Pennsylvania category, Page 3
Pennsylvania lawmakers look to end budget stalemate, sealed with concession by Democrats on climate
HARRISBURG — Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services could soon start flowing after months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday took up a roughly $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro was expected to sign key budget bills by...
Successful lawsuit by Pa., other states, compels SNAP funds’ immediate release
Pennsylvania residents who rely on SNAP benefits and did not receive the monthly infusion of funds this month should be seeing their benefits cards replenished as early as Friday. That was the message an emphatic Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered during a press conference in Philadelphia on Friday. Shapiro said his...
Horrific ‘Murder in a Choir Loft’ cold case now solved, investigators say
Carol Ann Dougherty was on her way to meet friends at the library in her small Pennsylvania hometown on an October day in 1962. The 9-year-old never made it there. She stopped, apparently to say a short prayer at St. Mark Roman Catholic Church, parking her bicycle outside. When she...
Democrats look to build on election wins in Pa., elsewhere as GOP refocuses
Democrats racked up victories in high-profile races across the country Tuesday night, prompting many on the left to view the wins as a repudiation of President Donald Trump and something to build on going into next year’s pivotal midterm elections. Some top Republicans downplayed the results, while others said Tuesday’s...
2 Pennsylvania counties had to replace poll books in the middle of Election Day voting
HARRISBURG — Two Pennsylvania counties had to replace poll books at all polling places in the middle of in-person voting during Tuesday’s election because of what officials described as mistakes made in creating the voter data. Affected voters deciding local races and whether to give three Democratic justices another term...
Pa. Supreme Court retention race called in favor of 3 Democratic justices
Voters overwhelmingly chose to retain three Democratic justices on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, according to results posted just an hour after polls closed. Both the Democratic National Committee and NBC called the race by 9:15 p.m. in the justices’ favor, and the Associated Press later confirmed the projection. The...
Trump, Shapiro weigh in on Pa. Supreme Court retention elections
President Donald Trump took to social media Sunday night to urge Pennsylvanians to vote against retaining three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court. In separate posts on Truth Social, Trump also endorsed numerous members of Congress, including U.S. Reps. Mike Kelly and Guy Reschenthaler of Western Pennsylvania, although they...
Faith leaders condemn Pennsylvania Halloween parade float with an Auschwitz sign
Jewish and Catholic faith leaders condemned a Halloween parade float that carried a replica of the gate to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz as the designer behind it apologized, saying he made it “with no ill intent.” The replica gate, topped with the sign, “Arbeit macht frei” (work will...
Courts order ICE not to deport State College man who spent 43 years in prison before murder case overturned
PHILADELPHIA — Two separate courts have ordered immigration officials not to deport a Pennsylvania man who spent four decades in prison before his murder conviction was overturned. Subramanyam Vedam, 64, is currently detained at a short-term holding center in Alexandria, Louisiana, that’s equipped with an airstrip for deportations. Vedam, known...
Democrats feared Republican efforts to oust Pa. Supreme Court justices. They spent significantly more on the race
The three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices on the ballot this year, and the Democratic-leaning groups supporting them, appear to have raised and spent exponentially more money than the Republican-backed groups working to oust them. As of Oct. 20, more than $14 million had been raised in the retention race by...
Sen. Fetterman: ‘I’m representing 13 million Pennsylvanians, not just Democrats’Video
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman noted Saturday night on Fox News Channel’s “My View with Lara Trump,” hosted by the president’s daughter-in-law, that he’ll “get grief” for sitting down with her. Still, he said, having conversations is “really important.” “We can’t ever collectively turn our back to others and people are...
Pennsylvania criminal case highlights problems with 3rd-party voter registration drives
This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, workers with an Arizona-based consulting firm conducting a voter registration drive tried to submit fake registrations in Pennsylvania in an effort to earn more...
Why tracking spending in this year’s critical Pa. Supreme Court retention races is so difficult
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — How much are state and national groups spending to flood the airwaves, fill mailboxes, and buy up...
5 things to know about Obamacare open enrollment
Steep discounts for millions of Americans on Obamacare won’t expire until Dec. 31, but an exodus from the government health insurance program is expected to start Saturday when open enrollment kicks off for 2026. Nearly all people browsing Affordable Care Act plans will see higher prices than last year because...
A man who spent 43 years in prison before his conviction was overturned now faces deportation
PHILADELPHIA — After waiting more than four decades to clear his name in a friend’s 1980 killing, Subramanyam Vedam was set to walk free from a Pennsylvania prison this month. Vedam and Thomas Kinser were the 19-year-old children of Penn State University faculty. Vedam was the last person seen with...
Who are the 3 Pa. Supreme Court justices running for retention?
When the three state Supreme Court justices on November’s ballot initially ran for a spot on the bench 10 years ago, it was highly partisan and the most expensive judicial race in American history. Running for retention 10 years later, they hoped, would be different. It is not. Justices Christine...
1 dead, 6 injured in shooting at HBCU Lincoln University’s homecomingVideo
At least one person was killed and six others were injured Oct. 25 when gunfire erupted during late-night homecoming festivities at Lincoln University, a historically Black college in Pennsylvania. The shooting occurred just before 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the university’s International Cultural Center, where students and alumni...
Pa. Supreme Court retention races erupt into high-stakes battle between Dems, GOP for control
Judicial retention races in Pennsylvania typically register barely a blip on the electoral radar. Not this year. With three Democratic state Supreme Court justices on November’s ballot, millions of dollars have poured in from both sides of the aisle in a furious battle for control that will have far-reaching consequences....
U.S. warns it could force some Pennsylvania rail cars out of service
WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy late Thursday warned that the department could soon force a Pennsylvania transit agency to stop using a fleet of railcars due to fire risks as he raised broad safety and financial concerns. The Federal Railroad Administration on October 1 issued an emergency order requiring...
Harrisburg mayor fined by Ethics Commission for using city dumpster for personal trash
The state Ethics Commission ordered Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams to pay a $912.70 fine for instructing city employees to deliver a city-owned dumpster to her home in 2022 for her personal use. Williams agreed to pay the fine instead of going through a hearing, which the commission said would have...
Cause of death released for Kada Scott, who was reported missing in Philadelphia
A Philadelphia woman last seen nearly three weeks ago was shot to death, health officials have confirmed. Kada Scott, 23, died of a gunshot wound to the head, and her death has been declared a homicide, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health told USA Today on Thursday. Human remains, later...
As vaccine policies shift under Trump admin, Pa. pediatricians focus on keeping patients informed
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. As federal vaccine policies and messaging shift under the Trump administration, pediatricians across Pennsylvania are working to maintain proven...
Heating bill help delayed for low-income Pennsylvanians amid federal shutdown
A program that helps low-income Pennsylvania residents pay heating bills will be delayed because of the federal government shutdown. The commonwealth’s Department of Human Services on Wednesday announced the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will begin Dec. 3, a month later than usual. The start date was pushed back...
Fetterman, McCormick back Senate-rejected plan to pay some federal workers during shutdown
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators — Republican Dave McCormick and Democrat John Fetterman — voted Thursday to pay some federal workers during the government shutdown, but the GOP measure failed to get enough support in the Senate. Democrats tried to push through a measure of their own that would have paid...
Pa. Senate passes bill to allow Pennsylvania lottery winners to remain anonymous
The state Senate passed a bill on Monday that would allow Pennsylvania lottery winners to remain anonymous when collecting a prize of $100,000 or more. The bill, introduced by Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne) with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, cleared the state Senate unanimously shortly after its unopposed approval by...
