Pennsylvania category, Page 240
How Pennsylvania achieved its steepest decline in state prison population
Pennsylvania cut its prison population by just over a thousand inmates during 2018 — a figure equivalent to the population of one entire state prison. “The 2018 calendar year reduction represents the single largest year-over-year decrease of inmate population on record,” Gov. Wolf said in a statement that credited the...
Pa. state police seize more than $66 million worth of drugs in 2018
State troopers seized more than $66 million worth of illegal drugs from communities around Pennsylvania in 2018. That includes nearly 200 pounds of heroin and fentanyl, both of which are contributing to drug overdose deaths around the state and country, according to a news release. In the last three months...
Pa. bar offering reward for stolen party bus
BETHLEHEM, Pa — A Pennsylvania bar is offering a $2,500 reward to get back its stolen party bus. Bethlehem police say the owners of the Revel Social Lounge and Restaurant reported the black mini bus stolen from its parking lot Thursday. Police say the bus can hold 15 passengers, and...
3-hour ‘standoff’ ends when homeowner returns from walk
BETHLEHEM — A nearly three-hour standoff with police at a Bethlehem Township home turned out to be at an empty house. The incident Saturday night began when the father of a man who lives at the house called 911 and said he thought his son had been shot by his...
Clean Slate law offers offenders a fresh start without public criminal record
Pennsylvania state court officials are preparing a massive initiative that could pave the way for courts across the country to offer people convicted of minor offenses a fresh start outside the shadow of their past. In late June, Pennsylvania officials plan to begin running a computer program that will flag...
Priest who abused boys, made 1 confess, sentenced to prison
BROOKVILLE, Pa. — A Pennsylvania Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two boys and making one of them say confession after the assaults was sentenced Friday to 2½ to 14 years in prison. David Lee Poulson was sentenced in Jefferson County after pleading guilty in October to...
Second priest charged in grand jury sexual abuse probe heads to prison
A Catholic priest from the Erie Diocese on Friday became the second priest sentenced to prison in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that detailed allegations of child sexual abuse against 300 Catholic priests and cover-ups by church leaders. A Jefferson County Common Pleas Court Judge sentenced David...
DEP must take a closer look at air-quality permits for Mariner East processing facility
The processing equipment designed to handle natural gas liquids from Sunoco’s Mariner East pipelines was unlawfully issued an air-quality permit, according to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. The board ruled on Wednesday that the state’s Department of Environmental Protection erred in assessing multiple projects at Sunoco’s Marcus Hook, Pa., facility...
Man charged over fatal punch in dog walker dispute
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police have charged a 24-year-old man with throwing a punch to the head that led to the death of another dog walker. Matthew Oropeza surrendered to police Thursday. He’s charged with involuntary manslaughter, simple assault and reckless endangerment of another person. Police say 38-year-old Drew Justice and...
Lawyer: Pa. woman’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off breath test
BERWICK, Pa. — An attorney for a Pennsylvania woman charged with drunken driving hinted his client’s coat-chewing could’ve thrown off the results of her breath test. The (Bloomsburg) Press Enterprise reports the argument came during a hearing Tuesday for 47-year-old Jana Moschgat. An officer who pulled Moschgat over testified she...
Pa. school board votes to postpone policy to arm teachers
TAMAQUA, Pa. — School board members in Pennsylvania have voted to postpone a policy allowing teachers to carry guns in school. In a 2-1 vote Tuesday evening, the Tamaqua school board’s Security Committee says it will suspend the implementation of the policy pending a court hearing on its validity. Both...
Much pared down, Penn State frat death case plods ahead
HARRISBURG — A string of guilty pleas has left just five defendants still fighting charges in the hazing-related death of a pledge at a Penn State fraternity two years ago. The case centers on what occurred at the Beta Theta Pi house in February 2017, when 19-year-old Tim Piazza of...
Naked driver arrested after police chase through Del., Pa.
PHILADELPHIA — Police used spike strips to help apprehend a naked motorist who led officers on a chase through Delaware and Pennsylvania. Delaware State Police began pursuing the vehicle after it was spotted traveling south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 on Wednesday evening. The vehicle switched direction several...
Murder suspect still missing after chase in Philly; 3 officers hurt in crash
PHILADELPHIA — The manhunt for a “person of interest” in several Delaware murders wreaked havoc Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia, as three officers chasing the man by car were hurt during a crash on Interstate 95, the suspect subsequently crashed his car into a SEPTA bus, and four schools were placed...
Daisyfield sausage recalled, may contain rubber
An Ohio company is recalling about 1,719 pounds of Daisyfield brand raw pork sausage products that may be contaminated with rubber. J. H. Routh Packing Co. of Sandusky issued the recall for seven varieties of the ground sausage products that were produced from Jan. 1 through Friday and were distributed...
Police: Woman breaks into Pa. police station, wanted to date cop
WYOMING, Pa. — Police say a woman smashed her way into a closed Pennsylvania police station looking for an officer she’d been sexually harassing ever since he arrested her. Police say 27-year-old Ashley Keister of Nanticoke used a large cigarette butt receptacle to smash glass doors into the West Wyoming...
Pennsylvania criticized for how it handles elder abuse cases
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state watchdog agency is criticizing how county-level agencies investigate thousands of complaints they receive about elder abuse and how the state ensures complaints are investigated adequately. Among the shortcomings identified by the Office of State Inspector General were failures to properly investigate complaints under timelines required...
Pennsylvania’s opioid disaster plan turns 1. Time to celebrate?
On Jan. 10, 2018, Gov. Tom Wolf dusted off the state’s disaster declaration manual, usually reserved for marshaling government resources for a natural calamity, to tackle a man-made crisis: opioid addiction, overdoses and deaths. On Monday, members of the Democratic governor’s administration gathered at the Harrisburg headquarters of the Pennsylvania...
DA: Girl made video of dad coaching her to lie about assault
A terrified 13-year-old girl secretly recorded video of her father coaching her to lie about having been physically assaulted by him — and managed to slip the evidence to prosecutors on the eve of his trial in Pennsylvania, authorities said Tuesday. The videos show Deyon Taylor, 56, instructing his daughter...
Gov. Wolf sets goals for Pennsylvania to cut greenhouse gases
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf is stepping up the fight against climate change and setting targets to slash Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades. Wolf, a Democrat, said Tuesday that he’s issuing an executive order that commits his administration to meeting certain targets. The Center for Climate and...
Police identify 3 killed in apparent murder-suicide
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Authorities have identified three people who died in an apparent double murder-suicide in a Pennsylvania apartment as a couple and their young son. Police say the bodies of 49-year-old Marvin Caddell, his 44-year-old estranged wife, Nightflower Staats, and their 7-year-old son were found Saturday in Middletown. All...
Commission hears dispute over school’s ‘Redskins’ nickname
LANGHORNE — A long-running dispute over a Pennsylvania school district’s “Redskins” nickname for its sports teams has been taken up by a state commission. Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission attorney Lisa Knight argues the Bucks County district wouldn’t use a nickname based on any other racial group, so they should not...
Storm prompts vehicle, speed restrictions on northern interstates
Predictions of ice-coated roadways late Monday and early Tuesday have prompted officials to reduce the speed limit and temporarily ban motorcycles and some trucks on interstates in Pennsylvania’s northern tier. Between 11 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday, traffic restrictions will be in place on:Interstate 80, east of the junction...
New England kidnapping, sex suspect caught in Pennsylvania
HARTFORD, Vt. — A man forced a woman and her child into a car in New Hampshire, drove to Vermont, sexually assaulted the woman, and was apprehended in Pennsylvania after a manhunt and car chase, authorities said. Everett Simpson, 41, forced a woman and her child into their car outside...
Husband dies while trying to rescue wife from burning Pa. home
UPPER DARBY — A man who tried to rescue his wife from their burning Pennsylvania home died after he was overcome by smoke, unaware that she had safely fled the residence. Authorities say the fire broke out around 1:45 p.m. Saturday in the garage of a home in Upper Darby,...
