In the News
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf says new bipartisan task force will tackle state’s troubled COVID-19 vaccine rollout
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday said his administration is forming a task force with House and Senate lawmakers from both parties to work on the challenging COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The Democratic administration has been criticized by lawmakers from both...
Lawmaker on new Pa. COVID-19 task force would like to see a Vaccination Czar
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A new task force aimed at tackling COVID-19 vaccination is set to meet this week. The first involves having more organized county-by-county data than what's currently listed on the Department of Health's website. He'd like to see how many doses...
PA state schools working to address racial discrimination following several incidents
Harrisburg, PA — Black History Month is a time to celebrate the many contributions African Americans have made to our nation, but it is also a time to reflect and discuss the current struggles for racial equality. Today, CBS 21's Talia Kirkland is taking a closer...
Lack of target outreach of COVID-19 vaccine distribution missing mark on Latino, immigrant communities
PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine appointment online is already hard for some. “There is a real digital divide that the Coronavirus has exacerbated by putting everything online. That means that we are excluding people who don’t use the internet," said...
Pa. coronavirus update: 1M people vaccinated; Lehigh Valley crosses 1,300 deaths | Pa. COVID-19 vaccination map
Pennsylvania’s now vaccinated 1 million people and the rate of new COVID-19 cases continues to drop. The state is now averaging 3,775 new cases over the last week, a 30% drop from the average a week ago. Over the last three days, there have been 11,309 new cases of...
Sen. Haywood, Black Pa. college students meet to discuss collegiate racial discrimination, harassment
State Sen. Art Haywood and African-American Pennsylvania college students are scheduled to meet with Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) presidents to discuss racial discrimination and harassment on college campuses. The virtual campus setting...
The answers to PA vaccine rollout: Why is it taking so long? How will it get better?
A healthy 41-year-old man recently “waltzed” into a Pennsylvania pharmacy and received a vaccination, essentially cutting the line in front of higher-risk people. That story came from an irritated state Sen. Maria Collett, D-Montgomery and Bucks, during a hearing...
Pols promise Chew Ave. plans must change to move forward
Stalled negotiations to develop the blighted lot at 6717 Chew Avenue, next to Pleasant Playground in East Mt. Airy, appear ready to re-start following a community meeting Jan. 18 where elected officials voiced support for neighbors, who have rejected initial plans to...
Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is the lowest in the region. Advocates tell lawmakers an increase is overdue.
Democratic lawmakers heard from advocates, academics and business groups Monday on a renewed push to give minimum wage workers in Pennsylvania a raise to $15 an hour. Over 100 people attended the Zoom hearing on minimum wage hosted by the Pennsylvania...
Address racism on college campuses
Martin Luther King Jr. was right. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. When racial injustice appears and is allowed to fester on our college campuses, we believe that threat is particularly ominous. When Black students, who are often away from home...
Chaos erupts in Pa. Senate as GOP blocks Dem from being sworn in over mail-in ballot battle
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania Senate swearing-in ceremonies are generally a photo-op affair, but Tuesday’s ceremony descended into a chaotic shouting match over Republicans’ refusal to recognize the certified winner of a western Pennsylvania seat.
Pa. GOP Cite Lawsuit To Block State Senator’s Swearing-In
Republicans in Pennsylvania's state Senate temporarily evicted the lieutenant governor and refused to seat a Democrat from a suburban Pittsburgh district during the Legislature's first session of the year Tuesday because his opponent was still pursuing a federal...
Fireworks erupt in Pa. Senate over refusal to seat a Democratic senator
The Swearing-in Ceremony in the Pennsylvania Senate, typically a collegial and joyous affair, was instead marked by shouting and bitter clashes on Tuesday. Despite long, impassioned speeches, Democrats argued unsuccessfully to convince Senate Republicans to seat...
Pa. Senate GOP leader to deny seating an incumbent Democratic senator
Senate Republicans plan to refuse to seat Allegheny County Democratic Sen. Jim Brewster on Swearing-in Day Tuesday due to a challenge filed by his GOP opponent. Brewster, who has represented the 45th senatorial district seat since 2010, was certified by the Department...
The majority who stole Christmas
As we enter what should be a time of spiritual reflection of the year about to end, we are reminded of the failure of the majority in the General Assembly to help families across the commonwealth in 2020. In May, a bipartisan proposal to use the Commonwealth’s share...
Winners and losers of the 2020 election
Now that the dust has settled, the results of the 2020 election are clear. High voter engagement and increased mail-in voting led to massive turnout nationwide. While record numbers of Pennsylvanians made their voices heard, their message was less clear. The results...
$4 billion pandemic business relief plan gets backing
WEST CHESTER— State Senator-Elect Carolyn Comitta joined more than a dozen state senators Friday in announcing a $4 billion pandemic relief plan to provide direct aid to workers, families, small businesses, the restaurant industry, and others that continue to struggle...
Lawmakers Weigh Changes to Domestic Violence Laws After NBC10 Report
Embattled state official fights to keep her job
Jennifer R. Storm, an out lesbian who has served as the state’s Victim Advocate for the past seven years, is battling to keep her job. Storm is believed to be the highest-ranking out lesbian in Pennsylvania state government. Storm, 45, oversees supportive services for...
Increasing the minimum wage would help, not hurt, the economy
The minimum wage in the United States hasn’t budged in 11 years. Whether it should was a hotly contested question during Thursday’s final presidential debate. President Donald Trump asserted that increasing the minimum wage would crush small businesses, many of...
State Sen. Art Haywood: Black students called n-word on Pennsylvania college campuses
A state senator ran through a litany of complaints from Black state university students on Wednesday during a Senate hearing and called on the chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to immediately address a “hostile environment of race...
Legislation introduced to protect monuments from vandalism, destruction
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A state lawmaker has unveiled legislation to make sure people who destroy monuments and statues are brought to justice. However, it has some lawmakers questioning the intent of this legislation. "It's not up to any of use to rewrite our history,"...
Bill introduced to punish those who don’t wear a mask in public
PENNSYLVANIA, USA — If you refuse to wear a mask, you could soon pay the price. New legislation, Senate Bill 1287, has been introduced that would punish those who don't wear a mask in public with a misdemeanor and other fines. Democratic State Senator Art Haywood...
Pa. lawmaker introduces bill that would make not wearing mask a misdemeanor
PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania state senator introduced legislation that would enable authorities to give misdemeanors to people who do not wear masks in public during the COVID-19 pandemic. State Sen. Art Haywood (D) made the announcement a few months ago, and the...
Stimulus aid is dead, but unemployed workers demand Congress revive compensation
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A lone bagpiper and pallbearers led dozens of sign-carrying protesters with an empty coffin in a mock funeral procession outside City Hall Thursday. A sign on the casket read, “Here lies pandemic unemployment compensation, we hardly...
Jewish Community Webinars Tackle Hate, Racism
Charmaine Ijeoma thinks the United States needs a racial reckoning similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, the restorative justice bodies that helped South African society move forward in the aftermath of apartheid. “We need to talk about it because...
Take The States: Change Starts at the Local Level
Black Lives Matter protests erupted in the US and beyond following the cruel killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis. Weekly, and in some places daily, rallies and marches demand an end to police brutality and to systemic racism. And less than two...
Pa. Democrats file suit in state court to counter election rules case filed by Trump campaign
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party is suing the state’s top elections agency and all 67 county election boards over the commonwealth’s vote-by-mail process. Filed Monday in state court, the case focuses on ballot return deadlines, ballot drop off procedures and other...
State arts council distributes $2.3 million to arts groups
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday that 309 nonprofit arts organizations will receive grants totaling $2.3 million to help with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds from the federal CARES Act support staff salaries, facilities costs and fees for artists or...
New Philly Program Offers Emergency Aid To Renters, Homeowners
PHILADELPHIA — Emergency aid is available to help people who are struggling financially and facing eviction and foreclosures due to the pandemic. Money for the program comes from $175 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES)...
Eviction ban nears an end with renter aid still in pipeline
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Federal emergency aid for renters in Pennsylvania hit hard financially during the pandemic is still in the pipeline as Gov. Tom Wolf's ban on foreclosures and evictions nears an expiration. The application period for aid begins Monday to the...
Interview: Sen. Haywood discusses police reform legislation and priorities to address systemic racism
Last week, the Local had the opportunity to speak with State Sen. Art Haywood (D-4th) about efforts of a broad package of police reform legislation. On June 30, the PA Senate passed sent two house bills to the Gov. Tom Wolf’s des to sign. House Bill 1841 will require...
New program offers emergency assistance for renters and homeowners
Emergency aid is available to help people who are struggling financially and facing eviction and foreclosures due to the pandemic. Money for the program comes from $175 million in federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) funding. About $125...
Young Organizers ‘Call Out’ State Senators For Inaction On Police Use Of Force Statute
Protesters gathered in Mellon Park in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood Saturday afternoon, for the fourth consecutive Civil Saturdays event. The weekly demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality are organized by high schoolers and recent...
Montco health, government leaders: ‘COVID-19 not over’
Montgomery County could potentially see a coronavirus spike, especially since fewer residents in the county caught the virus and developed COVID-19, in comparison to Philadelphia and other densely-populated areas, health and government officials are warning. Once...
As Pa. takes first steps on police reform, critics say it doesn’t go far enough
HARRISBURG — It has been two years since a police officer outside Pittsburgh killed Antwon Rose II, a Black teenager who was unarmed at the time. His mother, Michelle Kenney, is convinced: If a measure to create a database of police misconduct had been embraced by...
Freedom Fighters March in Wilkes-Barre
WILKES-BARRE — Peaceful protests of police violence and brutality continued in Wilkes-Barre, as the 2020 Freedom Fighters held a march down Main Street to Public Square. A crowd of protesters and allies gathered at the old Volunteers of America thrift store on Main...
Dozens march for Black Lives Matter in W-B
Dozens of people converged at the Volunteers of America Family Thrift Store on Saturday afternoon for a rally and march in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Carrying banners saying, “No justice, No peace” and “Black Lives Matter,” a crowd of about 75 people...
Trump Signs Executive Order on Police Reform, What Changes Could Be Coming to PA
ALLENTOWN, PA - From the white house to the state house, national and local governments are facing mounting pressure to address police brutality. Today, President Trump moved to create a federal database of police officers with a history of using excessive force....
Voters must demand real police reforms
Democrat and Republican leaders are proposing police reform legislation in the aftermath of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and other killings of unarmed African Americans by police. Top Democrats vow that the House will pass the proposed Justice in...