December 05, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
Medicare’s annual open enrollment period ends Dec. 7, so if you’re one of the 2.8 million Pennsylvanians eligible for Medicare, decisions need to be made now for the coming year.
Joanne Grossi, Pennsylvania state president emeritus for AARP, said it is important for anyone on Medicare to review their coverage options, and make sure their plan still meets their health care needs, because the coverage can change from year to year.
She said picking a plan can be complicated, but help is available.
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November 07, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
Election Day is busy at most news outlets, but some employees of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are picketing instead — still on strike for what they consider unfair labor practices of the newspaper’s parent company.
Some workers have been off the job since Oct. 6; others since Oct. 18.
Kitsy Higgins, advertising account representative at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, claimed workers at the Pulitzer Prize-winning paper have spent five years with no bargaining agreement, and some people have gone 15 years without pay increases.
“We’re looking for a fair contract, which is reasonable — an increase in wages, especially for 2022; and insurance," Higgins said. “Along with just to bargain in good faith, which we’re not having right now, which is unfortunate.”
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October 24, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: Politics & Elections, State & Region
In Pennsylvania, today is the last day to register to vote or update your voter registration before the Nov. 8 midterm election.
You have until midnight to register to vote.
In the 2020 General Election, which included the presidential race, 71 percent of Pennsylvanians cast their ballots. Meg Pierce — executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania — said the state saw a huge surge in participation in the 2020 presidential election.
Then the numbers dipped a little in 2021. But Pierce predicted a high turnout again this November.
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October 13, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
The latest research on the “State of Working Pennsylvania” says a tight labor market and new levels of union organizing are offering new opportunities for workers.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate in August was the lowest since June 2000, at 4.2% — and more than six million Pennsylvanians are either working or looking for jobs.
Stephen Herzenberg – executive director of Keystone Research Center and co-author of the report – said with smart and worker-friendly policies, the next several years should see a sense of possibility for those workers.
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September 28, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: Crime and Police News, State & Region
The suspect wanted in connection with a shooting at Kennywood on Saturday night that injured three people remains at large, Allegheny County police said.
In the meantime, officials at the landmark amusement park in West Mifflin have announced enhanced security measures for when the park reopens, including a requirement that all guests age 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult age 21 years or older, and that their chaperones must have valid ID.
Details of the new security policies are posted on Kennywood’s website.
Three people, including two teen-agers, were wounded by gunshots after a suspect described as a Black teen-ager wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a face mask opened fire near the Musik Express ride.
The park was open Saturday night for its annual Halloween-themed “Phantom Fall Fest” celebration.
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September 22, 2022 |
By Vickie Babyak | Posted in: State & Region
They may seem pretty at first — but spotted lanternflies could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to crops and timber in Pennsylvania every year. The invasive pests have arrived in the Mon-Yough area and are widespread. (Vickie Babyak photo for Tube City Almanac)
The invasive spotted lanternfly is spreading through the Mon Valley. Residents report noticing a few lanternflies in their yards or neighborhoods and others are seeing swarms of them.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the spotted lanternfly, or SLF, is an invasive plant-hopper native to Asia. It was first discovered in 2014 in Berks County and since then has spread to multiple counties, as well as to Ohio, Virginia and Maryland.
“We’re coming up on the time when SLF lay egg masses from September to November and this is a great time to continue to control the spread,” said Tim Byan, Whetzel Land Steward for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania.
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September 05, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
One goal of youth and family support services is to keep kids out of juvenile detention, but for those who are accused of serious crimes, Pennsylvania doesn't have enough space in its detention centers, and it is being described as a crisis.
A report by the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission outlined the effects of facility closures on accessibility to services. Since 2006, some 15 juvenile detention centers have closed in the state, including Allegheny County’s Shuman Juvenile Detention Center, which had its license revoked in 2021.
There are now 14 facilities providing secure detention services across the state, and 61 of 67 counties must vie for beds at just seven of them. The report indicated staff shortages mean not all the beds can be used.
The closest juvenile detention facilities to Allegheny County are in Erie, Fayette and Westmoreland counties.
Abigail Wilson, director of child welfare, juvenile justice and education services for the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth, and Family Services, said a few factors are contributing to the lack of available beds.
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August 16, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: State & Region
School buses sit in a garage during the summer vacation. (File photo by Jason Morrison via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-2.0.)
After eight years, the Pennsylvania school-funding lawsuit is in the hands of a judge, creating a waiting game heading into the new school year.
Oral argument ended in July.
In 2014, six Pennsylvania school districts sued state legislative officials, state education officials and Gov. Tom Wolf, alleging that the state’s school funding system violates the clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution that promises to provide a “thorough and efficient” system of public education.
The Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools, the NAACP-Pennsylvania State Conference and a group of public school parents are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
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August 05, 2022 |
By Staff Reports | Posted in: State & Region
The companies behind the construction of a controversial natural gas pipeline that crosses through the Mon-Yough area have been convicted of criminal charges related to the project.
On Friday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced that Sunoco Pipeline LP and ETC Northeast Pipeline LLC have pleaded no contest to charges related to contamination of lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater during the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline.
The Mariner East 2 pipeline, which goes through 17 southern Pennsylvania counties, crosses Forward Twp. and passes near communities such as Sutersville, West Newton and Finleyville. It parallels an older gasoline pipeline built in the 1930s.
Homeowners who live in the pipeline’s path and want to have their water tested have until Aug. 19 to file a request.
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August 05, 2022 |
By Danielle M. Smith - Public News Service | Posted in: Politics & Elections, State & Region
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled this week that so-called “no excuse” mail-in voting in the state is constitutional.
The ruling is seen as a setback to 14 Republican lawmakers who challenged the expansion of absentee ballots in court.
Meg Pierce, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, said mail-in ballots are important to ensure elections are accessible to everyone.
“Voting by mail is convenient and secure, and has resulted in an incredible boost in voter turnout in Pennsylvania's recent election,” Pierce said. “About 170,000 (additional) registered voters voted in Pennsylvania elections when they were allowed to vote by mail.”
Until 2019, Pennsylvania voters could only use an absentee ballot under certain conditions, such as illness, disability or being out of town on Election Day. That year, the Pennsylvania General Assembly voted to implement “no excuse” mail-in ballots for anyone who requests them.
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