Pennsylvania category, Page 73
Rose Bowl watch parties connect Penn State fans across country
Val Evans ordered a blue and white flag with the words “We are Penn State” so the 1975 graduate could proudly hang it at her house in time for Monday’s Rose Bowl. Only trouble is, there aren’t many like-minded fans in her locale. She lives in Salt Lake City, home...
Pennsylvanians choose their most popular New Year’s resolution
Some Pennsylvanians appear to be looking for ways to work on their inner self in 2023. Pennsylvania, along with 11 other states, listed therapy as the top New Year’s resolution, in a recent study conducted by Zippia, a job search website. Nationally, going to therapy was named the most popular...
Multiple homes in Philadelphia collapse in series of gas explosions early New Year’s Day
PHILADELPHIA — Multiple gas leaks in Port Richmond resulted in an explosion early New Year’s Day that led to the collapse of two homes and multiple people being taken to hospitals, according to city fire officials. None of the injuries appeared to be fatal, but two people were rescued from...
Deer hunters back bill changing opening day of deer season
A coalition of hunters and businesses across the state, including many in Chester County, are supporting legislation aimed at changing the opening day of deer season back to Monday. Pennsylvania has opened its rifle deer season on the Monday after Thanksgiving for over 60 years, that is until 2019. The...
Suspect in deaths of Idaho students arrested in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death in their beds more than a month ago, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday. The killings initially mystified law enforcement and shook the small town...
Philadelphia’s gun violence remained at record levels for 3rd straight year
PHILADELPHIA — When Taneesha Brodie’s eldest son turned 8, she moved her family out of North Philadelphia to Upper Darby, seeking a safer community away from the city’s gun violence. She was proud of the people her children became, especially her eldest, Quenzell Bradley-Brown. A married father of four, the...
Pa. state system universities try to rein in student costs to reverse enrollment losses
The promise of a new $90 million science hall, suite-style dorms and a scenic oak grove aren’t bad selling points for a public university. But these days, Indiana University of Pennsylvania can trumpet something else that might have seemed unlikely not long ago: It’s noticeably less expensive. The typical total...
Proposed sale of Camp Tuckahoe could help local Boy Scout council
A proposal to sell off buffer acres around Camp Tuckahoe on South Mountain could help replenish the financial reserves of the Boy Scouts of America New Birth of Freedom Council, scout executive and chief executive officer Ronald Gardner Jr. said Tuesday. Council executive board members have yet to finalize the...
Honeybees are at risk, along with the crops they pollinate
PHILADELPHIA — The honeybees looked perfectly healthy, buzzing about their boxy wooden hive on a warm autumn day in central Pennsylvania. Elizabeth Capaldi suspected otherwise. Clad in a protective white suit and hat, the biologist reached out with a gloved hand to capture one of the insects in a small...
Gov. Wolf ends term with strong ratings after tumultuous times
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf will wrap up eight years in office next month, having steered Pennsylvania through unpredictable times when the Democrat made life-and-death decisions in the ravaging covid-19 pandemic and managed the battleground state’s presidential election amid unprecedented Republican efforts to overturn it. Wolf, 74, leaves office with...
Pat Toomey looks back at his years in the Senate, gives his thoughts on taxes, Trump, the filibuster and Fetterman
In his 12 years in the U.S. Senate, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Pat Toomey considers his part in getting the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 passed his biggest accomplishment. The act was the first sweeping federal tax legislation since Ronald Reagan was president during the 1980s....
Nonprofit creates free online course to tackle Pennsylvania’s opioid crisis
The Rothman Opioid Foundation for Opioid Research & Education is offering a free online curriculum that will aid current and future prescribers to fight opioid addiction across Pennsylvania and the Appalachian region. Launched in 2019, the Philadelphia nonprofit is dedicated to raising awareness of the risks and benefits of opioids,...
Pennsylvania certifies election results after recount delay
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top elections official fully certified results from the November vote late last week after recount petitions in some counties had delayed the process, the Department of State said Tuesday. An agency spokesperson said acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman completed certification of all races in the 2022...
On a new map, Pennsylvania elects most diverse assembly ever
HARRISBURG — When mapmakers reimagined the boundaries of Pennsylvania’s 253 legislative districts, they did it with an eye on the state’s growing racial and ethnic minorities, and officials say that has helped yield the most diverse incoming class of lawmakers yet. The number of state lawmakers who are Black, Latino...
Josh Shapiro’s win is high note amid antisemitism surge
PITTSBURGH — Josh Shapiro will be taking office as Pennsylvania’s next governor in January after running a campaign in which he spoke early and often about his Jewish religious heritage. At a time of rising concern about overt expressions of antisemitism, some observers are seeing a bright spot in his...
What Josh Shapiro’s transition team says about how he’ll govern, and why some picks are raising eyebrows
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 transition team helping Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro prepare for office is wide-ranging and, in some cases, controversial, offering a...
Pennsylvania Treasury becomes the latest state agency to ban TikTok from its phones, computers
Amid national security concerns involving the social media app TikTok, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced on Thursday she has banned its use on Treasury-owned phones and computers. This comes at a time when Congress is considering a similar ban of the video-sharing app on all federal government devices and possibly,...
How are Pa. hospitals handling the worst flu season in years as covid-19 cases rise?
Hospitals around the United States are feeling pressure from multiple fronts: RSV cases among children have been up for months, overloading some pediatric units. The nation, including Pennsylvania, is in the midst of its worst flu season in years. Most recently, covid-19 cases have begun to climb. PennLive has been...
County vote moves Pennsylvania closer to certifying election
HARRISBURG — A suburban Philadelphia county elections board voted Tuesday to certify its November results, a development Pennsylvania officials had said was required before they can issue a statewide certification. Bucks County government spokesman Jim O’Malley said its Board of Elections wrapped up certification, although litigation over recount requests has...
Pa. gambling revenue jumps 4.59% in November
Gambling revenue was up across the state in November. The funds generated from all forms of gaming and fantasy contests was more than $452.3 million, an increase of 4.59% compared to November 2021, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The board oversees 16 casinos, as well as online casino...
Ex-Attorney General Kathleen Kane acquitted in drunken driving case
Pennsylvania’s former top law enforcement officer, who once served jail time for leaking secret investigative files and lying about it, was acquitted Monday of drunken driving. A Lackawanna County judge acquitted former Attorney General Kathleen Kane of drunken driving and careless driving after a one-day bench trial in Scranton. Kane,...
Grudges, tribalism and infighting rife in Pa. borough that hired cop who killed Tamir Rice
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. TIOGA — Standing in a nondescript corner of the Tioga Borough Council Room, Mayor David...
Pa. Republicans fight to prolong House majority and pass far-reaching constitutional amendments
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 — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state House could hold a functional majority until at least mid-February thanks to Democratic vacancies —...
What helped ID the ‘Boy in the Box?’ His mother’s family dabbles in genetic genealogy
PHILADELPHIA — It’s the ultimate rabbit hole of hobbies: genetic genealogy. There are legions of self-taught ancestry bloodhounds who upload their DNA to multiple databases in search of kin who did likewise, plugging gaps in their family tree. Joseph Augustus Zarelli’s biological mother had third and fourth cousins who did...
School board in Pa. wants to ban teachers from advocating ‘social policy’ issues. ACLU fears it would target LGBTQ students
The Central Bucks school board is advancing a policy that would ban staff members from advocating to students about “partisan, political or social policy issues,” a proposal critics said would have a chilling effect on teachers. The policy — a revision of an earlier proposal put on hold last month...
