Pennsylvania category, Page 237
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...
Study finds spike in Pennsylvania child abuse-related deaths
HARRISBURG — A new study says the number of Pennsylvania children killed or nearly killed after abuse had occurred spiked recently, likely driven by changes to state law and heightened awareness in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky and Roman Catholic clergy child sexual abuse scandals. The state Human Services...
Nature’s Path Foods recalls some cereals containing gluten
Nature’s Path Foods has recalled some of its cereals because they may contain gluten. The cereals are supposed to be gluten-free. Some boxes of EnviroKidz Choco Chimps, Gorilla Munch and Jungle Munch cereals have been recalled because they may contain undeclared gluten from wheat and barley that could make people...
Pennsylvania must keep up on voting systems, lawmakers told
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top elections official is warning that failing to replace voting machines by 2020 could make the state the only one without a voter-verifiable paper trail. Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania’s acting state secretary, also told senators Wednesday during an Appropriations Committee hearing that election-security experts agree that moving to...
Pennsylvania among top third of states in taxpayer accuracy
A little under 6 percent of Pennsylvania taxpayers are spot-on when it comes to figuring their federal income tax. That is, when they file their returns with the IRS, they’re neither due a refund nor required to submit a payment. That’s not a very big percentage, but it’s enough to...
Former Philly homicide detective charged with rape, intimidation in course of his investigations
PHILADELPHIA — A former Philadelphia homicide detective was arrested Tuesday and accused of grooming and sexually assaulting male witnesses during criminal investigations, then intimidating them to keep them silent — part of what prosecutors concluded was a pattern of misconduct during nearly a decade in one of the Police Department’s...
Storm prompts vehicle, speed restrictions on PA turnpike, interstates
State transportation officials will prohibit some commercial vehicles and all motorcycles and recreational vehicles from a section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Wednesday morning as a winter storm could bring a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to challenge travelers. Beginning at 6 a.m. Wednesday, the following traffic will...
Man pleads guilty in rape, murder of Pennsylvania teen
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl, and the victim’s adoptive mother has agreed to plead guilty and serve a life sentence. Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges in the 2016 death of Grace Packer....
Gettysburg College trustee quits over Nazi uniform photo
GETTYSBURG — A Pennsylvania college trustee apologized and announced his resignation Tuesday after a student found a 1980 yearbook photo in which the trustee wore a Nazi uniform at a fraternity event. Gettysburg College President Janet Morgan Riggs said in an email to the college community that Bob Garthwait decided...
Philly man returns wallet (and $600) to a Patriots fan
Alla Kotlyar gets tired of all the “doom and gloom” in the news. That’s why she watches football. “Being a Patriots fan, it’s almost always good news,” said Kotlyar, who runs a gravestone company in Massachusetts. But on Valentine’s Day, while visiting her daughter and 5-month-old granddaughter in Center City,...
5 facts: James Buchanan, not the best president, but Pennsylvania’s only
Despite Pennsylvania’s prominent role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States — it even had the nation’s capital for a time — the Keystone State has produced only one U.S. president. Meet James Buchanan. Buchanan served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857...
Pa. school threat system fields thousands of tips in first month
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A threat reporting system now required for all Pennsylvania schools fielded more than 4,900 tips in its first month, about a third of them considered serious enough to pass along to local police and school officials. The goal of the Safe 2 Say Something program, which funnels...
Officials: Centralia sinkhole unrelated to underground fire
CENTRALIA, Pa. — State environmental authorities say a 100-foot sinkhole found in a central Pennsylvania town almost completely emptied by a decades-long underground fire is unrelated to the blaze. The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reports that a Department of Environmental Protection crew started work Friday to fill the sinkhole near Route...
Uncertainty shadows Pennsylvania’s debate over nuclear power
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Four decades after Three Mile Island became shorthand for America’s worst commercial nuclear power accident, financial rescues of nuclear power plants are stirring the highest levels of government. In Pennsylvania, nuclear power plant owners have been working for two years to build support for the kind of...
Pennsylvania to figure high in Vatican abuse summit this week
Fallout from last summer’s Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse is settling 4,500 miles away. When Catholic leaders gather in Rome this week for an international summit on sexual abuse scandals that have plagued the church, there will be a distinctive Pennsylvania presence — both among the assembled...
Man convicted of 2nd-degree murder in deaths of mother, son
WILLIAMSPORT — A man has been convicted of second-degree murder in a Halloween night 2016 home invasion in central Pennsylvania that left a mother and son slain. Jurors in Lycoming County also convicted 37-year-old Joseph Sentore Coleman Jr. on Friday of robbery, conspiracy and attempted robbery in the deaths of...
Penn State’s THON poised to raise millions to fight childhood cancerVideo
Penn State University students are pulling in funds from communities throughout the state and the world while it hosts THON, a 46-hour dance marathon. The student-run philanthropy is “committed to enhancing the lives of children and families impacted by childhood cancer,” according to its website. “Our mission is to provide...
Study ranks Pa. in lower third of states for senior safety
Pennsylvania placed 35th among U.S. states in a study ranking them and Washington, D.C., according to safe living conditions for senior citizens. The study, which considers both physical and economic security, was released Friday by The Senior List, a site focused on the needs of baby boomers and older adults....
Student newspaper column about ‘white boys’ makes waves at Pennsylvania college
Leda Fisher wanted to start a conversation. The Dickinson College senior, however, didn’t anticipate that would involve professors including it in lectures in class or that it would go viral online, with national organizations posting it to their websites. “I certainly did not expect my article to go viral,” Fisher...
150 people lose jobs as UPMC Pinnacle hospital closes in Lancaster
About 150 employees are losing their jobs with UPMC this month as the Pittsburgh-based health giant closes a hospital in Lancaster. UPMC Pinnacle, a 185-bed hospital, stopped taking new patient admissions from physicians on Friday. Scheduled surgeries and procedures and emergency room referrals will continue as needed through 7 a.m....
