Pennsylvania category, Page 98
Moratorium lifted on Pennsylvania utility shutoffs; services can be interrupted beginning Monday
It’s no April Fools’ joke — utility companies across Pennsylvania can begin turning off services for delinquent customers beginning Monday under state regulations lifting a ban on winter shutoffs. “There are still a substantial number of at-risk residential and business customers” although the number of accounts in arrears has continued...
1 officer killed, 2 others shot in Lebanon County
LEBANON — A Pennsylvania police officer was killed and two officers were injured Thursday during a shooting while responding to a domestic disturbance, Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello said. Police went to a home in the city at about 3:30 p.m. for the disturbance call. Nearly an hour later gunfire broke...
Defrocked priest, 84, gets house arrest for lying to FBI
PHILADELPHIA — An 84-year-old defrocked priest was sentenced to five years of probation for lying to the FBI about whether he knew a former altar boy and his family. Robert Brennan, of Perryville, Md., was ordered to spend the first two years on house arrest. Under a plea agreement, he...
Deadly Interstate 81 pileup among Pennsylvania’s worst since 2001
The deadly, snow squall-induced pileup on Interstate 81 on Monday, which resulted in six confirmed deaths and an additional 24 people injured, ranks among the worst accidents of its kind in Pennsylvania since the start of the century. The 80-vehicle accident occurred around 10:35 a.m. in the northbound lanes of...
The public could gain easy access to info about how Pa. lawmakers spend taxpayer money on perks
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 long-awaited transparency bill that would make legislative expenses accessible online for easy public viewing unanimously cleared a key...
Police: 6 killed in Pennsylvania pileup of 80 vehicles
POTTSVILLE — A deadly pileup involving 80 vehicles on a Pennsylvania interstate during a snow squall killed six people, state police said Wednesday. “There were 6 fatalities involved in this crash. Identities of the victims will be released once death notifications have been made to their families,” state police in...
Pennsylvania bill targets transgender girls in school sports
HARRISBURG — A Republican proposal to prevent transgender girls from competing in girls’ school sports passed the Pennsylvania House Education Committee on Tuesday, over Democratic opposition. The 15-9 party-line vote advanced the “Save Women’s Sports Act” bill so it can be considered by the GOP-majority chamber. It would restrict players...
Pennsylvania legislators urge support for bill requiring insurance to cover donor breast milkVideo
Pennsylvania legislators will join community advocates Wednesday to promote a bill that would authorize insurance coverage for medically prescribed pasteurized donor breast milk to infants with serious health conditions. “Without human donor breast milk, I don’t know where my babies would be,” said Jessica Rhodes of West Mifflin. “The alternative...
Pa. Republicans eye greater control over redistricting in response to new political maps
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Republicans are moving to change how the state’s political...
I-81 crash victim: ‘It was like shotgun blasts going off’
MINERSVILLE — Bill Wickwire knew he was in trouble when his car went into a slide Monday morning on Interstate 81 in Foster Township. On his way from the Isle of Palms in South Carolina to his home in New Hampshire, the 81-year-old Navy veteran slid off the highway amid...
Pennsylvania interstate remains closed after deadly pileupVideo
POTTSVILLE — A stretch of an interstate highway in Pennsylvania remained shuttered Tuesday, a day after at least three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when tractor-trailers and other vehicles lost control and slammed into each other during a snow squall. Interstate 81 north remained closed...
Pennsylvania to raise tip threshold for tipped minimum wage
HARRISBURG — Tipped employees in Pennsylvania will soon have to make more than four times as much money in tips to be paid below the state’s minimum wage, under a new regulation that adjusts for 45 years of inflation. The unanimous vote this week by the five-member Independent Regulatory Review...
Business coalition poll says Pennsylvanians support maintaining natural gas as energy source
Energy policy has become a big issue in this year’s political races, as gas prices have risen significantly and questions have arisen about how America produces oil and gas. Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country, and a new poll from the business coalition Pittsburgh Works...
What makes a political map fair? Here’s what we learned during Pa.’s recent redistricting cycle
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — What makes a political map fair? It’s a question the...
Deer are leaping to their deaths in northwest Pennsylvania
It’s raining deer in a small northwestern Pennsylvania town, and residents say that’s disgusting and dangerous. Approximately 25 whitetail deer have leaped to their deaths from the U.S. 219 bypass that runs through the town of Johnsonburg, Elk County, in recent years, according to a recent report by WJAC-TV of...
Bail denied for Montgomery County woman in crash that killed Pa. state troopers, man
PHILADELPHIA — A judge has denied bail to a woman charged with third-degree murder in an early morning crash on a Philadelphia interstate that claimed the lives of two Pennsylvania troopers and a civilian. Jayana Tanae Webb, 21, of Eagleville was ordered held pending an April 5 hearing on charges...
Pennsylvania liquor board reverses decision on CBD edibles
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board on Wednesday reversed decisions from last year and said it will not allow beer and wine licensees to sell edible products containing the marijuana extract called CBD. The decision to rescind the approval was made at the request of the state Department of...
Murder charges filed in I-95 crash that killed Pa. state troopers, manVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A woman has been charged with third-degree murder and vehicular homicide while driving under the influence in an early morning crash on a Philadelphia interstate that claimed the lives of two Pennsylvania troopers and a civilian. State police said Tuesday that the charges against 21-year-old Jayana Tanae Webb...
4 GOP candidates for Pa. governor set rules to join a debate
HARRISBURG — Four Republican candidates for governor in the party’s crowded primary race say they will not join a debate before the primary election unless it is moderated by a Republican who lives in Pennsylvania, eliciting criticism that they are afraid of hard questions. The four — Lou Barletta, Jake...
MacKenzie Scott gives Philly nonprofit $20 million to help needy get government benefits
PHILADELPHIA — Benefits Data Trust, a Philadelphia nonprofit that helps people overcome barriers to government benefits for food, housing and health care, received a $20 million gift from MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the organization announced Tuesday. The gift allows the group to “energize our thinking...
State police: Phone scammers seeking donations for fallen troopers’ families
If you get a call asking to donate to the families of two fallen Pennsylvania state troopers, the president of their association wants you to know: It’s fake. The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association warned residents statewide this week about groups pretending to raise money for the families of troopers Martin...
2 Pennsylvania troopers, man killed; police open DUI probeVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers and a civilian were killed in a car crash on I-95 early Monday morning in what law enforcement officials described as a possible DUI incident. Around 12:45 a.m., troopers responded to calls about a man walking in a southbound traffic lane near Lincoln...
Philly protester pleads to lesser counts in 2020 police vehicle fires
PHILADELPHIA — A woman charged with setting fire to two police vehicles during civil disorder in Philadelphia following 2020 protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has pleaded guilty to lesser offenses in an agreement with federal prosecutors. Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, 35, pleaded guilty last week to two...
Pa. Supreme Court rejects legal challenges to state’s new legislative maps
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court has affirmed the state’s new legislative district...
Ex-hedge fund CEO aims to be hometown boy in Senate race in Pennsylvania
LEBANON — As CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund, David McCormick wore suits, lived on Connecticut’s ritzy Gold Coast, talked up bipartisanship and described China as America’s most important “bilateral relationship.” Now, as a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, McCormick wears jeans and casual dress shirts. He...
