Pennsylvania category, Page 126
3 Pa. lawmakers visit Arizona GOP election audit
PHOENIX — Three Pennsylvania lawmakers were in Arizona on Wednesday to check out the state Senate GOP’s partisan audit of the 2020 election. They’re the latest Republicans to make a pilgrimage to Phoenix, ground zero in the “stop the steal” movement’s push to find support for conspiracy theories suggesting the...
State police in region investigate 106 crashes, write 1,500 speeding tickets over holidayVideo
State troopers in the region investigated 106 crashes during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, including two fatalities, according to statistics released this week. There were 32 people hurt and alcohol was involved in 12 of the crashes, according to data for Troops A and B which cover Westmoreland, Allegheny and...
Giant Eagle worker supports state push to raise minimum wage to $12 an hour
When Sandy Zilen started working at the Giant Eagle supermarket in Harrison City, her wages were nowhere near the $13 an hour she now earns — and not even close to the $7.25 minimum wage in Pennsylvania. But, Zilen, who lives in the Claridge section of Penn Township, said she...
Covid cases, hospitalizations continue to drop in Pennsylvania and Allegheny, Westmoreland counties
Covid cases and hospitalizations in Pennsylvania and Allegheny and Westmoreland counties have continued to drop in recent days, as the number of people vaccinated slowly rises. Cases The Allegheny County Health Department reported 42 additional cases — 35 confirmed and seven probable — on Wednesday, with the county’s total reaching...
Anxiety runs high as Pa. begins massive overhaul of 60-year-old unemployment computer system
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 — “I feel like I am a sinking ship right now.” “Next month will be a year that they have...
Allegheny County covid case average hits lowest mark since last June
With lower covid-19 case counts continuing in Pennsylvania and the region, coronavirus figures are reaching lows not seen in about a year. Allegheny County achieved just that with new data released Tuesday. Cases Allegheny County reported 113 new covid-19 cases over the past three days, according to the county Health...
Pa. chooses ‘responsibility’ over $1 million lotteries to encourage covid-19 vaccination
Pennsylvania officials considered tactics such as a lottery to motivate people to get vaccinated against covid-19, and they remain a possibility, Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said. Some states are touting prizes worth $1 million or more to spur people to get the covid-19 vaccines. But Beam expressed confidence...
Internal PSERS documents show how Pa’s biggest pension fund got key financial calculation wrong
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. After Pennsylvania’s biggest pension plan botched a crucial financial calculation, the FBI launched an investigation, the fund’s board began its own...
Mark Zuckerberg helped some Pa. counties survive 2020 election; GOP lawmakers say that was unfair
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 — As coronavirus cases rose and Pennsylvania counties were flooded with millions of mail ballot applications last fall, election directors...
Trump looms large in Pennsylvania’s GOP primaries in 2022
HARRISBURG — With Pennsylvania’s wide-open races for governor and U.S. Senate taking shape, Republican candidates with strong ties to Donald Trump are running and considered strong contenders for the party’s nominations — a powerful sign of the former president’s enduring popularity within the GOP. Within a few days of each...
Pennsylvania’s new covid case average drops below 1,000 for 1st time since October
Pennsylvania’s seven-day average of new covid cases on Saturday dropped below 1,000 for the first time since October. The state added 832 additional covid cases to its total Saturday, with its seven-day average falling to 909. It’s the first time the average has been in triple digits since Oct. 1,...
After transition, Pa.’s unemployment system will be faster, easier to use, state officials say
Pennsylvania’s 40-year-old unemployment filing system will go offline next week and a new system that officials say will be faster and easier to use will take its place. The transition means the state will not take new applications for unemployment benefits from Monday to June 7, and people already receiving...
Pennsylvania using insecticide on invasive spotted lanternflies
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania has started spraying insecticide on spotted lanternflies, a new strategy that state officials are using in an attempt to slow the spread of the invasive pest. Crews using backpack sprayers and truck-mounted spray equipment are spraying the bugs along railways, interstates and other transportation rights-of-way, the state...
Bill Cosby refuses sex offender program, so parole is denied
PHILADELPHIA — Actor Bill Cosby won’t be paroled this year after refusing to participate in sex offender programs during his nearly three years in state prison in Pennsylvania. The 83-year-old Cosby has long said he would resist the treatment programs and refuse to acknowledge wrongdoing even if it means serving...
Pennsylvania’s flu season among mildest ever
Pennsylvania had one of its mildest flu seasons on record, with high flu vaccine rates and mitigation measures aimed to slow the spread of covid-19 keeping influenza cases low, officials said Friday. This year’s flu season, which officially ended May 22, saw 3,664 lab-confirmed cases statewide, according to Deputy Secretary...
As vaccinations inch upward, Pennsylvania’s covid cases continue lower
Pennsylvania continues to see a steady drop in cases of covid-19, with resulting deaths and hospitalizations following that downward trend. As vaccinations continue, the coronavirus appears to be spreading at a slower rate even as more people gather in public without protective masks or social distancing. The state on Friday...
Bill Cosby denied parole after failing to participate in ‘sex offender’ therapy program
Bill Cosby was denied parole in his sex assault case this month in part because of his failure to complete a prison program for sex offenders, the Pennsylvania Parole Board said. The comedian isn’t eligible for release until Sept. 25 at the earliest, but the board starts interviewing candidates three...
Firetruck crashes into Philly building, leaving 5 injuredVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Four firefighters and one civilian were injured Thursday when a Philadelphia Fire Department firetruck crashed into a building after a collision with another vehicle. The firetruck had left a nearby fire station and had its lights and siren on as firefighters headed to a report of a house...
Turnpike officials expect Memorial Day traffic to nearly double from last year
What a difference a year makes. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission project traffic on the toll highway over the Memorial Day holiday will almost double to 2.1 million motorists compared to 2020, when travelling options were severely impacted by shutdowns and safety concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agency anticipates...
As covid vaccinations continue, Pennsylvania and Allegheny, Westmoreland counties see fewer cases
After Pennsylvania passed a mark Wednesday with more than 70% of adults having at least one dose of a covid vaccine, Alison Beam, Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary, announced Thursday morning that the state’s mask order will be lifted by June 28. Officials, who had said that the state’s...
Pennsylvania will lift mask mandate by June 28 at latest
Pennsylvania’s mask mandate will be lifted no later than June 28, Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said Thursday. Gov. Tom Wolf earlier this month set a benchmark for the state: 70% of adults fully vaccinated. Beam said if the state reaches that threshold before June 28, the mask mandate...
Warren County hunting preserve quarantined after CWD found; new management area coming
A Northwestern Pennsylvania hunting preserve is being quarantined for five years after a white-tailed deer there was found to have chronic wasting disease, according to state officials. Officials said Wednesday they plan to create a new chronic wasting disease management area there. The boundaries of the area will be announced...
Murrysville family’s story highlights importance of public adoptionsVideo
Theresa Gutierrez has a lot of love to give. After losing her husband nearly a decade ago, Gutierrez raised her eldest daughter, now in her mid-20s, and her son Brandon, who is now 16. Just about a year ago, Theresa and Brandon welcomed 10-year-old Phillip into their home, and as...
Child sex abuse survivors, supporters pressure Pa. Senate leader Kim Ward to bring bill to vote
Survivors of clergy child sexual abuse turned up the heat this week on state Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, depositing a pouch of silver coins on the Hempfield Republican’s desk and labeling her a “Judas.” Ward’s failure to schedule a Senate vote on a bill that would provide a day...
‘Internal systemic failures’ led to Wolf administration blunder that derailed child sex abuse amendment
Spotlight PA is an independent, non-partisan 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 — “Internal systemic failures” were behind the Wolf administration’s bungling of a statewide referendum that would provide legal recourse to...
