Pennsylvania category, Page 105
How the smoking rate in Pa. compares to the nation
Nearly half a million Americans annually die as a result of smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Another 16 million Americans are living with a serious illness caused by smoking. Smoking also has an economic impact, including more than $225 billion each year spent on...
Cause undetermined in Philadelphia house fire that killed 12
PHILADELPHIA — Investigators worked Thursday to determine the cause of a fire that tore through a Philadelphia rowhome, killing 12 people, including two sisters and several of their children. Specialists from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took photos and then entered the charred, three-story brick duplex,...
Big Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial field crowds onto stage together
HARRISBURG — More than a dozen Republican candidates for governor appeared on stage together for the first time, in a question-and-answer session Wednesday sponsored by conservative groups and a statewide business association that inspired agreement and not debate. The questions — such as how would you to reverse brain drain...
Pa. authorities cracking down on unemployment benefits fraud, some reported in Westmoreland
State officials are examining the source of a reported increase in efforts to steal unemployment compensation benefits, which they are trying to thwart by adding a new process for identity verification. Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier said the agency is working with law enforcement to investigate and...
Treasure hunters sue for records on FBI’s Civil War gold dig in Pennsylvania
Treasure hunters who believe they found a huge cache of fabled Civil War-era gold in Pennsylvania are now on the prowl for something as elusive as the buried booty itself: government records of the FBI’s excavation. Finders Keepers filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over its failure to...
Former Congresswoman Melissa Hart announces bid for governorVideo
Former Congresswoman Melissa Hart outlined her campaign priorities Wednesday as she formally launched her bid to become Pennsylvania’s first female governor. Hart, 59, of Bradford Woods, is entering a crowded field of more than a dozen GOP candidates who so far have declared their candidacies for the state’s highest office....
Philadelphia fire kills at least 12, including 8 childrenVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Fire tore through a duplex home early Wednesday in Philadelphia, killing 12 people, including eight children, fire officials said. At least two people were sent to hospitals, and officials warned the toll could grow as firefighters searched the brick rowhome, where 26 people had been staying. The four...
Fire damages iconic Blue Streak roller coaster at Conneaut Lake Park
CONNEAUT LAKE — A fire at a northwestern Pennsylvania amusement park has damaged a wooden roller coaster built more than eight decades ago. WICU-TV says reports from Conneaut Lake Park late Tuesday afternoon indicated that a controlled burn near the carousel got out of hand. The fire spread to nearby...
GOP gubernatorial candidates to square off in first debate
A crowded field of GOP candidates for Pennsylvania governor is set to square off Wednesday in the first debate of the 2022 election season. During the 90-minute debate, which will be broadcast live and live-streamed on PCN, 12 candidates will tackle questions on economic competitiveness, the workforce and jobs, energy,...
Josh Shapiro backs Pittsburgh-area lawmaker to be running mateVideo
HARRISBURG — Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic Party’s presumed nominee for governor this year, endorsed a Pittsburgh-area state lawmaker, Austin Davis, to be his running mate and lieutenant governor Tuesday. Davis announced his candidacy alongside Shapiro and top Democrats from the area at a park in McKeesport next to...
GOP state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe won’t seek reelection
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection this year. The Republican from Cranberry is in his 12th term representing a district that encompasses part of Butler County, including Adams, Clinton, Cranberry, Forward, Middlesex and Penn townships and Callery, Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia boroughs. “After family...
State police: New Year holiday crashes up, citations down from 2019-2020
Crashes and related injuries and deaths in Pennsylvania were up this New Year’s holiday weekend compared with the same three-day period in 2019-20, before the pandemic had an impact on travel, according to state police. The number of arrests across the state for driving under the influence stayed nearly the...
Vomit-fumed ‘Bradford’ pear tree lands on Pa. noxious weeds list, with sales to be banned
As an urban landscaping option, a certain ornamental, flowering pear tree might be nice and compact — even with a bit of an odorous downside. After some unfortunate cross-breeding between varieties, however, it now finds itself in the crosshairs of Pennsylvania horticulture officials. Callery pear, scientifically known as Pyrus calleryana...
Over 65 shots fired on busy Philadelphia street; 6 wounded
PHILADELPHIA — Two gunmen fired more than 65 rounds on a Philadelphia street, sending nighttime pedestrians on a busy block teeming with markets and restaurants scrambling for cover and injuring six people, at least one of them critically, police said Friday. Police responded around 11:30 p.m. Thursday in the Germantown...
Penn State announces in-person spring semester classes despite omicron
Despite covid-19 surging throughout the country, and with health experts warning of challenging weeks ahead, Penn State announced Thursday night that it will start the spring semester in person, as planned, because it feels it can do so “safely but carefully.” Still, according to the university, conditions around University Park...
Coroner finds 3 siblings at Johnstown home died of covid
JOHNSTOWN — A Pennsylvania coroner said Wednesday that three siblings found dead at a home near Johnstown two months ago all died from covid-19. Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees said he drew that conclusion after autopsies, toxicology tests and microbiology examinations. “They were positive for covid-19, the lungs were heavy...
Children coming from border get attention in Pennsylvania governor’s race
HARRISBURG — Lou Barletta, an illegal-immigration hawk and former congressman running for governor, said Wednesday he would take a harder line against the federal government’s yearslong practice of bringing unaccompanied minors found by the Border Patrol to various facilities in Pennsylvania and other states. Some Republican governors have protested the...
Lebanon County Commissioner William Ames dies at 81 of covid-19 complications
Lebanon County Commissioner William Ames, described by friends and colleagues as a good solid citizen and strong advocate for the county, died on Tuesday morning at Good Samaritan Hospital. Ames, 81, was in his third four-year term as a county commissioner, serving alongside fellow Republican Robert Phillips and Democrat Jo...
Oprah comments on Dr. Oz running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, but doesn’t endorse him
Oprah Winfrey issued a short, noncommittal statement about Dr. Mehmet Oz running for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat as a Republican. “One of the great things about our democracy is that every citizen can decide to run for public office. Mehmet Oz has made that decision,” Oprah told New York...
15 Pa. laws from 2021 that could affect your life
In Pennsylvania, laws to expand the pool of eligible substitute teachers, make it a crime to steal from the elderly, and improve transparency in government agencies were among those that took effect in 2021. In all, the 100 laws enacted were a mere fraction of the more than 3,000 bills...
Federal strike teams bound for Pa. to help hospitals stressed by covid-19
Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary said Tuesday the state will receive federal strike teams to “relieve hospital capacity strain in areas hit hardest by the latest covid-19 surge.” Gov. Tom Wolf requested the help about two weeks ago. It wasn’t immediately known when the strike teams will arrive and which hospitals...
Racial reckoning turns focus to Pa. roadside historical markers
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania had been installing historical markers for more than a century when the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 brought a fresh round of questions from the public about just whose stories were being told on the state’s roadsides — and the language used to tell...
‘Go in peace’: Pennsylvania church founded in 1800 holds last service
BELLEFONTE — A Pennsylvania church with a 221-year history held its final service and is scheduled to close at the end of the year because of declining membership and attendance. The First Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, which is nearly as old as the borough itself, held the final scheduled service...
Pennsylvania, Allegheny County report record covid cases
Allegheny County and Pennsylvania as a whole reported record-breaking covid-19 case counts on Friday, posting numbers above even the height of the late 2020 surge, data shows. The state Department of Health reported 13,286 new covid cases, topping the previous record of 12,884 set in December 2020 before vaccines were...
Judge: Penn State can buy frat house where student fatally hurt
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State can buy a former fraternity house where a student was fatally injured during a night of drinking and hazing, a judge has ruled. Centre County Judge Brian Marshall gave the university and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity’s national chapter six months to negotiate a deal,...
