‘She doesn’t believe she’s guilty of anything’: Pa. teen will head to trial after arrest in ICE protest, attorney says
A Bucks County judge on Tuesday denied a request to dismiss the case against a 15-year-old girl charged during an anti-ICE protest in Quakertown, setting the case on course for a possible trial in June, according to her attorney. The girl is the only one of five teenagers arrested in...
1st Amendment rights at center of clash between Pa. schools, students over ICE walkouts
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 — Do students have the right to leave school as a protest tactic? Nationwide, including in Pennsylvania, communities...
David Wecht’s decision to leave Democratic Party is symbolic, experts say
The announcement this week by Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht that he was renouncing his Democratic Party affiliation amid what he feels is growing antisemitism in the party likely will have a limited impact on him politically. That’s because Wecht, who won another 10-year term on the bench in...
Trump nominates Doug Mastriano for ambassador to Slovakia
President Donald Trump has nominated Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano to fill a vacant ambassadorship to the Slovak Republic. The White House announced the pick Monday along with a series of nominations. Mastriano, a Trump loyalist from Franklin County, has been a Republican state senator since 2019. He ran unsuccessfully...
Pa.’s home healthcare crisis: Low Medicaid rates drive nursing shortage
Zayva McCachren is one of the oldest living children in the world with a rare terminal condition known as sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase-4, or SMPD4. She is 7. SMPD4 is a gene in the human body, and deficiencies cause severe neurodevelopmental disorders, including a significantly smaller head and stiff or fixed joints....
Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro endorses Bob Harvie’s campaign to oust Brian Fitzpatrick in Bucks County congressional seat
Gov. Josh Shapiro has officially thrown his support behind Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie’s campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick. The Democratic governor’s endorsement comes a little more than a week ahead of the May 19 primary, when Harvie will face grassroots candidate Lucia Simonelli for the party’s nomination...
Fetterman says he has no plans to switch parties: ‘I’d be a terrible Republican’
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman says he’d make a terrible Republican. Fetterman, a Democrat from Braddock, has drawn the ire of many in his party for breaking with them on issues like border security and Israel and for occasionally aligning with President Donald Trump and other Republicans. While Politico reported this...
Pa. Senate votes to end auto emission inspections
The state Senate this week passed a bill that would end Pennsylvania’s emissions inspection program for non-commercial vehicles, splitting the legislative body along regional lines. The program — well-known to motorists as the second inspection sticker that goes on their windshields every year — has been around since the federal...
Trump administration moves to drop its appeal in legal fight against Children’s Hospital to get medical records of transgender children
In an unexpected twist, President Donald Trump’s administration moved to abandon its legal fight to obtain private medical records of youth who received gender-affirming care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Late Wednesday, a U.S. Department of Justice lawyer filed a two-sentence motion to “voluntarily dismiss” its appeal of a...
Pennsylvania health officials report 11 measles cases in Lebanon County
Eleven people have been diagnosed with measles in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania health officials said Wednesday. After three people with measles were hospitalized in the central Pennsylvania county, state Department of Health staff conducted contact tracing in the area, located east of Harrisburg and north of Lancaster. They identified several more...
Shapiro denies asking union to back GOP candidate over fellow Democrat Erin McClelland
HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro is facing questions about whether he tried to help elect a Republican candidate over a member of his own party who had publicly criticized him, after an audio recording of a top labor leader leaked this week alleging that the first-term Democratic governor pushed his...
Pa. ban on phone use while driving to be enforced soon. Here’s when, what penalties to expect
Enforcement of Pennsylvania law banning handheld cell phone use behind the wheel will begin June 6. Dubbed Paul Miller’s Law, the ban has been in effect for the past year, though police could only issue warnings. Starting next month, drivers convicted of distracted driving will be subject to a $50...
Republican Stacy Garrity would veto recreational marijuana bill if elected Pennsylvania governor
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican running for Pennsylvania governor, said she would veto any bill favoring the legalization of recreational marijuana if she wins the election in November. “I don’t support legalizing recreational marijuana,” Garrity told NBC10 last week, placing her at odds with incumbent Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro,...
Pennsylvania sues startup over unlicensed AI ‘doctors’
The Shapiro administration is suing the maker of popular chatbot service Character.AI for illegal practice of medicine, claiming its artificial intelligence-generated personalities are posing as doctors. The chatbots will go as far as to say they’re licensed doctors in the state and provide fabricated license numbers, according to the lawsuit,...
Contaminated seasoning triggers a nationwide recall of Utz potato chips
A Pennsylvania-based snack food maker has voluntarily recalled some of its potato chips because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. Utz Quality Foods, a subsidiary of Utz Brands of Hanover, recalled some Zapp’s and Dirty potato chips. The company was notified that a seasoning containing dry milk...
6 arrested at Pa.’s Capitol while protesting gifts to lawmakers
Capitol Police arrested six protesters Monday afternoon after officers say they blocked hallways while protesting the state’s lax campaign finance laws. A Department of General Services spokesperson said six people were issued non-traffic summary citations and three were arrested on misdemeanor charges, “following multiple lawful dispersal orders that were not...
Sen. John Fetterman says he’s not switching parties, but GOP is courting him anywayVideo
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s frequent criticisms of the Democratic Party have led many pundits to wonder if there’s a chance he could switch parties in the near future. Unsurprisingly, Republicans would like to see that happen. According to Politico, Republicans have been quietly courting Fetterman to either join their party...
Shapiro demands a stop to ‘excessive’ utility rate increases, but has little authority to force change
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 Pennsylvanians struggle with rising energy prices, Gov. Josh Shapiro wants the commonwealth’s utility companies to control...
John Fetterman’s stock purchase draws scrutiny over timing and Senate committee role
A recent stock purchase by Sen. John Fetterman is raising eyebrows for its timing and because the company has reportedly received billions in federal funding that his committee oversees. Benzinga, a stock trading and news site, cited a post by an online stock tracker in reporting that Fetterman bought an...
Pa. House passes bill opening door to separate public, private state playoffs
The state House on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted in favor of a proposal that would clear the way for the PIAA to hold separate postseason tournaments for traditional public high schools and private, parochial and charter schools. The bipartisan bill passed on a 178-23 vote and now goes to the Senate...
Pennsylvania court grants public access to voting data in dispute from 2020 election’s aftermath
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s high court ruled Tuesday that spreadsheets of raw data associated with every ballot are public records, providing access to the “cast vote records” that had been requested by an election researcher hired by the Trump Administration last year. The Democratic-majority Supreme Court said its unanimous decision was...
Ending the death penalty gains support from both parties in Pa. House
A Pennsylvania House committee on Monday passed a pair of bills that would abolish capital punishment in the commonwealth, potentially ending decades of limbo in which death sentences have been handed down but not carried out. Both bills passed the House Judiciary Committee on party-line votes, with the Democratic majority...
Man gets month in jail for Pennsylvania voter registration quotas in 2024 presidential race
HARRISBURG — A man who managed problem-plagued voter registration drives in Pennsylvania ahead of the 2024 presidential election pleaded guilty Monday to three misdemeanor counts and was sentenced to a month in county jail. Phoenix resident Guillermo Sainz Gurrola was also fined $1,000 and will serve probation for three counts...
Former Pa. governors call on state leaders to make Shapiro’s security a priority
In the wake of a third assassination attempt on President Donald Trump on Saturday, all five of Pennsylvania’s living former governors called on state leaders to make the safety and security of Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family a top priority. “Combating political violence and keeping our elected officials safe...
Philadelphia museum brings Rocky statue inside after decades of tension
PHILADELPHIA — Every day, visitors from around the world make their way to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art — not necessarily for the galleries inside, but for a statue of a fictional boxer from South Philadelphia. The bronze figure of Rocky Balboa — arms raised in victory,...
