Pennsylvania category, Page 49

A bear attacked two children on Monday in Luzerne County, causing non-life threatening injuries and the Pennsylvania Game Commission is now investigating the incident. The attack occurred while the children were playing in the driveway of their home in Wright Township in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The game commission said there are...

A central Pennsylvania man has been arrested on accusations he sexually abused several teenage students at the martial arts studio where he worked. Devin Hogue, 23, of the 500 block of Ridge Road, New Cumberland, had several inappropriate interactions with four teenage girls that, in some instances, escalated to sexual...

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’s treasurer wants the state to start sending unclaimed money directly to the people it belongs to, a proactive...

A Pennsylvania resident directed Kurdish soldiers to kidnap a man in Iraq and “beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse” him for 39 days in 2015, federal prosecutors said. After the victim was kidnapped and taken to an Iraqi military compound, Ross Roggio, 54, of Stroudsburg, suffocated him...

A bill that would fulfill one of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s major budget requests passed out of the Pennsylvania House Finance Committee on Tuesday on a unanimous vote, albeit after Republicans unsuccessfully tried to strip the bill of the one of its core components. House Bill 1100 expands the state’s Property...

Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano on Monday shrugged off calls from inside his party to oppose his potential U.S. Senate bid, including one from a current legislative colleague. “Of any of the detractors, none have had the cojones to look me in the eye and have a conversation,” Mastriano told...

HARRISBURG — Legislation designed use the state’s gas tax revenue in its entirety for road and bridge work is advancing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The House Transportation Committee on Monday unanimously approved a bill that aligns with Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to gradually reduce the annual appropriation taken...

HARRISBURG — Authorities could temporarily seize firearms and background checks would be expanded for gun buyers, under two bills passed Monday in the Pennsylvania House, where Democrats are using their razor-thin majority to push gun-control measures after a yearslong standstill in the politically divided government. The party describes the proposals...

This story first appeared in The Investigator, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA featuring the best investigative and accountability journalism from across Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here. In a February memo to university leaders, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi wrote that last year university leaders “brought forward a $245...

WASHINGTON — Before Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman checked himself in to the hospital for clinical depression in February, he walked the halls of the Senate stone-faced and dressed in formal suits. These days, he’s back to wearing the hoodies and gym shorts he was known for before he became a...

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. Billions of dollars are expected to come to Pennsylvania to help the state respond to the opioid epidemic, but tracking how...

Pennsylvania anglers can expect to pay more to fish next year, now that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has voted to increase the costs of licenses for the second year in the row, after license prices had not changed since 2005. At its meeting Wednesday, the agency’s Board...

HARRISBURG — President Joe Biden’s administration took the first step Thursday toward designating the Pennsylvania-owned section of Lake Erie as the state’s first national marine sanctuary. A formal designation could take several years, and it wouldn’t change existing regulations around the use of the lake. The announcement sets up a...

A Jefferson County man is facing animal cruelty charges after police say he admitted to killing his neighbor’s cat with a blow gun dart. On May 5, police said they were called to a home along Elk Street in Punxsutawney after receiving a report of animal cruelty, according to reports...

PHILADELPHIA — A task force led by federal marshals recaptured the second of two inmates who escaped from a Pennsylvania prison earlier this month, a man who had been held on charges in four slayings, authorities said. Ameen Hurst, 18, was rearrested Wednesday morning in Philadelphia, according to Robert Clark,...

This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for our regional newsletter, Talk of the Town. A state program that incentivizes local governments in Pennsylvania to work together to provide public...

HARRISBURG — Democrats maintained their narrow Pennsylvania House majority Tuesday by winning a special election and along with it continued control over how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation. Heather Boyd won a seat in the Philadelphia suburbs, beating Republican Katie Ford for a vacancy...

Cherelle Parker, a Democrat with a long political history in Pennsylvania, won Philadelphia’s mayoral primary on Tuesday, likely setting her up as the city’s 100th mayor and the first woman to serve in the role. Parker, 50, who served for 10 years as a state representative for northwest Philadelphia before...

The date of next year’s primary conflicts with a major religious holiday, and some state lawmakers have taken notice. The 2024 Pennsylvania primary is set for April 23. It conflicts with the Jewish holiday of Passover and takes place after many states already would have voted for a presidential nominee...

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Inquirer says a weekend cyberattack caused the biggest disruption to its operations in 27 years and prevented it from publishing its Sunday print edition. The attack was detected Saturday morning when employees found that the paper’s content-management system wasn’t working, the Inquirer reported on its website....

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Election integrity and Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law are prominent subjects in the state’s Republican primary contest for an open state Supreme Court seat, as Donald Trump continues to baselessly claim that the 2020 election was stolen. This year, two GOP primary rivals for the state Supreme Court...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Democrat running for a vacant seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives received President Joe Biden’s endorsement Monday in a race likely to determine control of the legislative chamber, with implications for abortion rights, the 2024 presidential contest and Gov. Josh Shapiro’s agenda. Biden cited the...

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities say two escaped prisoners in Philadelphia were helped by a fellow inmate who’s charged with murder in a brawl outside a famed Philadelphia cheesesteak shop. Police said late Friday afternoon that 35-year-old Jose Flores-Huerta has been arrested at the Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center and charged with felony...

BELLEFONTE — A Centre County man who tried to shoot a deer on the crest of a hill but instead shot his older neighbor in the head lost his bid Friday to stay out of jail. Michael Lloyd, 41, of College Township was sentenced by Centre County President Judge Jonathan...

PHILADELPHIA — One of two inmates who escaped from a Philadelphia prison was captured while dressed as a woman, authorities said, and a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force focused Friday on tracking down the other escapee. Members of the task force were conducting surveillance in an area of North...