Pennsylvania category, Page 39
Man accused of killing family members in Pennsylvania facing charges in 2 states
LEVITTOWN — A man faces murder charges in Pennsylvania and carjacking and weapons charges in New Jersey after allegedly killing three family members, carjacking vehicles in both states and evading law enforcement for hours as police mobilized in two states, authorities said Sunday. Andre Gordon Jr., 26, is charged in...
Pennsylvania is flush with surplus cash, but it still faces a looming budget problem
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to spend $3.5 billion of Pennsylvania’s surplus to stabilize transit systems, fund a court-mandated K-12 education overhaul, and expand...
Man faces charges in two states after alleged killings of family members in Pennsylvania
LEVITTOWN, Pa. — A man faces murder charges in Pennsylvania and carjacking and weapons charges in New Jersey after allegedly killing three family members, carjacking vehicles in both states and evading law enforcement for hours as police mobilized in two states, authorities said Sunday. Andre Gordon Jr., 26, is charged...
Pa. local governments want long-term state money for cybersecurity as federal grant fills the gap
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. STATE COLLEGE — Local governments in Pennsylvania could soon have access to...
Police: Suspect is barricaded in New Jersey home after killing 3 people in Philadelphia suburb
LEVITTOWN, Pa. — A suspect has barricaded himself in a home in New Jersey after allegedly killing three people in a shooting in suburban Philadelphia on Saturday, authorities said. The morning shooting in Falls Township in eastern Pennsylvania forced the cancellation of a St. Patrick’s Day parade and shut down...
Husband of slain pregnant Amish woman: Young children told him of killing
MEADVILLE — The husband of a pregnant Amish woman killed inside her rural Pennsylvania home late last month testified Friday that his two young children told him about the crime when he got back from looking at potential roofing jobs. “I didn’t really believe it,” Andy Byler said at a...
Penn State targets under-enrolled programs, duplication as it eyes cuts at branch campuses
Efforts in the coming months to pare spending on Penn State University branch campuses will include reviewing duplicative or underenrolled academic programs and potentially sharing administrative services between campuses. The university has offered an update on a closely watched process to cut $54 million, or 14.1%, from commonwealth campus operations...
Philadelphia’s population declined for 3rd straight year, census data shows
PHILADELPHIA — Federal estimates released Thursday showed that more than 16,000 residents left Philadelphia last year, marking the third straight year the city’s population has declined. The U.S. Census Bureau data indicates Philadelphia’s population now stands at about 1.6 million residents, meaning a 1% drop occurred between July 2022 and...
Last suspect sought in deadly bus shooting in Philadelphia, police say
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a 17-year-old youth who they say is the last of four suspects sought in the shooting that wounded eight Philadelphia high school students at a bus stop last week. The U.S. Marshals Service, while offering details Tuesday night on the arrest...
Shapiro unveils plan to cut greenhouse gases, boost renewables in big energy producer
SCRANTON — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled a plan Wednesday to fight climate change, saying he will back legislation to make power plant owners in the nation’s third-biggest energy-producing state pay for their greenhouse gas emissions and require utilities to buy more electricity from renewable sources. Such legislation would make...
Rep. Frankel seeks details about imminent closure of UPMC Montefiore dental center
A UPMC decision to close its Montefiore dental center has state Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, worried about how many patients will be displaced and the potential impact on their care. Frankel sought an explanation for the closure in a letter sent Friday to UPMC, a copy of which was...
Two 18-year-olds are being held on $2M bail in Philadelphia bus stop shooting that injured 8 teens
PHILADELPHIA — Two 18-year-olds were arrested in the shooting of eight Philadelphia high school students at a bus stop last week, and authorities recovered a fully loaded, fully automatic weapon that matches evidence found at the scene, they announced Monday. Two more suspects were still being sought, authorities said. The...
Erie prepares for crush of solar eclipse enthusiasts
On Monday, April 8, Erie residents will discover the impact just a few minutes of darkness can have. Depending on how many people travel to Erie for the upcoming total solar eclipse — local tourism officials are estimating anywhere between 50,000 and 200,000 — the city of just over 94,000...
States have hodgepodge of cumbersome rules for enforcing sunshine laws
PHOENIX — A nationwide review of procedures by The Associated Press and CNHI News revealed a patchwork of complicated systems for resolving open government disputes that often put the burden of enforcing transparency laws on private citizens. The review, timed to Sunshine Week, found that fewer than a third of...
Handling mental illness is complicated at all levels of criminal justice system
As Terrance Kurhansky’s case made its way through Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system, it became clear to his attorney and the presiding judge that their options were limited, and none of them was ideal. Kurhansky, 83, was charged in 2019 with attempting to murder his neighbor. Police said he used a...
What to know about Shapiro’s proposed $10.3M agriculture innovation program
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our north-central Pa. newsletter, Talk of the Town, at spotlightpa.org/newsletters/talkofthetown. BELLEFONTE — An open-ended pitch by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro to give...
Date of Pa.’s presidential primary makes it too late to make a difference, politicos say
Because Pennsylvania’s presidential primary is more than a month away, the state’s influence in determining Republican and Democratic nominees for the White House will once again be muted this spring, according to political leaders. Voters in more than a dozen Super Tuesday states cast ballots this week in what were...
Speed-monitoring cameras are making Pa. highway work zones safer, officials say
The strategic placement of speed-monitoring cameras along Pennsylvania highways helped to reduce speeding and crashes in work zones over the course of a five-year pilot program by PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Now, officials are rebooting speed enforcement with the cameras on a permanent basis with a goal of...
8 teens injured in Philadelphia bus shooting, 4th gunfire incident in as many daysVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Police say eight Philadelphia high school students waiting to board a city bus after classes Wednesday were wounded by gunshots from suspects who jumped from a car and opened fire, the fourth shooting on the transit system in as many days. The previous three shootings each involved a...
Cumberland County man who illegally collected body parts given 2 years probationVideo
A former Enola man who admitted to possessing human organs illegally taken from a morgue as part of a nationwide scheme got two years of probation handed down Tuesday as part of a plea deal. Jeremy Pauley, 41, now of Susquehanna County, appeared in court wearing all black alongside his...
Pennsylvania State Police to expedite body camera rollout after Philadelphia officials excessive force claim
After a Philadelphia city official accused a state trooper of excessive force, the head of the Pennsylvania State Police told lawmakers on Monday that the agency would step up deployment of body cameras. State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris told members of the state House Appropriations Committee that a full investigation...
Teenager dead, 4 other people wounded in shooting at Philadelphia bus stop, police sayVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A teenager was killed and four other people were injured in a shooting on Monday afternoon at a north Philadelphia bus stop, police said. The city’s police commissioner, Kevin Bethel, said about 15 to 20 students were at a bus stop in the city’s Ogontz neighborhood around 3:45...
Lawsuit challenges Pennsylvania’s use of solitary confinement
A lawsuit filed Monday in federal court seeks to ban Pennsylvania’s prison system from holding inmates in prolonged solitary confinement and to eliminate the practice entirely for those who are mentally ill. Filed Monday in federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the complaint alleges violations of the constitutional...
Pennsylvania court rules electronic voting data is not subject to release under public records law
HARRISBURG — Spreadsheets of raw data associated with every ballot cast are not subject to public scrutiny, a Pennsylvania court ruled Monday in a case that began with a request for the “cast vote records” by an election researcher whose work has fueled right-wing attacks on voting procedures. Commonwealth Court...
Philadelphia LGBTQ leaders arrested in traffic stop the mayor calls ‘concerning’Video
PHILADELPHIA — The arrest of two of Philadelphia’s LGBTQ leaders by a state trooper during a fraught highway traffic stop is “very concerning,” the city’s mayor said after a video showing some of what happened circulated on social media. Celena Morrison leads the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs and is...
