Pennsylvania category, Page 72
Pennsylvania Senate bill aims to undo 2023 gas tax increase
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Wednesday voted to undo an automatic wholesale tax increase on gasoline and diesel that kicks in this year in an effort to prevent motorists from paying more per gallon. The vote, 29-19, sent the bill to the state House of Representatives, where a partisan...
Mike Kelly’s federal bill would ban abortions after fetal heartbeat is detected
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Butler County Republican, has re-introduced a bill to ban abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected. “Our founders understood that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are our most fundamental rights,” Kelly said in a statement. “First among these is life.” Kelly, who introduced...
A critical shortage: Amid burnout, fatigue, exhaustion, nurses leave their jobs
In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, Denelle Korin was assigned to the covid wing in an acute care hospital in central Pennsylvania where she worked as a nurse. For months, Korin saw patients die. Like thousands of nurses across the country, she herself put her health and safety...
Allegheny County health director Bogen nominated for Pa. health secretary
One of Allegheny County’s public health leaders could be getting a promotion as Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro on Wednesday nominated Allegheny County Health Department Director Dr. Debra Bogen for Pennsylvania’s secretary of Health. The cabinet position is the top public health official in the state, and is responsible for statewide health...
Trial ordered for 4 in ambush shooting outside Philly school
PHILADELPHIA — A judge has ordered four suspects to stand trial in an ambush shooting outside a Philadelphia high school that killed a 14-year-old and wounded several other teenagers after a football scrimmage last fall. At the preliminary hearing Tuesday, prosecutors presented evidence they said tied the adult and juvenile...
Pa. House at a standstill as deadline nears to get relief for child sex abuse survivors on May ballot
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 — Pennsylvania’s closely divided state House has recessed indefinitely, throwing the chamber’s agenda, including a number of far-reaching constitutional amendments,...
Bigfoot sighting late last year in Pennsylvania?
Is Bigfoot out there somewhere roaming around? Well, the folks at The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization seem convinced the legendary creature exists, and if you check out their website there’s all sorts of interesting info. And, one of the most interesting features is the sightings section where you can filter...
Pa. officials fly high in state plane on taxpayers’ dime
Gov. Tom Wolf appeared in Allentown one day last fall to celebrate his success in boosting early education funding. An hour later he was at a news conference 90 miles away in Steelton, touting free breakfasts for students. Despite the distance, no speed limits were broken. Wolf winged it from...
GOP lawmaker turns on Democrat he helped win Pa. speakership
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania state House Republican who recently nominated and voted for Democratic Rep. Mark Rozzi to serve as speaker wrote him Monday to say Rozzi was waffling on whether he will register as an independent and therefore should resign. The letter from Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Blair, who has...
Pa. county is about to start a hand recount of its 2020 presidential election results
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. More than two years after the last ballot was cast in the 2020 election, Lycoming County...
Can council presidents make a motion? State boroughs association says yes
Delmont Council President Andy Shissler had to restrain himself from using his newfound power at the borough’s Dec. 13 meeting. Or perhaps he just didn’t want his first presidential motion to be payment of an annual service fee. “I’d rather not make my first motion paying Westmoreland Transit,” Shissler joked....
Man pleads to charge in Pennsylvania coffee shop fire amid protests
ERIE — A man accused of setting fire to a northwestern Pennsylvania coffee shop during 2020 demonstrations following the death of George Floyd has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of malicious destruction of property by fire. Melquan Barnett, 30, entered the plea Wednesday as part of a deal with...
New year brings new faces and new politics to Western Pa.
After a midterm election with several surprising results, Southwestern Pennsylvania is poised to see a new class of politicians and a different political makeup beginning this year. Some well-known incumbents and familiar names are out, and some political upstarts are in, including progressives who are left of the region’s prior...
Pa. state system schools look to outfit police with body cameras
Slippery Rock University is seeking grants to begin outfitting its 11 police officers and five patrol cars with body and vehicle cameras that can record interactions with students, employees and the general public. The school with 8,200 students isn’t the only state-owned university poised to take that step. Campuses across...
Majority of 16k canceled Pa. mail-in ballots were from Democrats
HARRISBURG — New data from Pennsylvania’s elections agency shows an early November state court decision that barred mail-in ballots without accurate handwritten dates on their exterior envelopes resulted in otherwise valid votes being thrown out. The Department of State said this week more than 16,000 mail-in ballots were disqualified by...
Gov. Wolf launches college scholarship program for Pa. state workers, dependents
Gov. Tom Wolf has been a strong advocate for funding for Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities and as his administration winds to a close on Jan. 17, he had one more parting gift for them and certain state government employees. He announced on Thursday the launch of a new $5 million short-lived...
Will a surprise speaker pick make the Pennsylvania House less partisan?
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 surprising pick for speaker of the Pennsylvania House has some lawmakers and good-government groups hopeful the chamber might...
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey to undergo prostate cancer surgery
HARRISBURG — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said Thursday that he will undergo surgery for prostate cancer but is expected to make a full recovery. Casey, 62, said in a statement that he was diagnosed last month. “While this news came as a shock, I can report that I...
PennDOT employee accused of helping immigrants on driver’s license tests
HARRISBURG — A former Pennsylvania Department of Transportation employee accused by authorities of charging immigrants up to $350 to help pass the knowledge test and ultimately obtain driver’s licenses said Wednesday he was seeking to help them. Angelo Carrion, 66, charged immigrants to furnish them with correct answers to get...
Biggest boost in a decade brings maximum Pell Grant award to nearly $7,400 for college students
Millions of college students who receive the federal need-based Pell Grant will see the yearly maximum award increase by $500 to $7,395 this fall, the largest boost in a decade and the second increase in two years. The boost is tucked into the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill to operate...
Here’s what you need to know about new Pa. House Speaker Mark Rozzi
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 House picked state Rep. Mark Rozzi to be the chamber’s new speaker Tuesday in a surprise vote....
Pa. native Molly Broad, UNC’s first female system president, dies at 81
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Molly Corbett Broad, the first female president of the University of North Carolina system and who later became a top advocate for U.S. higher education, has died at age 81. Broad died early Monday, according to a statement from her family. The statement was provided to...
Divided Pennsylvania House elects Democrat Mark Rozzi as speaker
HARRISBURG — A Democrat who promised to govern as an independent was elected speaker of the narrowly divided Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a surprising move Tuesday on the strength of every Democrat and more than a dozen GOP votes. Rep. Mark Rozzi was elected speaker by a vote of...
Idaho slayings suspect waives right to fight extraditionVideo
A criminology graduate student accused of the November slayings of four University of Idaho students agreed Tuesday to be extradited from Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week, to face charges in Idaho. Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old doctoral student at Washington State University — a short drive from the scene...
Idaho slayings suspect’s family voices sympathy for victims
STROUDSBURG — Relatives of a man arrested in Pennsylvania in the slayings of four University of Idaho students expressed sympathy for the victims’ families but also vowed to support him and promote “his presumption of innocence.” Bryan Kohberger, 28, is eager to be exonerated and plans to tell a judge...
