 28, according to a game commission account on...
Gov. Wolf to honor Fred Rogers with ‘143 Day’ in Pennsylvania
If you don’t already know why the number 143 was so significant to Fred Rogers, then May 23 will be your day to learn. To get you up to speed, the beloved children’s show host loved the number because it was a sort of code for “I love you” —...
Three Mile Island nuclear plant to proceed with closure
HARRISBURG — The owner of Three Mile Island, site of the United States’ worst commercial nuclear power accident, says it now appears certain it will not get a financial rescue from Pennsylvania and said it will go ahead with a planned shutdown starting June 1. Exelon Corp.’s Wednesday statement comes...
Royal baby is dubbed Archie — here are the most popular names in Pa.
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle — Duke and Duchess of Sussex — gave the world the first glimpse of their baby boy this morning. And after introducing him to the queen, announced his name: Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Throughout Pennsylvania, parents often settle on the same popular names year...
Philadelphia-area school drops ‘God bless America’ after pledge
SPRINGFIELD, Pa. — A Pennsylvania school principal will no longer say “God bless America” after leading students in the Pledge of Allegiance. Peter Brigg’s practice at Sabold Elementary School in Springfield led at least one parent to complain to the Freedom for Religion Foundation, whose attorney contacted the district. The...
Lancaster County man reels in record breaking catfish
A Lancaster County angler went fishing in the Susquehanna River last month. He ended up reeling in a flathead catfish that surpassed the state record, according to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. “It was such an amazing fish,” said Jeff Bonawitz, 54, of East Lampeter Township. The record setting...
Wolf commutes life sentences of 3 more Pennsylvania inmates
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is commuting life sentences of three inmates, bringing his total to eight, more than any of the state’s governors over the past quarter century. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wolf acted last week in the case of a man sentenced in 1988 for standing by...
Philadelphia commission probing ‘disturbing’ video
A Philadelphia city commission said Monday it’s investigating an event last month at which Muslim children were captured on video speaking in Arabic about beheadings and the liberation of Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations launched a probe into the April 17 gathering at the...
Gun rights activists fill state Capitol for Second Amendment rally
HARRISBURG — Gun rights advocates packed the rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday for an annual Second Amendment rally, pushing their legislative priorities and cheering a call for the Pittsburgh mayor’s impeachment. Gun owners roared when the event’s organizer, Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, announced that he will ask fellow...
Prom night slayings lead to life terms for suburban Philadelphia man
BRISTOL — A man has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms without possibility of parole in the murders of two men during a prom night altercation last spring in suburban Philadelphia. Nineteen-year-old Joseph Williams was convicted of killing Zyisean McDuffy and Tommy Ballard, both 19, during an argument in...
Pa. agencies collect 39K pounds of medication in Take Back Day
More than 39,000 pounds of unwanted prescription medication was collected in Pennsylvania during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Take Back Day last month. That amount was collected at 323 sites coordinated by 234 local police agencies across the state. The DEA holds National Take Back Days in the spring and...
Muslim society: ‘Disturbing’ video of children wasn’t vettedVideo
A video showing children speaking in Arabic about sacrifice and chopping off heads wasn’t vetted before being posted on the Facebook page for the Muslim American Society’s Philadelphia chapter, and it does not represent their values, the executive director of the national group said Sunday. Executive Director Ayman Hammous said...
Pressure grows to loosen party grip on Pennsylvania primary
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania: Land of Disenfranchisement? It’s not the state slogan, but Pennsylvania is in the minority of states with closed primary elections as the number of independent voters grows quickly and sparks a debate in Pennsylvania’s Legislature for the first time in memory about opening up party primaries. It...
Pa. Turnpike toll evader named Stiff to pay up; had $128K in tolls, fines
PHILADELPHIA — The worst toll evader in Pennsylvania is being ordered to pay up. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Jarrett Stiff didn’t pay for trips on the Pennsylvania Turnpike 2,264 times from 2012 to 2017, more than anyone else in the state. The 36-year-old from suburban Philadelphia racked up nearly...
Longtime married Erie couple dies within minutes of each other
ERIE, Pa. — Family members say a Pennsylvania couple that had been married for almost 45 years passed away within minutes of each other. Clair “Cos” Vance had made daily visits to a care center where his 70-year-old wife, Jeanne, lived due to mobility and medical issues. But those visits...
With new strategy, Pennsylvania State Police graduates large cadet class
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania State Police is graduating one of its larger classes, and it might be because of an effort to get prospective cadets accustomed beforehand to what 27 challenging weeks of academy training is like. The agency graduated 103 cadets in the 155th graduating cadet class Friday....
