Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania State Police trooper shot and killed in a traffic stop, authorities say
PAOLI — A Pennsylvania State Police trooper was shot and killed by a man whom he had pulled over in a traffic stop Sunday night, authorities said. Cpl. Tim O’Connor was killed as he approached the car when the driver fired from inside the vehicle, the state’s acting police commissioner,...
AI is spurring a big expansion of high-voltage power lines. Landowners and locals are fighting back
SUGARLOAF, Pa. — For John Zola, the 40 acres were like a paradise: apple orchards tucked into northern Pennsylvania’s rolling hills, a barn, meadows and more than enough land for four houses: one for himself and his wife and each of his three adult children. It’s been “hell,” however, since...
Drug plan middlemen face new oversight push as Pa. pharmacies close
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Some Pennsylvania lawmakers want to give the state’s top prosecutor more power to take on pharmacy benefit...
Poll: Pa. voters have a more favorable opinion of Shapiro than Trump
Gov. Josh Shapiro remains more popular with Pennsylvania voters than President Donald Trump, according to a poll released Thursday. Half of Pennsylvania’s registered voters believe Shapiro is doing an “excellent” or “good” job in the state’s highest office, while 44% rate his performance as “fair” or “poor,” the Franklin &...
Demand for student teacher stipends outstrips supply as Shapiro proposes boosting program
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A stipend aimed at getting more student teachers into Pennsylvania schools and easing the commonwealth’s educator shortage...
Pennsylvania reports 12 measles cases in residents, including several in the Philly suburbs
Pennsylvania had 12 confirmed cases of measles among state residents and another two involving visitors to the state as of Tuesday, the state Department of Health said. Eight cases are associated with an outbreak in Lancaster County, where the state declared an outbreak involving five cases a month ago. The...
Philadelphia on the short list to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention
Philadelphia is one of five cities on a list of finalists to host the 2028 Democratic National Convention, a major gathering that could generate millions of dollars in economic impact for the city. Party officials are also considering Boston, Atlanta, Chicago and Denver, the Democratic National Committee announced Monday. Any...
Shapiro vows to block ICE detention centers, warns of devastating impact on local Pa. communities
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. READING — Gov. Josh Shapiro says he will use “every tool at his disposal” to stop planned ICE detention centers in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, though he stopped short of discussing what levers his...
ICE facilities are planned for Pa. Will the Shapiro admin sue to stop them?
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks. READING — Maryland’s attorney general is suing the federal government to prevent ICE from converting a warehouse into an...
Pa. drivers to receive over $1.4 million through national Walmart settlement
Pennsylvania is part of a $100 million multistate settlement that was reached with Walmart due to allegations that Walmart deceived customers and drivers who participated in its Spark Driver Program. Through the program, launched in 2018, nearly 1 million drivers nationwide made over 272 million deliveries to customers who ordered...
An angry Gov. Josh Shapiro pledges to block ICE detention centers in Pa.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro met with leaders in Berks and Schuylkill counties Thursday as those communities confront the planned federal conversion of two warehouses into ICE detention centers, pledging to do everything possible to block the Trump administration’s plans in the state. Shapiro, a Democrat who first opposed the potential...
Poll: 4 in 10 Pa. voters think Josh Shapiro would make a good president
Nearly 6 in 10 Pennsylvania voters think Josh Shapiro is doing a good job as governor, but only 4 in 10 think he’d be a good president, according to a new poll. The Quinnipiac University poll released this week showed that 56% of registered voters approve of the job Shapiro...
Surging natural gas prices in Pa. could mean higher utility bills
Wholesale natural gas prices in Pennsylvania surged 71% last year, according to a new report, likely leading to higher residential utility bills. The Independent Fiscal Office, a state agency that supplies lawmakers in Harrisburg with revenue projections and economic analysis, released its quarterly natural gas report Wednesday. It found the...
Lawyers say Pennsylvania student protesters did not know a man who joined scrum was the police chief
PHILADELPHIA — Lawyers for student protesters detained in Pennsylvania for four days after a scuffle with police say their clients had no idea the stocky older man in street clothes who joined the fray and put his arm around a 15-year-old girl’s neck was the local police chief. The attorneys...
Former Pennsylvania officer accused of child rape fatally shot in gunfire exchange with police
A former Pennsylvania police officer charged with sexually assaulting two young girls more than two decades ago was killed early Wednesday during a gunfire exchange with police who recognized his vehicle and confronted him, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele. Francis Connell Collier, 38, who resigned in December...
Town hall about proposed Pennsylvania cellphone ban in schools draws crowd
Momentum is growing for a push to ban cellphones in the state’s public schools. State Reps. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, and Jill Cooper, R-Murrysville, are among those spearheading House Bill 1814 to restrict cellphones in classrooms. It’s a proposed bell-to-bell ban, meaning students would secure their cellphones in a lockbox...
Officials warn ICE detention centers in Pa. could overwhelm sewer, other critical services
This story was produced by the Berks County bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom. Sign up for Good Day, Berks, a daily dose of essential local stories at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/gooddayberks. UPPER BERN — Not enough clean water. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage dumped into systems designed to...
Pennsylvania residents question police response to student ICE protesters after juveniles detained
PHILADELPHIA — Some residents in the Philadelphia suburb of Quakertown are calling for the police chief to resign after a scuffle between police and high school students protesting immigration enforcement policies left several juveniles in custody for four days. Video circulating online shows an older man in street clothes approach...
As antisemitism rises and strife over Israel continues, Josh Shapiro turns toward his Jewish faithVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Thousands of teenagers from more than a dozen countries, many standing on their chairs in a cavernous convention hall, screamed and cheered as Josh Shapiro took the stage. Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor still may be unknown among many Americans outside his home state, but here at BBYO, the world’s...
Penn State breaks THON fundraising record with over $18 million
Penn State’s annual THON fundraising effort surpassed $18 million for the first time ever through this weekend’s dance marathon. THON 2026 raised $18,841,726.53 for Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Golisano Children’s Hospital — breaking last year’s total of $17,737,040.93 by more than $1.1 million, the university announced Sunday. View...
Pennsylvania schools to embrace cursive writing once again
Each of the 15 students in Mollie Sweeney’s third grade class raised their dominant hand. Sweeney, a teacher at Burrell’s Bon Air Elementary, then walked through the motions of how to write a lowercase letter in cursive. Students air-traced the motion. Only after that did the students take pencil to...
Shapiro signs proclamation of disaster emergency ahead of winter storm
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a proclamation of disaster emergency Sunday afternoon as another major snowstorm is headed for the state, he announced in a press conference. Parts of Philadelphia and its suburbs, and north toward Allentown and the Poconos, could see record-breaking snowfall totals of up to 2 feet...
Data center tax break created to boost economy, add jobs in Pa. could cost state billions
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — As data centers spread and draw backlash across the state, new figures are emerging about their potential...
Slavery exhibit removed by Trump administration is returning to Independence Mall in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Workers are restoring an exhibit depicting the history of the nine people once enslaved in Philadelphia amid a legal fight between the city and the Trump Administration. Mayor Cherelle Parker visited the site Thursday morning and saw the work being done, spokesperson Joe Grace said. A federal judge...
Judge gives Trump administration deadline to restore President’s House exhibits
PHILADELPHIA — President Donald Trump’s administration now has a hard deadline to restore slavery exhibits to the President’s House. The Department of Interior and National Park Service must restore the President’s House to its condition before the exhibits were removed by 5 p.m. Friday, according to a new order from...
