Pennsylvania category, Page 220
Pa. Gov. Wolf to veto $100M private schools bill
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf plans to veto legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to substantially expand taxpayer support by $100 million for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania. Wednesday’s statement from Wolf’s office comes a day after the Senate approved the bill on a party-line basis. The bill was sponsored...
Pa. Republicans push back on cash Gov. Wolf wants for voting machines
Republican lawmakers aren’t committing to the money sought by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to back up his demand that Pennsylvania’s counties replace their voting machines by 2020’s presidential elections. Republicans who control Pennsylvania’s Legislature say a roughly $34 billion budget counterproposal they are finalizing this week doesn’t include the $15...
Woman fatally stabbed in dispute over parking space in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say a woman fatally stabbed another woman in a dispute over a parking spot in Philadelphia. The attack happened about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. Authorities say the two women were arguing over the parking space when one stabbed the other twice in the chest. The 27-year-old victim died...
Wolf administration hopes ‘groundswell’ support can pass natural gas severance tax
Officials in Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration hope that packaging a natural gas severance tax with a proposal to address community blight and infrastructure needs will give it a better chance of passing the Pennsylvania General Assembly this year. Several members of the administration Tuesday said there is a “groundswell” of...
Pa. bottle bill would set up deposit program to reduce waste, litter
A proposal to set up a beverage bottle and can deposit program in Pennsylvania now has support in the state House and Senate. State Rep. Wendy Ullman, D-Doylestown, said Tuesday state Sen. Sharif Street, D-Philadelphia, planned to introduce a companion bill in the Senate that is modeled on her legislation...
PHEAA offers low-cost, no-fee private student loans
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency is reinventing itself as a private lender to fill in the gaps for students who have maxed out on grants and federal loans this year, but still can’t cover the cost of college or approved trade schools. Officials at PHEAA, the embattled agency that...
Pennsylvania nursing homes receive failing grade from advocacy group
Pennsylvania nursing homes received an “F” from a national advocacy group that rates and ranks states on the quality of its care. But the head of a trade group representing nursing homes in the state said the report doesn’t account for the full picture of care, including ongoing funding struggles....
Pennsylvania Senate backs bill to expand armed school security options
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Senate is backing legislation that supporters say give school districts and private schools more options to hire armed security guards. The bill passed 32-17 on Tuesday, with a handful of Democrats joining the Republican majority to send it to the House of Representatives. The bill would allow...
Convicted Pa. sex offenders targeted in new telephone scam
Telephone scammers have found a new target in Pennsylvania: registered sex offenders. Pennsylvania State Police issued a warning Monday, saying there has been an increase in fraud reports throughout the state from individuals required to register as sex offenders. Police say the sex offenders are being conned into wiring immediate...
Pennsylvania ranked as 8th most ‘fun’ state
Who isn’t up for a bit of fun? But what is fun? We all define fun differently, and that’s the point behind a new survey that ranks our great 50 states in order of their fun factor. WalletHub has crunched a lot of numbers — attractions, restaurants, golf courses, beaches,...
Boyfriend charged in slaying of woman in Poconos
EAST STROUDSBURG — Authorities say a man fleeing a jail sentence in Virginia and arrested in New York has been charged in the slaying of a woman whose body was dumped near a stream in eastern Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains. Authorities say 43-year-old Gerald Neal was apprehended a week ago in...
Pennsylvania man says rise in tornadoes caused by traffic circles
The Keystone State has had more than the expected number of tornadoes so far this year and explanations often involve El Niño or climate change. But at least one resident of the northeast corner of Pennsylvania is blaming them on something else: traffic circles. A news program on WNEP-TV in...
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman opens State House pool for use by kids
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP — Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor is opening the pool in the official residence he doesn’t use to children who typically wouldn’t have access to one. Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman announced Friday the new access to the pool at the State House. The residence is on National Guard...
State Democratic Party adds to calls for Sen. Daylin Leach to resign
HARRISBURG — Leaders of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party on Friday added to calls for a state senator to resign over accusations of sexual misconduct. The statement came a day after the Senate’s top Democrat said an inquiry he commissioned into complaints about Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Montgomery, found a “lengthy pattern of...
Pennsylvania ranked 20th in nation for nursing home complaints
Pennsylvania ranked 20th in the nation for complaints per nursing home last year, according to a new study that analyzed federal data for all 50 states. The report by The Senior List found nursing homes in Pennsylvania averaged 8.42 deficiency complaints per facility last year. Washington state topped the list...
Evanchick confirmed to head up Pennsylvania State Police
HARRISBURG — The man who’s been serving as acting Pennsylvania State Police commissioner for more than a year is now in the job on a permanent basis. The state Senate this week voted unanimously to confirm Col. Robert Evanchick to oversee the agency of more than 6,500 troopers and other...
Catholic school worker charged with sex assault of student
RADNOR — Police say a worker at a suburban Philadelphia Roman Catholic high school has been charged with sexually assaulting a student. The Delaware County District Attorney’s office says 33-year-old Christopher Serpentine, listed as a member of Archbishop Carroll High School’s fine arts department, was arrested Wednesday. He’s charged with...
Pa. Supreme Court says state candidates can’t be nominated by 2 parties
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has upheld a ban on state-level or federal candidates being nominated by more than one political party for the same office, a rule that helps the two major parties. The decision Wednesday said state Rep. Chris Rabb was properly prohibited from getting on the ballot...
Philly stray cat population almost at half a millionVideo
It’s cat-a-strophic issue for some Philadelphia residents. The City of Brotherly Love’s feral cat population has almost reached the 500,000 mark and many locals aren’t happy about it, according to Fox News. Frustrated residents are fed up with having to clean up cat feces and vomit on their property. The...
Federal government will update list of troubled nursing homes monthly
The federal government will release an updated list of the nation’s most troubled nursing homes monthly, officials with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said. CMS previously kept a list of about 400 of nursing homes with serious patterns of poor care under wraps from the public, even...
Feds to go public with formerly secret lists of troubled nursing homes
Federal regulators said Wednesday they plan to go public with lists of troubled nursing homes in the future, days after Pennsylvania lawmakers unveiled a secret list of 400 such facilities. Kate Goodrich, the chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, said on a call...
New opioid response team aims to get OD victims in treatment
PHILADELPHIA — A new opioid response team in Philadelphia is pairing paramedics with social service case workers with the goal of getting overdose survivors into treatment, officials announced Wednesday. The new unit hit the streets in April and works with a firehouse in Kensington — an area of the city...
Pennsylvania moves to take over health insurance exchange
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania is moving to take over the online health insurance exchange that’s been operated by the federal government since 2014, saying it can cut health insurance costs for the hundreds of thousands who buy the individual Affordable Care Act policies. New legislation introduced Tuesday has high-level support in...
2 Kennywood roller coasters make ‘tallest, scariest’ list
Just in time for summer, two Kennywood roller coasters — one wooden, one steel — make the Pennsylvania Tourism Office’s list of the 10 “tallest and scariest” roller coasters in Pennsylvania. Coming in at No. 3 is Phantom’s Revenge, a steel coaster that reaches speeds of 85 mph and a...
Penn State finds digital divide wider than reported for broadband internet in rural Pa.
The “digital divide” in rural parts of Pennsylvania may be growing instead of closing, according to a new study by Penn State University. The “Broadband Availability and Access in Rural Pennsylvania” study found there isn’t a single county where at least 50% of the population received broadband connectivity, defined by...
