Pennsylvania category, Page 231
Lancaster County Amish population grows despite urban sprawl
LANCASTER, Pa. — The Amish population in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County is continuing to grow each year, despite the encroachment of urban sprawl on their communities. Some experts are concerned that a planned 75-acre housing and commercial project will make it more difficult for the county to accommodate the Amish. U.S....
Death sentence upheld in Pennsylvania troopers’ ambush
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court Friday upheld the death sentence and conviction of a sniper who killed a state trooper and wounded another in a nighttime ambush outside their barracks in a heavily wooded area. The state Supreme Court’s decision upholds lower court decisions in the case of Eric Frein,...
Judge turns jail into house arrest for 2 in Penn State frat death
BELLEFONTE — A judge is letting two former Penn State fraternity brothers serve sentences on house arrest for convictions related to the death of a pledge. WTAJ-TV said this week that Joshua Kurczewski and Michael Bonatucci had faced minimums of three months and one month in jail, but instead they’re...
Puppy stolen from Pa. pet store by armed man is found unharmed
WILKES-BARRE — Authorities say Rottweiler puppy stolen from a Pennsylvania pet store by a man armed with a gun has been found safe. The 9-week-old dog named Remus was found Thursday on a Wilkes-Barre street. It had been taken Wednesday by a man who allegedly displayed a gun tucked in...
PHEAA will tap surplus for student grants
Pennsylvania college students could receive up to $4,123 in need-based grants next year under the new grant formula the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) adopted Thursday. The agency that oversees state grant aid to more than 132,000 Pennsylvania students approved maintaining the grant cap at this year’s level for...
Auditor general: Billions in transportation funding diverted to Pennsylvania state police
Pennsylvanians pay the nation’s highest gas tax — 57.6 cents per gallon — and that money is supposed to help pay for road projects and general infrastructure improvement. An audit of the past six years, however, shows that more than $4 billion in PennDOT revenues from the state’s Motor License...
Penn State ex-president Graham Spanier asks court to overturn conviction
SCRANTON — Former Penn State President Graham Spanier is asking a federal magistrate judge to overturn his conviction, less than a week before he is scheduled to start serving two months in jail. Spanier was in a Scranton, Pennsylvania, courthouse Thursday as his lawyers argued it violated the U.S. Constitution...
Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro says clergy abuse shadows Catholics’ Notre Dame response
Pennsylvania Attorney General Joshua Shapiro was impressed with the response of the Catholic Church and Catholics around the world when Notre Dame went up in flames last week in Paris. But he’s disappointed in what he sees as the church’s lackluster response to protecting clergy abuse victims. In an op-ed...
Sen. Bob Casey endorses Biden in Democrats’ 2020 race for president
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is endorsing Joe Biden for president, just minutes after the former vice president entered the crowded 2020 race. In a statement Thursday, Casey touted Biden as a fighter for the middle class who can beat President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania if Biden...
Former Reading mayor Vaughn Spencer gets 8 years in prison for corruption schemeVideo
PHILADELPHIA — A former Pennsylvania mayor was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for trading city contracts for campaign contributions in a pay-to-play investigation that’s resulted in the convictions of more than a dozen people, including another mayor. “I let ambition take over, and I’m truly sorry,” a tearful...
Federal Clean Slate law unveiled with bipartisan support
A proposed federal law designed to seal nonviolent criminal records is drawing from the kind of bipartisan support that ushered a similar measure to law in Pennsylvania last summer. The federal Clean Slate Act, H.R. 2348, includes sponsorship from U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, a Peters Township Republican, and Delaware Democrat...
Pa. woman killed when she falls into meat grinder at work
MUNCY, Pa. — Authorities say a woman was killed when she fell into a meat grinder at a processing plant in northern Pennsylvania. It’s not clear what caused the accident at the Economy Locker Storage Company in Muncy. The Lycoming County coroner’s office says 35-year-old Jill Greninger apparently fell around...
2-cent fee proposed for single-use plastic bags in Pennsylvania
Earlier this month, PennEnvironment joined forces with Pennsylvania House Democrats to announce its “Zero Waste PA” package of 13 bills looking to tackle a number of litter and pollution problems. According to PennLive, the proposals range from “creating a 5-cent beverage bottle and can deposit program and raising fines for...
Pennsylvania Congressman John Joyce takes back claims of tuberculosis-infected migrants crossing border
U.S. Rep. John Joyce, a Blair County Republican, is walking back his assertion that 12 cases of drug-resistant tuberculosis were being treated last week among migrants who had crossed the Mexican border and sought asylum in Yuma, Ariz. The freshman Congressman’s about-face came after a spokesman for the Yuma County...
Pa. students, library patrons have access to new digital archives
Pennsylvania school and public libraries will have access to vast new digital resources through Gale, an aggregator of digital newspapers, magazines, journals and other resources. The Office of Commonwealth Libraries announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Gale to provide more than 2,600 public, school and intermediate unit libraries...
Test that tick. East Stroudsburg University offering free tick testing for Lyme disease
East Stroudsburg University’s tick research lab is accepting ticks for free testing from Pennsylvania residents. The university lab, known as the Pennsylvania Tick Research Lab, will test ticks for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, according to Brenda Friday, university spokeswoman. “Tests are ordered online, and residents can...
Sen. Bob Casey lobbies for Democratic primary debate in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is lobbying for a presidential primary debate in his home state, which is a projected battleground in the 2020 presidential election. Casey’s letter Monday to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez says holding a primary debate in Pennsylvania would benefit the...
Pennsylvania college state grant deadline approaches
Pennsylvania college students and most of those who plan to become students in a college, university or college transfer program at a two-year public or private college this fall must file their 2019-20 applications for state grants to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency by May 1. To apply for...
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate, payrolls set new records
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped in March to the lowest rate on record, as payrolls hit a new record. The state Department of Labor and Industry said Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped by one-tenth of a percentage point to 3.9%. Pennsylvania’s rate had twice previously hit 4% since 1976, which...
Pennsylvania eyes retirement-savings plan for its portfolio
HARRISBURG — With Pennsylvania facing a wave of retirees leaving the workforce with no savings, top state officials are working to head off the financial blow. A task force organized by Treasurer Joe Torsella has spurred an effort that now has key state lawmakers writing legislation to create a potentially...
Rep. Joyce: Immigrant ‘crisis is real’ at Arizona border
Congressman John Joyce, a Hollidaysburg Republican, said he was stunned with what he saw on a congressional trip to the U.S.-Mexico border at Yuma, Ariz., this week. His trip with a contingent of Republican congressmen coincided with an emergency declaration by Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls, who called for a “FEMA-type...
Consumer group sues to obtain PHEAA’s student loan servicing contract
A national consumer group is suing the federal government to obtain access to the 600-page contract that details its relationship with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). The National Consumer Law Center, which filed suit in federal court in Massachusetts, maintains the document that outlines PHEAA’s duties and obligations...
Penn Hills financial crisis inspires bill aimed at keeping districts from similar fate
A state lawmaker presented a bill package April 17 that seeks to avoid school district financial crises and allows for greater punishment of school officials if poor decisions are made. State Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Allegheny, along with state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, unveiled the bill package, dubbed “School Board and...
Pennsylvania government watchdog to probe teen’s murder
A Pennsylvania state government watchdog agency has launched an investigation into the horrific case of a 14-year-old girl who had extensive contact with the child welfare system before her 2016 rape, torture and murder, a lawmaker who requested the review announced Wednesday. The Office of State Inspector General has agreed...
Liquor Control hearing to address Pennsylvania’s taproom tax
A public hearing examining a new beer tax in Pennsylvania is set for Tuesday at the Spoonwood Brewing Company in Pittsburgh. The hearing, hosted by state Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Upper St. Clair, will look into the state Department of Revenue’s recent tax bulletin, which requires breweries to collect the state’s...
