Pennsylvania category, Page 105
Medical helicopter crashes near Delaware County church; all 4 aboard surviveVideo
UPPER DARBY — A pilot crash-landed a medical helicopter Tuesday without loss of life in a residential area of suburban Philadelphia, somehow avoiding a web of power lines and buildings as the aircraft fluttered, hit the street and slid into bushes outside a church, authorities and witnesses said. It was...
Pennsylvania has rules to follow for taking care of your pets in winter
Temperatures this week aren’t expected to climb out of the 20s most days. For dog owners, that means time limits on tying them outside. Under Pennsylvania’s Libre’s Law, dogs may be tied outside for no more than 30 minutes when temperatures are lower than 32 degrees (or higher than 90...
Court won’t block entire election ‘investigation’ subpoena
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court declined Monday to block an entire subpoena to state election officials in what Republican state lawmakers call a “forensic investigation” of 2020’s presidential election, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats stole the election. But the statewide Commonwealth Court that issued the...
Pennsylvania Farm Show attendance down as ‘people probably nervous about going out’
Every year during the Pennsylvania Farm Show, vendors Ron and Gina Gorski travel to Philadelphia to pick up fresh soft pretzels for their booth. They sell the doughy treats at their Main Line Pretzel stand inside the Main Hall at the Farm Show complex. This year the couple said business...
Pa. House expected to vote on proposed congressional map as redistricting lawsuit looms
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — The state House is expected to vote on a proposed...
Pennsylvania Farm Show’s butter sculpture highlights state’s dairy farmersVideo
The Pennsylvania Farm Show, which runs through Jan. 15 in Harrisburg, highlights the importance of the state’s agriculture industry. And one of the largest segments of that industry is dairy products. So it only makes sense that the show’s massive annual butter sculpture, commissioned by the show and sponsored by...
Man accused of shooting into party headquarters in suburban Philadelphia enters pleas
PHILADELPHIA — A suburban Philadelphia man accused of firing three shots into a local Democratic Party office on Inauguration Day has pleaded guilty to related federal charges. Anthony Nero, 48, entered the pleas last week to federal charges of sending threatening communications and cyberstalking in connection with threats days before...
Conservative firebrand Doug Mastriano enters Pennsylvania’s governor’s race
Doug Mastriano, the state senator from Franklin County who parlayed anger over coronavirus pandemic rules and no-holds-barred support for former President Donald J. Trump into an extended political moment, opened his candidacy for governor Pennsylvania Saturday. Mastriano, who practices his politics with a messianic zeal that has helped him develop...
Stalemates, court battles could squeeze Pennsylvania primary election
HARRISBURG — More extreme time pressures could push the bounds of how Pennsylvania’s elections are run in 2022, with wide-open races for a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s office driving voter interest and partisan stalemates in the statehouse sowing uncertainty. It is barely a month before candidates can legally...
Warrant: 5-year-old might have started deadly Philly blaze
PHILADELPHIA — Investigators are looking into whether a 5-year-old who was playing with a lighter set a Christmas tree on fire, sparking a conflagration that killed 12 family members in a Philadelphia rowhome, officials revealed Thursday. That disclosure was included in a search warrant application as city and federal investigators...
Pennsylvania Senate committee to hold hearings on its audit of the 2020, 2021 elections
A state Senate committee plans to forge ahead with hearings in early spring on any information discovered in a controversial audit seeking to uncover irregularities in Pennsylvania’s 2020 elections and last year’s primary, a Republican spokeswoman said Thursday. The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee would conduct the hearings on any findings...
How the smoking rate in Pa. compares to the nation
Nearly half a million Americans annually die as a result of smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Another 16 million Americans are living with a serious illness caused by smoking. Smoking also has an economic impact, including more than $225 billion each year spent on...
Cause undetermined in Philadelphia house fire that killed 12
PHILADELPHIA — Investigators worked Thursday to determine the cause of a fire that tore through a Philadelphia rowhome, killing 12 people, including two sisters and several of their children. Specialists from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took photos and then entered the charred, three-story brick duplex,...
Big Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial field crowds onto stage together
HARRISBURG — More than a dozen Republican candidates for governor appeared on stage together for the first time, in a question-and-answer session Wednesday sponsored by conservative groups and a statewide business association that inspired agreement and not debate. The questions — such as how would you to reverse brain drain...
Pa. authorities cracking down on unemployment benefits fraud, some reported in Westmoreland
State officials are examining the source of a reported increase in efforts to steal unemployment compensation benefits, which they are trying to thwart by adding a new process for identity verification. Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the agency is working with law enforcement to investigate and...
Treasure hunters sue for records on FBI’s Civil War gold dig in Pennsylvania
Treasure hunters who believe they found a huge cache of fabled Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania are now on the prowl for something as elusive as the buried booty itself: government records of the FBI’s excavation. Finders Keepers filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over its failure to...
Former Congresswoman Melissa Hart announces bid for governorVideo
Former Congresswoman Melissa Hart outlined her campaign priorities Wednesday as she formally launched her bid to become Pennsylvania’s first female governor. Hart, 59, of Bradford Woods, is entering a crowded field of more than a dozen GOP candidates who so far have declared their candidacies for the state’s highest office....
Philadelphia fire kills at least 12, including 8 childrenVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Fire tore through a duplex home early Wednesday in Philadelphia, killing 12 people, including eight children, fire officials said. At least two people were sent to hospitals, and officials warned the toll could grow as firefighters searched the brick rowhome, where 26 people had been staying. The four...
Fire damages iconic Blue Streak roller coaster at Conneaut Lake Park
CONNEAUT LAKE — A fire at a northwestern Pennsylvania amusement park has damaged a wooden roller coaster built more than eight decades ago. WICU-TV says reports from Conneaut Lake Park late Tuesday afternoon indicated that a controlled burn near the carousel got out of hand. The fire spread to nearby...
GOP gubernatorial candidates to square off in first debate
A crowded field of GOP candidates for Pennsylvania governor is set to square off Wednesday in the first debate of the 2022 election season. During the 90-minute debate, which will be broadcast live and live-streamed on PCN, 12 candidates will tackle questions on economic competitiveness, the workforce and jobs, energy,...
Josh Shapiro backs Pittsburgh-area lawmaker to be running mateVideo
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee for governor this year, endorsed a Pittsburgh-area state lawmaker, Austin Davis, to be his running mate and lieutenant governor Tuesday. Davis announced his candidacy alongside Shapiro and top Democrats from the area at a park in McKeesport next to...
GOP state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe won’t seek reelection
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection this year. The Republican from Cranberry is in his 12th term representing a district that encompasses part of Butler County, including Adams, Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships and Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia boroughs. “After family...
State police: New Year holiday crashes up, citations down from 2019-2020
Crashes and related injuries and deaths in Pennsylvania were up this New Year’s holiday weekend compared with the same three-day period in 2019-20, before the pandemic had an impact on travel, according to state police. The number of arrests across the state for driving under the influence stayed nearly the...
Vomit-fumed ‘Bradford’ pear tree lands on Pa. noxious weeds list, with sales to be banned
As an urban landscaping option, a certain ornamental, flowering pear tree might be nice and compact — even with a bit of an odorous downside. After some unfortunate cross-breeding between varieties, however, it now finds itself in the crosshairs of Pennsylvania horticulture officials. Callery pear, scientifically known as Pyrus calleryana...
Over 65 shots fired on busy Philadelphia street; 6 wounded
PHILADELPHIA — Two gunmen fired more than 65 rounds on a Philadelphia street, sending nighttime pedestrians on a busy block teeming with markets and restaurants scrambling for cover and injuring six people, at least one of them critically, police said Friday. Police responded around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in the Germantown...
