Pennsylvania category, Page 225
Hemp-growing permit deadline passes for Pennsylvania farmers
Tuesday was the deadline for Pennsylvania farmers to apply for a permit to grow industrial hemp. Farmers already in the application process have until May 21 to sign a final agreement with the state Department of Agriculture. Although legalized by the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp is still a regulated crop...
Police: Franklin County man took 4-year-old, bound her, stuffed her in trunkVideo
WAYNESBORO — A 20-year-old man entered a home’s unlocked front door, snatched a 4-year-old girl from her bed and bound and stuffed her into a wooden trunk at his grandparents’ house, telling police he’d been scoping out children who he thought lived in “deplorable conditions,” according to a criminal complaint....
Rep. Metcalfe pushes bill requiring doctors to treat unvaccinated kids
As measles continues to spread across the nation, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe rallied support Tuesday for a bill he introduced in January that would prevent doctors from denying care to children whose parents have chosen not to have them vaccinated. House Bill 286, also known as the Informed Consent Protection...
Saturday start to 2019 deer hunting season might not be permanent
Much like the split vote to allow deer hunting to start the Saturday after Thanksgiving, differences of public opinion has the Pennsylvania Game Commission already agreeing to re-examine the controversial issue after this year. After 55 years of opening the Monday after Thanksgiving, the commission voted 5-3 on April 8...
22 face conspiracy, cruelty counts after Philadelphia cockfight raid
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say nearly two dozen people are facing charges following last week’s raid on a north Philadelphia home where police said a cockfight was being held. Officials said roughly 40 roosters and chickens, some of them dead, were found in the home late Friday night. Authorities say officers...
Pa. mom pleads guilty in disabled toddler’s bathtub drowning
PEN ARGYL, Pa. — A mother who was under the influence of drugs when her disabled 2-year-old son drowned in a bathtub has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Michelle Wallace entered her plea Monday as part of a deal with the Northampton County District Attorney’s office in Pennsylvania. It calls...
Lawmakers push police reform measures following Rosfeld acquittal
A rally and lobbying day in support of legislation aimed at reforming police procedures is planned at the state Capitol in Harrisburg Tuesday. A coalition of state lawmakers have unveiled bills in the wake of the March acquittal of former East Pittsburgh police officer Michael Rosfeld in the death of...
Speaker Mike Turzai calls for boost in tax credits for private schools
A bill to increase the amount Pennsylvania forgoes in taxes to underwrite private school scholarships and public school foundations from $160 to $260 million a year is moving through the state House. House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, penned the measure that was reported out of committee Monday with 43...
District attorneys’ organization opposes legal recreational pot
The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association has come out against legal recreational marijuana, though it does support decriminalizing possession of small amounts of the drug. Association leaders shared their views with lawmakers at a meeting of the state Senate and House Democratic Policy Committee. “Recreational marijuana is not safe or harmless,”...
Student protesters occupy Swarthmore fraternity house, want it closed
Student protesters at Swarthmore College occupied an on-campus fraternity house following the leak of documents purportedly describing some members’ derogatory comments and sexual assault jokes. The demonstration is aimed at shutting down the Phi Psi chapter at the private liberal arts school in suburban Philadelphia. On Monday morning, about 30...
Pennsylvania joins U.S. Climate Alliance efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
Pennsylvania is now the 23rd state to sign on with the U.S. Climate Alliance, as Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday announced the release of the new Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan. Calling for a renewed commitment to uphold the tenants of the 2015 international Paris Climate Accord that President Trump eschewed,...
Woman dies following fight over parking spot in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — A fight over a parking spot has left a woman dead in Philadelphia. Authorities said Lourdes Estremera, 57, wanted to barbecue and had set up a grill in the parking spot on Friday night. Another woman drove up and wanted to park in the spot, and the two...
1 of 3 stabbed inside Erie club dies
ERIE — Authorities say one of three men stabbed in a northwestern Pennsylvania club over the weekend has died. The Erie Times-News reports that the county coroner’s office says the 34-year-old man was pronounced dead shortly after 3:30 a.m. Saturday at UPMC Hamot. Deputy Coroner John Maloney says an autopsy...
Authorities break up cockfighting ring at Philadelphia home
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say they broke up a cockfighting ring when they raided a Philadelphia home, making nearly two dozen arrests. Roughly 40 roosters and chickens were found in the home Friday night, including some that were dead. Authorities say officers chased down several suspects who tried to flee the...
Lancaster County Amish population grows despite urban sprawl
LANCASTER, Pa. — The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities. Some experts are concerned that a planned 75-acre housing and commercial project will make it more difficult for the county to accommodate the Amish. U.S....
Death sentence upheld in Pennsylvania troopers’ ambush
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court Friday upheld the death sentence and conviction of a sniper who killed a state trooper and wounded another in a nighttime ambush outside their barracks in a heavily wooded area. The state Supreme Court’s decision upholds lower court decisions in the case of Eric Frein,...
Judge turns jail into house arrest for 2 in Penn State frat death
BELLEFONTE — A judge is letting two former Penn State fraternity brothers serve sentences on house arrest for convictions related to the death of a pledge. WTAJ-TV said this week that Joshua Kurczewski and Michael Bonatucci had faced minimums of three months and one month in jail, but instead they’re...
Puppy stolen from Pa. pet store by armed man is found unharmed
WILKES-BARRE — Authorities say Rottweiler puppy stolen from a Pennsylvania pet store by a man armed with a gun has been found safe. The 9-week-old dog named Remus was found Thursday on a Wilkes-Barre street. It had been taken Wednesday by a man who allegedly displayed a gun tucked in...
PHEAA will tap surplus for student grants
Pennsylvania college students could receive up to $4,123 in need-based grants next year under the new grant formula the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) adopted Thursday. The agency that oversees state grant aid to more than 132,000 Pennsylvania students approved maintaining the grant cap at this year’s level for...
Auditor general: Billions in transportation funding diverted to Pennsylvania state police
Pennsylvanians pay the nation’s highest gas tax — 57.6 cents per gallon — and that money is supposed to help pay for road projects and general infrastructure improvement. An audit of the past six years, however, shows that more than $4 billion in PennDOT revenues from the state’s Motor License...
Penn State ex-president Graham Spanier asks court to overturn conviction
SCRANTON — Former Penn State President Graham Spanier is asking a federal magistrate judge to overturn his conviction, less than a week before he is scheduled to start serving two months in jail. Spanier was in a Scranton, Pennsylvania, courthouse Thursday as his lawyers argued it violated the U.S. Constitution...
Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro says clergy abuse shadows Catholics’ Notre Dame response
Pennsylvania Attorney General Joshua Shapiro was impressed with the response of the Catholic Church and Catholics around the world when Notre Dame went up in flames last week in Paris. But he’s disappointed in what he sees as the church’s lackluster response to protecting clergy abuse victims. In an op-ed...
Sen. Bob Casey endorses Biden in Democrats’ 2020 race for president
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is endorsing Joe Biden for president, just minutes after the former vice president entered the crowded 2020 race. In a statement Thursday, Casey touted Biden as a fighter for the middle class who can beat President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania if Biden...
Former Reading mayor Vaughn Spencer gets 8 years in prison for corruption schemeVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania mayor was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for trading city contracts for campaign contributions in a pay-to-play investigation that’s resulted in the convictions of more than a dozen people, including another mayor. “I let ambition take over, and I’m truly sorry,” a tearful...
Federal Clean Slate law unveiled with bipartisan support
A proposed federal law designed to seal nonviolent criminal records is drawing from the kind of bipartisan support that ushered a similar measure to law in Pennsylvania last summer. The federal Clean Slate Act, H.R. 2348, includes sponsorship from U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, a Peters Township Republican, and Delaware Democrat...
