Pennsylvania category, Page 58
Here’s which fireworks are legal, illegal in Pennsylvania
Nearly every U.S. state has legalized the purchase and use of fireworks, but regulations vary in strength across the country. In Pennsylvania, more advanced and explosive fireworks are illegal, but other types are widely available for purchase. Those caught violating state and local ordinances could face significant fines and even...
What to Watch: Pennsylvania budget talks near deadline, and get contentious
HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro is trying to wrap up his first budget by the start of the new fiscal year, as he works to balance Pennsylvania’s politically divided Legislature in perhaps the biggest test yet of his political skills under the Capitol dome. The last few days have...
Pa. man convicted of driving into fundraiser crowd, then killing mother gets 2 life terms
BLOOMSBURG — A man convicted of driving into a fundraiser crowd in Pennsylvania last summer, killing one and injuring 19 others, then going home and bludgeoning his mother to death has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. President Judge Gary Norton told Adrian Oswaldo Sura...
Ex-Philadelphia police officer is charged with dozens more sex crimes in 19 new cases
PHILADELPHIA — A retired Philadelphia police officer already in custody on child sex assault charges is now charged with dozens more sex crimes that stem from his time on duty. Former patrol officer Patrick Heron was previously charged with posing as an officer after he retired in 2019 to lure...
Pennsylvania Senate advances bill to overhaul probation system
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that is designed to reduce the number of people on probation and in jail, by limiting the length of probation and preventing people from being sent back to jail for minor violations. The bill passed on a 45-4 vote and now...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will no longer speak at Moms for Liberty summit in Philly
PHILADELPHIA — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democratic presidential candidate known for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, will no longer speak at the Moms for Liberty summit this week in Philadelphia. The campaign for Kennedy, who had been announced as a speaker a week earlier, “told us his schedule changed and...
Pennsylvania state trooper killed in ambush lauded as a hero during funeral service
ERIE — A Pennsylvania state trooper who was shot and killed earlier this month when he went to work on his day off after learning his barracks had been attacked by an armed man was laid to rest Tuesday during a funeral where the state’s governor and his colleagues lauded...
Trump target Al Schmidt gets crucial approval as he moves closer to becoming Pa.’s top election official
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Al Schmidt, the former Philadelphia city commissioner who made national headlines in 2020 for rebuking then-President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, is one step closer to officially becoming Pennsylvania’s...
Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law is upheld again, as court rules against Republican challenge
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state court on Tuesday rejected the latest Republican effort to throw out the presidential battleground state’s broad mail-in voting law that has become a GOP target following former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about election fraud. It is the latest of several refusals by a state...
Pennsylvania House votes to extend I-95 disaster proclamation until next June
A resolution that would extend to next June Gov. Josh Shapiro’s emergency disaster declaration issued in the response to the collapse of a bridge on I-95 in Philadelphia passed the state House of Representatives. The proposed extension, approved by a bipartisan 165-38 vote, would allow PennDOT to continue to be...
Pa. hunters experience long lines virtually, in person on 1st day of Game Commission license sales
Dorothy Mutter, a cashier at Hepler’s Hardware in Youngwood, was met with a line of hunters waiting for the shop to open when she came to work Monday morning. It was the opening day of hunting license and doe tag sales, and hunters across Pennsylvania eagerly waited, either in line...
Fourth defendant sentenced to prison in 2020 drug-related slaying of classmate
HOLLIDAYSBURG — The last of several teenagers charged in the shooting death of a classmate in a drug-related robbery more than three years ago in Pennsylvania has been sentenced to prison following a plea deal. Damien Green, now 19, was sentenced Friday to 15 to 30 years after pleading guilty...
Safety, oversight concerns raised as Pa. lawmakers pursue billions for hydrogen hubs
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate is weighing a measure that would give state regulators, rather than federal ones, the power to...
Walk or run, this busy spot on Pitt campus has a new name
So, will it be Gallagher Walk or Gallagher Run? University of Pittsburgh trustees Friday renamed a spot in the heart of campus for departing Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, saying it reflected a transformational project during his nine-year tenure, and something else about him. The plaza and walkway that were chosen wrap...
Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro affirms support for funding private school vouchers amid budget push
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A coalition with wealthy backers is pushing Pennsylvania lawmakers to use public dollars to create tuition vouchers so K-12...
Interstate 95 reopens to some traffic less than 2 weeks after collapse in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Interstate 95 reopened Friday less than two weeks after a deadly collapse in Philadelphia, a quicker-than-expected rebuild to get traffic flowing again on a heavily traveled stretch of the East Coast’s main north-south highway. Workers put the finishing touches on an interim six-lane roadway that will serve motorists...
Temporary lanes on I-95 will reopen at noon Friday, Gov. Shapiro says
PHILADELPHIA — The temporary lanes for the damaged section of Interstate 95 in Northeast Philadelphia will reopen noon Friday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office announced. “Thanks to the crews that have worked around the clock to repair I-95, six lanes of traffic will reopen to motorists at 12:00 PM ET...
Pa. trooper remains hospitalized in critical condition after ‘ambush’
A Pennsylvania State Police lieutenant shot in Juniata County last weekend during an attack that left another trooper and the shooter dead is still in critical condition on Thursday, authorities said. Lt. James Wagner, 45, was shot by Brandon Stine, 38, during one of several encounters Stine had with troopers...
Pennsylvania House lawmakers pass bill to recruit more educators by offering $10K stipends
HARRISBURG — Faced with a rising number of Pennsylvania teachers leaving the profession, state House lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill to recruit more educators by giving student teachers a stipend while they’re in the classroom. The legislation seeks to remove the barriers for prospective teachers, whose work in the...
Carnegie Mellon president, chair of Pa. university system named to Homeland Security panel
Carnegie Mellon University’s president and the Fox Chapel-based board chair of Pennsylvania’s state-owned university system have been added to an advisory council to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Farnam Jahanian from CMU and Cynthia Shapira from the State System Higher Education’s board of governors are among 20 additions announced...
Fetterman’s bill would free money to fix Pennsylvania streets
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman has proposed a bill to make streets safer, citing Harrisburg as once being home to the “deadliest road in America” and the traffic fallout of the Interstate 95 collapse in Philadelphia. “The recent disaster on I-95 and the subsequent detour to the already dangerous Roosevelt Boulevard...
Pa. campus assault suspect eludes arrest for 2 years, after ‘So I raped you’ Facebook message
PHILADELPHIA — Two years after a former Gettysburg College student finally saw charges filed over her 2013 campus sexual assault, the man suspected of sending her a Facebook message that said, ” So I raped you,” remains on the run. Shannon Keeler, 28, and her attorneys question how Ian T....
Bill would allow Pa. patients to get medical marijuana regardless of illness
Legislation that would loosen up Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Act to allow a patient’s doctor to certify medical cannabis as a suitable treatment regardless of the patient’s medical condition is advancing in the state Senate. The Senate Law & Justice Committee on Wednesday voted 10-1 to approve a bill that would...
Tax credits for Pa. families worth billions of dollars are on the table this budget season
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania families across the income spectrum could receive more than $2.5 billion in tax breaks by 2028 under two...
Pennsylvania House passes $15 minimum wage bill
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved a measure by a close vote Tuesday that would raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026, fulfilling a long-held party campaign plank that has run up against Republican legislative majorities for years. The bill passed 103-100 with all but one...
