Pennsylvania category, Page 81
Families of 11 people killed in 1985 MOVE bombing never considered their deaths accidental; now Pa. officially agrees with them
PHILADELPHIA — After nearly four decades, Philadelphia has acknowledged that it was no accident when six adults and five children died in the MOVE bombing. The Medical Examiner’s Office classified as “accidental” the deaths resulting from the city’s 1985 bombing of a West Philadelphia neighborhood where MOVE, a Black liberation...
Fetterman addresses criticism over need for closed captioning during his stroke recovery
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman on Wednesday addressed recent criticism he has received for needing to use closed captioning during interviews after he suffered a stroke in May. During a Facebook Live interview with editorial members of PennLive, Fetterman said he has always been upfront about needing closed captioning...
Penn State professor among MacArthur’s 2022 ‘genius grant’ winners
A specialist in plastic waste management, artists, musicians, computer scientists, and a poet-ornithologist who advocates for Black people in nature are among this year’s 25 winners of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s prestigious fellowships known as “genius grants” that honor discipline-bending and society-changing people whose work offers...
State officials: Bigfoot isn’t lurking in Pennsylvania parks and forests; fake flyers reported
Bigfoot or no Bigfoot, the state and a local paranormal researcher are not amused by fake flyers warning state park and forest visitors about the presence of the unconfirmed, yet hugely popular, hairy hominid creature. Because the fake flyers appear to use official state letterhead, the state doesn’t want the...
4 maps show where Pa. governor candidates Mastriano, Shapiro are getting big cash
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 — Tens of millions of dollars from out-of-state donors and political action committees have poured into Pennsylvania to influence the...
Legislation proposed to regulate book bans in Pennsylvania school districts
A Philadelphia Democrat is working to reign in the number of book bans occurring at Pennsylvania schools as challenges continue at unprecedented rates. State Rep. Chris Rabb proposed legislation Tuesday that would establish uniform procedures for school boards to follow before they could eliminate a student’s access to a book....
Biden to hold a fundraiser for John Fetterman in Philadelphia next week
PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden will hold a fundraiser with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman in Philadelphia next week to boost his campaign in a tight and closely watched Senate race that could determine control of the chamber. The Oct. 20 fundraiser in Philadelphia comes days after Senate fundraising reports...
Mandatory dates on Pa. ballot envelopes get new court ruling
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top-ranking state elections official said Tuesday a new U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding how rules for the state’s mail-in ballots had been applied in a county judge election doesn’t change her agency’s guidance about counting them. Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman said county elections officials...
Fight for Black voters intensifies in close Pa. Senate race
PHILADELPHIA — As Sheila Armstrong grew emotional in recounting how her brother and nephew were killed in Philadelphia, Dr. Mehmet Oz — sitting next to her inside a Black church, their chairs arranged a bit like his former daytime TV show set — placed a comforting hand on her shoulder....
Carbon monoxide leak at Pa. day care center injures dozens of children, staff
ALLENTOWN — A carbon monoxide leak at a Pennsylvania day care center sent more than two dozen children and several adults to hospitals early Tuesday, some of them unconscious, but none of the injuries were considered serious, authorities said. Emergency responders went to the Happy Smiles Learning Center in Allentown,...
Pennsylvania school district cancels Halloween parades due to inclusivity, safety concerns
A Pennsylvania school district in Montgomery County has decided to cancel Halloween parades at elementary schools and it’s due to safety and inclusivity concerns, according to reports. The Lower Merion School District has hosted Halloween parades for more than 50 years, but that might have at least temporarily come to...
Box covering Columbus statue sports colors of Italian flag
PHILADELPHIA — A statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia remains hidden by a plywood box while its fate is decided in the courts, but the box has now been painted with the colors of the Italian flag. City officials told the news station KYW that they painted the box covering...
Why doesn’t James Franklin show up on Penn State’s list of highest-paid employees?
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. The Penn State Transparency Tracker is an ongoing effort by Spotlight PA to document and...
Roe warriors: Supreme Court abortion ruling spurs increase in women registering to vote
Bethel Park’s Erin Burlew switched her party registration from Republican to Democrat a day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “Our parties need to meet in the middle, but instead the (Republicans) have gone extreme,” the former longtime Republican said, explaining that she leans to the left...
Some say radon legislation in Pa. comes down to politics; others say it’s the money
State Sen. Wayne Fontana didn’t mince words. When it comes to getting a law passed requiring radon testing in schools, “I think it’s going to take a tragedy of some sort,” said Fontana, a Democrat from Pittsburgh’s Brookline neighborhood. He was alluding to a 2019 fatal fire at an Erie...
Most Western Pennsylvania schools don’t test for radon, despite high levels in the state
As a father of four, Tim Briggs considered it common sense that schools would test for radon. As a state lawmaker, he was appalled that every school doesn’t, and he has made it his mission to do something about it. A months-long Tribune-Review investigation found that most schools in Southwestern...
These women effected change to spur radon laws in their states
For Gail Orcutt, what began as a cough and a bit of wheezing ended with a baffling diagnosis of lung cancer one day short of her 57th birthday. She never smoked, always watched her diet and never missed a chance to exercise. While recovering from surgery to remove her left...
For children, concerns over radon outweigh that for adults
In Dr. Ned Ketyer’s opinion, there should be no doubt that schools should test for radon — and test regularly. “The way radon works when it gets in the body is it damages DNA, and so that’s why radon is associated with cancer, especially lung cancer,” said Ketyer, a pediatrician...
Experts say Pa. Supreme Court vacancy should be filled quickly
With the death last week of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer, the state’s highest court is left with a vacancy that the Pennsylvania Constitution says must be filled. The question now: Will Gov. Tom Wolf nominate someone during his last few months in office, or will he wait...
11 Pa. turkey farm workers charged with cruelty caught on video
Eleven people working for one of the nation’s leading turkey producers have been charged with animal cruelty in Pennsylvania after state police said they were caught on video kicking, stomping and beating turkeys at several farms. The workers were responsible for capturing and crating turkeys destined for slaughter, Pennsylvania State...
Fetterman records show light schedule as Pa. lieutenant governor
HARRISBURG — In his campaign for a crucial U.S. Senate seat, Democrat John Fetterman takes credit for reinventing Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor’s office, transforming it from a political pit stop into a “bully pulpit” from which he’s advanced progressive causes. Records from Fetterman’s four years in office, however, offer a different...
Largest North American catfish to be brought back to Pennsylvania rivers
With blue catfish — the largest catfish species in North America — beginning to show up in the Ohio River in southwestern Pennsylvania after an absence of about a century, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission this week launches restoration efforts for the fish in rivers in the state. The...
Fall trout stocking under way by Pa. Fish and Boat Commission
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s “Great White Fleet” of stocking trucks is rolling once again, moving a fall stocking of 116,000 hatchery-raised trout to more than a hundred streams and lakes across the state. The goal of fall stocking is to “replenish some of the most popular fishing spots...
Pa. liquor stores hosting 50% clearance sale
With temperatures dropping quickly as fall arrives, it’s a good time to stock up on booze and hunker down for the season, and Pennsylvania state-run liquor stores are incentivizing shoppers with a 50% clearance sale on select whiskey, wine, vodka, gin, and other spirits. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s clearance...
Remains identified as those of girl, 14, missing since 1969
WILKES-BARRE — Remains found a decade ago have been identified as those of a teenager girl who went missing in northeastern Pennsylvania more than a half-century ago, state police said. State police in Wilkes-Barre said Tuesday that the remains were identified as those of 14-year-old Joan Marie Dymond of Wilkes-Barre,...
