Pennsylvania category, Page 234
17-year cicadas are coming already? Here’s why
If cicadas emerge from the ground only once every 17 years, why do they seem to show up so often? There are actually 15 separate broods of cicadas in the United States — five of which include Pennsylvania as part of their territory. Related story: Cicadas will swarm Southwestern Pa....
Pa. lottery: On pace for record, officials work to keep games updated
On pace to collect a record number of sales for the second consecutive year, Pennsylvania Lottery officials are pondering if the games can keep topping themselves. “We have been growing for decades, some years more than others,” said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “When the recession hit our sales and...
Warnings, transportation restrictions issued as snow nears
PHILADELPHIA — Forecasters issued weather warnings and transportation officials announced vehicle restrictions on some roadways as another round of winter weather descended on Pennsylvania. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for much of eastern Pennsylvania with heavy wet snow and sleet and accumulations of four to eight...
Pa. state rep. Fred Keller becomes favorite in U.S. House election
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Republican state lawmaker survived four rounds of voting Saturday to become the heavy favorite to fill an open congressional seat in northern Pennsylvania. Rep. Fred Keller beat 13 other candidates during closed-door voting at an event hall in Williamsport where 202 party conferees sorted through the...
Rescuing Pa. nuclear power plants could come with conditions
HARRISBURG, Pa. — With nuclear power plant owners seeking a rescue in Pennsylvania, a number of state lawmakers are signaling that they are willing to help — with conditions. Giving nuclear power plants what opponents call a bailout to ensure they stay open could mean a politically risky vote to...
Overdose deaths in Pittsburgh region decline sharply
After several years of slow-but-steady increases and two years of sharp climbs, drug overdose deaths in Southwestern Pennsylvania declined by more than 40 percent last year. Preliminary reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the first quarter of 2018 suggest it is a trend that has spread...
Gov. Wolf pushes for statewide broadband access
Arguing that statewide broadband access is needed to increase educational opportunities, Gov. Tom Wolf announced an infrastructure initiative on Friday called “Restore Pennsylvania.” The plan calls for an investment of $4.5 billion dollars over the next four years to expand broadband access to all Pennsylvanians. Nearly a million Pennsylvania residents...
Union wants Pennsylvania school pension fund to divest private prison stocks
The American Federation of Teachers, or AFT, is calling on Pennsylvania’s $56.2 billion school employees’ retirement fund (PSERs) and 23 other large pension funds to consider divesting their stock in private prison corporations. A new AFT report found that PSERs is among two dozen public pension funds that own a...
Mercer County among first in state to implement new post-election audits
A Western Pennsylvania county will be among the first in the state to have an enhanced audit of its election results. Mercer and Philadelphia counties both bought new voting systems that will be used for the first time in November. With concerns over election security increasing in recent years, the...
Wells Fargo announces consumer redress program
Wells Fargo has launched a program to review claims from consumers who think they were harmed by the bank violating consumer protection laws. The program is designed for people who believe they were affected by the bank but weren’t eligible for previous restitution programs. Consumers could be entitled to relief...
Cops: Gunman broke into home, fatally shot pizza deliveryman
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a pizza deliveryman was shot and killed when he made a delivery to a home under construction in Philadelphia. The shooting occurred around 7 p.m. Tuesday just outside the home. Authorities believe the gunman broke into the home so he could arrange for the delivery there...
Pennsylvania court collections, disbursements rise by nearly $30 million over last decade
Pennsylvania’s courts increased their annual disbursements of collected fees, fines and restitution by more than $29 million over the past decade, a trend explained in part by use of case management computer systems, state judicial officials say. According to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, those disbursements jumped from $453.8...
Scam calls expected to spike in Pa. as tax season approaches
If you dread answering your phone because of the onslaught of robotic spammers and scammers, you’re not alone. And it could get worse very soon. An analysis of U.S. Federal Trade Commission statistics by AllAreaCodes.com found unwanted calls tend to spike in March and April, as scammers impersonating the IRS...
Sen. Bob Casey throws support behind raising federal minimum wage
Proposals to raise the minimum wage appear to be gaining traction this week at both the state and federal level. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said he plans to cosponsor a bill to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2024. Pennsylvania’s senior senator held...
Mother and daughter charged in ‘atrocious’ killing of five family membersVideo
MORRISVILLE — No one answered when a social worker knocked on the door. Not Shana Decree or her three children. Not her sister or her three children. All was quiet inside unit S-7 at Robert Morris Apartments — because most of the people who lived there were dead. It’s not...
Pennsylvania GOP lawmaker opens door to minimum-wage deal
HARRISBURG — A top Republican lawmaker is opening the door to raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, but he also insisted Monday that Democrats lower their sights from a proposal by Gov. Tom Wolf that would give the state among the nation’s highest. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, would not define...
Cyber charter school costs are under the microscope
Tiffany Nix, superintendent of Leechburg Area schools, watched in frustration for years as hundreds of thousands of dollars went out the doors of her small, cash-strapped district with families who enrolled their children in cyber charter schools. “We were paying $13,000 to $24,000 a year for each of them. It...
Vietnamese catfish recalled after missed inspection
A California company is recalling nearly 30,000 pounds of catfish imported from Vietnam that wasn’t presented for import re-inspection into the United States. The recall, announced by federal officials Friday , applies to Yellow Hito catfish shipped to a distributor in Chicago and to other locations nationwide by TV Food...
Deal near in civil rights lawsuits over Pennsylvania prison mail policy
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania prison officials said Friday they were close to settling two federal lawsuits over how the system processes mail sent to inmates by their lawyers. The Department of Corrections and civil rights groups involved in the lawsuits announced a settlement was being finalized after a trial was stopped...
Ex-Lackawanna County prison guard gets probation for sex with inmate
SCRANTON — A former guard at a Pennsylvania prison has been sentenced to nine months of probation for having sex with an inmate while she was out on work release nearly a decade ago. Jeffrey Staff was one of seven guards to be charged with sexually abusing inmates at Lackawanna...
PHEAA board re-elects Fontana and Peifer
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) board Thursday re-elected two long-serving members to lead the multi-billion dollar agency’s oversight panel as it navigates the evolving world of student debt. State Rep. Mike Peifer, R-Pike County, a CPA and member of the board since 2010, was re-elected chairman, while state...
Penn State ex-president Graham Spanier’s request for appeal denied
HARRISBURG — Penn State’s president when the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal erupted may soon be going to jail after Pennsylvania’s highest court declined Thursday to hear the appeal of his conviction for child endangerment. The state Supreme Court ruled it will not take up Graham Spanier’s appeal of the...
Edinboro joins Clarion with pet-friendly dorms
Two is company, but it takes three to make a trend. Earlier this week the Trib reported that Clarion University decided to open a pet-friendly dorm this fall. Now Edinboro, another of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities is following suit. Can the other 12 universities be far behind? “Dogs, cats and...
Authorities: 3 people found stabbed in Delaware County home
FOLSOM, Pa. — Authorities say three people have been stabbed at Pennsylvania home. But it’s not yet clear what sparked the stabbings, which occurred around 10 a.m. Thursday in Ridley. Authorities say the victims are all related. But their names and further details about them were not disclosed. The injuries...
Philadelphia boy, 4, fatally impaled by glass from shattered picture frame
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a 4-year-old boy was killed when a glass-framed photo fell from a wall at his family’s Philadelphia home, spraying the room with chards that struck him in the abdomen. The accident occurred Wednesday afternoon. Adrian Ortega’s mother was home at the time. Authorities say the boy...
