Pennsylvania category, Page 64
As Pitt imposes ticket limit on graduation ceremony, some worry that family will be left out
The April 19 message sent to University of Pittsburgh students readying for graduation Sunday began routinely enough: “We are very excited that so many graduates will be joining us at the universitywide commencement ceremony on April 30, ” it read. Then came the next sentence, posted in bold: “Due to...
Pa. House panel advances election reform bill that makes ballot secrecy envelopes optional
Legislation that would give counties a seven-day head start on getting ballots ready for tabulating and require voters be given the chance to correct minor issues to ensure their ballot gets counted won passage by a state House committee on Monday. The bill, sponsored by House State Government Committee Chairman...
2 events featuring controversial right-wing speakers at Penn State are canceled
An April 24 event featuring self-proclaimed professional troll Alex Stein, who gained headlines last summer for sexually harassing U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was canceled by the organizing student group after the university said it could not accommodate a “last-minute request” to change the date or the speaker. An April 20...
Erie’s view of the 2024 solar eclipse will be exceptional. It’s also going to cost you.
This story first appeared in PA Local, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA taking a fresh, positive look at the incredible people, beautiful places, and delicious food of Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here. Next year, an army of people will descend on Erie to don mail-ordered glasses and watch...
Pennsylvania state lawmaker involved in single-vehicle alcohol-related crash
A state lawmaker was involved in an alcohol-related crash late Tuesday evening in Huntington Township, Adams County, according to state police. State Rep. Torren Ecker, 37, of New Oxford, was traveling south on State Route 94, a hilly two-lane rural road that connects Carlisle and Hanover, when his car drifted...
EPA agrees to make Pennsylvania cut Chesapeake Bay pollution
BALTIMORE — Pennsylvania must minimize its outsized role in polluting the Chesapeake Bay, according to a proposed settlement agreement announced Thursday that would subject the state to increased oversight from federal environmental officials. The agreement comes after other jurisdictions in the bay’s watershed — Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District...
Former Pennsylvania Congressman Bud Shuster dies at 91
HARRISBURG — Former U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster, an influential Republican lawmaker who strongly backed transportation projects but ran afoul of ethics guidelines, has died. He was 91. Shuster died peacefully at his farm Wednesday in Everett, Bedford County, surrounded by his family, including his son, Bill Shuster, who succeeded his...
Fulton County sanctioned over copying 2020 voting machine data
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania Republican-majority county government where two commissioners secretly allowed a third party to copy voting-machine data last year to help former President Donald Trump overturn his 2020 reelection defeat received contempt sanctions Wednesday from the state’s highest court. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled against Fulton County commissioners...
Sen. John Fetterman posts video trolling body-double conspiracy ‘fringy fringies’Video
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman is back on Capitol Hill and back on social media, trolling conspiracy theorists who claimed last month that he had a body double. Tuesday evening on his non-official Senate Twitter account, Fetterman posted a short video referring to the “fringy fringies” and their conspiracy theory targeting...
Charges put focus on Jehovah’s Witnesses’ handling of abuseVideo
YORK HAVEN — A Pennsylvania grand jury in recent months accused nine men with connections to the Jehovah’s Witnesses of child sexual abuse in what some consider the nation’s most comprehensive investigation yet into abuse within the faith. The sets of charges filed in October and February have fueled speculation...
Expecting more than $1B in opioid settlement money, Pa. grapples with policing versus treatment
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 historic settlement to resolve claims against opioid companies is expected to bring Pennsylvania more than $1 billion, but...
Pennsylvania to restrict ‘tranq,’ animal sedative linked to overdoses
HARRISBURG — States are increasingly looking to restrict access to an animal tranquilizer showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths. Pennsylvania’s governor said Tuesday that his administration will add xylazine to the state’s list of controlled substances, tightening regulations on...
Printing error forces Pennsylvania county to replace ballots
HARRISBURG — Elections officials in a central Pennsylvania county were scrambling on Monday to fix an error on more than 18,000 mail-in ballots for the spring primary, when voters will elect judges for the state Supreme Court and other positions. Late last week someone noticed that the ballot for Superior...
Court tosses Gov. Wolf suit against voter ID, abortion amendments
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court on Monday dismissed a challenge to how lawmakers have bundled together five potential state constitutional amendments, including one regarding abortion, on grounds the legal dispute was not ripe for the judges’ review. The five-judge Commonwealth Court panel said judges were not passing judgment on the...
Supreme Court to deliver answer in religious mailman’s case
LANCASTER — Gerald Groff liked his work as a postal employee in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. For years, he delivered mail and all manner of packages: a car bumper, a mini refrigerator, a 70-pound box of horseshoes for a blacksmith. But when an Amazon.com contract with the Postal Service required carriers...
FBI cautions about phone ‘spoofing’ scam
Pittsburgh FBI officials said there is an ongoing telephone scam in which a caller portrays themselves as a special agent and the phone number shows up on caller ID as the FBI. The scam caller tells victims their identity has been compromised and used to open fraudulent bank accounts and...
Pa. Medicaid reenrollment: What you need to know to keep your health insurance or find other options
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 — If you’re one of the nearly 3.7 million Pennsylvanians who use Medicaid for health insurance, you’ll need to requalify...
Pennsylvania university shooting wounds 2; suspects sought
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY — Two people are being sought in a shooting that wounded two others at a university in southeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend, authorities said. Lincoln University security officials said the shooting happened at about 10 p.m. Saturday during “Yardfest,” an annual spring event at the Chester County campus...
Bomb found by Pa. fire department while fighting nearby brush fire
Police in Schuylkill County reported that a homemade bomb was found when fire fighters responded to a brush fire this week. PA Home Page reports that the Tamaqua Borough Policce and Fire Department responded to a brush fire around 10 p.m. Wednesday night, in the Dutch Hill section of Tamaqua....
In private, Gov. Shapiro’s working group on climate change meets
HARRISBURG — The group tasked by Gov. Josh Shapiro with developing a state-level plan to fight climate change met for the first time this week, a step the Democrat promised to take when he questioned his predecessor’s strategy to make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt carbon...
Montgomery County mother charged in son’s death after SUV found at New Jersey beach
HORSHAM — A mother has been charged with murder in the death of her 11-year-old son in southeastern Pennsylvania and is awaiting extradition from New Jersey, where she was arrested after her SUV was found in the surf on a beach at the Jersey shore. Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead, 50, of Horsham,...
Lawsuit: Pa. chocolate factory ignored warning before deadly blast
A Pennsylvania candy-maker ignored warnings of a natural gas leak at its chocolate factory and bears responsibility for a subsequent explosion that killed seven workers and injured several others, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The family of Judith “Judy” Lopez-Moran, a 55-year-old mother of three, filed what their lawyers...
U.S. organ transplant system overhaul: What will it mean for Pennsylvanians waiting?
For nearly 40 years, organ transplants in the United States have been directed by a single nonprofit called the United Network for Organ Sharing — UNOS. Critics say UNOS has come to be plagued by problems including outdated technology, wasted organs and lack of transparency. In March, the Biden administration...
Ex-firefighter from Pa. gets prison for Jan. 6 extinguisher attack
Robert Sanford, 57, a retired firefighter from Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, a town southwest of Philadelphia, threw a fire extinguisher at police officers during the U.S. Capitol riot was sentenced on Tuesday to more than four years in prison. Sanford struck two police officers in the head with the fire extinguisher that...
Pa. Democrats aim to appeal to working-class voters with policy, symbolism, and some anger
Pennsylvania Democrats are trying to show they can be populists, too. When Gov. Josh Shapiro took office in January, he sent a symbolic message by using his first executive order to end the four-year college degree requirement for most state government jobs. Sen. John Fetterman campaigned as a Democrat who...
