Pennsylvania category, Page 138
Pennsylvania to lift last moratorium on utility shutoffs
Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission on Thursday approved the lifting of its year-old moratorium preventing utilities from terminating service to all non-paying customers, adopted as Gov. Tom Wolf began ordering shutdowns to fight the spreading coronavirus. The moratorium will lift April 1 for the state’s lower-income utility customers, but the commission...
Pennsylvania to pay $475K to family of pot suspect killed by dozer
READING — The state of Pennsylvania will pay $475,000 to the estate of a man who died underneath a bulldozer that Pennsylvania State Police had used to chase him for growing a handful of marijuana plants, according to a settlement revealed in court Thursday. Gregory Longenecker, 51, had fled into...
Allegheny County adds 19 new covid deaths; Westmoreland County covid numbers stable; state hospitalizations fall
Allegheny County on Thursday saw a slight uptick in cases and hospitalizations, and a higher than usual number of new deaths reported. Westmoreland County saw a decrease in both cases and hospitalizations and two new deaths. The state of Pennsylvania saw cases and deaths remain stable with hospitalizations continuing to...
New fed relief plan saves aid for 925,000 Pennsylvanians, state says
Congress extended a lifeline to about 925,000 Pennsylvanians who get federal unemployment benefits by giving final approval Wednesday to a $1.9 trillion covid relief package. The House on Wednesday passed the American Rescue Plan, after the Senate approved its own version of the controversial stimulus bill on March 6. President...
Lawmaker calls for halt to PennDOT plan to toll 9 bridges
The chairman of Pennsylvania’s Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday said he wants to halt plans to toll nine major bridges on interstates around the state. Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, introduced a bill to require legislative authorization of any proposed transportation project with a user fee, even it...
U.S. aid to Pa. draws GOP warning to use it for 1-time costs
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state government is expected to receive more than $7 billion from the $1.9 trillion covid-19 rescue package making its way through Congress, or almost one-fifth of its operating costs this year, with some warning that the one-time aid should be used only for one-time costs. Many across...
As food insecurity continues for millions, Pa. now taking SNAP applications by phone
Pennsylvanians can now apply for food assistance via phone, state officials said Tuesday. Applications to the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are now taken on 1-866-550-4355, in addition to the established methods of mailing in a paper form or going online. The state has seen an uptick in applications...
Allegheny, Westmoreland counties see largest increase in covid cases in month
Allegheny and Westmoreland counties on Tuesday saw the most additional covid cases in about a month, according to state and local health departments. There were 348 additional covid-19 cases (166 confirmed, 182 probable) reported in Allegheny County, the first time there were more than 300 additional cases reported this month....
Women’s History Month: Facts and figuresVideo
In 1857, women toiling in the garment and textile industries in New York City factories staged a protest over poor working conditions. Fifty years later, the fight was far from over. On Feb. 28, 1907, women once again took to the streets calling for political rights for working women and...
Emails: FBI was looking for gold at Pennsylvania dig site
Go for the gold? The U.S. government went for it. FBI agents were looking for an extremely valuable cache of fabled Civil War-era gold — possibly tons of it — when they excavated a remote woodland site in Pennsylvania three years ago this month, according to government emails and other...
Police on foot, horseback and by helicopter search for missing York County woman who vanished near trail
Officers on foot, horseback and by helicopter searched an area Monday in southern York County where a 29-year-old missing woman was last seen Saturday near a hiking trail. It represented the third day of searching for Nicole Ebaugh, who was reported missing about 7:45 p.m. Saturday. She was last spotted...
Gov. Wolf nominates Meadville OB-GYN to serve as Pa. physician general
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday nominated a Meadville doctor to serve as the state’s physician general — a potential permanent replacement for Dr. Rachel Levine, who previously served in both that role and as the state’s secretary of health. Dr. Denise Johnson, most recently chief medical officer at Meadville Medical...
Pennsylvania agrees to settle gas drilling royalties lawsuit
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania reached a settlement in a lawsuit against natural gas driller Chesapeake Energy Corp. for its handling of royalty payments to property owners, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Monday. Speaking in Tunkhannock, a northeastern Pennsylvania town in the heart of heavy Marcellus Shale natural gas production, Shapiro...
Coroner: Pa. worker killed in fall into lead refining furnace
LYONS — Authorities say a Pennsylvania worker died after falling into a lead refining furnace at an eastern Pennsylvania plant over the weekend. The Berks County coroner’s office said Monday that 30-year-old John Evanoff fell into a refining kettle portion of the furnace shortly before 11:30 p.m. Saturday in East...
4 big Pennsylvania counties unhappy over vaccine share
HARRISBURG — Four of Pennsylvania’s seven most-heavily populated counties are airing their unhappiness over the size of their allotment of coronavirus vaccines, saying Monday that a meeting with Gov. Tom Wolf’s top health official did not resolve their concerns. Leaders of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties — home to...
Covid numbers hitting lows not seen since early November
Pennsylvania’s latest covid-19 data, released Monday by the state’s Department of Health, carries on the trend of lower numbers — in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Over the past two days, the state has recorded 3,176 new cases of coronavirus, an 11% drop from last Monday’s two-day report (3,573) and...
Bartos declares candidacy for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Jeff Bartos is formally launching his campaign for Pennsylvania’s wide-open U.S. Senate race, the highest-profile Republican candidate so far to declare for the seat. Bartos, the Republican Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018, has said he was seriously considering a run and filed paperwork to run last...
3 killed in Lehigh County crash were DeSales students, university says
CENTER VALLEY — A vehicle left the road and slammed into a tree in eastern Pennsylvania, killing three people and injuring one other person, authorities said. The Lehigh County coroner’s office said the crash occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Upper Saucon Township. The coroner’s office said two males...
1 year after covid hit Pa: nearly 1 million cases, more than 24,000 deaths
Pennsylvania health officials on Saturday reported 2,789 new coronavirus cases, exactly one year after the virus was first discovered in the Keystone State. Two people were reported quarantined on March 6, 2020 in the eastern part of the state after they were presumed positive to have contracted covid-19. Saturday’s data...
Pa. Game Commission says game-law violations dip slightly
Wildlife game law violations dipped slightly last fiscal year compared to the year before, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s recently released 2020 annual report. The Game Commission said it pursued 6,708 prosecutions for alleged game-law violations during the fiscal year that ended June 30, down 1.7% from the year...
License plate honors, supports services for Pennsylvania’s women veterans
The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is encouraging motorists to show support for women who served in the armed forces by purchasing an “Honoring Our Women Veterans” license plate during March, which is Women’s History Month. Of the $36 cost for the special plate, $15 goes to the...
Gov. Wolf: ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ in virus fight
HARRISBURG — One year after the discovery of the first coronavirus case in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf said Friday that it has been a tough and trying year, but there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel with the growing availability of vaccines. Wolf, speaking at...
Pennsylvania continues downward trend in covid deaths
Pennsylvania continues to report fewer deaths attributed to the coronavirus. The state on Friday reported 43 additional covid-related deaths, for a total of 325 in a seven-day period. That’s the lowest seven-day total since mid-November. That number was over 1,000 for most of December and January but has been steadily...
Mask policies are here to stay — for now, Pa. officials sayVideo
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made headlines this week by lifting his state’s mask mandate and declaring Texas “100% open” against advice of federal health agencies. Pennsylvania should not expect any such declarations any time soon. “At this time, mask-wearing is abundantly important,” said acting state Secretary of Health Alison Beam....
Philadelphia man charged with attempted homicide after pursuit on Pa. Turnpike
A Philadelphia man faces multiple charges after leading State Police on a high-speed pursuit Thursday morning. State Police said troopers tried to pull over Mark Anthony Davenport, 31, who was driving a white 2020 Honda sedan 90 mph in a 70 mph zone near mile marker 210.1 in Upper Mifflin...
