Pennsylvania category, Page 193

Authorities say a man climbed to the top of a blast furnace in Bethlehem, Pa. and refused to come down, prompting evacuation of a nearby arts and entertainment venue. Venue operator ArtsQuest tweeted Saturday that the “emergency situation” that began Friday night at the SteelStacks campus was still going on,...

Pennsylvania’s Republican Party is trying to amicably settle a contested race for chairman between a candidate who had backing from top Trump campaign officials and a rival who previously had support from many Trump-aligned party activists. Bernadette Comfort instead will serve as the Trump campaign’s chairwoman in the presidential battleground...

PHILADELPHIA — The Transportation Security Administration says officers closed the checked baggage room at Philadelphia International Airport after finding a device that resembled a pipe bomb. The room was evacuated and closed for about 40 minutes on Wednesday after officers spotted the device in a checked bag. The TSA says...

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a man who stole a car with three young children inside was fatally beaten by their father and other men. Philadelphia police say the car was parked at a pizza restaurant with its engine running when the man drove off around 9:15 p.m. Thursday. The children’s...

The Texas-based owner of a petroleum pipeline that serves Western Pennsylvania is not taking “no” for an answer. Houston-based Buckeye Partners LP and its subsidiary, Laurel Pipe Line Co., which operates an east-to-west pipeline through Pennsylvania, want the option to deliver fuel from west-to-east, but can’t get the necessary regulatory...

The Pennsylvania Health Department is adding anxiety disorders and Tourette’s syndrome to the list of conditions that can qualify people to obtain legal medical marijuana. The heath secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, announced Thursday she’ll be adding them as of July 20. Levine says her decision was based on the recommendation...

It might be time to hit the civics books. Citing recent surveys that found only 26% of Americans could name all three branches of government and 37% could not name any of the rights guaranteed by First Amendment, a coalition of former Pennsylvania members of Congress is joining with eight...

The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office says it wants to improve the management and use of firearms-sales databases so that law enforcement can better clamp down on gun violence. Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Thursday that he wants police departments to enter serial numbers from every crime gun into a law-enforcement...

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania court says security risks for people who work in abortion clinics justify a decision to redact their names and license numbers before making government records available to the public. A three-judge Commonwealth Court panel said Thursday the state Health Department acted properly when it removed professional...

Pennsylvania taxpayers are paying nearly $18 million a year for unnecessary standardized tests administered to high school seniors across the state, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale charged in a report issued Wednesday. The 18-page report “Where did your money go?” examines the costs associated with the Keystone Exams. DePasquale said his...

For the first time in 20 years, and the second time ever, tuition will not rise this year at the 14 state-owned universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Basic tuition for in-state undergraduate students will remain at $7,716 for the 2019-20 school year. That comes after a...

The Pennsylvania State Police reported that nine people died in eight crashes over the Fourth of July holiday, the second deadliest Independence Day stretch in the last five years. Four of those roadway deaths happened in Western Pennsylvania, data for the state police’s five-day enforcement period shows. Three people died...

Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators disagree whether Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta should resign amid growing criticism over a 2008 plea deal he negotiated with an accused sex offender who now faces new sex-trafficking charges. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, joined a growing chorus that includes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will try again to award licenses for five more mini-casinos, part of an aggressive gambling expansion authorized in 2017 by a cash-hungry state government. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday approved a motion to restart auctions Sept. 4, under orders by a provision slipped into a...

Pennsylvania had a record year for natural gas production in 2018, the state Department of Environmental Protection said on Wednesday. Unconventional well operators produced 6.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2018 — an increase of .8 trillion cubic feet over 2017 and the largest volume of natural gas...

For the first time in 20 years, and the second time ever, tuition will not rise this year at the 14 state-owned universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Basic tuition for in-state undergraduate students will remain $7,716 for the 2019-20 school year. That comes after a unanimous...

This is a list that Pennsylvania won’t be proud to be high on. The Commonwealth ranked No. 2 in the country in student debt, according to WalletHub research. The report looked at average student debt, unemployment rates for people ages 25 to 34, students with past-due loans and student work...

Janice Nathan’s chronic medical condition dates to nearly a decade before the Affordable Care Act protected her from being denied insurance coverage because of it. Nathan, 62, a speech-language pathologist from Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, received a kidney transplant in 2001 while on an employer-sponsored health insurance plan. Three years...

Pennsylvania ranks among the worst states in which to start a new business, according to a new WalletHub study. The study, comparing 50 states across 26 indicators of startup success, ranked Pennsylvania 46th overall based on business environment, access to resources and business costs. Pennsylvania’s ranking put it below even...

Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities have a year to develop online, anonymous reporting systems to receive complaints about sexual assault from students and employees. That’s a requirement of a new law signed by Gov. Tom Wolf, who with the law’s backers say is the first law of its kind in the...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating after dozens of people across the country have contracted a multidrug-resistant form of salmonella believed to be linked to dog treats. The CDC reports 45 people in 13 states, including Pennsylvania, have been infected with the bacteria. No one has died,...

The question isn’t so much where are the turkeys, where aren’t there turkeys? The Pennsylvania Game Commission is conducting a turkey survey through Aug. 31 and is looking for residents to report their sighting via website and a mobile app. Observers need only report the number of turkeys, location, date...

Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a bill Friday that would have provided $90 million to help counties statewide upgrade voting machines because Republican Senate leaders tacked on a last-minute provision that would have nixed straight-ticket voting in Pennsylvania. Wolf further said that Senate Bill 48, “while purporting to secure elections, binds...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police say a fisherman found part of a human leg with a sneaker on it in the Delaware River. The leg was discovered around 8 p.m. Thursday. But it’s not clear how it got into the river or how long it had been in the water. Authorities...

Whether it’s an experienced farmer who wants to get into hemp production or a young farmer who needs access to farmland, there’s seemingly something for everyone in the new Pennsylvania Farm Bill. Gov. Tom Wolf’s signing of the $23.1 million farm bill — a series of legislative initiatives within the...