Pennsylvania category, Page 6
Judge seeking to have Luigi Mangione brought to Blair County for hearing in November
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County judge is asking a U.S. Attorney in New York to release Luigi Mangione to U.S. Marshals for a Blair County hearing on forgery and weapon charges. It comes as the U.S. Department of Justice has indicated that it will not release Mangione from the New...
National money starts flowing into critical Pa. Supreme Court retention races
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A national political group is spending tens of thousands of dollars to urge voters to reject new...
At Philly event, Pa. Supreme Court justices ask for 10 more years amid GOP campaign to oust them
Three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices dismissed suggestions that their decisions were political as they made their case for retention Monday in Philadelphia. In a rare public speaking event Justices Kevin Dougherty, David Wecht, and Christine Donohue spoke about their work over the last 10 years on the state Supreme Court...
Shapiro approves $394M funding shift to prevent SEPTA cuts
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration has approved a request from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to use up to $394 million earmarked for capital improvements to help the deficit-plagued transit agency cover operating costs. Shapiro’s office said in a news release Monday that the move would prevent service cuts at the...
SEPTA could get a major cash infusion to reverse cuts without legislative approval
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — SEPTA has asked the Shapiro administration to tap hundreds of millions of dollars set aside for critical...
Pa. Dems select former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale as party chair
Pennsylvania Democrats have elected a new leader after a staggering set of losses in the 2024 elections. Eugene DePasquale, the state’s former auditor general, ran in a special election to replace state Sen. Sharif Street, who represents part of Philadelphia County. Street held the position for five years but resigned...
Small programs like rape crisis centers bear heavy burden of Pa.’s budget impasse
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — More than two months in, the effects of Pennsylvania’s budget impasse are compounding. Many of the programs...
Pa. Supreme Court 101: What it is, why it matters, and more
This guide was originally published on Oct. 23, 2023. It was updated this week, ahead of the Nov. 4 judicial elections. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is made up of seven justices. Currently, there are five Democrats and two Republicans who serve on the court. Three justices — all Democrats —...
White House pans Shapiro for questioning National Guard deployments
The White House dismissed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s opposition to President Trump potentially deploying National Guard troops to Philadelphia to fight crime, touting the results of the deployments elsewhere. “Another wannabe presidential candidate is desperate to get into the news cycle by attacking the president’s highly successful operations to drive...
Shapiro says Pa. prepared should Trump decide to send National Guard to Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the state has been preparing for the possibility that President Donald Trump could deploy the National Guard to Philadelphia ever since the White House sent troops to Los Angeles in June — a move that a federal judge ruled Tuesday was illegal. “Ever since the...
No prescription? No problem: Pa. clears a barrier to covid vaccines
Pennsylvanians seeking a covid-19 shot from their pharmacist no longer need a prescription after the state Board of Pharmacy changed its policies Wednesday. The change takes effect immediately, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Those interested in getting the vaccine should contact their pharmacies about availability “while pharmacies work...
Fetterman, McCormick call on Pa. universities to combat antisemitism
Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators are calling on five of the state’s universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, to ensure that Jewish organizations on their campuses are “equipped to protect the students they serve.” U.S. Sens. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, and Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, said their request comes on the heels of...
Pa. won’t take part in the national rush to redraw congressional maps
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — Despite a growing number of states exploring unusual, mid-decade redraws of congressional lines for political reasons, Pennsylvania...
Woman who drove through crowd at Kipona asked bystanders for directions moments beforeVideo
A woman who drove through barricades and crashed into a crowd on Monday at Harrisburg’s Kipona festival asked bystanders for directions just moments before. Chanda Porter-Lewis was standing on the street corner with her aunt when the woman police identified as Elizabeth Bohrer, 37, of York Haven, stopped near them...
Lost boy wandering elevated monorail line in Hersheypark is saved by another parkgoerVideo
HERSHEY — A lost boy wandering a monorail line high above the crowd at Hersheypark was rescued by a park visitor who climbed onto a building and jumped onto the rails. The child was reported missing at about 5:05 p.m. Saturday after he became separated from his parents, according to...
State Public Utility Commission releases annual scorecard on power company outages
Pennsylvania’s power grid is faltering more than ever. The state saw 71 significant power outages last year, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said in its annual reliability report, pushing a decades-long trend of rising service disruptions to new heights. About 2.9 million customers faced outages, which was the highest number...
Pa. Dems celebrate Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement — then ask for donations
What do Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have in common? Not much. But that isn’t stopping the Pennsylvania Democratic Party from trying to capitalize on the celebrity engagement of Swift and Kelce, announced Tuesday, to solicit campaign donations. “We’re sure you’ve already heard the news, but...
Pennsylvania election denier who has distorted voter data appointed to Homeland Security election integrity role
NEW YORK — A conservative election researcher whose faulty findings on voter data were cited by President Donald Trump as he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss has been appointed to an election integrity role at the Department of Homeland Security. Pennsylvania activist Heather Honey is now serving as...
Pennsylvania must stop throwing out mail ballots over date errors, court rules
HARRISBURG — A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that it is unconstitutional for the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania to throw out mail-in ballots simply because the voter didn’t write an accurate date on the return envelope. The unanimous decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered...
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee denied access to ICE detention center at Moshannon
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a Swissvale Democrat, on Monday became the latest Congressional Democrat denied entry at a federal immigration detention center. Lee on Monday was denied access to Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest immigration detention center in the northeast. She had traveled to the Clearfield County detention center...
No funding deal in sight as transit cuts take effect in Philadelphia region
Many commuters and students in the Philadelphia region woke earlier than usual Monday and scrambled to avoid being late as they navigated newly imposed service cuts by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority. It remains unknown how long the pain might continue in Pennsylvania’s southeastern corner, as lawmakers remain apart on...
Philadelphia’s mass transit cuts foreshadow possible similar moves by other agencies across U.S.
HARRISBURG — Commuters and students in Philadelphia woke up earlier on Monday and scrambled to avoid being late as they navigated service reductions that the region’s public transit agency has called more drastic than any undertaken by a major transit agency in the United States. The cuts that took effect...
Southeastern Pa.’s massive transit cuts are here, and it’s ‘bad on so many levels’
SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, warned us for two years. Some people stopped listening because impoverishment has been the perpetual soundtrack of the transit system, and salvation always seemed to arrive at the last minute. Not this time. Massive cuts in SEPTA service began early morning Sunday. For the...
A President’s House architect is ready to ‘fight’ the Trump administration’s potential exhibit removal next month
PHILADELPHIA — When Troy C. Leonard, who worked on designing the President’s House almost two decades ago, first found out exhibits at the site are at risk under the Trump administration, he said, he was crushed. “I was devastated that the exhibit that we had worked so hard on and...
Pa. rebuffs federal request for voter rolls containing personal data
This article is made possible through Spotlight PA’s collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeat’s free newsletters here. Pennsylvania told the U.S. Justice Department that it will not give federal officials a version of the state’s voter rolls that contains...
