Pennsylvania category, Page 104
Pennsylvania Senate passes bills aimed at ransomware, data breaches
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate passed a package of legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing data security breaches and requiring victims and law enforcement officials to be notified when they do happen. The bills’ passage comes barely two weeks after the state’s unemployment compensation system acknowledged that hackers changed bank...
Report: Trump’s bid to overturn Pa. election results foiled by GOP’s ‘hedged’ wording on ‘fake’ elector ballots
Former President Donald Trump’s GOP electors in Pennsylvania weren’t willing to go all the way in the January 2021 bid by the ex-president’s campaign to overturn election results in as many as seven so-called “swing states.” As Lancasteronline reports, the bid in the commonwealth hit a snag because the state’s...
3 officers charged in shooting death of 8-year-old girl outside Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Three police officers have been charged with manslaughter and reckless endangerment after firing their weapons in the direction of a crowd of people exiting a high school football game outside of Philadelphia, killing an 8-year-old girl and injuring three people. A grand jury recommended the charges against the...
Pa. GOP answered Wolf vetoes with constitution changes in strategy that’s here to stay
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 — Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed more than 50 bills as he begins his final year in office, a number...
Pa. state police seize $72 million in illegal drugs in 2021
Cocaine’s comeback made a big leap in 2021, with Pennsylvania State Police confiscating nearly 1,000 pounds of the illegal drug. The 986 pounds seized by troopers last year, valued at $21.7 million, was more than the combined amount in 2020 (300 pounds) and 2019 (425 pounds.) In all, state police...
Mehmet Oz is spending millions on TV to boost his Senate campaign in Pennsylvania. He’s not alone in an ultra-wealthy GOP fieldVideo
PHILADELPHIA — If you live in Pennsylvania, there’s a good chance you’ve been seeing Mehmet Oz on your television — and not like you used to. The celebrity surgeon and former talk show host known as “Dr. Oz” is pouring millions of dollars into campaign ads as he runs for...
Pa. legislature’s redacted legal bills flout court ruling, leave taxpayers guessing
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 — In May, GOP lawmakers who control the state House and Senate hired the chair of the Republican Party of...
Megan’s Law for nursing homes gaining traction in Harrisburg
A state lawmaker is making good on a promise to repair a flawed system that permits aging and ailing convicted sex offenders to quietly enter long-term care facilities — often unbeknownst to patients and staff — where some easily are finding their next victims. A bill set to be introduced...
Voters could be flooded with proposed changes to the Pa. Constitution in 2023
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 voters could face at least five ballot questions about changing the state constitution next year after House Republicans...
Court puts hold on GOP inspection of county voting machines
An inspection of voting machines in a heavily Republican county in Pennsylvania had been poised to go forward Friday until an 11th-hour appeal to the state Supreme Court by lawyers for Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf put it on hold. The high court decision came hours after a state judge rejected...
Philadelphia-area hospitals are overwhelmed, but not only by covid-19 patients
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia-area hospitals are jammed with patients, but not always because they are truly sick enough to be there. Staff shortages at nursing homes and home care companies, difficulty finding dialysis slots for covid-19 patients, and even a lack of space in city homeless shelters are forcing hospitals to...
Pa. House approves proposed congressional map as court challenges loom
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House has advanced a new congressional map that...
Philadelphia attorney George Bochetto enters U.S. Senate race
Philadelphia attorney George Bochetto launched his campaign for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, joining a crowded field of candidates on both sides of the aisle. “I’m running because I’m very concerned about where this country is headed, and I’m very concerned that if we don’t bring some sensible conservative core values...
Christmas tree behind Philadelphia fire that killed 12, officials confirm
PHILADELPHIA — A Christmas tree fire caused the blaze that killed 12 relatives in a Philadelphia rowhome duplex, investigators confirmed Tuesday as they identified victims and announced preliminary findings, but stopped short of officially saying a 5-year-old boy playing with a lighter was behind it. Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel hesitated...
Medical helicopter crashes near Delaware County church; all 4 aboard surviveVideo
UPPER DARBY — A pilot crash-landed a medical helicopter Tuesday without loss of life in a residential area of suburban Philadelphia, somehow avoiding a web of power lines and buildings as the aircraft fluttered, hit the street and slid into bushes outside a church, authorities and witnesses said. It was...
Pennsylvania has rules to follow for taking care of your pets in winter
Temperatures this week aren’t expected to climb out of the 20s most days. For dog owners, that means time limits on tying them outside. Under Pennsylvania’s Libre’s Law, dogs may be tied outside for no more than 30 minutes when temperatures are lower than 32 degrees (or higher than 90...
Court won’t block entire election ‘investigation’ subpoena
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court declined Monday to block an entire subpoena to state election officials in what Republican state lawmakers call a “forensic investigation” of 2020’s presidential election, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats stole the election. But the statewide Commonwealth Court that issued the...
Pennsylvania Farm Show attendance down as ‘people probably nervous about going out’
Every year during the Pennsylvania Farm Show, vendors Ron and Gina Gorski travel to Philadelphia to pick up fresh soft pretzels for their booth. They sell the doughy treats at their Main Line Pretzel stand inside the Main Hall at the Farm Show complex. This year the couple said business...
Pa. House expected to vote on proposed congressional map as redistricting lawsuit looms
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — The state House is expected to vote on a proposed...
Pennsylvania Farm Show’s butter sculpture highlights state’s dairy farmersVideo
The Pennsylvania Farm Show, which runs through Jan. 15 in Harrisburg, highlights the importance of the state’s agriculture industry. And one of the largest segments of that industry is dairy products. So it only makes sense that the show’s massive annual butter sculpture, commissioned by the show and sponsored by...
Man accused of shooting into party headquarters in suburban Philadelphia enters pleas
PHILADELPHIA — A suburban Philadelphia man accused of firing three shots into a local Democratic Party office on Inauguration Day has pleaded guilty to related federal charges. Anthony Nero, 48, entered the pleas last week to federal charges of sending threatening communications and cyberstalking in connection with threats days before...
Conservative firebrand Doug Mastriano enters Pennsylvania’s governor’s race
Doug Mastriano, the state senator from Franklin County who parlayed anger over coronavirus pandemic rules and no-holds-barred support for former President Donald J. Trump into an extended political moment, opened his candidacy for governor Pennsylvania Saturday. Mastriano, who practices his politics with a messianic zeal that has helped him develop...
Stalemates, court battles could squeeze Pennsylvania primary election
HARRISBURG — More extreme time pressures could push the bounds of how Pennsylvania’s elections are run in 2022, with wide-open races for a U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s office driving voter interest and partisan stalemates in the statehouse sowing uncertainty. It is barely a month before candidates can legally...
Warrant: 5-year-old might have started deadly Philly blaze
PHILADELPHIA — Investigators are looking into whether a 5-year-old who was playing with a lighter set a Christmas tree on fire, sparking a conflagration that killed 12 family members in a Philadelphia rowhome, officials revealed Thursday. That disclosure was included in a search warrant application as city and federal investigators...
Pennsylvania Senate committee to hold hearings on its audit of the 2020, 2021 elections
A state Senate committee plans to forge ahead with hearings in early spring on any information discovered in a controversial audit seeking to uncover irregularities in Pennsylvania’s 2020 elections and last year’s primary, a Republican spokeswoman said Thursday. The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee would conduct the hearings on any findings...
