Pennsylvania category, Page 128

Pennsylvania’s Department of Health on Thursday reported 224 new deaths attributed to the coronavirus. The death toll for the state stands at 13,392. There have been 1,967 deaths already this month. Of the 224 deaths newly reported, 220 are from December, three are from November and one is from July....

An Erie police investigation into the shooting of a 13-year-old boy in what the city’s police chief said appears to have been a targeted attack on Dec. 5 has turned into a homicide probe. Chief Dan Spizarny said Thursday morning that investigators have been told that the boy, identified by...

BALTIMORE — A Pennsylvania man who police said was gunned down by a 13-year-old boy in Southwest Baltimore struggled with addiction and was in the city to buy heroin to bring back home, the man’s family said. Chad Michael Jordan, 40, of Jefferson, Pa., was shot and killed Friday after...

The holidays can be stressful and depressing under normal circumstances. But this year’s pandemic has only added to people’s anxiety, particularly for seniors who may be experiencing extreme isolation and loneliness. On Wednesday, members of the Wolf administration hosted a video conference to discuss resources for older Pennsylvanians and others...

Citing “an alarming increase in covid-19 cases” and yet another surge expected to peak in January, Pennsylvania acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega on Wednesday urged colleges and universities to delay the start of their spring semester. Ortega also suggested colleges and universities use virtual instruction as much as possible....

Most Pennsylvanians don’t have far to travel to buy medical marijuana. The state’s 100th dispensary opened last week in Chester, quickly followed by the 101st in York and 102nd in Hazelton, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Patients have spent more than $1.1 billion at dispensaries across the state...

Pennsylvania’s coronavirus case total grew by 10,049 on Wednesday, the fifth time in the past seven days with a total above 10,000. The new cases reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health bring the state’s total to 519,369. On Wednesday, Pennsylvania surpassed 500,000 cases, becoming the seventh state to reach...

As populations across Pennsylvania increased over the past 10 years, Westmoreland and Allegheny counties have seen the opposite effect. New data from the American Community Survey shows that from 2010-19, Westmoreland County lost more than 16,000 people with the population of Allegheny County dropping by about 7,500. Those numbers aren’t...

Severe winter weather Wednesday won’t delay covid-19 vaccine shipments in Pennsylvania, state officials said, as more shipments of the vaccine arrived at hospitals across the commonwealth. “We’re not making changes (to distribution) according to the forecast, but we will make changes if the weather turns out to force us to...

Pennsylvania reported 9,556 new covid cases and 270 new deaths Tuesday, according to the state Department of Health. Total cases and total deaths in the state are now 509,320 and 12,890, respectively. There have been 147,856 covid-19 cases and 2,507 deaths reported in December. With the state passing 500,00 covid-19...

A Butler County attorney who previously won a federal lawsuit against the Wolf administration over the spring covid-19 shutdown orders filed two new suits over the governor’s most recent orders. The lawsuits — one filed by the Butler Area School District and the other by two indoor water parks —...

Some health care workers at UPMC received Pittsburgh’s first doses of the newly approved covid-19 vaccine, but widespread availability is still months off. State Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said Monday the state will receive 97,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine this week, and the allocations to hospitals and...

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 — The state Department of Corrections defied federal guidelines and a doctor’s order last week, demanding that an officer who...

As Pennsylvania officials on Monday celebrated the first vaccinations of health care workers against covid-19 , Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine reiterated warnings this is the first step in a long road to the end of the pandemic. “Today is just a great day, when we start immunizing people,”...

Health officials reported Monday there were 18,646 new cases of covid-19 in Pennsylvania over the past two days. The Department of Health reported 10,684 of those cases Sunday and 7,962 on Monday. The new cases bring the state’s seven-day average of daily cases to 10,474, while its seven-day case total...

As coronavirus relief negotiations languish in Congress, Gov. Tom Wolf and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday there is a dire need to pass a package sooner rather than later to ensure an economic recovery from the pandemic. “It’s disgraceful, disgraceful that right now in the midst of the...

WILKES-BARRE — State and county officials have confirmed the voluntary closure of a for-profit juvenile detention center in northeastern Pennsylvania to which prosecutors said juvenile offenders were improperly sent in a kickback scheme that led to the imprisonment of two judges. The (Wilkes-Barre) Citizens’ Voice reports that the 60-bed PA...

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. Hundreds of thousands of families across Pennsylvania could lose their homes in January, after emergency unemployment benefits and federal eviction protections...

PHILADELPHIA — Two years ago, the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia joined the long line of ambitious prosecutors investigating the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of priest-abuse complaints. The Justice Department had never brought a conspiracy case against the church, despite exhaustive reports that showed its long history of burying abuse complaints...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — When the 20 Pennsylvania loyalists selected by President-elect Joe Biden gather to cast their electoral vote ballots on Monday, it will be a big step toward leaving behind the chaos of the election and its aftermath. The ceremony at the Capitol Complex in Harrisburg will be unusual...

Pennsylvania on Saturday reported 11,084 new coronavirus cases, as the Keystone State gets closer to accumulating 500,000 cases. The new data bring the total cases to 481,118; a nearly 70,000-case jump from this time last week (411,484). Officials said 40,580 of total cases are considered probable. Health officials define a...

Jails and prisons across Pennsylvania are being overwhelmed by the spread of covid-19, and advocates for the incarcerated population fear it will get worse before it gets better. As the numbers skyrocketed this week, the state Department of Corrections reported that a 77-year-old inmate with pre-existing conditions died on Thursday...