Pennsylvania category, Page 127
Pennsylvania drops legal action against restaurants over pandemic
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health has dropped its legal action against more than 40 restaurants that were accused of defying state orders to close indoor dining and maintain social-distancing protocols. The Health Department had filed two separate complaints alleging that restaurants were violating pandemic restrictions that Gov. Tom...
Officials: 70% of Pa. adults have received at least 1 dose of covid vaccine
The next phase of the pandemic — one with no restrictions save for masks — could be the last phase if people continue to get vaccinated throughout the summer, officials said Wednesday. “Now with the impending lifting of mitigation orders — except the masking order — we are entering a...
Investigation finds no intentional act to derail Pa. sex-abuse vote
HARRISBURG — An internal investigation into an apparent bureaucratic blunder by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration that scuttled a statewide voter referendum sought by victims of childhood sexual abuse found no evidence of a deliberate attempt to derail it. The Office of Inspector General’s report, released Wednesday, said agents interviewed 22...
Judge upholds jail sentence for Penn State ex-president Graham Spanier
HARRISBURG — The former Penn State president who was forced out as the school’s top administrator when Jerry Sandusky was arrested a decade ago will soon have to report to jail after a judge on Wednesday upheld a sentence issued four years ago. The judge ordered Graham Spanier to begin...
Allegheny County reports 5th straight day of covid cases under 100
Allegheny County on Wednesday reported its fifth straight day of double-digit covid cases — a streak the county hasn’t seen since October. According to the Allegheny County Health Department, there were 72 additional cases reported to raise the county’s total to 101,056. Totals for the previous four days were 62,...
Bills to restrict abortion, expand gun rights start in Pennsylvania House
HARRISBURG — Republicans who control Pennsylvania’s Legislature began Tuesday to advance hot-button bills to restrict abortion rights and expand gun rights, although the bills faced opposition by Democratic lawmakers and certain veto by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. Since he took office in 2015, Wolf has battled the Legislature’s Republican majorities...
How to fish for free – no license required – in Pennsylvania this weekend
Sunday, May 30, is the first of 2 Fish-for-Free Days in Pennsylvania this year. The second will be Sunday, July 4. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission annually designates a couple days during holiday weekends when anyone may legally fish in Pennsylvania without buying a fishing license or trout/salmon permit....
After citing privacy law, Pa. backtracks and discloses wasted vaccine details
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 — After refusing to release details about wasted coronavirus vaccine, citing a decades-old disease prevention law, the Wolf administration has...
Pa. has 3rd day with new covid cases under 1,000, figures not seen since September
Pennsylvania had another record day in terms of covid cases Tuesday. With the amount of new cases reported this week, the state amassed a three-day case total not seen since late September. Cases The state saw its third consecutive day of less than 1,000 new covid cases, according to state...
Vaccine passport bill takes 1st step in Pennsylvania
Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state Senate began advancing legislation Monday to prohibit governments and school districts from requiring a covid-19 vaccination for any sort of access. The Republican-penned bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee along party lines, 6-4, with Democrats opposing it. The prohibition on so-called vaccine passports...
Pa. to resume job search requirement for unemployment benefits
Beginning July 18, Pennsylvania’s unemployed workers again will have to prove they applied for two jobs per week to continue to receive jobless benefits, a state labor official said Monday. Unemployed workers also must register for job search services with the PA CareerLink offices. The requirements were suspended last year...
Pennsylvania woman’s wedding dress made from German parachute goes to museum
YORK — Deany Keith had her hair curled and teased on a recent morning for her media appearances, an “it” girl at 93 years old. Tucked into a neat little apartment in Country Meadows retirement community, she’s the hottest name in York County at the moment, her story just published...
Pennsylvania inches near Gov. Wolf’s 70% vaccination target for lifting mask mandate
Gov. Tom Wolf’s goal of having 70% of adult Pennsylvanians fully vaccinated against covid-19 may well be within reach in a month’s time. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania is just a half a percentage point shy of hitting 70% of adults with at...
Mega Millions ticket worth $516M sold in Bucks County
A winning Mega Millions ticket worth $516 million was sold in Bucks County, the Pennsylvania Lottery announced Monday. The ticket for the Friday drawing was sold at a 7-Eleven in Levittown. It matched all five white balls drawn — 6, 9, 17, 18, 48 — and the yellow Mega Ball,...
Lawmakers report receiving fewer gifts during pandemic as push for ban continues
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. Every May, state legislators and other public officials are required to file reports detailing, among other items, whether they received pricey...
Mobile, online sports wagers upping tax revenues in Pennsylvania
As more states look to online sports betting as a way to bolster their budgets, Pennsylvania for several years has been reaping the benefits of the now billion-dollar industry. Since Rivers Philadelphia, formerly SugarHouse Casino, opened the state’s first virtual sportsbook in May 2019, online wagers on sporting events have...
Experts say Pa.’s 2021 primary was typical, but GOP lawmakers are seizing on issues
This article is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan reporting project covering local election integrity and voting access. This article is available for reprint under the terms of Votebeat’s republishing policy. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s primary hardly resembled the election of six months ago, when local officials were furiously counting millions...
As covid cases decline, only 1 Pa. county reports more than 100 cases
New covid case numbers continue to decline in Pennsylvania, as well as in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. On Saturday, only one county in the state reported triple-digit cases. Cases The state reported 1,658 additional covid cases Saturday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, only one...
Pa. teachers union demands leadership changes at embattled PSERS pension fund
A union that represents 61,000 schoolteachers statewide called on most of the board of the Pennsylvania Public Employees’ Retirement System to resign amid an ongoing FBI investigation. “Through alleged errors and omissions, and under a shroud of secrecy, this PSERS Board appears to have jeopardized the present and future financial...
Covid cases rise slightly in Pennsylvania as hospitalizations drop
Pennsylvania recorded a slight rise in covid-19 cases while the number of people hospitalized with the illness continued its steady drop. The state on Friday added 1,823 cases, the most in the past six days, according to data from the state Department of Health. Those cases helped raise the seven-day...
Trump hasn’t endorsed in Pennsylvania governor’s race, aide says
HARRISBURG — A senior adviser to Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to stress that the former president has made no endorsement of anyone to become governor of Pennsylvania. The statement by the adviser, Jason Miller, comes a day after a Republican state senator who has talked of possibly...
Pa. health officials celebrate federal pharmacy partnership’s progress in vaccinations
Pennsylvania Health Secretary Alison Beam on Thursday thanked federal pharmacy partners for their help distributing covid vaccine to residents across the state and said the collaboration would continue for the time being. As of May 20, 50% of Pennsylvania’s adult population has been fully vaccinated, and more than 55% of...
Gov. Tom Wolf extends covid-19 disaster declaration, days after votes to curb his powers
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has signed a renewal of the state’s disaster order related to the coronavirus pandemic. The governor announced the renewal Thursday afternoon, just two days after voters approved two measures to curb his powers in disasters. The previous covid-19 disaster order expired Thursday. “Covid-19 vaccinations have increased...
Pennsylvania terminating vendor that mishandled virus data
Pennsylvania is firing a company that performed covid-19 contact tracing and exposed the private medical information of tens of thousands of residents, according to legislative Republicans who released a statement from the state Health Department on Thursday. Employees of Insight Global used unauthorized Google accounts — readily viewable online —...
Sewickley lawyer joins Pennsylvania’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial primaryVideo
Make it three and counting in the 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial primary after Sewickley lawyer Jason Richey threw his hat into the ring Thursday. Richey, 49, joins a growing field of Republicans, including former Rep. Lou Barletta and Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale. State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, is expected...
