Pennsylvania category, Page 117
In major shift, Pa. panel votes to count incarcerated people in home districts, not state prisons
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 — Thousands of people incarcerated in state prisons will be counted...
Pennsylvania settles lawsuit against IBM over jobless claims
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration said Tuesday that it settled a lawsuit against IBM after suing the company four years ago and accusing it of failing to deliver on a contract for an updated system of processing unemployment compensation claims. In a brief statement, the Department of Labor and...
Pennsylvania deer hunters face expanded chronic wasting disease regulations this year
Regulations prohibiting the movement of high-risk body parts from deer, elk and related species have been expanded for the 2021-22 hunting seasons to combat the spread of chronic wasting disease, an always fatal neurological disease in those species. As the disease continues to spread in the state, and beyond, the...
Hearings in Pennsylvania election ‘investigation’ to begin, senator says
HARRISBURG — The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s Senate said Monday that hearings will begin this week as he committed to carrying out a “full forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, said he has communicated with former President Donald Trump, whose baseless...
Missing 2-year-old girl’s body recovered in Allegheny River in Warren County
WARREN — Pennsylvania State Police troopers are continuing their investigation into the death of a 2-year-old girl whose body was recovered from the Allegheny River on Sunday after she had wandered away from her Warren County home on Saturday morning. The child, whose name was not released, was reported missing...
Pa. to hire 100 covid contact tracers to replace 1,000 — experts say it’s not enough
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. The Wolf administration will hire at least 100 contact tracers as it rebuilds its depleted team, a dramatic workforce reduction compared...
4 takeaways from new Pa. census data and what it means for redistricting
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 — Pennsylvania became less white and more concentrated in and near...
How to get involved in Pa.’s pivotal redistricting process
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. It’s an event that comes just once every ten years. No, not...
Gov. Tom Wolf reinstates mask mandate for Pa. state employees
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is reinstating a mask mandate for all state employees and contracted staff working under his jurisdiction regardless of their vaccination status, starting on Monday. State employees were notified on Friday about this change in policy that comes as cases of covid-19 infections are on the rise....
How many people in Pa. use cannabis for addiction? The Wolf admin won’t say
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 — In 2018, the Wolf administration endorsed cannabis as a treatment for opioid use disorder, despite an absence of research...
Pennsylvania jobless rate down, payrolls up 29K in July
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped to a new post-pandemic low and the labor force shrank in July as payrolls jumped by nearly 29,000, according to state figures released Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 6.6% from June’s adjusted rate, the state Department of Labor...
Top Pa. GOP senator orders change in election integrity plan
HARRISBURG — The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s state Senate said Friday that he is putting a different senator in charge of an “election integrity” undertaking and removing a senator who had aimed to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman...
Casey calls for calm in the wake of the withdrawal from Afghanistan
Calling the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan a painful spectacle, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, is calling on Americans to turn down the blame game and concentrate on assisting those trying to escape the Taliban. Casey said his office alone logged 280 calls about the collapse of Afghanistan as of Wednesday...
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey pitches infrastructure, services for the elderly and children
The bipartisan infrastructure bill pending in the U.S. House likely will become law by mid-October, predicts U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. The Scranton Democrat, on the road in Pennsylvania during the August congressional break, on Thursday told Tribune-Review editors and reporters the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that already passed the...
Man accused of shooting Yardley police chief facing several chargesVideo
YARDLEY — A man accused of shooting a suburban Philadelphia borough police chief during a confrontation at a condominium complex has been charged with attempted murder. Colin Petroziello, 24, also faces aggravated assault and related charges stemming from Wednesday’s incident at the Yardley Commons complex. He was arraigned Wednesday night...
GOP senator’s plan to issue Pennsylvania election subpoenas ‘stopped’
HARRISBURG — A backer of former President Donald Trump’s effort to carry out an Arizona-style “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election suggested Thursday that fellow Republicans in the state Senate are blocking his efforts. In a video posted Thursday on Facebook, state Sen. Doug Mastriano did not name names,...
Pennsylvania may use taxpayer dollars for major golf events
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania officials have held out the potential for taxpayer-paid subsidies to help entice the U.S. Golf Association to bring more Opens and elite amateur events to two courses in the state, a news organization reported. The USGA last week announced that it will bring nine more Opens for...
Bucks County police chief hit by shotgun blast; in good condition
YARDLEY — Authorities say a suburban Philadelphia borough police chief was shot while assisting parole officers on a visit to a condominium unit, but he was reported in good condition. Lower Makefield Police Chief Ken Coluzzi told reporters Wednesday that Chief Joseph Kelly III of the Yardley police department was...
Pennsylvania casino revenues top record $423M in July
Pennsylvania casinos generated more than $423.6 million in July, the highest monthly revenue total to date, according to state regulators. That was nearly $35 million more revenue than what was reported in June, which totaled $388.8 million. It also is significantly higher than revenues reported in July 2020, which reached...
Pennsylvania teachers union: Schools should require masks
Pennsylvania’s largest teachers union on Wednesday urged K-12 schools to require masks in school buildings, a measure that state officials are encouraging but not mandating. The Pennsylvania State Education Association cited the threat of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus, which is spiking infections and hospitalizations across the...
Judge rules that Christopher Columbus statue can stay in South Philly
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday ruled that the controversial Christopher Columbus statue at Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia can remain there, reversing a decision by city officials to have it removed. In a seven-page decision, Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick said the decision last year to remove the statue...
U.S. appeals court revives lawsuit over Western Pa. gun club restrictions
HARRISBURG — A federal judge should not have thrown out a legal challenge to township zoning rules that restricted operations at a gun range in Western Pennsylvania and limited “sportsman’s clubs” to nonprofit entities, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the case and...
Pandemic pushed people to buy groceries online. How many will still get them delivered?
Jon Roesser, the general manager of Weavers Way Co-op, usually works with banks and suppliers to keep the grocery running, puts together the $34 million budget, or plans marketing promotions, like an upcoming sale on frozen shrimp. But as the demand for home deliveries exploded during the pandemic, Roesser became...
Pennsylvania to offer weekly covid-19 testing for schools
ENOLA — Pennsylvania will offer voluntary covid-19 testing in all K-12 schools, state health and education officials announced Monday. School districts will have to opt in, and parents must give consent. For participating school districts, the weekly tests will be conducted in classrooms. Students’ nasal swabs will be pooled and...
U.S. Senate bill calls for beefing up federal regulations on nursing homes
Nearly 18 months after covid-19 began to cut a broad swath through the nation’s nursing homes — killing 184,000 elderly and disabled residents and care workers — the U.S. Senate is weighing a bill to update federal policies and oversight of such facilities. The bill, dubbed the Nursing Home Improvement...
