Pennsylvania category, Page 187

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker who is facing child pornography possession charges resigned Wednesday, just hours after his arrest spurred condemnation and calls for him to step down. Sen. Mike Folmer was charged late Tuesday by the state attorney general’s office after agents confronted him, saying they acted on...

The first case of West Nile Virus infection in a person this year has been detected in a Philadelphia resident, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced Tuesday. Samples were being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation, the department said. State residents are being urged...

Perdue Foods is recalling about 495 pounds of a frozen, ready-to-eat chicken product because of misbranding and undeclared allergens that were shipped to stores in five states including Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced. According to the recall notice, the product contains wheat, a...

A significant decrease in hospital admissions for opioid overdoses across Pennsylvania may have more to do with evolving treatment and the widespread availability of a lifesaving antidote than any major drop in drug abuse, experts said following the release of a report on overdose hospitalizations. Researchers at the Pennsylvania Health...

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker is facing child pornography possession charges after authorities say a social media website told them the user had uploaded an image using its service. Sen. Michael Folmer, R-Lebanon, was charged after an investigation prompted by Tumblr, an electronic service provider, reported one of its...

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker is facing child pornography possession charges after authorities say a social media website told them the user had uploaded an image using their service. The state attorney general’s office said Sen. Mike Folmer was arrested and charged Tuesday night. Investigators allegedly found images of...

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is seeking public comment on a proposal to more actively involve deer hunters in the fight against chronic wasting disease, or CWD. The commission released a draft report and is accepting comments through Feb. 29, 2020 — in time for implementation in the 2020-21 hunting seasons....

The Wolf administration is moving to limit the number of people at rallies in the Capitol Rotunda and reserving room for others to walk through when it’s crowded. Pennlive.com reported Monday the General Services Department is capping at 450 the number of people on the floor, balconies and marble stairs....

Following in the footsteps of two Allegheny County communities, Whitemarsh Township officials in eastern Pennsylvania voted to ban wild and exotic animal circus acts last week. The move comes after similar bans enacted in both Pittsburgh and Sharpsburg, and will affect the town of Plymouth Meeting in Whitemarsh, where the...

Student debt is a $1.5 trillion issue in the United States, and Penn State students bear the highest debt load in the Big Ten. In a presentation Friday to the Penn State Board of Trustees, President Eric Barron talked about who is most affected by debt at Penn State, and...

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is toasting a new retail sales record. The agency that operates more than 600 state stores statewide, and licenses more than 20,000 beverage alcohol producers and retailers, posted $2.67 billion in retail sales for wine and spirits in the fiscal year ending June 30 ....

The president of Penn State is getting a 2.5% salary increase and trustees are making it retroactive to the beginning of July. The Board of Trustees on Friday voted unanimously to boost Eric Barron’s base pay to $855,000 a year. He’s been Penn State’s top administrator since 2014. The Centre...

HARRISBURG — An 18-year-old Pennsylvania man accused of kidnapping another 18-year-old whose body was found outside a Civil War museum has been charged with murder. Pennlive.com reports Tyrese Andre Randolph is facing murder, kidnapping and robbery charges in the death of 18-year-old Torin Dworchak. Both are from Harrisburg. Dworchak’s body...

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is suing the family that owns Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of Oxycontin — a powerful prescription opioid pain medication that proved to be a multi-billion cash cow. Details of the lawsuit are sealed, but it alleges members of the Sackler family are “personally liable” for...

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a woman shot and killed while she sat on the front steps of her Philadelphia home apparently was an innocent bystander struck by a stray bullet. The shooting occurred around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say 23-year-old Crystal Roman-Benitez struck in the head. She was taken to...

A state board that reviews criminal cases agreed Wednesday to pardon Corry Sanders, the former McKeesport councilman-elect whose 26-year-old drug convictions blocked him from serving in office despite winning the 2016 municipal election. In a 5-0 vote, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons recommended clemency for Sanders, 49, during a public...

The state Department of Environmental Protection is ordering Sunoco Pipeline LP to cover up portions of its pipeline network that have become exposed over time. The order follows the discovery of an exposed pipeline in June by the state Public Utility Commission, which then requested that Sunoco report any additional...

Permitting activity for new natural gas wells in Pennsylvania is down significantly, as natural gas prices continue to tank, S&P Global reports. Unconventional well permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection were down by 23% in August and 14% in July compared to the same months last year, S&P...

Philadelphia police are seeking a man caught on surveillance footage apparently trying to abduct three women over the course of 30 minutes Sunday on a city street. NBC10 Philadelphia, which obtained the footage, reported a man tried to grab a 21-year-old woman Sunday morning on North 15th Street. Police on...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court was asked Wednesday to outlaw the death penalty because of what critics call the cruel and arbitrary way it’s applied to poor and black defendants. More than half of the 441 death sentences handed down since the death penalty was reinstated in the late 1970s have...

Pennsylvanians seeking to vote by absentee ballot can apply online starting next week, rather than making the request by mail or in person. Absentee voters can apply for a ballot starting Monday, Sept. 16, at votesPA.com/ApplyAbsentee. After approval by the voter’s county election office, the absentee ballot is delivered by...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvanians who will not be able to vote in person this fall can apply online for absentee ballots for the first time, officials announced. The Wolf administration said Monday voters can begin next week to use the new process to obtain absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 election....

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court considered arguments in Philadelphia on Tuesday over whether the chief lawyer for Penn State when the Jerry Sandusky scandal broke should face public censure. The state’s lawyer disciplinary board recommended that punishment in March for Cynthia Baldwin, who is a former state Supreme Court justice...

Pennsylvanians seeking to vote by absentee ballot can apply online starting next week, rather than making the request by mail or in person. Absentee voters can apply for a ballot starting Monday, Sept. 16, at votesPA.com/ApplyAbsentee. After approval by the voter’s county election office, the absentee ballot is delivered by...