October 21, 2020
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...
October 8, 2020
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...
September 16, 2020
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...
September 10, 2020
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...
August 20, 2020
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...
August 12, 2020
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...
July 31, 2020
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...
July 13, 2020
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...
July 6, 2020
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...
July 2, 2020
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)...
July 1, 2020
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...
July 1, 2020
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...
July 1, 2020
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...
June 29, 2020
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...
June 24, 2020
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...
June 22, 2020
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...
June 21, 2020
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...
June 21, 2020
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...
June 16, 2020
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...
June 15, 2020
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...
