Pennsylvania category, Page 113
State charges Mariner East II gas pipeline owner with 48 environmental crimes
The owner of the Mariner East II natural gas pipeline has paid the state about $20 million in fines over the past four years after being cited for a series of environmental violations. Now, Energy Transfer L.P. is accused by a statewide investigating grand jury of committing 48 environmental crimes...
Police: Head-on crash between SUV, pickup kills 3 in Crawford County
CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS — The Pennsylvania State Police identified three people who died Sunday in a head-on collision in Crawford County. The victims were identified as Kenneth Anderson, 54, of Titusville, who was driving an SUV; Joshua Hanes, 21, of Springboro, who was driving a pickup truck; and Katrina Wiler, 21,...
Pennsylvania House OKs bill to make more pandemic data publicly available
HARRISBURG — A proposal to expand public access to reports about covid-19 and other diseases passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Monday after Republicans argued it would help people decide how to react to pandemics and other outbreaks. The House voted on party lines, 113-87, to amend the Disease...
Pa. school pension fund leaders seek to gag board members over leaks to media
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 — Upset at leaks about a federal investigation of the PSERS pension fund, leaders of the beleaguered plan’s board have...
Penn State professors will protest university’s covid policies in a unique way this week
More than 50 Penn State professors — mostly from University Park — will protest several university-related covid policies this week by holding a “Teach-Out(side),” where classes will be moved to the safer outdoors and away from their usual locations. The protest, organized by the faculty-based group Coalition for a Just...
Nurse fatally shoots co-worker at Philadelphia hospital
PHILADELPHIA — A nurse at a Philadelphia hospital fatally shot his co-worker early Monday morning, fled the scene and was shot in a gunfight with police that wounded two officers, authorities said. The 55-year-old nurse was wearing scrubs when he shot his co-worker on the ninth floor of Thomas Jefferson...
Eligible for a covid-19 booster? Here’s how to get one in Pa.
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. Anywhere from one to two million Pennsylvania adults are now eligible for a covid-19 booster, and state officials say it should...
Embattled Pa. teacher pension fund subpoenaed by SEC over ‘compensation and gifts’ to staff
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 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has widened the federal scrutiny of Pennsylvania’s mammoth public school pension plan, demanding...
Police report says Pa. governor candidate was sideswiped in fatal crash
HARRISBURG — A candidate for governor driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike was sideswiped by a motorcyclist in a July nighttime crash that left the motorcyclist dead and the candidate traveling another 5 miles with the motorcycle lodged on his car, according to a new police report. The Pennsylvania State Police...
Deadline passes in GOP’s Pennsylvania election ‘investigation’ subpoena
HARRISBURG — The deadline passed Friday for Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to comply with a subpoena from a Republican-controlled state Senate committee pursuing what the GOP calls a “forensic investigation” of last year’s presidential election, as a state court sorted through three legal challenges. Wolf’s administration and Senate Republicans remained...
Pa. officials calling thousands in effort to address bus driver shortage
Pennsylvania officials are searching statewide for school bus drivers as the driver shortage plaguing the nation continues to hit close to home. PennDOT is reaching out to about 375,000 people across the state who have commercial driver’s licenses to highlight the need for bus drivers and the process for obtaining...
At last minute, Pa. lawmakers vote to extend dozens of covid-19 waivers
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 Pennsylvania legislature unanimously voted Wednesday to extend dozens of regulatory waivers put into place last year to help...
State continues exploring public-private partnership for $2 billion major-bridges projectVideo
After utilizing a public-private partnership to replace more than 550 smaller, aging bridges across Pennsylvania, PennDOT officials have their eyes on a bigger prize. Nine prizes, to be specific, in the form of nine large bridges spread across the state in need of replacement and under consideration for the first...
Lawmakers keep covid-19 regulatory waivers for 6 more months
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted Wednesday to again extend hundreds of regulatory waivers that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration had approved under its pandemic-related disaster emergency authority. The House and Senate voted unanimously to add another six months to a prior extension they granted, as the delta variant of the...
New records reveal the cost of Pa.’s failure to clarify rules around addiction treatment and marijuana
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 failure by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to clarify federal rules around addiction treatment funding and medical marijuana caused...
Pennsylvania woman who said she wanted to shoot Pelosi ‘in the friggin’ brain’ pleads guilty to Capitol riot charges
PHILADELPHIA — A Bucks County gym owner who recorded herself during the storming of the Capitol saying she was looking for Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to shoot her in the friggin’ brain” pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor Tuesday, making her the latest Pennsylvanian to admit her role in the Jan....
Mask opt-out bill for students clears Pennsylvania Senate committee
A bill that would allow parents in Pennsylvania to exempt their children from wearing a mask at school cleared a state Senate committee on Tuesday as Republican lawmakers started making good on their pledge to counter the governor’s statewide mask mandate. The legislation would hand the ultimate decision on masking...
Bill would give parents front-row seat to what students are being taught in Pa. schools
Parents of public school students would be able to access the contents of a school curriculum, textbook titles and lesson plans with a few clicks on a computer keyboard under legislation that is advancing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin County, would...
Powerball jackpot climbs to $570 million, which would be 8th largest ever
No one won Monday night’s Powerball drawing, with the jackpot growing to what would be the eighth largest ever for the lottery game. The jackpot climbed from $545 million to $570 million — with a cash payout of $410.1 million — for the next drawing on Wednesday night. Monday’s numbers...
Pennsylvania Republicans aim to make big election changes in constitution
HARRISBURG — Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania on Monday unveiled sweeping changes to the conduct of elections through a proposed constitutional amendment, the latest turn in a partisan power struggle over elections in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims that last year’s presidential contest was rigged against him....
To avoid Wolf’s veto, Pa. GOP proposes giving voters final say on stricter ID rules, other election changes
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 — Republicans in the state House are advancing a proposal that would give Pennsylvania voters the opportunity to significantly change...
Measure on masking in youth sports clears Pa. House committee
HARRISBURG — Legislation that cleared a House committee on Monday would give Pennsylvania school districts the authority to decide whether student athletes must wear masks while playing. The Republican-controlled House State Government Committee approved the measure 15-10 along party lines. It would give “exclusive authority” to schools, recreational clubs, community...
Pa. redistricting panel rolls back new policy to count incarcerated people in home districts, not state prisons
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 — Thousands of people will be excluded from a new redistricting...
Pa. lawmakers know a dementia care crisis is coming. Will they agree on a response?
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 — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf this week said he supports large investments to address a growing dementia care crisis in...
Why Pa. Turnpike tolls soared — and will continue rising for next 30 years
Surrounded by bushels of fresh local peaches, Lori Hanscom spent an afternoon greeting truckers, commuters and vacationers from behind her fruit stand at the New Stanton rest stop along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Her day was filled with friendly chatter about the weather, traffic and which fruits were in season. One...
