Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Defends 'Universal' Nursing Home Testing Plan

5:27pm May 19, 2020

by James Doubek

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine responded to critics who say there are holes in the state's plan to test all residents and staff at nursing homes: "The plan is an evolution."

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced the "Commonwealth Civilian Coronavirus Corps" this week. He said it would ideally be a broad program to train workers to test for COVID-19 and conduct contact tracing to monitor infection rates.

Civilian Coronavirus Corps Aims To Get Pennsylvania Back To Work

4:45pm May 08, 2020

by Katie Meyer

Gov. Tom Wolf hopes a New Deal-inspired plan will help get the state's more than 1.7 million unemployed residents working again.

Jose de los Rios works at a Procter & Gamble plant in Mehoopany, Pa., that makes Charmin toilet paper and other products. The factory has been running nonstop in recent weeks.

Everyone Wants What He Makes At The Always Busy Charmin Toilet Paper Factory

11:53am May 06, 2020

by Scott Horsley

The plant in Mehoopany, Pa., which makes Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels, is the biggest Procter & Gamble factory in the world and has been running nonstop in recent weeks.

Co-owners Vamsi Yaramaka (left) and Raj Alturu stand inside Eat Spice on Oct. 24, in the truck stop on Route 534 off I-80 in White Haven, Pa. The restaurant caters to members of the Sikh community. For them, Indian and Mediterranean dishes can be hard to

National

Truck Stop Caters To Growing Number Of Immigrant Drivers

5:43pm January 05, 2020

by Laura Benshoff

The number of long-haul truckers in the U.S. has reached an all-time high, and many are immigrants. Some truck stops are adapting to provide drivers a taste of home while on the road.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, center, signs legislation overhauling the state's child sex abuse laws.

Pennsylvania Reforms Childhood Sex Abuse Laws In Response To Clergy Scandal

5:11pm November 26, 2019

by Paolo Zialcita

After a grand jury implicated more than 300 priests in a statewide sex scandal, nearly every case was too old to be prosecuted. Legislators say that problem inspired these new laws.

John Quinn, 67, first came forward two decades ago with allegations of sexual assault by a Philadelphia priest and said he considered waiting to sue.

Clergy Abuse Reparations Are Closure For Some Victims, Resurface Trauma For Others

4:30pm November 22, 2019

by Laura Benshoff

Hundreds of victims of priest sexual abuse have received reparations from the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. A new legal maneuver allows people to sue the church over old sexual abuse claims.

Mike Folmer was arrested on Tuesday on child pornography charges filed by the state Attorney General's Office. According to charging documents, Folmer told police he had been "dealing with some personal problems."

Pennsylvania State Senator Resigns After Arrest On Child Porn Charges

1:57pm September 18, 2019

Mike Folmer, 63, was arrested at his home on Tuesday. According to court documents, he told police that he "had been dealing with some personal problems."

Drug agents last fall worked with a Minneapolis police SWAT team to seize just under 171 pounds of methamphetamine. Many U.S. states say they face an escalating problem with meth and drugs other than opioids.

Federal Grants Restricted To Fighting Opioids Miss The Mark, States Say

8:10pm June 13, 2019

The U.S. government has doled out at least $2.4 billion in state grants since 2017, specifically targeting the opioid epidemic. Yet drug abuse problems seldom involve only one substance.

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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia Saturday.

Politics & Government

Biden Eschews Anger, Hoping 'Unity' Can Lift Him To The Presidency

4:50pm May 19, 2019

by Domenico Montanaro

The former vice president, who saw Barack Obama win twice on a unifying message, is betting that will win out over anger. Will that be enough for Democrats, who feel they have good reason to be angry?

Rod Williams, a Purdue University associate professor, holds a hellbender that he and a team of students collected in southern Indiana's Blue River in 2014. The Eastern hellbender salamander is set to be Pennsylvania's official state amphibian.

Environment

Snot Otter Emerges Victorious In Vote For Pennsylvania's Official Amphibian

9:02am April 18, 2019

by Francesca Paris

The Eastern hellbender salamander may not be a looker. But its sensitivity to pollution and changing water conditions makes the creature a useful indicator for water quality in rivers and streams.