Pennsylvania category, Page 9
Man who sent Facebook message about committing a 2013 campus sexual assault pleads guilty
GETTYSBURG — An American extradited from France to face charges that he sexually assaulted a fellow Pennsylvania college student in 2013 — and later sent her a Facebook message that said “So I raped you” — pleaded guilty Thursday. Ian Cleary, 32, pleaded guilty to second-degree sexual assault more than...
Tuition increase approved for state-owned universities for 1st time in 7 years
Tuition for state universities is set to increase by 3.6% for students this fall, but that figure could decrease if state funding increases, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education said Thursday. In-state undergraduate tuition for this academic year will increase by $139 per semester, to $3,997 per semester, according...
Fetterman says deals announced at Pittsburgh summit are ‘huge wins and investments’ in Pa.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman described the flurry of development deals announced at Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit in Pittsburgh as “huge wins and investments” in the state. Companies attending the summit at Carnegie Mellon University, organized by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pittsburgh, announced plans to invest more than $90...
Lawsuit claims Pennsylvania’s outdated tax assessment system hurts low-income homeowners
A lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court alleges the state’s property tax assessment process is unconstitutional, harming low- income homeowners who are typically overassessed. Filed by Mon Valley Unemployed Committee Inc., the complaint names as defendants the commonwealth, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Attorney General David Sunday. “The General Assembly’s failure...
JD Vance touts tax breaks in Pennsylvania as he makes White House’s 1st big pitch on Trump’s new law
WEST PITTSTON — Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday made the Trump administration’s first big pitch to sell the public on President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget-and-policy package in the swing political turf of northeastern Pennsylvania. The vice president, whose tiebreaking vote got the bill through the Senate, touted the legislation’s...
Penn State fraternity charged under hazing law named for victim
A Penn State University fraternity is facing criminal charges after police said its members subjected its pledges to physical and emotional abuse. The Lambda Lambda chapter of Phi Beta Sigma was charged last week with conspiracy organizational hazing by Ferguson Township police, according to StateCollege.com. The charge is a misdemeanor...
Independents who want to vote in Pennsylvania’s closed primaries seek help from state’s high court
HARRISBURG — Voters hoping to open up Pennsylvania’s closed primary system to independents asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to declare the current system violates the state constitution’s right to free and fair elections. Four independent voters asked the justices to take up the case directly, arguing that in...
Gov. Josh Shapiro, DNC chair Ken Martin say Sharif Street should step down as state party leader while running for Congress
Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said this week they think State Sen. Sharif Street should consider stepping down as Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chair as he runs for U.S. Congress. The comments from the two top Democratic heavyweights come as Street this month announced his campaign...
Janelle Stelson, who narrowly lost to GOP Rep. Scott Perry, wants another chance to beat him in 2026
HARRISBURG — Democrat Janelle Stelson, who lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Perry by barely a percentage point in 2024, will run again in the right-leaning congressional district in Pennsylvania. Stelson, a one-time local TV anchor and personality, mounted a challenge to Perry, the former leader of the hardline House...
Pa. joins lawsuit against Trump over frozen funds for after-school, summer programs
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. — More than 20 states, including Pennsylvania, have sued President Donald Trump’s administration over billions of dollars in frozen funding for after-school and summer programs and other programs. About 1.4 million children and teenagers around the country have been attending after-school and summer programming at a Boys...
There’s hope again for Pennsylvanians who want recreational marijuana legalized in the state. Maybe
HARRISBURG — Recreational marijuana is back on the table for state lawmakers. But it’s still a long way away from being legally sold in Pennsylvania. Adult-use cannabis came the closest it’s ever gotten to being legalized in Pennsylvania in May, after the state House passed a proposal to allow state-owned...
Unexploded firework prompts safety warning at Gettysburg park
Officials with the Gettysburg National Military Park are warning the public about an unexploded commercial grade firework potentially located near Gettysburg Area Recreation Park. The unexploded firework is possibly located in wooded areas and fields west of Gettysburg Area Recreation Park and east of West Confederate Avenue. If you happen...
Pennsylvania man who posted video of father’s severed head online is found guilty of murder
DOYLESTOWN — A Pennsylvania man who posted a video of his father’s severed head on YouTube was convicted of murder Friday and sentenced to life without parole. Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr found Justin D. Mohn, 33, guilty in the January 2024 shooting death of his father at their...
Trump praises Fetterman for saying calls to abolish ICE are ‘inappropriate and outrageous’
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D.-Braddock, is still tweeting about ICE after earning President Donald Trump’s praise Wednesday for slamming calls to abolish Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Fetterman said “ICE performs an important job for our country” in the first of a pair of posts uploaded to X on Thursday. “Any...
Pa. man who blamed ‘wokeness’ for troubles says he beheaded dad to spur a revolution
DOYLESTOWN — A 33-year-old Pennsylvania man told a county judge Wednesday he tried to arrest his father for committing treason, fatally shot him in self-defense, and later beheaded him for “practicality” reasons to rally a revolution against the federal government. Testifying in his own defense, Justin Mohn, of Levittown, went...
Prices on certain goods, services could rise as Pa. lawmakers consider axing some sales tax exemptions
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 — Sales tax exemptions for everything from newspapers to legal services to candy cost the commonwealth billions every year, and at least one top...
GOP congressman opts not to run for Pa. governor, despite backing of Trump
In late May, Republican congressman Dan Meuser’s possible candidacy for governor appeared to get a boost from President Donald Trump. In an appearance at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in West Mifflin, Trump promised to support the fourth-term congressman from Luzerne County if he decided to seek the Republican nomination to...
Philadelphia workers and city reach a deal to end strike that halted residential trash pickup
PHILADELPHIA — A union representing thousands of city workers in Philadelphia and the city have reached a deal to end a more than weeklong strike that halted residential curbside trash pickup and affected other services, officials said Wednesday. Nearly 10,000 blue-collar employees from District Council 33 of the American Federation...
Trash and tension mount in Philadelphia on Day 8 of workers strike, while some seek pop-up haulers
PHILADELPHIA — As trash and tempers heat up across Philadelphia on Day 8 of a strike by blue-collar city workers Tuesday, some residents and small business owners are hiring pop-up hauling services to clear their blocks of garbage, even as they broadly support the union’s quest for higher pay. Mayor...
New book claims Gov. Shapiro’s Jewish faith was not why he lost out as VP pick
According to a new book, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Jewish faith was not a reason for former Vice President Kamala Harris spurning him as her running mate last year, contradicting accusations made by President Donald Trump. The Forward, a Jewish publication, obtained excerpts of “How Trump Retook the White House and...
3 dead, 10 injured in South Philadelphia shooting and a person is in custody, police say
PHILADELPHIA — Three people were killed and 10 others injured in a shooting early Monday in a South Philadelphia neighborhood, authorities said. The three people who died were adults, and two of the wounded were juveniles, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel told reporters. The shooting happened shortly before 1 a.m. along...
Woman at son’s Pennsylvania murder trial recounts finding husband’s decapitated corpse
DOYLESTOWN — The mother of a Pennsylvania man accused of shooting and beheading his father described from the witness stand on Monday that she found Michael F. Mohn’s body in a first-floor bathroom. “I believe I screamed,” Denice Mohn said through tears as Justin D. Mohn’s murder trial began in...
Hundreds of thousands in Pa. could lose Medicaid, SNAP benefits under Trump bill, Shapiro says
More than 300,000 Pennsylvanians could lose Medicaid coverage if the Senate-approved version of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy bill passes the House, while nearly 150,000 people who receive SNAP benefits could lose access to food assistance, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday. “Every member of Congress who votes for this reconciliation...
Negotiations resume in Philadelphia as thousands of city workers strike over wages, work conditions
PHILADELPHIA — Negotiations resumed Wednesday on the second day of a strike by nearly 10,000 city workers in Philadelphia, while a judge ordered some emergency service dispatchers and essential water department employees back to work. “We are still very, very far apart. All this, it’s not all about money, but...
UPenn to update swimming records set by Lia Thomas, settling with feds on transgender athletes case
WASHINGTON — The University of Pennsylvania says it will update records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and apologize to female athletes “disadvantaged” by Thomas’ participation on the women’s swimming team, part of a resolution of a federal civil rights case. The U.S. Education Department and Penn announced the voluntary...
