Pennsylvania category, Page 231
Pa. lawmakers to honor victims of Tree of Life synagogue massacre
HARRISBURG — Victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue attack that killed 11 people last year will be remembered during a memorial service in the Pennsylvania Capitol. The unusual joint session Wednesday will bring together the House and the Senate for prayers and speeches about the Oct. 27 shooting at the Tree...
Daub named director of Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists
Harold Daub is the new executive director for the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen and Conservationists. According to the PFSC board, he took over duties including government affairs on Monday in Harrisburg. The board said Daub is widely known among sportsmen and most recently led Hunters United for Sunday Hunting. That...
New gun law takes effect as more change debated
Pennsylvania’s first new gun law in 14 years takes effect Wednesday, even as lawmakers debate other proposed changes that could affect gun owners. In the future, the new Act 79 gives gun owners who are subject to a final protection from abuse order or a misdemeanor conviction for domestic violence...
Police follow gun background checks in Pennsylvania
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, says the rest of the nation needs the kind of oversight on failed background checks on gun buyers Pennsylvania has had for more than two decades. Toomey is co-sponsoring a bill that would require the FBI to notify state and local police across the...
Pa. lawmakers try to stop plan to switch paratransit funding from counties to private brokers
State lawmakers Tuesday moved to delay — and eventually kill, they hope — a planned funding change that could severely reduce subsidized rides to doctors offices and other medical appointments for the poor and elderly in Pennsylvania. Two pending bills, one each in the Senate and House, would postpone a...
Sen. Pat Toomey wants local cops informed of failed firearms background checks
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, is taking another run at the nation’s gun laws. This time, he has put his name on a bill that would attempt to close what he sees as a loophole that allows thousands of people who attempt to buy a gun illegally to walk...
Penn State professor to make appearance on ‘Jeopardy!’
Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) (TNS) When Ariana Mikulski was growing up in Lansing, Mich., she remembers watching Alex Trebek get his start as a host on the quiz-style game show “Jeopardy!” Watching regularly with her family, Mikulski developed a passion for trivia and quizzes that grew into her...
Cal U, Slippery Rock to launch new degree programs
Two Western Pennsylvania public universities are launching new programs in physical therapy, veterinary technology and educational leadership and administration as part of an effort to increase enrollment and serve workforce needs. Officials at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said California University of Pennsylvania will begin offering both associate...
Pennsylvania’s deer rifle season moved to Saturday after Thanksgiving
After more than 50 years of having the first day of deer rifle season start the Monday after Thanksgiving, the Pennsylvania Game Commission gave final approval to move opening day up to Saturday after the holiday. The board Tuesday voted 5-3 to approve the change. The commission gave a tentative...
Milton man accused of using students to sell marijuana arraigned, jailed
More than 700 grams of marijuana was seized and a Milton resident faces felony drug and corruption of minors charges because police said he used two female Milton students to conduct drug transactions. Craig A. Lytle, 34, is jailed on $40,000 cash bail after appearing Sunday morning before Shamokin District...
Pennsylvania closes the nation’s oldest reform school amid child abuse probe
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania is closing the Glen Mills Schools, the oldest existing U.S. reform school, amid an investigation into child abuse and cover-ups at the Delaware County campus. The state Department of Human Services announced Monday that it was revoking Glen Mills’ license, having found evidence that its employees beat...
Pennsylvania gun violence activists set sights on new bill
HARRISBURG — Fresh from a victory in Pennsylvania last fall, anti-gun violence advocates are turning their attention to legislation to empower family members or police to seek the immediate, if temporary, seizure of someone’s firearms. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America went to the state Capitol on Monday...
Stars of bear webcam, sow and cub, expected to leave their den soon
The time to watch a hibernating black bear sow and her single cub on a live webcam is running out as they are expected to leave any day now. The Pennsylvania Game Commission launched its first ever live bear webcam this year from a bear den under a porch at...
Bills to combat child sexual abuse move ahead in Pennsylvania Legislature
HARRISBURG — Two related bills designed to help victims of child sexual abuse received favorable committee votes in the Pennsylvania House on Monday and are poised to pass the full chamber in the coming days. The House Judiciary Committee voted overwhelmingly for a bill that would eliminate the statute of...
Ex-inmate hired to lead Pennsylvania Board of Pardons
HARRISBURG — A former legislative aide who did prison time for drug and weapons offenses has taken over as secretary to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons amid efforts to streamline the clemency process, officials said Monday. Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman announced the appointment of Brandon Flood to the $89,000-a-year...
Historic Pennsylvania barn’s ban on same-sex weddings prompts outcry
ELIZABETHTOWN — A county tourism group is sticking by its decision to hold a meeting at a historic venue in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, despite an outcry of the locale’s policy banning same-sex weddings. The Star Barn is a top wedding spot in Elizabethtown, surrounded by farmland, orchards and vineyards in...
Pittsburgh woman tapped to lead national higher education group for private colleges
No one could have predicted where Barbara Mistick’s story would go when she left college shy of a degree four decades ago. The Bethel Park native’s resume now includes a doctoral degree and stints as an entrepreneur and educator at institutions including Seton Hill University, the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh...
Pennsylvania man gets 3 to 6 years in Russian roulette death
LOCK HAVEN — A man has been sentenced to three to six years in prison on charges related to a game of Russian roulette that killed another man in central Pennsylvania. Fifty-five-year-old Randy Hill was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in Clinton County to reckless endangering and drug counts...
Erie Catholic diocese will open files to priest sex abuse victims
The Catholic Diocese of Erie, which recently settled a $2 million clergy sexual abuse complaint, is making “relevant” internal files available to abuse survivors for the asking, church officials said. The policy has been in effect since the diocese launched its compensation fund for abuse survivors in February, said Pittsburgh...
Pennsylvania’s war on opioid addiction to highlight national event
Pennsylvania’s approach to the opioid epidemic will be front and center Monday at the National Governor’s Association’s Summit for New Administrations in Washington, D.C. Gov. Tom Wolf will address the gathering on Pennsylvania’s multi-faceted attack, which the American Medical Association has highlighted as a national model for battling the opioid...
Bill Cosby agrees to settle 7 defamation cases
Bill Cosby has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by seven women who say he defamed them when he accused them of lying about sexual misconduct allegations. Court documents filed Friday in Springfield, Massachusetts, show the two sides have negotiated a settlement since Cosby went to prison last fall in a...
Pa. inmate suffers brain injuries in attack, remains in coma
EAGLEVILLE — Authorities say a Pennsylvania county jail inmate critically injured his cellmate during an attack in which he stomped on the man’s head more than 20 times. Joseph Hodum faces several counts, including attempted murder, stemming from Saturday’s attack. Bail was set at $1 million for the 38-year-old Philadelphia...
Pennsylvania flu hospitalizations up 62% in 2018
The flu sent more than 8,600 Pennsylvanians to the hospital last season, a 62% increase over the previous season, a new report shows. Released last week by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, the report found a wide variation in admissions over the past several flu seasons. The 8,647...
Pennsylvania state universities freed to set tuition
Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will have new latitude in setting tuition under a policy the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of High Education approved Thursday. Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will have new latitude in setting tuition under a policy approved Thursday. Annual tuition rates for the schools...
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana market growing
More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians now have passports to medical marijuana. Doctors have approved more than 102,000 certifications allowing patients to buy medical marijuana at licensed state dispensaries, state officials announced this week. “Realizing 100,000 patient certifications and seeing the first Phase II grower and processor operationalized is a testament to...
