Pennsylvania category, Page 95
Trump backs Mastriano in Pennsylvania GOP governor primary
HARRISBURG — Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for governor, siding with a far-right candidate who was outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection and has worked with determination to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Mastriano was already leading a...
Melissa Hart drops out of Pa. GOP gubernatorial field — 7 remain
Melissa Hart, the only woman in Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial primary race, announced Friday she has decided to bow out of the contest and throw her support to Lou Barletta. Her decision comes on the heels of Jake Corman’s exit from the race Thursday. He too is endorsing Barletta to be...
Candidates for Pa. governor raised $12.8M in April alone
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 — Hollywood personalities, sports magnates, deep-pocketed entrepreneurs, and other high-profile donors poured nearly $12.8 million just last month into propping...
Does buying sets of lottery balls qualify as an emergency? Allegheny County lawmaker says no
There are balls. Then there are lottery balls. And a set of those balls doesn’t come cheap. The Department of Revenue recently purchased 30 sets of lottery balls totaling 516 in all for $41,280 - or $80 a ball. While it sounds costly, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Lottery says...
Pennsylvania ranks near the top nationally in book-banning activity, report finds
PHILADELPHIA — Amid a wave of challenges nationally to books in school libraries, Pennsylvania experienced more book-banning activity from the second half of last year through this spring than almost any other state, according to a group supporting free expression in literature. A report released last month by PEN America...
Donald Trump questions Kathy Barnette’s electability in Pennsylvania Senate race
PHILADELPHIA — Former President Donald Trump jumped back into Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary, warning that the surging underdog Kathy Barnette “will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical Left Democrats.” Yet in the same statement, Trump, who has endorsed Mehmet Oz for Senate, said Barnette could...
Reports show fatal crashes increased in Pennsylvania in 2021
Traffic crashes in the U.S. are increasing at a record pace, according to the latest data estimates from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. NHTSA estimates of the first nine months of 2021 project that more than 31,700 people died in vehicle crashes from January to September 2021. That’s an...
Jake Corman drops out of Pa. governor’s race, backs Barletta as primary nears
HARRISBURG — Jake Corman, Pennsylvania’s ranking state senator and a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor said Thursday that he was ending his campaign and endorsing rival Lou Barletta, a move that comes as GOP leaders warn that leading candidate Doug Mastriano is too far right to win in a general...
Public database significantly undercounts former drug labs in Pa.
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 — The only online federal database that allows people to see whether their home or property was contaminated with toxic...
Trump’s smackdown of David McCormick shows the risks for Republicans trying a MAGA makeover
HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Standing before a wall-sized American flag at an American Legion hall here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, David McCormick talked up his background in the Army, called himself a “happy warrior,” and ticked through the reasons he wants to be Pennsylvania’s next senator: Inflation, the border, the “humiliation” of...
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey says he supports codifying abortion rights into federal law
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, long seen as a pro-life Democrat, on Tuesday said that he supports congressional efforts to codify abortion rights into federal law. In a statement, Casey said he chose to support the congressional efforts because of the leaked ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that, if enacted,...
State Sen. Kim Ward endorses Dave White in GOP primary for Pa. governor
State Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward is endorsing Republican candidate Dave White for governor a week before the May 17 primary election. In a Facebook post, the Hempfield Republican suggested that White could sway Pennsylvania swing voters and ultimately defeat his Democratic opponent in the general election. “The goal isn’t...
Poll: Kathy Barnette is neck-and-neck with Oz, McCormick in Pa. Senate race
PHILADELPHIA — Maybe money really can’t buy everything. Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Kathy Barnette now appears to be running neck-and-neck with the two big-spending front-runners, Mehmet Oz and David McCormick, just days before the May 17 primary, according to a new poll. Barnette, a conservative commentator who has run a...
Philly cheesesteak shop founder, son plead in tax fraud case
PHILADELPHIA — The founder of a Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant and one of his sons have pleaded guilty in a federal tax fraud case alleging the hiding of nearly $8 million in sales over the course of a decade. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that 83-year-old Anthony Lucidonio Sr. and 55-year-old Nicholas...
Penn State’s storied Nittany Lion shrine has history of vandalism
Penn State’s Nittany Lion remained without an ear on Monday as university police continued to ask for information regarding the alleged vandal or vandals, who also tossed red paint onto famed statue. It is not the first time the statue has been targeted since its dedication in 1942. Two years...
Penn State Nittany Lion Shrine closed as police investigate commencement weekend vandalism
The Nittany Lion Shrine was closed Sunday as Penn State police investigated several incidents of vandalism during commencement weekend. Someone broke an ear and splashed red paint on the Lion Shrine, the university said. The area is fenced off and unavailable for commencement photos. Paint was also used to vandalize...
How Pennsylvania’s abortion fight could play out across the country
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed anti-abortion bills passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature three times, and the Democrat promised to defend abortion rights as long as he is in office. That window is fast closing. Wolf steps down in January, and the fight to replace him is one of the...
Pa. not short on proposed laws concerning abortion
HARRISBURG — At least 18 bills directly relating to abortion are pending in either the Pennsylvania House or Senate, including two proposed constitutional amendments that could strengthen potential bans. Most remain dormant in committee since being introduced in the 2021-22 legislative session, however, the outcome of the Mississippi abortion case...
Attacks dominate Pennsylvania’s Senate GOP primary debate
HARRISBURG — What could be the final primary debate between Republicans running for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat devolved into a string of attacks over China, abortion and more as the candidates stretched Wednesday night for any perceived advantage in a wide-open and expensive race. In many cases, the five...
Pa. state police trooper charged after receiving steroids in the mail
A state trooper was arrested Wednesday accused of having steroids sent to his Chester County home. Trooper Joseph W. Czachorowski is suspended without pay pending the resolution of the charges, state police announced. Czachorowski came under suspicion when a U.S. postal inspector intercepted a parcel addressed to him and got...
Gov. Wolf calls draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade ‘un-American and unacceptable’
Gov. Tom Wolf said he is angry that a leaked draft ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court outlines an effort to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling Wolf, along with a group of lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates, met in Philadelphia on Wednesday to criticize the draft opinion...
Fall election could determine future of abortion rights in Pennsylvania
The future of legal abortion access in Pennsylvania could hinge on the outcome of the general election in November after a draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court suggests the court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case. On Monday, Politico published a story containing a leaked...
Fired Philadelphia police officer charged with murder in shooting of 12-year-old boy
A fired Philadelphia police officer has been charged with murder in the shooting of a fleeing 12-year-old boy, who prosecutors said Monday was on the ground and unarmed when the officer fired the fatal shot. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced first- and third-degree murder charges against former Officer Edsaul...
Countdown begins for Pennsylvania Real ID requirement
Pennsylvanians have one year until the Real ID requirement for domestic air travel in the United States goes into effect. After two years of pandemic-driven delays, the federal requirement will be put into place May 3, 2023. “Although a year seems like a long time to get ready, the deadline...
Why independents can’t vote for candidates this May, and the push to change that
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 Diana Dakey registered to vote in Pennsylvania, she chose to tick the box that would leave her without...
