Pennsylvania category, Page 231
Rep. Stephanie Borowicz’s prayer in Pennsylvania House generates backlashVideo
HARRISBURG — A freshman Republican’s opening prayer Monday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives drew complaints that it was inappropriately divisive. Rep. Stephanie Borowicz began the day’s session with a Christian invocation that thanked Jesus for the honor and President Donald Trump for standing “behind Israel unequivocally.” “At the name...
Students ordered removed as probe into violence at reform school deepens
State officials Monday ordered the remaining students at a Delaware County reform school removed immediately as a probe into decades of allegations of violence and abuse against students at the Glen Mills School deepened. Glen Mills, the nation’s oldest school for delinquent boys, once housed more than 600 youth, aged...
Treatment firm accused of exploiting addicts, insurers
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office is charging the co-founder and executives of an addiction treatment firm and accusing them of profiting off addicts by fraudulently billing insurance companies for tens of millions of dollars. Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the charges Monday against 11 people and nine corporations....
State officials urge farmers to apply for disaster relief aid
Farmers swamped by last year’s record rainfall may be eligible for relief aid thanks to a disaster declaration from the federal Farm Service Agency. Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday urged eligible farmers to apply for aid in advance of the next growing season. Farmers across the region said they suffered...
Pennsylvania’s 2020 Democratic primary could be competitive
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Beto O’Rourke’s splashy campaign event in Pennsylvania last week appeared to herald the start of the state’s presidential primary season. But if Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party faithful are searching for a favorite from among the crowded 2020 primary field, it may be in vain. Early-voting states typically make...
Vehicle crash into river kills Pennsylvania man, 1-year-old son
SAYRE — A vehicle crashed into the Susquehanna River in northern Pennsylvania, claiming the lives of a man and his 1-year-old son, authorities said. Police in Bradford County say an Athens Township officer saw a vehicle traveling at high speed Friday night. Minutes after losing sight of the vehicle, he...
Former Pa. Attorney General Kathleen Kane is disbarred
HARRISBURG — Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is losing her law license, a few months after she began a jail sentence for perjury, obstruction and other counts. The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a disbarment order Friday, based on paperwork voluntarily submitted and signed by...
Temple University offers free vaccine as mumps criss-cross campus
Plagued by an outbreak of mumps that has criss-crossed its Philadelphia campus, Temple University is holding free vaccine clinics on campus and will now require incoming students to verify they have had two doses of the MMR vaccine. The Temple outbreak, which includes 15 confirmed and 59 probable cases of...
Authorities: Lackawanna County worker was accessing child porn
SCRANTON — Authorities say a county worker in Pennsylvania used county-issued equipment to access child pornography. The Lackawanna County district attorney’s office says Theodore Karampilas faces nearly 100 counts of possessing and disseminating child porn. It wasn’t known if the 41-year-old Scranton man has retained an attorney. County officials say...
Police: Scranton woman admits to having sex with 14-year-old boy
A Scranton woman faces charges after police investigated reports about her having sex with a 14-year-old boy. After initially denying the accusations, Leanora Propes, 39, 529 S. Third Ave., admitted to police she had intercourse with the victim, investigators wrote in charging papers. Her boyfriend, Glenn James Marr, 34, is...
$38 million of cocaine seized at Philadelphia port
PHILADELPHIA — U.S. customs officials say drug dogs have sniffed out Philadelphia’s largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades inside a shipping container. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said Thursday that 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags. Customs and Border Protection’s Area...
PA Turnpike Commission ‘on the path to bankruptcy,’ auditor general says
The Pennsylvania Turnpike is headed down the “road to ruin,” state officials warn. Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton stood stony-faced Thursday next to Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, said the cross-state toll road is “on the path to bankruptcy” absent legislative action. It’s not corruption or mismanagement, but rather Act 44...
Pennsylvania lawmakers attempt to head off transportation funding problems
A state lawmaker announced Wednesday that she will lead an effort to address Pennsylvania’s looming transportation crisis and the possible $50 million annual revenue loss for the next three decades. Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee Chair Kim Ward, R-Hempfield, said during a news conference at the Capitol that the funding challenges...
Pa. mother describes role in daughter’s murder, dismemberment
PHILADELPHIA — In a calm, emotionless voice, Sara Packer described watching her boyfriend murder her 14-year-old daughter, Grace, in 2016. She admitted to participating in the crime — the kidnapping, rape, killing, dismemberment and disposal of an adopted child she said she thought of as “a nonentity.” Packer said she...
One dead in officer-involved shooting at State College apartment complex
A State College police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday at the Marvin Gardens apartment complex on Old Boalsburg Road in the borough, authorities said. The name of the deceased wasn’t immediately released. Borough and Pennsylvania state police rushed to the residential property around 2 p.m. as nearby public...
Reading Eagle files for bankruptcy protection, seeks buyer
READING — The family-owned company that has published the Reading Eagle newspaper for more than 150 years is filing for bankruptcy protection and seeking a buyer. The Reading Eagle Co., whose other properties include news-talk radio station WEEU and a weekly newspaper, said Wednesday it will continue to publish and...
Pennsylvania hunters set 14-year record for deer harvest
Pennsylvania hunters posted their highest overall deer harvest in 14 years in 2018-19, but the buck harvest seemed to take a hit because of bad weather on opening day, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said. The game commission said hunters killed 374,690 white-tailed deer during the 2018-19 hunting season, which closed...
Penn State to collect $733K from Jerry Sandusky’s defunct charity
HARRISBURG — Penn State will collect hundreds of thousands of dollars left over from the defunct charity for youth founded by convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, settling claims from a threatened civil lawsuit. The university and the state attorney general’s office both confirmed this week that an agreement was reached...
Pa. House votes for tougher public pension forfeiture rules
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to make it harder for officials and government employees convicted of crimes related to their jobs to retain their public pensions. The state House voted 194 to 1 to approve legislation that applies the pension forfeiture law to state and federal felonies...
Former Gov. Dick Thornburgh officially retires from K&L Gates
Former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh has officially retired, according to K&L Gates, the global law firm where he began his career. K&L Gates “wishes its longtime partner … well in his retirement,” the firm said in a news release. Thornburgh, 86, began his legal career as...
Pa. National Guard members deploying to Poland
About 500 members of the Pennsylvania National Guard are preparing to deploy to Poland this spring, according to the state department of military and veteran affairs. Those members assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment will be mobilized there as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission, according...
Cheyney trustees fined for missing financial disclosures and back dated filings
The Pennsylvania Ethics Commission on Monday announced it has fined a pair of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania trustees $500 each for failing to file financial disclosure forms for years and then back dating current forms to make it appear they had complied with the law in prior years. Authorities discovered...
Former IUP dean fined for ethics violation received $290,000 discrimination settlement from university
The Pennsylvania Ethics Commission last week fined a former Indiana University of Pennsylvania administrator $3,000 for repeatedly hiring her son’s firm for university business and neglecting to file accurate financial disclosure statements, actions deemed technical violations of the state Ethics Act. But former IUP Associate Dean of Student Affairs Carolyn...
Pennsylvania prisons to implement system-wide tobacco ban
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s prison system is banning all tobacco products inside every facility’s secure perimeter, starting July 1. Corrections Secretary John Wetzel announced the new policy Monday, citing the success of existing tobacco prohibitions in three state correctional institutions and Quehanna Boot Camp. After July 1 all tobacco products in...
Potholes prove costly for Pa. drivers
Pennsylvania’s ubiquitous potholes cost taxpayers more than $63 million last year, transportation data show. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, those costs were more than $11 million. Contrary to popular perception, fixing potholes is a year-round job. And if a season existed for these pesky road craters that wreak havoc on the asphalt...
