Pennsylvania category, Page 45
Elementary students invited to enter ‘Litter Hawk’ youth award program
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is accepting submissions through the end of January for its annual “Litter Hawk” Youth Award Program. Students in kindergarten through grade 4 are invited to submit a poster, fifth-graders can submit an essay and sixth-graders can submit a video. The theme for this year’s contest is “Open...
Pennsylvania case at center of challenge to police use of Google search data
Civil liberties advocates are mounting a new challenge to the use by police of Google search data for help in solving criminal cases, as the practice draws greater scrutiny nationwide. After a Pennsylvania woman was raped in 2016, police submitted a search warrant to Alphabet’s Google for information about users...
As 2024 election approaches, voting officials worry Pa. isn’t prepared for misinformation
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 — As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the people who run voting in Pennsylvania say the commonwealth must prepare to be at the center...
Fight at Philadelphia train station ends with man being fatally struck by train
PHILADELPHIA — A man involved in a fight at a Philadelphia train station was killed when he fell onto the tracks and was struck by a train, authorities said. The fight at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority station occurred around 4:30 p.m. Thursday when Chaz Wearing, 40, and another man...
As more Pa. residents rack up medical debt, hope hinges on a state solution
An innovative plan to help Pennsylvanians with crippling medical debt is delayed but not dead, supporters say. The plan calls for using state funds to buy unpaid medical bills from hospitals and health care providers, which are commonly sold at a steep discount. A $10 to $15 million investment by...
Poor schools prepared to return to court if Pennsylvania budget falls short on funding plan
HARRISBURG — The poor schools that won a landmark school funding court case in Pennsylvania last year are prepared to go back to court if the Legislature and governor don’t adequately address shortfalls as key junctures approach, the schools’ lawyers said Thursday. Public schools in Pennsylvania are currently underfunded by...
In 2024, Shapiro faces calls for billions for schools, a presidential election and wary lawmakers
HARRISBURG — In 2024, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro could face a more complicated sophomore year in charge of Pennsylvania after his first year brought a highway collapse, a budget stalemate and friction with allies and adversaries as he navigated the battleground state’s political divides. He is under pressure to respond...
Senate leader Kim Ward hopes 2024 brings big change to Pa. education system, minimum wage hike
Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward looks forward to 2024 as a year that will deliver a seismic change to Pennsylvania’s education system, a long-awaited boost in the state’s minimum wage and stronger laws against human trafficking. In remarks made after being re-elected for a second year as the chamber’s...
Lawsuit seeks to remove Pa. Rep. Scott Perry from 2024 ballot
A former Pennsylvania congressional candidate filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to remove Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry from the state primary ballot, arguing that Perry’s role challenging the results of the 2020 election should make him ineligible to run for office. Gene Stilp filed the suit as a voter in...
New year means a pay raise for Gov. Josh Shapiro, his Cabinet and judges
The arrival of 2024 brings a 3.5% pay raise for Gov. Josh Shapiro and other executive branch officials and judges across Pennsylvania. Under state law that provides for automatic pay hikes for the governor and other top officials, Shapiro’s salary will increase to $237,679 - about $8,000 more than he...
90 dogs rescued from Bedford County home in ‘unimaginable scene’
State police were called to Bedford County home Sunday where they found 90 dogs, most packed in kennels stacked on top of each other in an “unimaginable” scene, officials said. Volunteers from eight humane societies were called to help rescue the dogs, which included breeds from Pomeranians to Beagles to...
Pennsylvania ‘porch pirating’ measure, New Jersey ‘Seinfeld Bill’ among laws taking effect in 2024
NEW YORK — The new year begins with a series of new laws going into effect Monday throughout the Eastern U.S. Perhaps most notable is New Jersey’s bipartisan “Seinfeld Bill” requiring Garden State telemarketers to provide the name, mailing address and telephone number of the company for which they’re working...
Sen. John Fetterman says he thought news about his depression treatment would end his political careerVideo
WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman acknowledges having “dark conversations” about harming himself before he hit “the emergency brake” and sought treatment for depression. He remembers thinking about his three school-age kids. “I can’t be a blueprint for my children. I can’t let them be left alone or not to understand...
In Pennsylvania, any challenge to Trump being on the ballot must go through the courts
Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said Friday he does not have the authority to remove former President Donald Trump from the ballot and any such challenge here must be done through the courts. “Pennsylvania’s Election Code does not give me, as secretary of the commonwealth, the authority to reject a nomination...
3 dead, 1 injured in central Pa. stabbings, police say
Police are investigating several stabbings Thursday in Hanover, York County, that left three people dead and a fourth injured. Hanover Borough Police Department responded at 10:18 a.m. where they said they encountered a 27-year-old Hanover man outside a residence with severe injuries. Police said the man, who was taken to...
Automatic pay raises boost Pa. lawmakers’ base salary to over $106K
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 — Pennsylvania lawmakers’ base salary recently rose to more than $106,000, prompting a fresh round of criticism about the annual automatic pay bump. Here’s...
More cold-case sexual assault charges for man accused of 2003 Philadelphia rape and slaying
PHILADELPHIA — A man accused of slashing people with a large knife in recent weeks while riding a bicycle on a trail in Philadelphia and then charged in the cold-case rape and slaying of a medical student has now been charged in several other high-profile unsolved sexual assaults. Elias Diaz,...
Pa. dog license fee hike takes a nip out of owners’ wallets to pay for more wardens
The new year could bring the return of more frequent canvassing of neighborhoods by state dog wardens, checking to make sure dogs have current licenses and rabies vaccinations. That is only one change the new year will usher in as an updated dog law, intended to keep pets and the...
Gettysburg College director killed in crash after hitting a tractor-trailer, coroner says
A woman who was killed when her car struck a tractor-trailer Friday afternoon on Route 15 was a Gettysburg College administrator, according to the school’s student newspaper. The Adams County coroner on Tuesday also provided additional details about the collision in Latimore Township, which killed Sara Gifford, 35. The crash...
Inside the Pa. court case pitting a genealogist against Ancestry.com
This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here. What began in 2022 as a one-paragraph public records request has morphed into a full-blown court fight over who owns digital copies...
Pennsylvanians ‘should brace for a costly winter,’ warns report
While winter forecasts predict mild weather mixed in with snow, cold temperatures at night will prompt many a household to turn up their thermostats. While how much one pays for heat depends on the type of energy one uses, a recent report has found how Pennsylvania is among the states...
Pa. education bill requires basic financial literacy for high school students
Balancing a checkbook. The basics of taking out a business loan. The impact of a home mortgage. For the average high school student, these don’t sound like exciting concepts. And in adulthood, they don’t get much more exciting. But they are essential. And state legislators want all high school students...
State, federal legislators look to keep AM radio a standard, free feature in vehicles
In recent years, some car manufacturers, including Ford, Tesla and Volkswagen, have quietly proposed removing AM radio from some vehicles. Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters think it’s the tip of a subscription-based iceberg and are hoping recent bipartisan federal legislation can stop it in its tracks. “The best...
Probe: Doomed Philadelphia news helicopter hit trees fast, broke up, then burned, killing 2
SHAMONG, N.J. — A Philadelphia television news helicopter returning from an assignment photographing Christmas lights this week plunged into a southern New Jersey forest “at very high speed,” broke apart, then caught fire after it crashed, killing both occupants, a federal crash investigator said Friday. Todd Gunther, an investigator with...
Administrative election errors rise as Pa. counties struggle to keep voting officials
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. In mid-October, Greene County, in southwest Pennsylvania, notified voters that some mail ballots for the November election listed two races for magisterial district judges, though voters were only supposed...
