Pennsylvania category, Page 53
Jail where murderer Danilo Cavalcante escaped plans to wall off yard, make other upgrades
The Pennsylvania jail from which convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante brazenly escaped, eluding searchers for two weeks, plans to enclose its exercise yards with walls and a roof and make inmates wear brighter uniforms, along with other security improvements. The Chester County jail board unanimously approved plans Wednesday to fully enclose...
Republican David McCormick is expected to announce he’s entering Pa.’s U.S. Senate race
HARRISBURG — Republican David McCormick is expected to announce Thursday that he will enter Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race and make his second bid for the office, this time to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after losing in last year’s crowded Republican primary. McCormick’s aides have sent invites to a...
Pa. Senate passes bill allowing more medical marijuana growers to sell directly to patients
The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow all of the state’s medical marijuana growers and processors to sell their products directly to patients, with several senators speculating that the bill could — and should — become a vehicle for further opening up the commonwealth’s marijuana laws....
John Fetterman offers to wear suit in Senate if House ‘jagoffs’ avoid government shutdown
As chaos within the Republican ranks of the GOP-controlled U.S. House pushes the federal government closer to a shutdown, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has offered the opposition a sartorial olive branch. On Wednesday, Fetterman, who has been the target of Republican attacks over his insistence on wearing shorts and hoodies...
Pennsylvania’s Senate wants an earlier 2024 presidential primary, partly to have a say on nominees
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved a bill Wednesday to move up the state’s 2024 primary election by five weeks to March 19, aiming to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover and give voters more of a say in deciding presidential nominees. The bill passed, 45-2, although...
Acting Temple University president JoAnne A. Epps dies after falling ill on stage
PHILADELPHIA — Temple University acting president JoAnne A. Epps died Tuesday shortly after becoming ill on stage during a memorial service, officials said, describing her loss as a gut punch and struggling through emotion as they recalled her nearly four decades of service. Epps was attending a memorial service at...
Shapiro enacts automatic voter registration for Pennsylvanians registering at DMV
Pennsylvania will now automatically register voters when they obtain driver’s licenses and official identification cards at state branches of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the new autonomic voter registration for Pennsylvania residents that goes into effect Tuesday. Pennsylvania residents who obtain or renew their driver’s license...
5 former Pennsylvania governors call for open primaries; ‘it’s the right thing and smart thing to do’
Pennsylvania’s five former governors are calling for the state to end its generations-old practice of limiting participation in primary elections to Republicans and Democrats. In a letter, Govs. Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker, Ed Rendell, Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf call for having Pennsylvania join the 43 other states that allow...
Pa. Lottery’s big winners would get to choose if they want to remain anonymous
Pennsylvania Lottery players could choose to remain anonymous after cashing in a winning ticket that carries a prize of at least $100,000 under legislation that passed the state Senate on Monday. The chamber voted 45-0 to send a bill to the House of Representatives that would limit the required information...
U.S. Senate loosens dress code, scoring win for casually dressed Fetterman
The U.S. Senate has ended its informal dress code rules, allowing senators to wear whatever they wish while in the upper chamber. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer quietly directed the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms to stop enforcing the chamber’s informal dress code for lawmakers, according to Axios. The new rule...
Input sought on how American marten will return to Pennsylvania woods
The American marten is a step closer to being reintroduced to the state’s woodlands after the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners on Saturday approved the release of a draft 10-year strategic plan. The commissioners will accept comments on the 125-page plan until Nov. 15. The plan outlines how to relocate...
Pa. innovation is focused in Pittsburgh, State College, Philadelphia as other areas miss out
(The Center Square) — Pennsylvania could become a national leader in innovation — if the support is there and state leaders embrace reform. “Innovation matters so much to economic performance, yet the state’s innovation drift is resulting in a broader economic drift,” Brookings Metro Senior Fellow Mark Muro told legislators...
9 juveniles who escaped from a detention center in Pennsylvania are in custody
MORGANTOWN — Nine teenagers who escaped from a detention center in Pennsylvania after overpowering staff and crawling under a fence were captured less than 12 hours later, state police said Monday. “It probably was planned, but poorly planned,” said Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David Beohm. Beohm said the first four...
Pa. high school football player dies after collapsing on field, family says
Jersey Shore senior football player Max Engle has died, according to a heartbreaking statement from his family that was shared on the school district’s Facebook page Saturday. The news comes just more than a week after Engle collapsed on the field during his team’s game against Selinsgrove. In its statement...
Republican David McCormick plans to run for U.S. Senate again in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Republican David McCormick is expected to announce his second bid for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, according to people familiar with his plans, taking on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after narrowly losing an expensive and bruising GOP primary last year to a Donald Trump-endorsed rival. McCormick, 58, has strong...
DA asks judge to revoke Philly Officer Mark Dial’s bail in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday asked a judge to revoke the bail of Police Officer Mark Dial, who was charged with murder last week in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry. Dial, a five-year veteran of the force, is accused of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and...
Pa. lawmakers look to thwart ‘grinch bots’ from price gouging concert tickets
HARRISBURG — Buying tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour proved a fiasco for the pop star’s legion of fans, largely blamed on computer software leveraged by scalpers to circumvent purchasing limits, snatch up tickets at face value and resell them online at an enormous markup. Tickets originally priced from $49...
Escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante captured after 2 weeks on the run
POTTSTOWN — A murderer who brazenly escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured Wednesday in the woods by a team of tactical officers, bringing an end to an intense search that terrified residents as the fugitive broke into homes for food, changed his appearance, and stole a van and rifle...
Democratic Philadelphia state lawmaker joins race for Pennsylvania attorney general
HARRISBURG — Democratic state lawmaker Jared Solomon said Tuesday that he will run in next year’s election for Pennsylvania attorney general, an office that has played a big role in fighting drug trafficking, suing opioid makers and defending the battleground state’s 2020 presidential election. Solomon, who is from Philadelphia, is...
Study: Pennsylvania public schools underfunded by $6.2 billion
Pennsylvania needs to increase its investment in public schools by $6.2 billion to help students meet graduation rate goals and proficiency on state exams, according to a school finance expert. Penn State assistant professor Matthew Kelly told a panel of policymakers the figure was his conservative estimate of what was...
Escaped Pennsylvania inmate still believed to be within specific perimeter, police sayVideo
POTTSTOWN — Escaped murderer Danelo Souza Cavalcante is still believed to be within a search perimeter in a rural stretch of southeastern Pennsylvania hours after he stole a rifle from a garage and fled a homeowner’s gunfire, authorities said Tuesday. Heavily armed police descended on the South Coventry Township area...
Pennsylvania removes email database of public employees
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds the powerful to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania officials have removed a searchable, online database of state employee emails, narrowing the ways the public can reach the people who...
Escaped murderer still at large slips out of search area, changes appearance, tries to contact ex-co-workers
PHOENIXVILLE — Authorities searched Monday for an escaped murderer who has eluded capture since breaking out of a southeastern Pennsylvania prison a week and a half ago after they said over the weekend he slipped out of the search area, changed his appearance, stole a dairy delivery van and tried...
Police announce 2 more confirmed sightings of escaped murderer on the run in Pennsylvania
WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Police on Saturday reported two more confirmed sightings of an escaped murderer on the run for more than a week in southeast Pennsylvania amid a search by hundreds of law enforcement officers. Danelo Souza Cavalcante, 34, escaped from the Chester County Prison while awaiting transfer to...
Latest sighting of fugitive killer in Pennsylvania spurs closure of popular botanical garden
WEST CHESTER, Pa. — One of the country’s top botanical gardens has been closed indefinitely after reports that an escaped murderer on the run in southeast Pennsylvania may have once again been spotted on the property. When Longwood Gardens closed Thursday night, people who remained on the property were told...
