After a raucous public comment period, Philadelphia City Council moved to ban supervised injection sites for narcotics across most of the city.
Council voted 13-1 vote on Bill #230410 to ban any site that “that provides space for any person to inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the person’s body an unprescribed controlled substance” in all but West Philadelphia’s District 3.
Read the full story
The cost of health insurance plans offered through Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange will increase next year by nearly double digits, state insurance regulators said.
The Connecticut Insurance Department has approved a 9.4% proposed rate increase for health insurers for plans available on and off Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange.
Read the full story
The Democratic Party has succumbed to the “siren of control,” according to a letter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. penned to the Democratic National Committee ahead of its controversial meeting that was expected to decide delegate procedures for the 2024 primary elections.
The Kennedy family scion running for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, spares no feelings in calling out the party of his famous father and uncle for losing its way.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator and Republican presidential hopeful Tim Scott is unveiling his “Build, Don’t Borrow” economic plan as he prepares for another campaign trip to Iowa.
Scott says his proposal targets runaway government spending, while cutting taxes, expanding jobs and “unleashing American manufacturing and energy production” with his Made in America agenda.
Read the full story
Mountains of legal briefs and hours of political debate have been generated by the debate over whether the 14th Amendment will keep former President Donald Trump off the New Hampshire ballot in the First in the Nation primary. But for Secretary of State David Scanlan, the issue was resolved with a single sentence.
Trump is on the ballot because New Hampshire state law says so.
Read the full story
Pennsylvania’s finances have improved in recent years, with Moody’s Investor Services announcing it has revised the state’s financial outlook from “stable” to “positive.”
The financial services company noted the commonwealth’s “recently improved financial position and above-average long-term liabilities dominated by its unfunded pension burden.”
Read the full story
As Pennsylvania’s divide over education funding continues, House Republicans once again championed their plan to give scholarships to students in low-performing schools to enroll elsewhere.
The House Republican Policy Committee met Tuesday in Philadelphia to hear testimony from education professionals, private school students, and parents on how families would benefit from Lifeline Scholarships, which has been controversial with Democrats who worry about diverting funding from public schools.
Read the full story
If elected president, political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy vows to cut 1 million jobs from a behemoth federal government workforce.
And the GOP presidential candidate’s plan to rein in the administrative state is driving the left and the mainstream media insane.
Read the full story
The online shopping industry, and the multi-billion dollar logistics and distribution network at its core, depend on Pennsylvania’s roads, land and workers for its warehouses.
And yet, environmental groups say that zoning ordinances for these facilities fall short, leaving the state’s land, air and water vulnerable to destruction.
Read the full story
Republican Presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday will lay out his plan to break the grip of power held by the administrative state.
“There is an unconstitutional, fourth branch of government that is choking American democracy, and it is called the administrative state,” Ramaswamy asserts in an advance copy of a white paper speech provided to The Star News Network by the Ohio entrepreneur’s campaign.
Read the full story
Podiatrists may soon prescribe medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, that is if the Legislature takes the advice of the state’s advisory panel.
The Medical Marijuana Advisory Board voted this week in favor of a recommendation to add podiatrists to a list of more than 1,800 medical providers that includes among others psychiatrists, primary care physicians, specialists, anesthesiologists, and oncologists.
Read the full story
The group responsible for the nationwide overturning of affirmative action has dropped its lawsuit challenging the race-based admissions policies of Yale University.
According to Politico, Students for Fair Admissions (SFA) came to an agreement with the Ivy League school in which they would voluntarily drop their lawsuit, in exchange for Yale making several changes to its admissions policies prior to the Fall 2023 undergraduate application season.
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump is dominating the field of Republican presidential hopefuls in the Hawkeye State, according to an Iowa State University/Civiqs poll released Friday.
The poll dropped a day before Trump and GOP presidential nominee rivals, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, are slated to appear at the Cy-Hawk showdown, the much-anticipated annual college football game between the Iowa State Cyclones and the Iowa Hawkeyes in Ames.
Read the full story
Amid declining ridership rates, Pittsburgh’s public transit system has become more dependent on federal funds to remain afloat.
The Port Authority of Allegheny County, which serves Pittsburgh’s 300,000 residents, budgeted $95 million in federal emergency funding to prevent the system from going into debt in fiscal year 2023, according to budget documents. The transit agency received $502.5 million in federal stimulus funding.
Read the full story
The Philadelphia City Council may soon file suit against the city’s administration over an unenforced law.
A resolution on the council’s Sept. 14 agenda would permit legal counsel to compel Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to enforce a ban on toxic herbicides on all city-owned or used public grounds. That would include parks, trails, recreation centers and playgrounds.
Read the full story
Connecticut taxpayers will be covering some health care costs for thousands of paraeducators as the state seeks to fill workforce shortages in public schools.
A new program rolled out Wednesday by state Comptroller Sean Scanlon includes a one-time $5 million subsidy that will help pay paraeducators’ health insurance bills not covered by local school districts.
Read the full story
The news just keeps getting worse for President Joe Biden and his re-election bid.
Already facing an overwhelming majority of Americans who do not want to see him run again (including an alarming number of Democrats), the liberal incumbent is polling under former President Trump and other GOP presidential candidates, according to a new CNN poll.
Read the full story
Saturday’s Cy-Hawk showdown will feature an added layer of competition, the kind the first-in-the-nation caucus state has grown accustomed to.
Former President Donald Trump and GOP presidential rivals Vivek Ramaswamy and Asa Hutchinson will be in attendance at annual intrastate battle between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa State Cyclones at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.
Read the full story
Philadelphia’s first black female police commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, will leave her post in late September.
Outlaw assumed the post in February 2020 and will depart on Sept. 22 to assume a position with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Fox News reported.
Read the full story
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is in a tie for second place with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Granite State, while former President Donald Trump remains the clear front runner in the primary contest.
Haley and DeSantis earned 10% support each from Republican primary voters in an NMB Research poll, which Politico reviewed. Trump, meanwhile, claimed 47% support. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy tied for fourth place with 8% each.
Read the full story
Although he’s decided not to seek the GOP presidential nomination, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has plenty of advice on who shouldn’t be a candidate.
Hogan told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Ohio businessman and political outsider Vivek Ramaswamy “shouldn’t be running for president.
Read the full story
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is praising New Hampshire Democrats for defying the Democratic National Committee and keeping the Granite State primary the first in the nation.
As Fox News reported, last Friday marked the deadline for New Hampshire to meet the DNC’s demand that it follow the national party’s new presidential nominating calendar.
Read the full story
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is blasting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and “Monster PAC” following a report exposing the political action committee’s campaign in “spreading dirt” and “misstatements” about the poll-rising Ramaswamy.
“It came out yesterday that the DeSantis $100m+ Monster PAC is taking credit with their donors for ‘spreading dirt’ and manufacturing fake attacks on me,” the Ohio biotech entrepreneur said in a statement.
Read the full story
Three swing states will hold elections to their supreme courts over the next 18 months, potentially altering court compositions amid key cultural and political flashpoints such as abortion, guns and redistricting.
Between 2023 and 2024, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan will hold elections for several seats on their supreme courts, which have the final word on matters of state law regarding abortion and gerrymandering, among others. These seats are likely to be highly contested as partisan groups seek to bring litigation to change the law on these issues, political strategists and academics told the DCNF.
Read the full story
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will be all over New Hampshire this Labor Day weekend — at a fair in Contoocook, a house party in Dublin, town halls in Conway and Laconia, and a parade and a picnic in the mix.
In all, the Ohio businessman will press the flesh and ascend the stump at 11 events over four days.
Read the full story
Broadening opportunities for aspiring law enforcement officers, Gov. Josh Shapiro this week removed the 60-credit minimum requirement for state trooper applicants.
“This is the finest law enforcement agency in the nation,” he said during a news conference. “We need to show those who want to serve that this door of opportunity is open – and we want you on our team.”
Read the full story
Following a back-and-forth week of rhetorical wars, Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley is back in the Granite State next week for a full slate of campaign events.
The former U.N. ambassador begins her two-day, three-city swing on Tuesday evening with a town hall in Claremont.
Read the full story
A Pennsylvania state Senate committee unanimously voted Wednesday to move its presidential primary election up in 2024.
The State Government Committee approved the bill, proposed by Vice Chair Republican Sen. David Argall, which would change Pennsylvania’s presidential primary from late April to March 19, according to the state legislature’s website. The proposed new primary date for the third Tuesday in March comes just two weeks after Super Tuesday, when over a dozen states hold their nominating contests.
Read the full story
So much for indictments, mug shots, and the first GOP presidential primary debate. Teflon Donald Trump remains the clear favorite among Republican voters, according to a new Economist/YouGov poll.
The online survey of 1,500 adults, most of them registered voters, provides an interesting snapshot on just how important last week’s debate was — or wasn’t — and how unpopular some of the GOP presidential candidates are.
Read the full story
In an effort to attract students and the general public alike, Pennsylvania’s higher education system will partner with Google to offer certificate programs that demonstrate their skills to potential employers.
Students can earn a certificate as they get college credit within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the public can earn a certificate through non-credit courses and workshops without enrolling in PASSHE.
Read the full story
Yale University is seeking a “Global Black and African Diaspora Studies“ tenured associate professor well-versed in topics such as ”African/diasporic queer and feminist activism” and “transnational feminist and queer studies” to begin July 1, 2024.
“The Program seeks candidates whose research and teaching focus on the formations and lived experiences of Blackness, with emphasis on global, comparative, indigenous, or transnational perspectives drawn from African, Indigenous, Asian, Middle Eastern, European, or Latin American and Caribbean contexts,” the job posting by the Ethnicity, Race, and Migration Department states.
Read the full story
Ohio biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is firing back against Republican presidential opponent Nikki Haley in a blistering war of words over his position on U.S.-Israel relations.
Ramaswamy took aim at the former United Nations ambassador after her appearance Tuesday on Fox News in which she claimed that Ramaswamy would “abandon Israel” as president.
Read the full story
Republican presidential hopeful Doug Burgum is limping his way through New Hampshire this week after suffering a leg injury before last week’s first GOP presidential primary debate. It would seem the North Dakota governor’s campaign for the White House is hobbled, too, after he failed to gain much traction last week in Milwaukee. Burgum made campaign stops in Derry and Bedford on Tuesday afternoon. He’s expected to be at Los Primos Mexican Restaurant in Merrimack for a 1 p.m. meet and greet on Wednesday, followed by a stop at Novel Iron Works at 3:30 p.m. in Greenland. The long-shot candidate shouldered on, as he attempts to recover from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered last Tuesday in a pick-up basketball game in Milwaukee — a day before the first Republican presidential primary debate. He took the debate stage in an ankle boot, a necessary accouterment Burgum continues to wear to his Granite State campaign stops. The governor said he hasn’t missed a campaign event, and he doesn’t intend to. “I came from this town of 300 people [his hometown in North Dakota] and everyone was wishing me well, you know, ‘Go to Milwaukee, break a leg. I took it a little…
Read the full story
As Pennsylvania’s legislators prepare to return to Harrisburg to sort out the state’s education system and budget, a new report challenges what they call “funding cuts and teacher shortage myths.”
A recently released report by the Commonwealth Foundation provides data showing increased spending and hiring alongside dropping enrollment numbers – suggesting more efficient spending options, including pension system reforms.
Read the full story
Corner stores, malls, and independent businesses that dabble in the unregulated gray area between games of skill and chance may soon find themselves facing stricter — or clearer — guidance from legislators.
The Democratic Policy Committee in Radnor this week to discuss the proliferation of skill games across Pennsylvania.
Read the full story
The pandemic revealed all sorts of problems in Pennsylvania’s education system. School districts struggling to recruit school bus drivers was an overlooked one, and the problem hasn’t abated.
PennDOT, however, took a step forward recently in removing a licensing requirement that’s long been a stumbling block.
Read the full story
A third party seeking to bridge the political divide and offer more choices for voters has added two local Republicans to its roster.
One official, a longtime Democrat – although defeated in the primary election – won enough write-in votes to secure the GOP nomination. He will again be facing his opponent in November, but from the other side of the fence.
Read the full story
Connecticut’s top law enforcement office is being faulted for poor accounting practices that have cost the state millions of dollars in unretrievable debt and allowing unauthorized overtime that tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report by the state Auditors of Public Accounts, released Wednesday, found that an estimated $10 million owed to the AG’s office and other state agencies from court settlements and other receivables is “unrecoverable” and cited decades of lax accounting practices for the loss of revenue to state coffers.
Read the full story
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t declared a winner in this week’s GOP presidential debate, but he does know who the loser is: The American people.
The Kennedy family scion and Democrat challenger to President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party presidential nomination blasted the eight Republican candidates who took the stage in Milwaukee as out of touch with the average American.
Read the full story
Pennsylvania’s state government has taken action in recent years to legalize fentanyl test strips and expand medication for opioid use disorder in county jails and state prisons.
Now, some are looking to provide more funding for recovery services to help people stay sober and find community.
Read the full story
As expected, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took some big swings af GOP presidential front-runner and former president Donald Trump Wednesday night at the first debate of the 2024 primary season.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s son swung back.
Read the full story
For those who thought a Trump-less GOP presidential primary debate was doomed to be a snooze fest, the two-hour political bar brawl disabused them of that notion.
The first Republican National Committee debate Wednesday night in Milwaukee proved to be a tinder box for the slate of candidates trailing former President Donald Trump by as much as 40 percentage points or more.
Read the full story
There’s no rest for the weary.
With the first Republican presidential primary debate in the books, the bruised combatants are back on the campaign trail, hoping to build on debate night momentum — or repair the rhetorical damage done.
Read the full story
Amidst a budget crisis, Pennsylvania State University offers in-state tuition rates to qualifying illegal immigrants while American citizens across the country are charged out-of-state tuition.
An admissions page on the university’s website states that “Undocumented students, with or without DACA, can be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet Penn State’s residency requirements.”
Read the full story
With just 24 hours to go before the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 campaign, Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spent Tuesday evening as he has spent almost every waking hour since launching his bid for the White House in February: Campaigning.
Ramaswamy held a high-energy rally at downtown Milwaukee’s beer garden, just feet away from the Fiserv Forum, home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and site of Wednesday evening’s debate.
Read the full story
Though school choice supporters lost a budget fight over a $100 million voucher program, the next battle appears to be at the ballot box.
On Monday, the Commonwealth Partners PAC announced plans for a $10 million campaign “to elect school-choice lawmakers,” saying the group would “continue to fight for kids’ interest against special interests,” according to a press release.
Read the full story
Arizona Republican Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake will be in attendance at Wednesday’s first Republican presidential candidates’ debate in Milwaukee, and she plans to speak up for an absent former President Donald Trump.
Lake, a close Trump ally, tells The Star News Network that she will do everything in her power to return the former president to the White House.
Read the full story
A new poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers shows former President Donald Trump with a significant lead over his closest competitor in the crowded field of GOP presidential nominee combatants.
But Trump’s pollster says the Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll appears to undercut wider support of the former president in the Hawkeye State by significant sampling of independents and former Democratic Party caucusgoers.
Read the full story
Officials and community members recently cut the ribbon on one of the largest solar projects in western Pennsylvania.
Through a partnership between the University of Pittsburgh and Vesper Energy, the school says it is achieving its renewable energy commitments while providing educational opportunities.
Read the full story
LGBTQ activists are seeking to ensure Massachusetts public schools are celebrating their agenda’s events throughout the academic year, Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) warns parents.
“Sex on the school calendar has become commonplace all over the nation,” a downloadable document from MFI states.
Read the full story