Pennsylvania category, Page 118
Penn State’s faculty senate passes ‘vote of no confidence’ on university’s fall covid-19 plan
Penn State’s faculty senate formally passed a vote of no confidence Friday on the university’s fall covid-19 plan, slamming the administration for what it perceives as an inadequate response while again reiterating its desire for a vaccine mandate. The resolution stopped short of directly expressing no confidence in the Penn...
Extra federal unemployment aid will soon end for 500,000 Pennsylvanians
More than a half-million jobless Pennsylvanians receiving temporary aid from three federal unemployment programs will see those checks end as of Sept. 4, the state said. The state Department of Labor and Industry said it is working with organizations and agencies to identify programs and support services for those who...
Pa.’s political mapmakers finally have new census data. Now the hard work begins.
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 — After months of delays, the Census Bureau on Thursday delivered...
Allegheny, Butler, Washington counties show population growth in 2020 Census
Allegheny County’s population has increased for the first time in a census since 1960. The county’s population grew by 27,223 (2.2%) in the 2020 Census, released Thursday. The county’s population is more than 1.25 million. “For decades, it was resigned that when young people grew up they were going to...
Pennsylvania’s weekly covid cases at highest point in nearly 3 months
In the past week, Pennsylvania has recorded 11,747 cases of covid-19 — the most in nearly three months. The cases — 8,927 of which were confirmed through a PCR test and 2,820 counted as probable — represent a significant increase since as recently as July 1, when a week’s worth...
Simone Biles to speak at Pa. Conference for Women
Olympic champion Simone Biles, considered by many to be the greatest gymnast of all time and a role model for mental health, has been booked to speak at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women in November. The theme is “Stronger. Wiser. Braver” and organizers say it speaks to how women like...
State prison guards union warns Wolf of legal action over vaccine mandate
HARRISBURG — The union that represents about 10,000 guards in Pennsylvania’s state prisons told Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday it plans legal action to stop his effort to force them to get covid-19 vaccines over the next month. The president of the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association sent a letter...
Child safety advocates launch billboard campaign against Sen. Kim Ward
Child sexual abuse prevention advocates are making good on their promise to keep the heat on state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward for her refusal to advance a bill giving adult survivors of child sexual abuse their day in court. This week, they took their battle to the Hempfield Republican’s...
Philadelphia requiring masks at businesses indoors and large outdoor gatheringsVideo
The city of Philadelphia announced it will be requiring masks for businesses indoors and for many large outdoor gatherings. The new mask policy goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. In a news release issued Wednesday, the city cites the rise of the delta variant of the coronavirus, as cases...
Court tosses ruling against Pennsylvania covid-19 measures
PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court has dismissed a judge’s ruling that threw out Gov. Tom Wolf’s sweeping covid-19 restrictions, saying the case is now moot because statewide mitigation measures have expired and Pennsylvania voters have since constrained a governor’s emergency powers. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled...
Pa. is trying county fairs, text messages and door-knocking to raise the vaccination rate. Success is slow coming.
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. Nicole Diehl attended the Wayne County Fair in northeastern Pennsylvania last weekend, not for the livestock exhibitions, carnival games, demolition derbies,...
Gov. Wolf mandates vaccination for new hires at state-run health care facilities, prisons
Pennsylvania will mandate covid-19 vaccination for all new hires at state-run health care and congregate care settings, and current employees at those facilities must either get vaccinated or test weekly for the virus, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday. The mandate will affect around 25,000 employees at state hospitals, state homes...
Pennsylvania county asks senator to stop seeking vote audit
HARRISBURG — A Republican-majority county board in rural northern Pennsylvania on Tuesday accused a state senator of creating “unnecessary chaos” in pushing for a detailed review of how the county collected and counted votes in former President Donald Trump’s reelection defeat last year. The three Tioga County commissioners all read...
DA: 1 dead, 1 wounded in shopping center parking lot gunfire in Lower Nazareth Township
EASTON — One person was killed and another wounded by gunfire in the parking lot of a department store in eastern Pennsylvania, authorities said. Northampton County District Attorney Terence Houck told LehighValleyLive.com that the two were injured in a shootout between occupants of two vehicles on Sunday afternoon outside the...
Theft charges brought down a state lawmaker. But Pa.’s taxpayer-funded system for perks was already ripe for abuse.
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 — Theft charges against a Philadelphia-area Democrat highlight Pennsylvania’s lax rules for reimbursing lawmakers with taxpayer and donor money, two...
Pa. patients swear by cannabis as tool to fight opioid addiction. The research still isn’t there.
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. BERNVILLE — The back pain started when Luke Shultz was a teenager, and it got worse. When he was in his...
More than 300 people will be laid off from Cumberland County plant beginning next month
It’s no surprise that GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, will close a manufacturing facility in Carlisle. Last February, the company said it would transfer operations at the plant site off Allen Road would transfer to Puerto Rico. At the time, the company said the decision would impact...
In-person visits being canceled for unvaccinated state prison inmates
State prison inmates who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer will be allowed to have in-person visits from friends and family, according to Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel. Also, inmates now will be housed in Pennsylvania’s prisons based on their vaccination status. The new policy takes effect...
Erie teen dies after being pulled from Presque Isle Bay near Convention Center
An 18-year-old Erie man has died after rescue crews pulled him from Presque Isle Bay on Wednesday night. The man, whose name was not released as of Thursday afternoon, was pronounced dead at UPMC Hamot on Wednesday at 9:55 p.m., about 30 minutes after Erie Bureau of Fire divers pulled...
Police: Perry County woman killed after being attacked by dogs she was watching over
State police at Newport said a woman was killed after three dogs, for which she was caring, attacked her for unknown reasons in late July. Police reported Thursday morning that Rhoda Marie Wagner, 60, of Newport was found dead in the first block of Henry Road in Miller Township on...
Penn State University requires masking at all campuses
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State University will require students, staff and visitors at all its campuses to wear masks while indoors, the school announced Wednesday, responding to a statewide surge in coronavirus cases. The masking rule will apply to everyone, regardless of vaccination status, Penn State officials said. “As we...
Feds roll back ‘confusing’ addiction funding rules that had deadly consequence 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 — A federal agency that sends billions of dollars to states to help them respond to the opioid crisis is...
Coroner: Blair County woman killed by house explosion blast, not fire
TYRONE — A coroner has ruled that a woman killed in a house explosion in Pennsylvania last month was killed by the explosion itself rather than the ensuring fire. The (Altoona) Mirror reports that Blair County Deputy Coroner Samantha Kimberling said “injuries from the blast” that occurred July 26 in...
UPMC Magee and Pitt to study covid-19 vaccines immune response in pregnancy and postpartum
A top medical facility and university are joining in a study looking at covid-19 vaccines, pregnancy and postpartum. UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will participate in a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases study of the immune response to covid-19 vaccines among pregnant...
Ex-Penn State President Graham Spanier released from jail after serving sentence in Sandusky scandal
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier was released from jail Wednesday morning after serving a nearly two-month sentence for child endangerment in a case connected to the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Spanier reported to Centre County Correctional Facility, about 6 miles from the Penn State campus, on June...
