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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Regulations that dictate appropriate setbacks for natural gas wells from drinking water sources and buildings may not be generous enough, according to the state’s agency tasked with overseeing the industry.
The Department of Environmental Protection said it would support efforts to reconsider whether 1,000 feet constitutes a safe distance after a study from the University of Pittsburgh suggested links between unconventional wells and incidences of asthma and childhood cancer.
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Though more workers have jumped in recent years from carbon-intensive jobs – like natural gas extraction – to “green” jobs in renewable energy, the numbers remain miniscule.
Fewer than 1% of workers make a fossil fuel-to-renewable jump, while most end up in another carbon-intensive job, an unrelated job, or find no work at all.
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As the first day of school nears across Pennsylvania, the undone budget will leave the poorest districts without the earmarked funds the state promised.
Teachers, administrators, and advocates recently told the House Education Committee that without the money, schools can’t address worker shortages, or provide mental health support, programs for pandemic-induced learning loss, technology upgrades, and building maintenance.
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Gov. Josh Shapiro said Monday Pennsylvania will spend $34 million on dozens of projects in the commonwealth to build out charging stations for electric vehicles.
The money is part a five-year, $172 million federal grant and the latest installment will support 54 projects in 35 counties.
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The union representing Connecticut state troopers has taken a vote of “no confidence” in the police agency’s leadership, citing their response to the controversy over a phony ticket scandal.
The union spells out its grievances in a scathing letter to State Police Commissioner James Rovella and Deputy Commissioner Colonel Stavros Mellekas, accusing them of fostering “an environment of mistrust” in the agency and that has “failed to protect their Troopers” and of making decisions “based on self-preservation.”
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Brian Schimming is one busy guy these days.
Schimming, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, is spending a lot of time fielding calls from media, campaigns and fellow Republicans preparing to descend on Milwaukee next Wednesday for the first debate of the presidential primary season.
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Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has overtaken Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in another national Republican primary poll.
Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has taken an even bigger lead, according to renown pollster Scott Rasmussen’s latest national survey — first reported by The Daily Signal.
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What a wild weekend in Iowa.
The presidential candidates who turned out for the Iowa State Fair came close to outnumbering the selections of food on a stick at the Iowa State Fair.
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Attending a public college is an affordable choice for many students, and the costs are significantly lower for those in-state.
Even so, two Pennsylvania state-related universities rank among the top 10 of those with the highest in-state tuition in the nation.
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Connecticut has banned the harvesting of horseshoe crabs along its coastline amid concerns about the ecological health of the species, which is prized for its life-saving blue blood.
The ban, approved by the state Legislature, outlaws horseshoe crab hand harvesting beginning on October 1. Anyone caught violating the law faces a $25 fine for each crab harvested. There are exemptions for scientific and medical purposes if it is determined that doing so will not harm the overall horseshoe crab population.
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His father was assassinated while running for president. His uncle was killed while serving as president.
Yet, the Biden administration has refused to offer Secret Service protection to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who just happens to be challenging the incumbent president for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
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A Catholic Massachusetts couple filed a federal lawsuit this week that makes the claim they were rejected as potential foster parents because of their faith beliefs about marriage and sexuality.
The couple, Mike and Kitty Burke of Southampton, said in their complaint they were told by a state employee of the Department of Children and Families (DCF) their religious beliefs conflict with the state’s policy requiring them to affirm same-sex relationships and gender ideology.
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Health care access in rural Pennsylvania becomes less tenable day by day, and many fear what this means for the state’s efforts to revive its most remote communities.
“The people in rural PA are truly scared about access to health care,” said Rep. Marty Causer, R-Bradford, during a recent meeting of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania hosted in his district.
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