Fetterman looks to expand SNAP benefits to include hot rotisserie chicken
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman says hot rotisserie chicken from Costco is a staple on his family’s dinner table. At $4.99 apiece, Costco’s hot rotisserie chicken is “America’s best (and delicious) affordability play,” the Democrat from Braddock said. “It’s one of my family’s favorites,” Fetterman added. But Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program...
PennWest merger undershot estimated tuition revenue by $53M, enrollment by 4,800 studentsVideo
While the 2022 merger of California, Clarion and Edinboro universities realized savings in personnel and operations, enrollment projections for Pennsylvania Western University were short 4,800 students and $53 million in tuition revenue last school year. “While we’ve generated significant savings, it’s not as significant as had been originally projected, and...
Pennsylvania high school history instructor named nation’s Teacher of the Year
HAVERFORD — A high school history teacher in Pennsylvania who helps students look inward to find their strengths and outward to find community inside and outside the classroom has been named the 2026 National Teacher of the Year. Leon Smith, 46, has spent his entire 25-year career at Haverford High...
Turnpike starts engineering work for updated Breezewood, I-70 interchangeVideo
More than 5 million vehicles per year traverse the short stretch of Route 30 that links the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Interstate 70. This month, preliminary engineering work began on a new interchange that will give drivers a direct connection to I-70, accommodating those who want to remain on the turnpike...
Pennsylvania to expand hunter program as crop damage climbs from deerVideo
While the Pennsylvania Game Commission prepares to take its Certified Hunter Program statewide to combat agricultural losses, some veteran farmers say the move is “too little, too late” to save their fields from a skyrocketing deer population. The commission recently approved the expansion of the program, which was piloted last...
ACLU of Pennsylvania sues ICE for information on efforts to ‘unmask’ anonymous online critics
PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania arm of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit to obtain information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the agency’s efforts to unmask anonymous social media critics. ICE has issued administrative subpoenas to tech companies to obtain information about accounts that track...
Pennsylvania court overturns limits on Medicaid coverage for abortions
A Pennsylvania court on Monday said that the state’s constitution guarantees a right to abortion while striking down a decades-long law banning the use of state Medicaid funds to cover abortion costs. The ruling by a divided seven-judge panel of the appellate-level Commonwealth Court is a major victory for Planned...
Pennsylvania judges say blocking Medicaid for abortion violates state constitution
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 — Pennsylvania’s ban on state Medicaid dollars paying for low-income people’s abortion care is unconstitutional, a state appellate...
Mother and 6 children killed in explosion and fire at central Pennsylvania home
MILL HALL — An Amish woman and her six children ranging in age from 3 to 11 were killed in a swift-moving house fire after an explosion that shook nearby houses in rural northcentral Pennsylvania, authorities said. Firefighters responding to a report of an explosion and fire at a home...
County governments group pushes for funding during Pa. budget impasses
Pennsylvania’s budget is due each year on June 30. But that doesn’t always mean it will get done on time. If lawmakers can’t agree on a spending plan, it can leave counties, school districts, and nonprofit organizations that provide services for the state in the lurch. That’s what happened last...
Shapiro wants to eliminate 3 ‘niche’ tax credits; supporters say they should be expanded
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 — For the second year in a row, Gov. Josh Shapiro is asking Pennsylvania lawmakers to scrap three...
Game commission seeks entries for 2027 wildlife art contest
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is looking for artists’ best portraits of a Pennsylvania shorebird. The agency is seeking entries for its 2027 Working Together for Wildlife art contest. The featured category is shorebirds, and unlike in previous years, the 2027 contest is restricted to paintings. One or more shorebirds can...
Descendants say the theft of body parts from Pennsylvania grave sites is not a victimless crime
MEDIA — Judy Prichard McCleary believes her ancestors have gone to the afterlife, and that only their bodies are buried at the family mausoleum in a sprawling Philadelphia-area cemetery. Yet she remains rattled by the discovery that five of their nine crypts were disturbed — and the remains of a...
Walmart stores in Bethel Park, Unity among 32 Pa. stores set for upgrade
Walmart plans to remodel 32 stores in Pennsylvania this year, including two in the Western Pennsylvania region. The retailer announced Thursday morning that the remodels are part of ongoing efforts to modernize the in-store and digital shopping experience at its stores. The remodels include upgrades to layouts, technology, and services....
Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pat McAfee wager on Penguins-Flyers playoff series
The impending NHL hockey playoff series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers has even the state’s governor getting in on the action. Though he represents all of Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro says he is decidedly a Philadelphia fan when it comes to sports. Shapiro made a friendly wager with...
Pa. House sends budget proposal to Senate earlier than it has in nearly a decade
The state House sent a proposed $53.3 billion budget for the coming fiscal year to the Senate on Tuesday — the earliest it has initially passed a spending plan in nearly a decade. The plan passed this week by the Democratic-controlled House has virtually no chance of making it through...
Former Gettysburg mayor’s arrest in Texas captured on body camVideo
Authorities in Texas have released body camera footage of former Gettysburg Mayor Chad-Alan Carr’s April 8 arrest in Texas on child sex charges. The footage was released by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office in Texas, which was serving a warrant on behalf of the Adams County Sheriff’s Office after new...
Pennsylvania GOP chairman considers re-election support for Fetterman if he switches parties
(The Center Square) – While the governor’s race took center stage at the conservative-backed Pennsylvania Leadership Conference over the weekend, there was another statewide Democrat’s 2028 campaign that wasn’t too far from mind. Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman told The Center Square he’s spoken with several people interested in...
Shapiro, Garrity spar over Iran
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Treasurer Stacy Garrity are sparring this week over the war in Iran. Garrity, who is unopposed for the Republican nomination in this year’s race for governor, took exception Thursday to Shapiro describing the conflict as “the president’s war of choice.” In response to a reporter’s...
Pa. Game Commission to vote on increasing number of Sundays in deer rifle season
The Pennsylvania Game Commission will vote Saturday on potential adjustments to the deer rifle season, which officials believe could bolster interest in hunting among youth and young adults. The game commission’s nine-member board met Friday in Dauphin County to discuss opening deer rifle season on Nov. 28, a Saturday, and...
Pennsylvania teens who plotted ISIS-inspired NYC terror attack sought to kill up to 60, feds say
Two Pennsylvania teenagers accused of instigating an ISIS-inspired terrorist plot outside New York’s Gracie Mansion last month watched “radical content” online and hoped to kill up to 60 people in the attack, according to new court documents. Emir Balat, 18, of Langhorne, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, of Newtown, were charged...
Shapiro outraises Garrity by 10-to-1 margin in 1st quarter, filings show
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity raised more than $1 million for her gubernatorial campaign during the first three months of the year but was outraised by incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro by more than a 10-to-1 margin, campaign finance reports show. Garrity, a Republican from Bradford County, filed paperwork Tuesday showing that...
Laurel Caverns opens as Pennsylvania’s 1st underground state parkVideo
Laurel Caverns, the popular Fayette County tourist attraction, has officially opened as Pennsylvania’s first underground state park. On Monday, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Laurel Caverns State Park’s official opening alongside Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn and local Fayette leaders. “Right here in our backyard,...
Parents charged after toddler is injured by wolf at Hersheypark zoo
A 17-month-old was hurt Saturday after crawling under a fence at Pennsylvania’s Hersheypark zoo and sticking his hand into a wolf enclosure. Now, the boy’s parents face charges. The child, who has not been publicly identified, was “unsupervised” at ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park, which is inside Hersheypark, a police...
Bill would designate the scarlet tanager as Pennsylvania’s official migratory birdVideo
This time of year, backyard bird enthusiasts are keeping an eye out for flashes of red. Most of the year, it probably would be a male cardinal. But in the spring, it might also be a scarlet tanager, which has been proposed for designation as Pennsylvania’s official state migratory bird....
