Pennsylvania

The number of new cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania declined more than 27% from December’s totals to January’s totals. The latest reports from the state show Pennsylvania added 202,899 new cases of the virus in January, compared with 278,861 cases in December. In a report issued Monday by the Pennsylvania...

Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 top election official is expected to resign her position after her agency’s staff discovered a mistake that will...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Deputy Health Commissioner Caroline Johnson has resigned after records obtained by The Inquirer show she gave an advantage in a city bidding process to Andrei Doroshin, Philly Fighting Covid’s young CEO who until this week the city entrusted to run its largest vaccination site. Johnson sent a...

OIL CITY — A house fire in northwestern Pennsylvania claimed the lives of three people over the weekend, authorities said. The Oil City fire department was called to the home shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday. Chief Mark Hicks told the Oil City Derrick that arriving crews found a “well seated...

This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It’s made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members including the Tribune-Review/TribLIVE, and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — A proposal moving through the GOP-led Pennsylvania legislature...

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information about the Federal Pharmacy Partnership. Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 5,191 new coronavirus cases, as hospitalizations and case counts continue to trend downward in the Keystone State. The new data bring the total cases to 839,239. That’s a jump of...

Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 sluggish start, the vast majority of nursing homes in Pennsylvania have hosted at least one covid-19 vaccine...

PHILADELPHIA — When Philadelphia began getting its first batches of covid-19 vaccines, it looked to partner with someone who could get a mass vaccination site up and running quickly. City Hall officials might have looked across the skyline to the world-renowned health providers at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University...

Pennsylvania on Friday reported 9,643 additional cases of coronavirus, the most in nearly three weeks. Many of the newly reported cases were attributed to Berks, Lancaster and Montgomery counties, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The state notes that today’s cases include backlogged antigen testing data from urgent care...

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the state Game Commission have teamed up to offer one website for residents to buy hunting and fishing licenses. HuntFishPA replaces the previous Pennsylvania Automatic Licensing System (PALS) platform known as The Outdoor Shop. It’s accessible on all mobile devices. Previously, licenses for...

HARRISBURG — Facing a deep, pandemic-inflicted budget deficit and a clock running down on his time in office, Gov. Tom Wolf will ask lawmakers for billions of dollars funded by higher taxes on Pennsylvania’s huge natural gas industry for workforce development and employment assistance to help the state recover. Wolf...

The Pennsylvania Game Commission proposed three Sundays in November when licensed hunters will be able to harvest permitted game, repeating the Sunday hunting schedule introduced last fall. New this year, the commission plans to expand the species that hunters can target on two of those dates. During its January meeting,...

Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2021 legislative agenda will focus heavily on rebuilding Pennsylvania’s economy from damage caused by the covid-19 pandemic, including targeted investments to businesses, schools and other infrastructure. “I think we need to talk about the barriers our fellow citizens face,” Wolf said. “It’s time to make plans to...

Pennsylvania on Thursday added 198 coronavirus deaths, bringing its total number of deaths to 21,303 since the pandemic began in March. In latest report, 187 deaths are from January, 11 are from December. January (3,520) has surpassed April (3,395) to become the second deadliest month for covid. December has the...

When an angry mob of anti-government extremists carrying symbols of hate stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, it may have been a wake-up call for some — but not for state Rep. Dan Frankel, a Democrat from Squirrel Hill. Frankel is Jewish and represents a district that includes the...

A constitutional amendment designed to limit the governor’s powers to extend emergency disaster declarations could make its way to a voter referendum as early as this spring. State Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, a Hempfield Republican and one of Gov. Tom Wolf’s harshest critics, sponsored the proposed amendment that would...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to distribute just over $900 million to aid schools and hospitality-related businesses hit hard by the coronavirus, as well as people struggling to pay rent or utility bills. The bill still requires approval from the state House of Representatives and...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania voters will likely soon get the final say about whether to limit the governor’s powers during a disaster emergency after a divided state House of Representatives endorsed a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday. House members voted 116 to 85 in the latest legislative approval vote. One more vote...

HARRISBURG — The state House has given its final approval to a proposal to change the Pennsylvania Constitution to give those who say they were victims of child sexual abuse a retroactive two-year “window” in which to file civil lawsuits, no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred. State...

Pennsylvania added 5,874 additional cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest number in the past week. The newly added cases from the Pennsylvania Department of Health raise the state’s total to 818,369. Of the 222 deaths newly reported Wednesday, 214 are from January, seven are from December and one is...

Smokers are among people included in Pennsylvania’s first priority group for the covid-19 vaccine, a move state officials tried to justify this week. Health officials announced Jan. 19 that the state would follow updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that recommended anyone aged 65 or older...

HARRISBURG — A laptop stolen from the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the U.S. Capitol attack has not been recovered from the home or car of a Pennsylvania woman accused of helping steal it, the woman’s lawyer said Tuesday. Public defender A.J. Kramer told a federal judge that...

Overdose deaths in Pennsylvania will likely tick upward for the first time in several years when 2020 reports are finalized, according to state officials, showing the effects of a year marked by isolation and a cutoff of group and in-person services. Overdose drug deaths were higher month over month for...

A fellow Westmoreland County lawmaker has been elected to fill the Republican caucus leadership post left vancant by the death of state Rep. Mike Reese. Rep. George Dunbar, R-Penn Township, will serve as majority caucus chair for the 2021-22 legislative session, a caucus spokesman said Tuesday. Reese, 42, of Mt....

The number of covid-19 patients hospitalized in Pennsylvania has decreased every day over the past six days, according to state Department of Health data. There were 3,790 covid-19 patients hospitalized in the state on Tuesday, dropping by almost 100 from 3,887 on Monday. The biggest drop came Jan. 22, when...