Pennsylvania category, Page 109
Pennsylvania’s child care and staffing crisis, by the numbers
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 — As a roughly $2 trillion social spending plan moves through Congress, transformational change could be on the horizon for...
Boy fatally wounded in target shooting incident in Berks County
A 10-year-old boy was shot and killed on Thanksgiving Day while he was with someone who was target shooting in southeastern Pennsylvania, authorities said. The shooting occurred around 1:30 p.m. near the child’s home in Hereford, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said Friday. The boy was taken to a...
Staffing crisis at Pa. child care centers is upending family routines and slowing the economic recovery
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 — Baby giggles and occasional cries are supposed to spill from the infant room at The Willow School, where lyrics...
Grouse on the rise: State bird’s population showing improvement after devastation of West Nile virus
Pennsylvania’s state bird population is on an upward trend despite years of decline from West Nile virus. According to Lisa Williams, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s division chief of wildlife diversity and former state ruffed grouse biologist, the combination of shortened hunting seasons and aggressive habitat work have helped boost grouse...
Wolf administration asks state Supreme Court to leave school mask mandate in place
The state attorney general’s office, in an expected move, has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to keep intact the school mask mandate pending the outcome of litigation on the issue. The mandate is set to expire on Dec. 4 following an order by the state Commonwealth Court last week. “The...
Process of pending Pennsylvania election audit remains shrouded in secrecy
An Iowa-based firm that has never conducted an election review will delve into a forensic audit of Pennsylvania’s contentious 2020 general election results and this year’s May primary. How it intends to determine election integrity remains shrouded in secrecy. Steve Lahr, president of Envoy Sage LLC, on Tuesday declined to...
Pennsylvania activist Frank Scavo sentenced to 60 days in prison
Frank Scavo was sentenced to 60 days in prison Monday for his role in the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., his attorney confirmed. Attorney Ernie Preate Jr. said Scavo was also fined $5,000 and must pay $500 in restitution. Senior U.S. District Judge Royce C....
Penn State enrollment numbers mirror national trends
We are? If the answer to the popular college cheer is “Penn State,” there are fewer voices chiming in these days. Although Penn State’s University Park campus, which turns away hundreds of well-qualified students every year, bounced back to better than 2019 enrollment numbers, increasing from 46,313 students last year...
2 top executives quit giant Pa. pension fund amid FBI, SEC probes
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 — Following months of controversy and amid an ongoing federal investigation, Pennsylvania’s biggest pension fund on Thursday announced that its...
Penn State student dies after falling 11 stories down trash chute
STATE COLLEGE — A 19-year-old Penn State student who had been reported missing probably died after falling 11 stories down a trash chute in her campus apartment building, authorities said Friday. Justine Gross, a sophomore from New Jersey, was reported missing Nov. 11 after not returning to her room the...
Senate GOP hires firm to review Pennsylvania’s 2020 election
HARRISBURG — Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate said Friday they will pay up to $270,000 over the next six months to have an Iowa consulting firm examine the 2020 election with an eye toward developing changes to state election law. The “forensic investigation” is being launched in response to pressure...
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate drops in October
For the second month in a row, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate has dropped two-tenths of a percentage point. The state’s unemployment rate for October was down to 6% according to the PA Department of Labor & Industry’s preliminary employment situation report released Friday. It’s the eighth consecutive month the state’s unemployment...
State parks, including Keystone, switching to paper products over plastic at concession stands
Food providers at state parks across Pennsylvania are switching to compostable, paper, wooden or plant fiber alternatives for packaging and consumption, according to Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials. It’s part of an effort to reduce the amount of waste and plastics that are associated with concessions. New contracts...
PennDOT advises drivers to slow down on snowy roads
With winter on its way, PennDOT is advising motorists to slow down, increase their following distance and avoid distractions while driving. Last winter in Pennsylvania, preliminary data show that there were 301 crashes resulting in four fatalities and 143 injuries on snowy, slushy or ice-covered roadways where aggressive-driving behaviors such...
‘Tiger Lady’ identified as Pennsylvania teen 30 years later
BELVIDERE, N.J. — Authorities used DNA to finally identify the body of a 1991 homicide victim in New Jersey known by her tattoo as “Tiger Lady.” However, her death and killer remain unknown. Warren County Prosecutor James Pfeiffer on Friday announced the victim is Wendy Louise Baker of Coatesville, Pennsylvania....
Penn State student’s death ‘an isolated incident,’ Centre County coroner says
Autopsy results for the Penn State student found dead last week are expected to be completed in about six weeks, the Centre County Coroner’s Office wrote this week. Justine Gross’ death was “an isolated incident,” county Coroner Scott Sayers wrote. State College police investigators believe her death was accidental, the...
Friendly fire kills guard struggling with inmate in Blair County court
ALTOONA — A jail guard was shot and killed at a Pennsylvania courthouse by what appears to be friendly fire during a struggle with an inmate who had grabbed her weapon, and authorities said Thursday they were investigating how it happened. The inmate had been taken from the Blair County...
Who investigates police killings in Pa., and why there are few checks and balances
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. In Pennsylvania, elected district attorneys determine whether or not to charge officers who kill or use force against civilians. There is...
Top 2 Pennsylvania school pension system execs out of jobs
The top two executives at Pennsylvania’s largest public pension system will leave their jobs, under resolutions approved by the system’s board Thursday, amid two federal investigations and calls by board members for their resignations over lackluster investment returns. Under the resolutions, executive director Glen Grell and chief investment officer Jim...
Vials labeled ‘Smallpox’ found in Pennsylvania lab freezer
PHILADELPHIA — Federal health authorities on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of some frozen vials labeled “Smallpox” in a freezer at a facility in Pennsylvania that conducts vaccine research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the vials “were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker” who was cleaning out the...
Pennsylvania officials, lawmakers and judges get big pay raise in 2022
HARRISBURG — Inflation is driving up consumer prices and will drive a big salary increase for Pennsylvania state lawmakers, judges and top executive branch officials in 2022. For many of these positions, it’s the biggest increase in three decades. Salaries across the board will rise 5.6%, a figure tied by...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court sides with expelled student over memes deemed a threat
HARRISBURG — District administrators overreached when they permanently expelled a 17-year-old high school student for sending Snapchat messages after school hours that referred to another student as a potential school shooter, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The justices said such communications must be analyzed in context and the primary...
As national overdose deaths top 100K in a year, Pa. official urges naloxone use
State officials are encouraging people to stock up on opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone as overdose deaths climb locally and nationally. The coronavirus pandemic upended a lot of progress officials statewide had made on reducing the number of drug overdoses, said Jen Smith, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug...
Convicted Philly council member won’t immediately step down
A Philadelphia council member convicted along with a prominent labor leader in a federal public corruption case says he plans to wait until his scheduled sentencing in February before resigning from his office. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Council member Bobby Henon said in an interview Tuesday that he intended...
Buffalo Trace kicks off holiday round of PLCB’s rare liquor lotteries
Anyone who ever wanted tickets to a massively popular concert is familiar with the scenario: Tickets go on sale, and immediately giant blocks of them are snapped up in the first few minutes. Before the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board instituted its limited-release lotteries in 2015, the same thing happened to...
