Pennsylvania category, Page 24
Casey and McCormick face off in 2nd debateVideo
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican challenger David McCormick meet for their second debate Tuesday evening. The 60-minute debate will air starting at 7 p.m., hosted by WPVI -TV in Philadelphia. Watch live from ABC News Live:...
Lawyers told to apologize for blasting recorded screams in a Philly neighborhood
PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers who blared a looped recording of a woman screaming as a test in their civil rights lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia must apologize in person and in writing to residents where the loud test took place, a federal judge ordered last week. U.S. Judge John F....
Supreme Court tosses out decision letting 18-year-olds carry guns during emergencies in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed out a decision allowing 18-year-olds to openly carry guns during emergencies in Pennsylvania. There were no noted dissents in the high court’s brief order. It lets stand a ban on people aged 18 to 20 carrying guns in public during a declared...
Nominations sought for Pennsylvania’s 2026 Teacher of the Year
The state Department of Education invites residents to nominate candidates for the state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year. The Teacher of the Year program celebrates educators who’ve made significant contributions in their field. Nominations will be taken through Dec. 16. Finalists are recognized in Harrisburg each fall. The 2025 Teacher...
Casey, McCormick debating again after combative 1st meeting in battleground Senate race
HARRISBURG — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Republican challenger David McCormick meet for their second debate Tuesday evening, with control of the Senate on the line and tens of millions of dollars pouring into the race every week. During their first debate two weeks ago, Casey tried...
1-seat Democratic margin has Pa. House control up for grabs in fall voting
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s legislative Republicans would like to pass additional voter ID requirements, restrict abortion and make election changes to improve their odds of winning judicial races. Democrats want to bump up the state’s minimum wage and widen civil rights for LGBTQ people. In the closely divided General Assembly, those...
Pennsylvania voters to decide key statewide races in fall election
HARRISBURG — One job going before voters across Pennsylvania this fall keeps a watch over government agencies. A second handles the state’s money. And the third oversees hundreds of prosecutors. Republican incumbents Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Auditor General Tim DeFoor are running to keep their seats, while the race to...
McCormick narrows gap with Casey in Pennsylvania, new poll shows
PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania’s nationally watched U.S. Senate race is tightening, with Republican Dave McCormick now just 4 percentage points behind Democratic incumbent Sen. Bob Casey, according to a new poll by The Inquirer, The New York Times, and Siena College. About 48% of respondents said they supported Casey, who is...
Children and adults transported to Pa. hospital after ingesting ‘toxic mushrooms’
PEACH BOTTOM TOWNSHIP — Children and adults were transported to a hospital in Pennsylvania Friday night after being sickened by mushrooms, authorities said. Emergency medical personnel responded to a report around 9:30 p.m. of 11 people becoming ill after ingesting the mushrooms in Peach Bottom Township, the Delta-Cardiff Volunteer Company...
Judge blocks vote to remove Penn State trustee
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania judge has blocked Penn State’s Board of Trustees from voting to remove a member who is suing the board over access to financial information, calling the vote potentially “retaliatory.” Board member Barry Fenchak, an investment advisor, believes the board has been paying unusually high advisory fees...
Cornel West to appeal after judge denies spot on Pa. presidential ballot
A federal judge on Thursday said third-party presidential candidate Cornel West cannot have his name placed on Pennsylvania’s ballot — despite the court’s concerns over how state election laws treat minor-party candidates. “Common sense tells the court that we are less than one month from a presidential general election,” wrote...
The (basically) secret list of campaign donations by no-bid contractors
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Every year, government agencies in Pennsylvania award contracts — sometimes worth millions of dollars — without going through the traditional bidding process meant to ensure...
Judge blocks Penn State board from voting to remove a trustee who has sought financial records
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania judge has blocked Penn State’s Board of Trustees from voting to remove a member who is suing the board over access to financial information, calling the vote potentially “retaliatory.” Board member Barry Fenchak, an investment advisor, believes the board has been paying unusually high advisory fees...
Pa. legislators approve bill outlawing sharing of deepfake porn
HARRISBURG — Legislation making it illegal to share deepfake pornography generated with artificial intelligence and without the subject’s consent cleared both chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Wednesday. Senate Bill 1213, which also outlaws AI-generated child pornography, moves to the desk of Gov. Josh Shapiro to be signed into...
Pennsylvania state system seeks $40.3M funding boost, eyeing 7th year of frozen tuition
The board governing Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities is asking for a 6.5% increase, or $40.3 million more, in next year’s state budget. This increase could allow for a seventh annual tuition freeze. The request for 2025-26, approved unanimously by the State System’s Board of Governors Thursday, would bring the state...
Trump is counting on Pennsylvania’s rural voters to win. Will it be enough?
EPHRATA, Pa. — Rob Warihay is a busy man. He farms 4,000 acres from Dover, Delaware, to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and he owns a construction company based in his home, Lancaster County. As he waited for his daughter to show her dairy beef steer at the Ephrata Fair last week, he...
Twin boys born conjoined celebrate 1st birthday after separation surgery
PHILADELPHIA — Twin brothers who were born conjoined recently celebrated their first birthday after undergoing successful separation surgery. Amari and Javar Ruffin, whose family lives in Philadelphia, were born via cesarean section on Sept. 29, 2023. The brothers — who shared part of their sternum, diaphragm, abdominal wall and liver...
Pa. bill would give Uber, other app drivers benefits, but critics say they would lose more
A bill in the state Senate would guarantee app-based service workers a limited set of benefits, but labor advocates say drivers would ultimately lose out amid an ongoing legal battle over how those workers are classified. The bill would require network companies that employ drivers and couriers through phone-based applications...
Accepting cash for entry to school events may become a requirement in Pennsylvania
Only having cash to pay for a ticket to a school-sponsored activity would no longer stop anyone from gaining entry under legislation that passed the state Senate on Monday. The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Cris Dush, would require schools to accept cash as an optional means of buying a...
Chester County dad, sons poached ‘dozens and dozens’ of trophy bucks, game commission charges
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced that three Pennsylvania residents have been charged with poaching after a two-year investigation. A total of 71 charges have been filed against Carl Nelson III, 70, of Downingtown; and his sons Carroll Nelson IV, 44, and Mark Nelson, 40, of West Chester. In a...
EPA reaches $4.2M settlement over 2019 explosion and fire at a Philadelphia refinery
PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a tentative $4.2 settlement with a firm that owned and operated a major East Coast refinery that was shuttered after an explosion and fire in 2019. The deal with Philadelphia Energy Solutions was announced Tuesday. There will now be a 30-day...
Private school vouchers opposed by more than half of Pa. voters, poll shows
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Most Pennsylvania voters don’t support using taxpayer dollars to create a private school voucher program, a new Spotlight PA poll shows, an idea...
Cornel West argues to be placed on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot
Cornel West, the provocative, left-wing scholar, appeared via video in a federal courtroom in Pittsburgh on Monday seeking to have his name added to the Nov. 5 presidential ballot. West filed a complaint last month alleging discrimination against the Pennsylvania Department of State for blocking him from appearing on the...
Pennsylvania high court declines to decide mail-in ballot issues before election
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has declined to step in and immediately decide issues related to mail-in ballots in the commonwealth with early voting already under way in the few weeks before the Nov. 5 election. The commonwealth’s highest court on Saturday night rejected a request by voting rights...
Enthusiastic supporters greet Trump at Butler County return
Jacki Quinto traveled more than 1,300 miles from Amarillo, Texas, to see former President Donald Trump return to the Butler County site where a bullet grazed his right ear in an attempted assassination in July. “I think it’s very important to be here now,” she said, adding she wasn’t surprised...
