Pennsylvania category, Page 54
Ward rips Shapiro over handling of sexual harassment complaint against top aide
Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward lashed out at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration Monday over its handling of a sexual harassment allegation made by a female worker against a top aide of the governor. Ward, R-Hempfield, said it was “unacceptable” that Mike Vereb, Shapiro’s secretary of legislative affairs, remained...
Pa. court says state-owned universities violated pact by cutting faculty without discussion beforehand
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court has issued a split opinion in a case with implications for faculty cuts imposed at 10 state-owned universities since 2021 and any future professor layoffs. In an opinion that partly affirmed an arbitrator’s earlier decision, the court said Friday that the State System of Higher Education failed...
Pennsylvania governor’s voter registration change draws Trump’s ire in echo of 2020 election clashes
HARRISBURG — Donald Trump has a familiar target in his sights: Pennsylvania’s voting rules. He never stopped attacking court decisions on mail-in ballots during the covid-19 pandemic, falsely claiming it as a reason for his 2020 loss in the crucial battleground state. Now, the former Republican president is seizing on...
Does the 2010s stink bug invasion hold any spotted lanternfly lessons?
Tracy Leskey remembers when the brown marmorated stink bug became “explosively invasive” in the early 2010s. “We had significant crop losses, some homeowners had thousands trying to overwinter in their houses,” said Leskey, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Appalachian Fruit Research Station in West Virginia. Leskey...
Pitt trustees OK $100 million in campus renovations
University of Pittsburgh trustees on Friday elected a new chairman, received their first full report from Chancellor Joan Gabel on university progress and approved $100 million in campus building renovation projects. Board members meeting in the William Pitt Union in Oakland also encountered protests. They ranged from a boisterous but...
Top Shapiro staffer was accused of sexual harassment before resigning
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds the power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — A top official and longtime ally of Gov. Josh Shapiro who abruptly resigned this week had been accused months earlier of sexually...
PennWest University unveils its plan to seek a new president
PennWest University announced that it is embarking on a search for a successor to president Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson, who stepped away from the job in February, effective immediately. “When I say embark, I mean we’re at the very, very beginning stages. We will communicate more as we go along,” PennWest Council...
Pa. Veterans’ Memorial to reopen at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery after repairs
The Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery is ready to reopen to the public. The memorial near Annville, Lebanon County, was closed on Oct. 7, 2022, for structural repairs. It will reopen to the public on Monday. “The memorial, which was dedicated in 2001, is nationally recognized as...
Pa. liquor stores offering up several varieties of Japanese whisky
Pennsylvania’s Fine Wine & Good Spirits store is adding some international flavor to the whisky section this month, with several Japanese varieties available at select stores and online. The crown jewel in the group, at least based on price, is an 18-year-0ld Hakushu single-malt peated whisky created to celebrate Suntory...
Over 50 arrested after mobs ransacked Philadelphia stores. Dozens of liquor outlets are shut downVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Dozens of people faced criminal charges Wednesday after a night of social media-fueled mayhem in which groups of thieves, apparently working together, smashed their way into stores in several areas of Philadelphia, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, authorities said. Police said they made at least 52...
Charges dismissed against Philadelphia officer in fatal traffic-stop shooting of Eddie Irizarry
PHILADELPHIA — A judge dismissed murder and other charges Tuesday against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver through a rolled-up window — a confrontation police initially described as the officer shooting the driver after he lunged at him with a knife outside the car. Municipal Judge...
Jailbreaks in Pa. are not as common as recent events imply
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds the powerful to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania correctional institutions have been the subject of public scrutiny after two high-profile escapes this summer. But how frequent are these kinds...
Sen. Bob Casey joins chorus calling for indicted Sen. Menendez to resign
Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, joined a growing group of senators Tuesday in calling for embattled New Jersey U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez to resign. Menendez, a Democrat, and his wife were indicted Friday on charges that they took bribes including a luxury car, $480,000 in cash and $100,000 worth...
Judge dismisses charges against Philadelphia police officer in fatal traffic-stop shooting
PHILADELPHIA — A judge dismissed all charges, including a murder count, against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver who had a knife, agreeing with defense lawyers who said the officer could have feared for his life. The municipal judge ruled after a courtroom packed with police...
Democrat sees abortion, extremism as wedge issues in bid to unseat GOP Pennsylvania state treasurerVideo
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Democratic Pennsylvania state lawmaker announced Tuesday that he will run for treasurer in 2024, positioning himself as an ideological opposite to the Republican incumbent regarding abortion access and the 2020 election. Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, 37, announced his party primary candidacy for the seat held by incumbent...
TSA: Man caught with ‘stash of fake IDs’ at Johnstown airport
A New Jersey man traveling through a Western Pennsylvnaia airport using a fake ID was caught with a stash of additional fake IDs at a security checkpoint, officials announced Monday. The man was portraying to be someone else when he was stopped Friday at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport,...
New leader of Penn State branch campuses tasked with boosting enrollment
The linguist and administrator who will oversee Penn State University’s 20 branch campuses starting Oct. 1 has talked about their importance as educational game-changers for students and economic anchors for the communities in which they’re located. Margo DelliCarpini also has seen how competitive the higher-education market can be when it...
Philadelphia sheriff disputes controller report that her office can’t account for nearly 200 guns
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia’s sheriff on Thursday disputed a city controller report that determined that the sheriff’s office couldn’t account for 185 guns that the controller’s office says are missing. Sheriff Rochelle Bilal said at a news conference that the controller’s report released earlier this week contained “misleading statements,” and she...
Will Pa.’s automatic voter registration policy boost turnout or concerns about election security?
Pennsylvania became the 24th state to enact automatic voter registration when Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the new policy Tuesday. When state residents obtain or renew their driver’s license or ID cards, they automatically are registered to vote, unless they choose to opt out of the process on their driver’s...
Jail where murderer Danilo Cavalcante escaped plans to wall off yard, make other upgrades
The Pennsylvania jail from which convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante brazenly escaped, eluding searchers for two weeks, plans to enclose its exercise yards with walls and a roof and make inmates wear brighter uniforms, along with other security improvements. The Chester County jail board unanimously approved plans Wednesday to fully enclose...
Republican David McCormick is expected to announce he’s entering Pa.’s U.S. Senate race
HARRISBURG — Republican David McCormick is expected to announce Thursday that he will enter Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race and make his second bid for the office, this time to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after losing in last year’s crowded Republican primary. McCormick’s aides have sent invites to a...
Pa. Senate passes bill allowing more medical marijuana growers to sell directly to patients
The Pennsylvania Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would allow all of the state’s medical marijuana growers and processors to sell their products directly to patients, with several senators speculating that the bill could — and should — become a vehicle for further opening up the commonwealth’s marijuana laws....
John Fetterman offers to wear suit in Senate if House ‘jagoffs’ avoid government shutdown
As chaos within the Republican ranks of the GOP-controlled U.S. House pushes the federal government closer to a shutdown, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman has offered the opposition a sartorial olive branch. On Wednesday, Fetterman, who has been the target of Republican attacks over his insistence on wearing shorts and hoodies...
Pennsylvania’s Senate wants an earlier 2024 presidential primary, partly to have a say on nominees
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved a bill Wednesday to move up the state’s 2024 primary election by five weeks to March 19, aiming to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover and give voters more of a say in deciding presidential nominees. The bill passed, 45-2, although...
Acting Temple University president JoAnne A. Epps dies after falling ill on stage
PHILADELPHIA — Temple University acting president JoAnne A. Epps died Tuesday shortly after becoming ill on stage during a memorial service, officials said, describing her loss as a gut punch and struggling through emotion as they recalled her nearly four decades of service. Epps was attending a memorial service at...
