Pennsylvania category, Page 195

A bill designed to protect consumers against pyramid schemes unanimously passed the Pennsylvania House Monday. House Bill 1534 amends the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law and highlights the distinction between direct-sale companies with a pyramid-like structure and “fly-by-night” operators attempting to rip off the public. “My bill would...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Republican Party chairman stepped down Tuesday as a result of a published report that he had traded sexually charged text messages with a Philadelphia City Council candidate and also sent her an explicit photo. Val DiGiorgio’s resignation was announced by the state Republican Party. In a letter...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police must use a person’s chosen name and pronoun when interacting with transgender people, regardless of what is listed on their government-issued identification card. The change is part of a new police department policy announced Tuesday that addresses how police should interact with transgender and non-binary people....

FALLS, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman used a shovel to kill a cobra she saw slithering on the patio of her apartment. Kathy Kehoe says the squawking of some blue jays outside her unit caught her attention Monday. When she looked outside, she saw a 4 to 5-foot-long serpent. Kehoe,...

More than two years after the February 2017 death of Timothy Piazza, a Penn State student who died of injuries he sustained during an alcohol-fueled fraternity pledge event, the lawsuits just keep coming. The Associated Press is reporting the fraternity corporation that owns the shuttered Beta Theta Pi fraternity house...

MYERSTOWN — Authorities say a man who allegedly put a bomb in a parking lot behind a Pennsylvania hotel told them he did it to warn police about aliens bent on destroying the planet. State troopers responded to the Bahney House in Myerstown on Sunday. They discovered a suspicious package...

PHILADELPHIA — A domestic dispute in a Philadelphia neighborhood ended with a man stabbed and three people shot, one fatally. Authorities say the incident may have also spurred another shooting that killed a 24-year-old man. The domestic dispute occurred around 9:40 p.m. Monday. Authorities say a 26-year old man was...

Bands of sticky tape installed on trees to ensnare and kill the pesky and invasive Spotted Lanternfly are backfiring and killing some birds, bats and other wildlife that inadvertently get stuck, according to media and other accounts. The Morning Call reports the sticky tape is entrapping woodpeckers, squirrels and other...

Members of the Pennsylvania Noxious Weeds Committee are hoping that adding a new species to its list will help address another invasive issue: the spotted lanternfly. The committee has added Tree-of-Heaven to the state’s Class B noxious weeds list. “Class B includes species that are so widespread, it would be...

One hundred years ago this month, on June 24, 1919, Pennsylvania became the seventh state to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. As part of Monday’s 100th anniversary commemoration of that event, Pennsylvania’s document ratifying the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution will be on display...

HARRISBURG — Legislation advancing in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature would eliminate the ballot option for voters to simply select a straight-party ticket in elections, although House Democrats are objecting to it. Bills to eliminate it emerged from committee in both chambers this week. The Senate bill is sponsored by Democratic Sen....

Phone scammers posing as state Department of Revenue employees are targeting senior citizens and people with disabilities in an effort to obtain people’s bank information, according to the state agency. The phone scammers are falsely telling residents they will deposit their property tax or rent rebate checks into their bank...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is siding with a Pennsylvania woman in a case that gives citizens another way to pursue claims when they believe states and local governments have harmed their property rights. The high court ruled Friday in the case of Rose Mary Knick. She tried to bring...

WILLOW GROVE — A suburban Philadelphia couple has been convicted of murder in the death of a 4-year-old who was beaten for spilling his breakfast cereal. A jury returned the verdict Thursday night against the boy’s mother, Lisa Smith, and her boyfriend, Keiff King. The Abington couple also was convicted...

PHILADELPHIA — A fire at a 150-year-old refinery complex in Philadelphia turned the early morning sky a bright orange and yellow and awakened startled residents with explosions that shook homes Friday. The fire broke out at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining Complex around 4 a.m., spokeswoman Cherice Corley said. “Refinery...

HARRISBURG — Top Pennsylvania lawmakers are assembling a budget package that’s due ahead of the July 1 start of the fiscal year, but behind-the-scenes disagreements remain and rank-and-file lawmakers are awaiting details. The first votes on budget legislation are expected Monday. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and leaders of the Republican-controlled...

HARRISBURG — Republicans in the state House voted Wednesday to end a Pennsylvania cash welfare program, a year after it was revived following a court decision. The Republican-majority House voted 106-95 to eliminate the $54 million in payments, bundled in the bill with a subsidy for Philadelphia hospitals. The cash...

ALLENTOWN — Authorities say a street shooting in eastern Pennsylvania has left 10 people wounded. The shooting outside the Deja Vu nightclub in Allentown occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday. Authorities say most of the victims had just left the nightclub or were standing on the sidewalk outside when the...

Low-income seniors looking for a state rebate on property taxes or rent have a little more time to apply. The deadline has been extended to Dec. 31, state Rep. Joseph Petrarca, D-Westmoreland, said Wednesday. Previously, applicants had until the end of the June to apply. Those eligible for a rebate...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is permanently recognizing Juneteenth, the cultural holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved black people in the United States. Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday signed legislation designating June 19 as Juneteenth National Freedom Day. Most states recognize it, and Pennsylvania lawmakers typically recognize the day by passing non-binding...

Legislation to further clamp down on powerful painkiller prescriptions in Pennsylvania has the state Senate’s approval, although Democrats tried unsuccessfully to put limits on an exception for major surgery. The Senate voted unanimously Wednesday, nearly three years after lawmakers passed a package of legislation to limit opioid prescriptions to fight...

Pennsylvania voters will decide whether to enumerate victims’ rights in the state constitution, a proposal likely to appear on the November ballot. The state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to give its final approval, putting the state’s version of Marsy’s Law on the ballot as a constitutional amendment referendum. The proposed...

HARRISBURG — Wireless carriers including Verizon and AT&T are struggling to get a vote on legislation to make it easier and cheaper for them to attach small-cell antennas to utility poles to carry 4G and next-generation 5G services across Pennsylvania. A House Consumer Affairs Committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday was...

YORK — Family members say someone stole an urn with a man’s ashes after his funeral in Pennsylvania. A service for 42-year-old Sam Abreght was held over the weekend at the Salvation Army in York. His cremains were divided into three urns, one of which was to go to his...