Pennsylvania category, Page 228
Historic Pennsylvania barn’s ban on same-sex weddings prompts outcry
ELIZABETHTOWN — A county tourism group is sticking by its decision to hold a meeting at a historic venue in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, despite an outcry of the locale’s policy banning same-sex weddings. The Star Barn is a top wedding spot in Elizabethtown, surrounded by farmland, orchards and vineyards in...
Pittsburgh woman tapped to lead national higher education group for private colleges
No one could have predicted where Barbara Mistick’s story would go when she left college shy of a degree four decades ago. The Bethel Park native’s resume now includes a doctoral degree and stints as an entrepreneur and educator at institutions including Seton Hill University, the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh...
Pennsylvania man gets 3 to 6 years in Russian roulette death
LOCK HAVEN — A man has been sentenced to three to six years in prison on charges related to a game of Russian roulette that killed another man in central Pennsylvania. Fifty-five-year-old Randy Hill was sentenced last week after pleading guilty in Clinton County to reckless endangering and drug counts...
Erie Catholic diocese will open files to priest sex abuse victims
The Catholic Diocese of Erie, which recently settled a $2 million clergy sexual abuse complaint, is making “relevant” internal files available to abuse survivors for the asking, church officials said. The policy has been in effect since the diocese launched its compensation fund for abuse survivors in February, said Pittsburgh...
Pennsylvania’s war on opioid addiction to highlight national event
Pennsylvania’s approach to the opioid epidemic will be front and center Monday at the National Governor’s Association’s Summit for New Administrations in Washington, D.C. Gov. Tom Wolf will address the gathering on Pennsylvania’s multi-faceted attack, which the American Medical Association has highlighted as a national model for battling the opioid...
Bill Cosby agrees to settle 7 defamation cases
Bill Cosby has agreed to settle lawsuits filed by seven women who say he defamed them when he accused them of lying about sexual misconduct allegations. Court documents filed Friday in Springfield, Massachusetts, show the two sides have negotiated a settlement since Cosby went to prison last fall in a...
Pa. inmate suffers brain injuries in attack, remains in coma
EAGLEVILLE — Authorities say a Pennsylvania county jail inmate critically injured his cellmate during an attack in which he stomped on the man’s head more than 20 times. Joseph Hodum faces several counts, including attempted murder, stemming from Saturday’s attack. Bail was set at $1 million for the 38-year-old Philadelphia...
Pennsylvania flu hospitalizations up 62% in 2018
The flu sent more than 8,600 Pennsylvanians to the hospital last season, a 62% increase over the previous season, a new report shows. Released last week by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, the report found a wide variation in admissions over the past several flu seasons. The 8,647...
Pennsylvania state universities freed to set tuition
Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will have new latitude in setting tuition under a policy the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of High Education approved Thursday. Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will have new latitude in setting tuition under a policy approved Thursday. Annual tuition rates for the schools...
Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana market growing
More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians now have passports to medical marijuana. Doctors have approved more than 102,000 certifications allowing patients to buy medical marijuana at licensed state dispensaries, state officials announced this week. “Realizing 100,000 patient certifications and seeing the first Phase II grower and processor operationalized is a testament to...
Judge rejects lawsuit over Pennsylvania turnpike toll hikes
HARRISBURG — A federal judge is dismissing a lawsuit over Pennsylvania Turnpike toll increases that are financing payments to help fund transit agencies. U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane ruled Thursday that a truckers’ organization didn’t adequately argue that the scheme violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution or the...
Report: Pennsylvania largest net exporter of electricity in U.S.
Pennsylvania was the largest net exporter of electricity in the United States from 2013-17, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. California was the largest net importer during the same time period. The EIA said Pennsylvania sent an annual average of 59 million megawatt hours of electricity to other states...
PennDOT wants to know what you think of its winter work
PennDOT is an easy target in the winter, especially in Western Pennsylvania where road conditions can change depending on which side of the river you’re on. Through May 7, people can grade PennDOT on their winter response in an online survey. The 10-question survey asks how often people travel during...
Pennsylvania among 27 states offering ‘Cyber FastTrack’ program for students
A national cybersecurity program designed specifically for undergraduate and graduate students will launch Friday in Pennsylvania and 26 other states to encourage more young people to discover their talent and pursue careers in cybersecurity. The Cyber FastTrack program is designed to entice more people into cybersecurity as well as bridge...
Pa. senate questions college enrollment numbers
A key Pennsylvania lawmaker Wednesday signaled that legislators will be taking a critical look at how demographics are affecting higher education. Senate Majority Policy Committee Chair David G. Argall (R-Schuylkill and Berks) said the Senate will examine the impact of changing demographics on higher education during a public hearing on...
3 ex-Penn State frat members get jail in pledge’s death
BELLEFONTE — Three ex-Penn State fraternity brothers have been sentenced to jail on hazing charges in connection to the February 2017 death of a student pledging the fraternity. The Centre Daily Times reports that sentences handed down Tuesday to the three former Beta Theta Pi members range from 30 days...
Thousands of chickens killed in Pa. barn fire
UPPER BERN, Pa. — Thousands of chickens have died after a fast-moving fire ripped through a barn in Pennsylvania. Authorities say the fire at A&L Farms in Upper Bern broke out around 7 p.m. Tuesday and tore through a 300-foot-long chicken house. It’s believed that roughly 28,000 chickens died in...
Pennsylvania reform school to lay off about 250 amid abuse allegations
PHILADELPHIA — The oldest reform school in the country has announced plans to lay off about 250 staff members at the Pennsylvania campus amid multiple state probes into allegations of child abuse. Glen Mills Schools spokeswoman Aimee Tysarczyk said the school and its board of managers made what she called...
Lawmakers, rapper Meek Mill urge Pa. probation law changes
PHILADELPHIA — State lawmakers, criminal justice reform advocates and rapper Meek Mill joined forces Tuesday to push for an overhaul of Pennsylvania’s probation system. House Democratic Whip Jordan Harris said at an event in downtown Philadelphia that he will soon introduce a bill designed to put fewer people on parole...
Police: Customer chokes Giant Food Store cashier over smashed potato chips
A Giant Food Store customer angry that a cashier was apparently being careless with his snack chips confronted and choked the man, police allege. Bradley Bower, 55, of New Cumberland, will be arraigned on a charge of simple assault at the time of his preliminary hearing, which is set for...
Another report calls state levies on Pennsylvania Turnpike unsustainable
A coalition of transportation agencies Monday issued the latest alert on a looming transportation crisis, driven in part by the law that ordered the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to send $450 million a year to PennDOT. The Southeast Partnership for Mobility, which includes the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), the Pennsylvania...
Pitt names new president for Bradford-Titusville campuses
The University of Pittsburgh went halfway around the world to find a new president for its Bradford and Titusville campuses. Pitt officials Monday announced Catherine Koverola, inaugural provost and senior advisor at the African Leadership University in Mauritius, Africa has been named president of its Bradford and Titusville campuses, effective...
Study finds Pennsylvania women lose more than $10k a year through gender wage gap
When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, the average American woman earned 63 cents for every dollar earned by men. More than five decades later, a new analysis found Pennsylvania women still earn less than men for doing the same work, with the disparity equaling...
Child welfare agencies scrutinized after teen’s brutal death
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania officials are scheduled to release a report on how child welfare agencies handled the case of a teenager who endured years of abuse before her 2016 rape and murder. Sara Packer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced Friday to life without parole for plotting...
If convicted, Robert Bowers could face death penalty — but not necessarily executionVideo
Robert Bowers could become the only person from Western Pennsylvania on federal death row if he is convicted and sentenced to death for the mass shooting inside a Squirrel Hill synagogue last year. But with an attorney known for sparing the most notorious killers from the execution chamber, added to...
