Pennsylvania category, Page 12
Bill to sell legal marijuana through Pa. state stores rejected by GOP-led panel
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. HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania Senate panel has rejected a bill advanced by Democrats that would permit the sale of recreational cannabis to adults at state-owned...
Pa. lawmaker ignites budget talk, backlash with flamethrower videoVideo
Pennsylvania’s always-contentious budget season is heating up. In one instance, quite literally. Sen. Dawn Keefer, R-York County, got blowback from Democrats over the weekend after posting a video in which she torches Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal with a flame thrower. Keefer, one the legislature’s more hardline conservatives, posted the...
Republican group cozies up to John Fetterman in new ad as his relationship with Democrats becomes more strained
PHILADELPHIA — A conservative super PAC is urging Sen. John Fetterman to support President Donald Trump’s tax cut plan in a new ad wooing the Pennsylvania Democrat as his relationship with his own party has become increasingly strained. In the spot called “Stand out,” running on cable and digital platforms,...
Fetterman again in the news for the wrong reasons
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, has again found himself in the news for the wrong reasons, with recent stories calling his mental health into question. Fetterman, the former Braddock mayor and Pennsylvania lieutenant governor who was once considered a rising progressive star, has faced his share of bad press over...
Sen. John Fetterman raises alarms with outburst at meeting with union officials
HARRISBURG — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union in his home state when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me,” “why does everyone hate me, what did I ever...
Democrats send ‘dead-on-arrival’ marijuana legalization bill to Pa. Senate
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. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House took a major step toward legalizing recreational cannabis Wednesday, passing a bill along party lines that would permit the sale...
How Penn State trustees’ plan to vote on campus closures could run afoul of transparency law
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. The...
About 40,000 Pennsylvanians to receive unclaimed property letters this week
More than 40,000 Pennsylvanians are set to receive letters this week indicating they’ll be receiving money because of unclaimed property, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity announced Wednesday. Unclaimed property can include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten stocks, insurance policies, tangible property like the contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes and...
Pennsylvania Senate votes to ban transgender athletes in girls’ sports, but bill faces uphill battle
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s and girls’ sports at the collegiate and K-12 levels, although the Republican-penned bill is unlikely to get a vote in the state’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. The bill passed, 32-18, with five...
Pennsylvania governor’s residence to get an ‘anti-climb’ fence
HARRISBURG — A barrier described as an “anti-climb fence” is in the works for the Pennsylvania governor’s official residence, the state police chief said Tuesday, less than a month after a late-night intruder jumped the existing fence, broke into the home and started a damaging fire. Col. Christopher Paris’ letter...
Recreational cannabis would be sold at state-run stores under bill advanced by Pa. Democrats
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. HARRISBURG — Democrats in the Pennsylvania House have advanced a bill that would permit the sale of recreational cannabis to adults at state-run stores, an...
2025 primary voters’ guide: Pa. statewide races
The candidates below are in statewide contested races. Because a number of candidates have cross-filed, they are listed in alphabetical order by first name rather than in ballot order. If a race is not listed, it was not contested. Judge of the Commonwealth Court (10-year, vote for 1) Josh Prince...
Badly needed updates to Pa.’s election law unlikely despite new consensus on voter ID
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. HARRISBURG — For two decades, disputes over voter identification have sunk attempts to rewrite Pennsylvania’s badly outdated election law. But in recent years, prominent Democrats have offered tentative support...
Consultant says security report into arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro’s home won’t be made public
HARRISBURG — A consultant paid to review security at the official residence of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro after it was firebombed by a late-night intruder said Friday that his team’s findings will not be made public. Retired state police Col. Jeffrey Miller said in a statement that the “sensitive nature”...
Public should be told how arson attack at governor’s mansion occurred, top lawmaker says
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. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania State Police officials should at least make public how a brazen arson attack on the governor’s residence occurred, and whether there were...
Penn State faculty senate asks admin to pause campus closure decision
The Penn State faculty senate passed a positional report this week opposing the closure of commonwealth campuses and asked the university administration to pause the decision until an impact assessment can be conducted. Faculty senators have not shied away from expressing their concerns about closing campuses and how even before...
PennLive podcast on Dauphin County jail deaths tops Apple charts
Two days after its wide release, “Death County, PA” has risen to the top spot of Apple’s ranking for top ‘Podcast Series.’ The six-part series is based on a years-long investigation of a series of suspicious deaths at the Dauphin County Prison since 2019 by Pennlive reporter Josh Vaughn. Vaughn...
Philly judge faces ethics complaint over role in wife’s cheesesteak shop
A Philadelphia judge’s role in a cheesesteak shop owned by his wife has prompted a panel to allege he’s violated the state’s ethics rules. The Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board filed a complaint this week against Common Pleas Judge Scott DiClaudio over Shay’s Steaks, a high-end cheesesteak restaurant that opened more...
Prosecutor says officer killed in gunman’s Pennsylvania hospital attack was hit by fire from police
YORK — An officer killed while responding to a Pennsylvania hospital siege was struck by a shotgun blast fired by police that also hit an armed man holding hostages, a prosecutor disclosed at a news conference Wednesday. The attacker and West York Patrolman Andrew W. Duarte were killed in the...
Costly cyber charter tuition is consuming tens of millions of new state dollars for poor Pa. schools
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. HARRISBURG — A surge of taxpayer money approved last year to help students in Pennsylvania’s poorest schools is being used by dozens of districts to...
Prosecutors bite back over motion seeking to dismiss Luigi Mangione’s Pa. charges
Prosecutors are telling a judge not to bother dropping some of the charges related to a Pennsylvania state case against Luigi Mangione. Mangione, 26, is accused of killing UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel last December. The filing, submitted by the Blair County District Attorney’s Office,...
ICE deports Pa. mother of a breastfeeding infant and a 2-year-old who is a U.S. citizen
HARRISBURG — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have in recent days deported the breastfeeding Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old girl, separating them indefinitely, and in another case a 2-year-old girl who is a U.S. citizen along with her Honduran-born mother, their lawyers say. Both cases raise questions about who is...
Family of Pennsylvania arson suspect says pleas for help went unanswered before alleged attack on governor
PHILADELPHIA — Cody Balmer was begging to go to jail. Less than an hour after police say he set fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion in the early morning of April 13, he called 911 to say he was ready to “confess to everything” he had done. “He needs to...
Suspect in Pa. Governor’s Residence arson moved to prison with psychiatric treatment
The man who police say firebombed the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence using two Heineken bottles filled with gasoline has been moved to a state prison known for providing intensive psychiatric treatment to incarcerated people. Cody Balmer, 38, was moved Thursday morning to SCI Waymart in Wayne County, according to Pennsylvania Department...
Fetterman calls for Trump to attack Iran: ‘Waste that (expletive)’
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman said President Donald Trump should forget about engaging in talks with Iran and pursue military strikes against the country’s nuclear facilities instead. In an interview Wednesday with the Washington Free Beacon, Fetterman made it clear he preferred the U.S. pursue force over diplomacy when it came...
