Pennsylvania category, Page 192

The president of a Pennsylvania school board whose district had warned parents behind on lunch bills that their children could end up in foster care has rejected a CEO’s offer to cover the cost, the businessman said Tuesday. Todd Carmichael, chief executive and co-founder of Philadelphia-based La Colombe Coffee, said...

The state Department of Health’s oversight of the 700 nursing homes in Pennsylvania has improved since the 2016 performance review by the auditor general, according to a follow-up report released on Tuesday. But Auditor General Eugene DePasquale warned that progress is threatened by the looming gray tsunami of baby boomers...

Capitalizing on the recent legalization of industrial hemp, Penn State Extension is holding a Hemp Research Field Day for interested farmers on Aug. 6. The second annual event, scheduled for 4:30-8:30 p.m., will be held at the Penn State Southeast Research & Extension Center in Manheim, Lancaster County. Cost is...

At least a couple mosquitoes in Allentown have West Nile virus, a state monitoring program determined in its latest round of tests. There have been no confirmed human cases of West Nile virus in Lehigh or Northampton Counties so far in 2019, but the Lehigh/Northampton County Mosquito Borne Disease Control...

HARRISBURG — At least three men recently paroled from Pennsylvania prisons have been arrested in unrelated homicides over the past two months, leading to calls from prosecutors and corrections officers for a review of the state’s parole practices. The men were arrested within a couple days of one another this...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania taxpayers are paying nearly $10 million annually for lawmakers to get their story out through a small army of spokespeople. LNP reported Monday on the vast message machine that often produces news releases, TV shows and other content with a partisan message. The newspaper says it calculated...

A proposal to expand the statewide ban on feeding big game is being considered by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The commission is holding a series of meetings across the state in July and August to solicit public comment on the proposal, which would extend a ban on feeding bear and...

READING — The mayor of the eastern Pennsylvania city of Reading has reversed course and says he will allow the LGBTQ rainbow flag to fly over City Hall for the first time. Mayor Wally Scott last week called off a scheduled ceremony to raise the “pride flag,” calling it a...

No question, they made for an odd couple. The college professor and the inmate serving life in prison for second-degree murder were indeed an unlikely pairing. It began in 2011 when Duquesne University professor Norman Conti met inmate Robert Wideman when he took a group of students into the now-shuttered...

KINGSTON — A Pennsylvania school district is warning that children could end up in foster care if their parents do not pay overdue school lunch bills. The letters sent recently to about 1,000 parents in Wyoming Valley West School District have led to complaints from parents and a stern rebuke...

It may be hot outside, but there’s a slight breeze blowing for thousands of Pennsylvania families awaiting tuition bills from Penn State. Trustees Thursday voted to freeze tuition at its main campus for an unprecedented second consecutive year . The vote called for holding base undergraduate tuition for Pennsylvania residents...

When tempers flare as the mercury climbs, homicide rates in Pennsylvania do likewise. When the number crunchers at the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts began analyzing statistics for criminal homicide they found the highest percentage of those convicted of the offense between 2014 and 2018 — 11% — were...

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police Department is suspending 13 police officers with an intent to fire them following an investigation into offensive and sometimes threatening Facebook posts. Seventy-two officers had been placed on administrative leave in June. The action came after a nonprofit group published the results of a two-year...

The Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor shutdown, which is set to begin no later than Sept. 30, will take nearly 60 years and $1.2 billion to complete. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is outlining Exelon Generation’s plans to decommission TMI Unit 1, whose closure was announced in May after...

State troopers across Pennsylvania confiscated 84 pounds of heroin and nearly 33 pounds of fentanyl between April 1 and June 30, according to an announcement. The seizures were part of $11 million in illicit drugs that troopers got off the streets during the second quarter of 2019. The heroin was...

Last winter, after seven unsuccessful appeals to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, Robert Wideman had given up hope of ever leaving the state prison system that had been his home for more than four decades. On Wednesday, Wideman, who finally was released from prison last week after a final appeal...

Pennsylvania has allocated an additional $3 million in its budget toward the containment of the spotted lanternfly, bringing the total to more than $10 million to protect businesses and agriculture in the state. The funding was announced Tuesday at a joint press conference held by Gov. Tom Wolf, Agriculture Secretary...

Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls are set to go up, again. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission on Tuesday approved a 6% hike for all customers, which will take effect Jan. 5. The most common toll for passenger vehicles will rise from $1.40 to $1.50 for E-ZPass users and from $2.30 to $2.50 for...

The lucky Pennsylvania liquor lottery winners have been chosen. Winners, who will be granted the opportunity to purchase highly sought-after bourbons and whiskeys, were notified last week. The drawing was held Wednesday. For the first time, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has released the cities in which the winners live....

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia man sentenced to life in prison a quarter-century ago was ordered freed from prison Monday after the Philadelphia prosecutor’s office told the court last month that he was “likely innocent” of the murder for which he was convicted. Chester Hollman III, 48, was freed from state...

Greg Shogan of Monroeville estimated he underwent 20 brain scans to try and diagnose a series of strange ailments, which ultimately resulted in a diagnosis of Lyme disease. While early detection can generally result in positive treatment, Shogan had gone years without meaningful medical intervention. Shogan isn’t sure how much...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is joining the short list of states where online casino-style gambling is available. Parx Casino in suburban Philadelphia and Penn National’s Hollywood Casino near Hershey launched online gambling portals to patrons statewide as part of a three-day test watched by state regulators. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware...

Pennsylvania colleges and universities looking to update their policies on reporting sexual assault might want to look to the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt made significant revisions to its policies on reporting sexual assault and harassment more than three years ago. It is among several colleges and universities that had similar...

BETHLEHEM — A man who climbed atop the rusting blast furnace at a former eastern Pennsylvania steel mill, prompting evacuation of an arts and entertainment venue now at the site, is now facing a felony charge of risking a catastrophe. Jonathan David Wallace, 25, of Mertztown was also charged Sunday...