Pennsylvania category, Page 119
With school opening almost here, Pa. scrambles to prepare for covid
The federal government dropped new face mask recommendations for students just as school districts’ plans for dealing with covid-19 came due in Pennsylvania. State Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam described the timing as “challenging” during a discussion with the PennLive/The Patriot-News editorial board on Wednesday. The U.S. Centers for...
Library book returned in Pennsylvania after 50 years with $20 bill
PLYMOUTH — A book checked out a half-century ago has been anonymously returned to a library in northeastern Pennsylvania, officials said. The Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice reports that the 1967 copy of “Coins You Can Collect” by Burton Hobson arrived last month at the Plymouth Public Library in Luzerne County along...
Powerball to increase drawings to 3 nights a week
Pennsylvania Lottery officials Tuesday announced that Powerball players will soon get the chance to play for a big jackpot one extra night a week. In addition to the drawings held on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the multi-state game will offer drawings on Mondays. This change to three drawings per week will...
Roadwork firm to pay $20M in workers’ retirement theft caseVideo
HARRISBURG — A major Pennsylvania heavy equipment contractor entered no contest pleas to four theft counts on Tuesday and agreed to pay restitution of more than $20 million over allegations it illegally diverted pension money and other benefits from its workers. Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. has agreed to have a...
2 seamen get prison terms in plot to smuggle 20 tons of cocaine through Port of Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Two cargo ship crewmen tied to one of the largest drug busts in U.S. history told a federal judge Monday that they initially resisted but were ultimately powerless to turn down efforts to recruit them into a conspiracy to smuggle 20 tons of cocaine through the Port of...
Harrison parent, injured W.Va. player describe harrowing escape from Lancaster sports facility
A 16-year-old boy from West Virginia required several stitches in his arm after getting hurt during the chaos of a frantic crowd fleeing a Lancaster County youth basketball tournament over the weekend. Rafael Barcinas of Morgantown — whose team included a dozen high-schoolers from the Alle-Kiski Valley, Penn Hills and...
Construction firm expected to resolve huge wage-theft case
STATE COLLEGE — A Pennsylvania construction contractor is expected to resolve a massive wage-theft case in which it was accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars from its own workers by systematically violating state and federal prevailing wage laws on taxpayer-funded public infrastructure projects. Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. of...
Tracking Pa.’s pandemic spending, 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. Spotlight PA’s tallying of Pennsylvania’s pandemic-related spending led us to the state’s emergency procurement program — a faster and, critics say,...
2nd Penn State student dies of covid-19 complications
Students and staff at Penn State are mourning the coronavirus-related death of a second student from the university. Neil Patel, 20, a sixth semester Penn State Honors College scholar from Upper Merion Township, died Sunday at a Philadelphia hospital, where he was taken in mid-April with severe effects of covid-19....
PennDOT opens survey to learn about drivers’ safety habits
PennDOT is seeking input on drivers’ safety habits in an annual online survey. The responses to the department’s Highway Safety Survey will help officials determine ways to make roads safer for motorists. “The results from this annual survey help us gauge participants’ attitudes on highway safety and potentially allow us...
Pennsylvania reports 2,283 new covid cases since Friday
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 913 additional coronavirus cases on Monday, and 2,106 total cases for Saturday and Sunday, for a three-day total of 3,019. Northampton County’s 131 additional cases since Friday were enough to give it the highest population-adjusted seven-day case rate among the state’s 67 counties. Northampton...
Pa. college to use stimulus money to erase unpaid student bills
CHEYNEY — Cheyney University, the nation’s oldest historically black college, has announced that it will erase unpaid student bills since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. The southeastern Pennsylvania university said on its Facebook page Friday that, in light of the hardships students and their families have experienced, it will...
Pennsylvania Lottery sets record for sales, profit
Pennsylvania Lottery officials on Monday announced that the Lottery generated a record profit of more than $1.3 billion during the 2020-21 fiscal year. Officials said this is the tenth consecutive year that it has generated more than $1 billion for senior programs, which include property tax and rent rebates, free...
Erratic scooter driver arrested in Erie store robbery; pockets stuffed with cash
A pursuit by Erie police of an erratic scooter driver led to his arrest in the Sunday night robbery of a downtown convenience store, police said. Police said officers found cash stuffed in the scooter driver’s pockets. The 49-year-old man was in police custody Monday morning awaiting arraignment on robbery...
Penn State ranks as one of the nation’s best 50 employers for recent college grads, per Forbes list
Penn State is among the nation’s best employers for recent college graduates, according to Forbes’ annual rankings that include businesses and organizations with at least 1,000 employees. The annual rankings — based on criteria such as opportunities for advancement, work environment and competitiveness of compensation — ranked Penn State at...
‘Mass chaos’ after fight triggers mad rush for exits at Lancaster County sports complex
MANHEIM — Authorities say a number of people were injured at an indoor sports complex in Pennsylvania after some kind of incident triggered a crowd rush for the exits. Diane Garber, emergency services coordinator for East Hempfield Township, said the 2:20 p.m. Sunday incident at Spooky Nook Sports in Manheim...
Forecasters confirm 9 tornadoes in Pennsylvania, New Jersey
MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. — The National Weather Service has confirmed a ninth tornado that struck during storms last week in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Forecasters said Sunday that an EF-1 tornado with peak wind up to 90 mph appeared in the Weisenberg Township area of Lehigh County during storms on...
Pennsylvania man sentenced to 2 life terms in 2019 double murder, arson
EASTON — A man prosecutors said baked and took cookies to the home of a 97-year-old bedridden woman before killing her and her adult son and setting fire to their eastern Pennsylvania home has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Drew Rose, 39, of Bethlehem pleaded...
Wolf wants lawmakers to extend opioid emergency declaration
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is asking state lawmakers to return to Harrisburg within a month to extend a statewide disaster emergency intended to help stem the commonwealth’s opioid addiction crisis. In a letter to the General Assembly, Wolf said he plans an Aug. 5 renewal of the disaster...
Explainer: Will Pa. evictions spike despite rental help?
HARRISBURG — A federal freeze on most evictions enacted last year is scheduled to expire Saturday, after President Joe Biden’s administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium, put in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only tool keeping millions...
Expanded child tax credit providing boost to families on the edge of poverty
For single mother Tara Tomlinson, the expanded child tax credit that arrived in her bank account earlier this month provided a lifeline that arrived not a moment too soon. Emerging from a pandemic-induced crush on finances and other resources, Tomlinson said things were tightening at an alarming rate. “I was...
Pa. prisons release dashboard tracking race, populations
PHILADELPHIA — A new dashboard of real-time data on Pennsylvania’s prison and parole populations shows the state has made strides to reduce racial inequity, but Black and Latino residents are still greatly overrepresented in prisons and on parole. The dashboard — built by the group Recidiviz, a tech nonprofit that...
Injuries, building damage as severe weather brings tornadoes to suburban PhillyVideo
BENSALEM — Several people were injured Thursday when a building at a Bensalem auto dealership collapsed under severe weather, authorities said. The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes touched down in Bucks County, sending trees falling and debris flying. The thunderous downpour flooded streets and roadways. The Courier Times of...
Thousands of Pa. households still waiting for rental relief as eviction ban nears its end
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 — Almost every day for the past month, as the end of a federal freeze on evictions edges closer, Brian...
Pa. health officials: Nearly all covid hospitalizations, deaths among unvaccinated
Nearly all of the covid-related hospitalizations and deaths in Pennsylvania are among the unvaccinated, state health officials said Thursday. Of those hospitalized across the state, 97% are unvaccinated, said Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam. Of deaths happening now, she said, 99% are of unvaccinated people. “At this stage, these...
