Pennsylvania category, Page 80
How well a death in Pennsylvania will be investigated depends largely on where someone dies
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. STATE COLLEGE — In one Pennsylvania county, the coroner’s office relies on an autopsy facility...
Report: Pa. priest carjacked while unloading wheelchair
A priest and his passenger were carjacked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on Sunday, according to a story from CBS Philadelphia. The incident happened along the 2100 block East Somerset Street at around 8:45 p.m., the news station reported. According to police, four men approached the priest while he...
Fetterman’s doctor says he’s recovering well from stroke
John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania, released a doctor’s note Wednesday saying he is recovering well from a May stroke as he vies for an open seat in a bare-knuckle campaign against Republican rival Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has questioned Fetterman’s fitness to serve. Five months after...
Philly has spent $205 million on salaries for injured police since 2017. An audit found little is done to prevent fraud
For nearly two decades, top city officials have argued that a generous but loosely-controlled state disability benefit meant for injured Philadelphia police officers has been an easy target for abuse. But an audit of police spending, released Tuesday by City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, has found that the cost to taxpayers...
Woman who faked her kidnapping and went to Disney now faces fraud charges
PHILADELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania woman who made national headlines more than a decade ago by falsely claiming she had been kidnapped when she had actually gone to Walt Disney World is facing new charges in an alleged attempt to steal from an employer. Federal authorities have charged 51-year-old Bonnie...
Bulldozer crushes 81-year-old man to death in Lancaster County
An 81-year-old tree worker was pronounced dead after a bulldozer ran him over Monday in Lancaster County, authorities said. Walter Shirk of Ephrata was working in a wooded area of a West Cocalico Township farm when he was killed around 3:15 p.m., according to the Lancaster County Coroner’s Office. Ephrata...
GOP goes to court again over Pennsylvania mail-in ballots
HARRISBURG — The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in Pennsylvania in an effort to block some mail-in ballots — those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the return envelope — from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s...
Police: Campaign signs in Bucks County found booby-trapped with razor blades
NEWTOWN — Political signs in southeastern Pennsylvania have been found booby-trapped with razor blades, which resulted in sliced fingers for one resident, police said. Upper Makefield Township police said Sunday that a campaign sign for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro was placed without permission on someone’s property, and while trying...
Pa. Election Day 2022: A complete guide to the Nov. 8 election
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — On Nov. 8, Pennsylvanians will make their way to polling places to decide the governor’s race and U.S. Senate...
Abortion providers focus on expanding telehealth, medication access as they await outcome of Pa. governor’s race
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — When Melissa Reed became CEO of Planned Parenthood Keystone in 2016, she had one goal: to expand access to...
Families of 11 people killed in 1985 MOVE bombing never considered their deaths accidental; now Pa. officially agrees with them
PHILADELPHIA — After nearly four decades, Philadelphia has acknowledged that it was no accident when six adults and five children died in the MOVE bombing. The Medical Examiner’s Office classified as “accidental” the deaths resulting from the city’s 1985 bombing of a West Philadelphia neighborhood where MOVE, a Black liberation...
Fetterman addresses criticism over need for closed captioning during his stroke recovery
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman on Wednesday addressed recent criticism he has received for needing to use closed captioning during interviews after he suffered a stroke in May. During a Facebook Live interview with editorial members of PennLive, Fetterman said he has always been upfront about needing closed captioning...
Penn State professor among MacArthur’s 2022 ‘genius grant’ winners
A specialist in plastic waste management, artists, musicians, computer scientists, and a poet-ornithologist who advocates for Black people in nature are among this year’s 25 winners of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s prestigious fellowships known as “genius grants” that honor discipline-bending and society-changing people whose work offers...
State officials: Bigfoot isn’t lurking in Pennsylvania parks and forests; fake flyers reported
Bigfoot or no Bigfoot, the state and a local paranormal researcher are not amused by fake flyers warning state park and forest visitors about the presence of the unconfirmed, yet hugely popular, hairy hominid creature. Because the fake flyers appear to use official state letterhead, the state doesn’t want the...
4 maps show where Pa. governor candidates Mastriano, Shapiro are getting big cash
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Tens of millions of dollars from out-of-state donors and political action committees have poured into Pennsylvania to influence the...
Legislation proposed to regulate book bans in Pennsylvania school districts
A Philadelphia Democrat is working to reign in the number of book bans occurring at Pennsylvania schools as challenges continue at unprecedented rates. State Rep. Chris Rabb proposed legislation Tuesday that would establish uniform procedures for school boards to follow before they could eliminate a student’s access to a book....
Biden to hold a fundraiser for John Fetterman in Philadelphia next week
PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden will hold a fundraiser with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman in Philadelphia next week to boost his campaign in a tight and closely watched Senate race that could determine control of the chamber. The Oct. 20 fundraiser in Philadelphia comes days after Senate fundraising reports...
Mandatory dates on Pa. ballot envelopes get new court ruling
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top-ranking state elections official said Tuesday a new U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding how rules for the state’s mail-in ballots had been applied in a county judge election doesn’t change her agency’s guidance about counting them. Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman said county elections officials...
Fight for Black voters intensifies in close Pa. Senate race
PHILADELPHIA — As Sheila Armstrong grew emotional in recounting how her brother and nephew were killed in Philadelphia, Dr. Mehmet Oz — sitting next to her inside a Black church, their chairs arranged a bit like his former daytime TV show set — placed a comforting hand on her shoulder....
Carbon monoxide leak at Pa. day care center injures dozens of children, staff
ALLENTOWN — A carbon monoxide leak at a Pennsylvania day care center sent more than two dozen children and several adults to hospitals early Tuesday, some of them unconscious, but none of the injuries were considered serious, authorities said. Emergency responders went to the Happy Smiles Learning Center in Allentown,...
Pennsylvania school district cancels Halloween parades due to inclusivity, safety concerns
A Pennsylvania school district in Montgomery County has decided to cancel Halloween parades at elementary schools and it’s due to safety and inclusivity concerns, according to reports. The Lower Merion School District has hosted Halloween parades for more than 50 years, but that might have at least temporarily come to...
Box covering Columbus statue sports colors of Italian flag
PHILADELPHIA — A statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia remains hidden by a plywood box while its fate is decided in the courts, but the box has now been painted with the colors of the Italian flag. City officials told the news station KYW that they painted the box covering...
Why doesn’t James Franklin show up on Penn State’s list of highest-paid employees?
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. The Penn State Transparency Tracker is an ongoing effort by Spotlight PA to document and...
Roe warriors: Supreme Court abortion ruling spurs increase in women registering to vote
Bethel Park’s Erin Burlew switched her party registration from Republican to Democrat a day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “Our parties need to meet in the middle, but instead the (Republicans) have gone extreme,” the former longtime Republican said, explaining that she leans to the left...
Some say radon legislation in Pa. comes down to politics; others say it’s the money
State Sen. Wayne Fontana didn’t mince words. When it comes to getting a law passed requiring radon testing in schools, “I think it’s going to take a tragedy of some sort,” said Fontana, a Democrat from Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood. He was alluding to a 2019 fatal fire at an Erie...
