Pennsylvania category, Page 5
Killing of man who shot 2 troopers ‘100% justified,’ Franklin County DA says
The commissioner of Pennsylvania State Police said it was “fierce gunfight” that left two Pennsylvania State Police troopers injured and a suspect dead in Franklin County on Wednesday. The shooting that followed a retail theft report and pursuit from outside Chambersburg to south of Greencastle on Interstate 81 was detailed...
Shapiro joins states in legal action against Trump’s National Guard deployments
Pennsylvania has joined nearly two dozen states in taking legal action in an attempt to stop President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to U.S. cities. The multistate amicus brief argues that the deployment of National Guard troops in Oregon was “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic,” according to Gov. Josh...
Fetterman breaks with Dems on reining in Trump’s strikes on alleged drug boats; approval rating up among Republicans
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman went against the Democratic grain again. Fetterman on Wednesday was the lone Democrat in the Senate to vote against a measure to prevent President Donald Trump from using military force against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean without congressional authorization. Even with the support of two...
2 state troopers in critical condition, suspect dead after shootout in Franklin County
Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers are in critical condition and a suspect is dead after a retail theft in Franklin County led to a 15-mile car chase on I-81 that ended in a shootout Wednesday evening, according to officials. Around 6:15 p.m., state police were dispatched to the Dicks Sporting...
Pa. House again passes bill to give unemployment benefits to striking workers
The state House has again passed a bill that would give unemployment benefits to striking workers in Pennsylvania, a wedge issue that has seen effectively no movement over the past two years. The bill cleared the House of Representatives on Tuesday on a 106-to-97 vote, with all Democrats and four...
Erie Coke fined $700,000 in sentence that ends environmental case, divides courtroom
The environmental fraud prosecution of the Erie Coke Corp. ended with the neighbors upset and even the judge and the prosecutor saying they wish they could have done more. U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter adhered to Erie Coke’s plea agreement and fined the Buffalo-area corporation $700,000 on Oct. 7...
More than 215,000 pheasants to take flight across Pennsylvania this fall and winter
Pennsylvania hunters will be able to pursue close to a quarter million pheasants this fall and winter, including some that have a special marking. Staff members of the Pennsylvania Game Commission are preparing to release birds at least nine times over the various hunting seasons. Pheasant hunting begins with a...
Beaver County’s Shell plastics plant falling short on promises, report says
A new report found Shell’s petrochemical complex in western Pennsylvania has fallen far short of expectations. The Beaver County plant was once projected to bring in $1.5 billion a year, but its cost has exceeded more than double its original $6 billion estimate. Todd Leahy, North America regional director for...
Pa. election 2025: How to serve as a poll worker on Nov. 4
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. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — When Pennsylvania holds its 2025 municipal election on Nov. 4, thousands of poll workers will ensure that...
Pennsylvania apple growers more concerned with weather than tariffs
Thousands of people are descending on the Delmont area this weekend for the annual Apple ’n Arts Festival, drinking cider, eating apple pie or just enjoying the crispy crunch of a fresh apple in autumn. And while there is no shortage of apples to go around, the larger industry has...
Pittsburgh native Larry Hailsham Jr. named executive director of Pa. Democratic Party
Pittsburgh native Larry Hailsham Jr., a top aide to Gov. Josh Shapiro, has been named executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. State Democrats also announced this week that Shapiro donated $250,000 to the party as it gears up for pivotal elections in November and next year. Hailsham was appointed...
Jerry Sandusky claims prosecutors gained financially from his sex abuse case
In a new appeal, convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky alleges the lead prosecutors in his case gained financially from a post-conviction relationship with one of the eight victims who testified at trial. The once-lionized Penn State football coach also presents a sworn statement from a second victim who, according to...
Pa. House gun bill vote debate leads to expletive-fueled shouting match among lawmakers in Capitol
HARRISBURG — A fiery state House debate on a gun bill turned into a ugly shouting match on the floor Wednesday, that included expletives and a comment taken as a threatening racial epithet, according to lawmakers who witnessed the events. The fight over gun legislation was the most raucous in...
NTSB calls for urgent action to address Pennsylvania railcar fire risks
WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday urged the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to immediately move to eliminate fire risks in its fleet of Silverliner IV railcars. The safety board said the outdated design of the railcars and the agency’s maintenance and operating practices represent “an immediate and...
Not quite Jurassic Park: Gettysburg vandal tries, and fails, to nab dinosaur track fossil
An attempted theft of a Jurassic dinosaur fossil from a battlefield may sound like the plot of a Nicolas Cage movie, but one such incident has led park officials in Gettysburg to ask for the public’s help in solving the crime. In the second act of vandalism in two weeks...
Pa. Senate Republicans look to forgive interest on state loans to help counties, Head Starts
Republican leaders in the state Senate said Tuesday they plan to introduce legislation to forgive the interest payments on Treasury loans designed to help county governments and Head Start providers weather Pennsylvania’s budget impasse. “They should not be penalized because of what is happening here in Harrisburg,” state Senate President...
As Pa. budget impasse drags on, proposals aim to prevent future ones
The failure of Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass a budget for the fiscal year that began nearly three months ago is inspiring several pieces of legislation aimed at preventing such impasses in the future. In the House, a bill from state Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Murrysville, would suspend paychecks for the governor,...
4 dead — 2 young children, a teen and an adult — after Lebanon duplex fire
Lebanon city officials report four victims, two of whom were children and one a teen, were found dead Sunday after crews battled a duplex fire that affected another six residents. At 8:43 a.m., Lebanon City fire crews were dispatched to 815 Church St. for a multiple dwelling fire with entrapment....
Pa. Supreme Court: Washington County elections board violated voters’ rights with policy change
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday said that the Washington County Board of Elections must notify voters when their mail-in ballots have errors on them — and give them a chance to vote provisionally. The 67-page decision, which affirms another issued in September 2024 by the state Commonwealth Court, found...
Feds sue Pa. over failure to release voter information
The Department of Justice on Thursday sued Pennsylvania and five other states accusing them of failing to turn over voter information. The complaint, filed in federal court in Pittsburgh, alleges Attorney General Pam Bondi has requested voter information unsuccessfully from Pennsylvania three times since June. “Clean voter rolls are the...
Pennsylvania’s autistic lawmakers condemn Trump-Kennedy approach to the disorder
On Monday, President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a press conference claiming a link between Tylenol consumption during pregnancy and autism. It was the latest development in an effort promised in the early days of the Trump administration – to find a...
They were the best of us, says chief at memorial service for 3 fallen York County officersVideo
RED LION — The service began shortly after noon Thursday when Pastor Aaron Anderson took the pulpit at Living Word Community Church, trying to find the right words to say in the moment. They came hard. Anderson, the church’s lead pastor, was officiating the funeral for three police officers –...
Pa. budget impasse nears 3 months as schools, counties and others feel the pain
Pennsylvania is one of just three states that has yet to adopt a complete budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to an analysis by the National Association of School Budget Officers. In North Carolina, lawmakers passed a stopgap “mini budget” over the summer to keep the government running while...
Pa., wary of federal guidance, turns to medical groups for vaccine advice
Pennsylvanians should get vaccine advice from professional medical associations, not Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, state officials said Monday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health is telling patients and doctors to consult three organizations for guidance on shots: the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy...
Pennsylvania’s state budget is nearly 3 months late. Leaders still can’t agree on the basics
HARRISBURG — Despite the contentious issue of mass transit funding being off the table, top Pennsylvania legislative leaders are still unable to agree on the most basic question when it comes to state budget negotiations: how much money they should spend. The state’s cooling financial outlook — plus federal uncertainty...
