Pennsylvania category, Page 122
Pennsylvania says it counted 500K duplicate covid-19 shots
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Department of Health has reduced the number of covid-19 vaccine doses that had been administered by about 500,000, saying the numbers were duplicates. The figures, released Friday evening without explanation, also showed an increase of about 60,000 in the number of people who are counted as fully...
Jobless Pennsylvanians, attorneys fear more problems as work-search requirement returns
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 — Unemployed Pennsylvanians and their advocates are bracing for the return of work-search requirements, fearing the overburdened system is not...
Department of Labor admits it overcharged unemployed Pennsylvanians millions of dollars
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 — Just one day after Spotlight PA contacted the Department of Labor and Industry with a list of questions about...
Pennsylvania Lottery to hold 1st live drawing on Facebook
The Pennsylvania Lottery is capitalizing on social media in a big way this weekend. The Lottery will hold its first ever Facebook Live drawing at 7 p.m. Sunday. The live event is called 7-11-21® LIVE! and will give participants a chance to win up to $7,777. “Our 7-11-21® LIVE Scratch-Off...
Who’s in the running to be Pennsylvania’s senator in 2023?
With Democrats narrowly in control of Congress, political observers are watching as races emerge in the 2022 midterm elections. Historically, the party out of power makes inroads in these races, leaving Republicans hopeful they’ll be able to limit President Joe Biden’s agenda in the years ahead. A key race will...
Pennsylvania to open dementia unit at Rockview prison
Acknowledging the challenge of a rapidly aging prison population, Pennsylvania will open its first unit devoted to inmates with dementia and associated memory loss diseases later this year, Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel said this week. Wetzel said the new neurocognitive care unit at the State Correctional Institution at Rockview,...
Gov. Tom Wolf calls election audit plan a ‘disgrace to democracy’
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday said it is a “disgrace to democracy” that a Republican state lawmaker is trying to launch what he calls a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 presidential election, similar to what is happening in Arizona. Wolf, a Democrat, said on Twitter that the “sham...
Bucks County hunter sentenced to 7 to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting teen at state park
Profusely apologizing for his actions, a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, hunter was sentenced to seven to 20 years in state prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of a teenager at Nockamixon State Park last fall. Kenneth Heller, 52, of Warminster, told Common Pleas Court...
Why a funding boost for the office that exposes Pa. puppy mills stalled again
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 — Partisan divides are stymying legislation to boost funding for the Pennsylvania bureau tasked with exposing puppy mills and handling...
State Sen. Doug Mastriano opens Pennsylvania election audit plan
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker and ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump is launching a “forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election, demanding cooperation from counties and mimicking a widely criticized partisan effort in Arizona. Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin, issued letters to three counties Wednesday, giving officials...
Pennsylvania’s covid cases remain low, despite slight uptick in positivity rates
Coronavirus cases in Pennsylvania continue to remain at low levels not seen since the very beginning of the pandemic in 2020. In the past week, according to reports from the state’s Department of Health, 1,250 new cases of the virus have been recorded. That number has not been so low...
Fake unemployment claims, real checks hit Western Pa. mailboxes; what to do if a fraudster targets you
Beware of fake unemployment claims hitting your mailbox as fraudsters continue to target Pennsylvania’s labor coffers at alarming rates. Scammers have been signing up unwitting — and still fully employed — residents for jobless benefits as part of a surge in sophisticated identity theft schemes to steal taxpayer money during...
Ex-ambassador, investment CEO Carla Sands seeks Pennsylvania Senate seatVideo
HARRISBURG — Carla Sands, former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Denmark, announced Tuesday that she will join the crowded Republican primary field for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat. She brings possibly significant personal wealth to the race, as well as ties to Trump in a race where such ties may...
Pennsylvania Turnpike to hike tolls 5% next year
Drivers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will see a 5% rate hike in 2022, regardless of whether they are E-ZPass users or are billed through a toll-by-plate system. The increased rates will take effect Jan. 2 — except on the Southern Beltway, west of Pittsburgh. Turnpike officials note it’s the 14th...
Ethics panel closes investigation into former Pa. Victim Advocate Jennifer Storm
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 — After a more than yearlong investigation, state ethics investigators have found that Pennsylvania’s former chief advocate for crime victims...
Fireworks destroy Pennsylvania home, displacing family of 8
A family of eight has been displaced after a firework set off nearby destroyed their home in Wilkes-Barre. Four children and four adults, who were just getting ready for bed, rushed out of the burning house around 12:30 a.m. Monday after an aerial firework landed on their back porch, WNEP...
After contact tracing data breach, Pa. sidesteps scrutiny on proposed $34M contract
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 — The Pennsylvania Department of Health is working to hire a new company under an even pricier contract to take...
Group described as white supremacists march in PhiladelphiaVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Police say scores of members of a group described by the Anti-Defamation League as white supremacist marched in Philadelphia over the weekend, clashing with pedestrians and setting off what were believed to be smoke bombs at one point. The group of Patriot Front members, estimated at 150 to...
Redistricting reform in Pa. is dead for now, advocates say. So what’s next?
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 — Redistricting reform supporters in Pennsylvania are having a moment of...
Man rescued after at least 3 days in abandoned Pennsylvania cistern
READING — A man was rescued after at least three days at the bottom of an abandoned stone cistern near the landmark pagoda overlooking the eastern Pennsylvania city of Reading, authorities said. The man was healthy enough to climb out on his own on a city fire department rope ladder...
Failure by Pa. officials to clarify rules around medical marijuana, addiction treatment had serious consequences
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. BENSALEM — Tyler Cordeiro slept on a couch outside his mother’s Bucks County home, suffering from opioid withdrawal. His sister took a photo of his mother, Susan...
Allegheny County family’s overdose loss inspires law designed to ‘save lives’
Heather’s Law was signed this week by Gov. Tom Wolf, ending a four-year effort to provide an extra tool in the battle against overdose deaths. Authored by Rep. Eric Nelson (R-Hempfield), the legislation is named for an Allegheny County family’s daughter who died of an overdose. Formally titled Act 41...
New law requires public meeting agendas be posted online, if possible
Bipartisan support of just about anything is a fairly rare thing nowadays in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recently found one thing they could agree: Local and state government bodies should be as aggressive as possible in publicizing the business they will conduct...
Mysterious bird illness prompts Game Commission, Audubon to recommend taking down bird feeders
A mysterious illness causing bird deaths has prompted the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the local Audubon Society to ask the public to take down their bird feeders. “Out of an abundance of caution and in agreement with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, we advise people to remove their bird feeders (including...
State law against municipal plastic bag bans on track to end
HARRISBURG — Philadelphia began the soft rollout Thursday of its ban on retailers giving out plastic bags to customers, while the state’s two-year-old prohibition on such bans is set to expire later this year. The city will not fully enforce the ban until April 1, with steps in between. On...
