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Pennsylvania category, Page 50

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Fishermen caught cheating at Ohio tournament sentenced to 10-day jail terms, forfeit of $100k boat
Two fishermen, including a Mercer County resident, were sentenced Thursday for their roles in a cheating scandal last year at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament in Cleveland. Chase Cominsky, 36, of Hermitage, and Jacob Runyan, 43, of Ashtabula, Ohio, were sentenced in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas to...
Ready-to-drink cocktails could be coming to any place beer and wine are sold in Pa.
A state senator is once again trying to modernize Pennsylvania’s liquor system by expanding access to pre-packaged cocktails. The legislation would allow restaurants, bars, taverns, beer distributors, grocery and convenience stores that sell beer and wine to add these popular canned cocktails such as rum punch, pina coladas and margaritas...
Federal money won’t be enough to solve Pa.’s abandoned oil and gas well problem, advocates say
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 — Cheryl Thomas first asked Pennsylvania officials to cap old oil wells on her land in 1988. Abandoned by the...
Pennsylvania GOP puts clout back on line in primary after losing ’22 Senate, governor races
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican Party is trying to learn from internal strife over last year’s failure to endorse in premier primary contests and, this year, it is putting its clout on the line by issuing endorsements ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. Republicans are now putting up big bucks to try...
Perimeter guards absent as 2 men escaped Philadelphia prison
PHILADELPHIA — There were no corrections officers assigned specifically to watch the housing unit of a Philadelphia prison when two inmates escaped Sunday night, and no armed perimeter guards were on duty as the men broke through the prison’s fence, a correctional officers union official told The Associated Press on...
Pennsylvania House battle hinges on Philadelphia suburbs
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democrats who reclaimed the Pennsylvania House majority in November and clung to a one-seat margin by sweeping three special elections earlier this year face yet another contest for control of the chamber next week, when voters will fill a vacancy in the Philadelphia suburbs. At stake in...
Mistrial declared in the case of a Philly SWAT officer who pepper-sprayed protesters
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia judge declared a mistrial Monday in the case of former city SWAT Officer Richard P. Nicoletti, who is facing criminal charges for pepper-spraying three demonstrators who sat in the middle of I-676 during the city’s racial justice protests in 2020. After deliberating for more than two...
3 ways Shapiro’s budget would change public health in Pennsylvania
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 — When Josh Shapiro pitched his first budget as Pennsylvania’s governor during a nearly hour-and-a-half speech in March, the Democrat...
Proposal to update ailing Pa. rent, property tax rebate program would reverse decade of decline
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 number of people getting help from a state program that offsets some housing costs for older and disabled...
13-year-old charged as adult with Pa. murder in sleepover shooting of friend
A 13-year-old has been charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the April 1 shooting death of his 12-year-old friend Kain Heiland. Nolan Grove, who is being charged as an adult, is also facing a felony charge of having a firearm without a license and multiple misdemeanor counts of...
Party affiliation can be misleading in some local Pa. elections
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 — When Devon Taliaferro first ran for school board in Pittsburgh Public Schools, she filed as a Democrat. She’s a...
Philadelphia mayoral race hones in on crime policies
In Philadelphia’s first mayoral race since crime spiked during the coronavirus pandemic, the crowded Democratic field is trying to make public safety a campaign cornerstone, advocating approaches that range from mental health interventions and cleaner streets to echoes of “tough-on-crime” Republican rhetoric. Six Democrats are considered serious contenders to succeed...
Pa. House committee approves bill tightening railroad regulations after East Palestine derailment
A bill that would expand Pennsylvania’s role in railroad safety enforcement passed a House committee vote with broad bipartisan support Wednesday, three months after East Palestine, Ohio rail disaster near the state border. The House Consumer Protection, Technology, and Utilities Committee approved House Bill 1028 Wednesday on a 19-2 vote....
Is nurse shortage myth or reality? Question drives Pa. hospital staffing debate
Is a shortage of nurses preventing hospitals from hiring enough? Or is there a sufficient supply of nurses, but not enough willing to work in hospitals? That’s a central question in the debate over a proposed Pennsylvania law that would require hospitals to provide a minimum number of nurses for...
Bill to broaden LGBTQ+ protections passes Pennsylvania House
HARRISBURG — A bill to broaden protections for LGBTQ+ people passed the Pennsylvania state House of Representatives on Tuesday — the first to advance this far after yearslong efforts by Democrats — though it faces strong headwinds in the Republican-controlled Senate. The bill passed 102-98 in the House where Democrats...
Workers: ‘Rotten egg’ smell before Pa. chocolate factory blast
Workers at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory smelled “rotten eggs” before a powerful natural gas explosion that leveled one building, heavily damaged another and killed seven people, federal safety officials said Monday in a preliminary report. The National Transportation Safety Board’s five-paragraph account of the fatal explosion confirmed earlier reporting by...
Aged Van Winkle bourbons featured in upcoming PLCB lottery
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s next round of lottery drawings for more than 3,900 specialty bottles will take place next week. Registration will be open through 5 p.m. on Friday. The lottery is only open to Pennsylvania residents and liquor-license holders. Winners will have a chance to purchase limited-release bourbon...
Man who gave $1M to IUP’s osteopathic medicine school explains why he donated
Rich Caruso was skeptical when he learned his alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, wanted to boost rural physician access by opening the commonwealth’s first school for osteopathic medicine on a state university campus. Then his 101-year-old mother, Margaret, got sick. What happened next to the woman who lives in...
Pennsylvania Senate panel advances bill that would ban supervised injection site
A state Senate bill that would ban what are often called “supervised injection sites” has elicited a divide among Democratic lawmakers and potentially opened a new front in Republicans’ repeated efforts to circumvent the power of Philadelphia’s district attorney. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday discussed and ultimately approved Senate...
The Pa. legislature appears to have met a tax break it doesn’t like: one for teachers, nurses, and cops
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 — Harrisburg policymakers appear unlikely to embrace a signature selling point in Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s first budget: a tax...
Pa. breast cancer screening bill signed into law
Pennsylvania created a new law Monday that will require insurers to cover preventive breast and ovarian cancer screenings for high-risk women at no cost. In doing so, the state became the first in the nation to establish such a law. The bill was introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Kim...
3 killed, 1 wounded in Philadelphia shooting; 2 in custody
PHILADELPHIA — Two teenagers have been charged with firearms and related offenses following the slaying of three people and the wounding of a fourth person at a northeast Philadelphia home, authorities said. Lt. John Stanford told reporters that officers called to the residence in the Lawncrest neighborhood shortly after 3:30...
Penn State University trustees to weigh spending $70 million for first phase of Beaver Stadium renovation
Penn State University appears poised to move forward with the first phase of renovating Beaver Stadium, a closely watched project to extend the life of one of the nation’s largest and most familiar college football venues. University trustees, due to meet Friday, May 5 at University Park, are expected to...
Commencement season gets underway
A friend asked Katy Nesbitt what’s more stressful: Being second-guessed by thousands of screaming World Cup soccer fans in a gigantic stadium or giving the commencement speech at her alma mater. The first American woman to referee at a men’s World Cup, Nesbitt laughed at the thought, knowing she will...
What will Pa. House Democrats do with a majority? First, they’re moving long-stalled priority bills.
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 — Pennsylvania Democrats used the first full week of session since they solidified their majority in the state House to...


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