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Labor leader, council member convicted in Pa. corruption trial

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A powerful Philadelphia labor leader and a city council member were found guilty of conspiracy charges Monday in a corruption trial. Prosecutors said John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty kept Bobby Henon, a union electrician-turned-Philadelphia City Council member, on the payroll to help his union keep a tight grip on construction jobs. Their convictions follow a lengthy FBI investigation of activities within the chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that Dougherty leads, but will not mark the end of Dougherty’s legal woes. Dougherty, ...

Lottery needs broader authority to look for fraud

HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania’s auditor general said Monday that lawmakers should give the state lottery broader legal authority to investigate frequent and repeated winning claims by individual lottery players to prevent fraud. The recommendation to lawmakers by Auditor General Tim DeFoor, the state’s independently elected fiscal watchdog, was part of a performance audit that looked at various aspects of the Pennsylvania Lottery. The Pennsylvania Lottery, one of the nation’s largest in sales, reported a record high $5.3 billion in sales in the 2020-21 fiscal year and $1.3 ...

Top state senator emphasizes experience in run for governor

HARRISBURG (AP) — Jake Corman, the newest entrant to the crowded Republican gubernatorial field, said Monday that he will set himself apart by emphasizing his ability to break through gridlock and get things done with lawmakers in the institution where he has served for more than two decades. Corman, 57, the Senate’s highest-ranking member as the president pro tempore, confirmed for the first time Monday that he is running for governor. The Republican primary field for governor is double-digits deep, something party officials can’t remember ever confronting in a statewide race ...

Father, daughter survive plane crash in Pennsylvania woods

BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP (AP) — Personal electronic devices helped lead rescuers to a father and daughter who survived a plane crash in Pennsylvania, authorities said. According to state police, the aircraft had taken off from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Sunday night when it went down in a wooded area of Luzerne County. The FAA said the plane had disappeared from radar after a rapid descent. Authorities asked the U.S. Air Force to help with the search and they pinged the 58-year-old dad’s cellphone and 13-year-old daughter’s iPad to locate them. It took ...

Lawsuit over school funding disparities opens

HARRISBURG (AP) — A Pennsylvania judge heard conflicting descriptions of the state’s education funding as a trial began Friday in a lawsuit designed to compel lawmakers to funnel more money to schools in lower income areas. A lawyer for the districts, parents and organizations that sued argued current state subsidies are insufficient in areas with lower property values and income, running afoul of the state constitution’s mandate of a thorough system of public education. “This isn’t a case about numbers,” attorney Katrina Robson told Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn ...

Pennsylvania judge race with narrow margin will get recount

HARRISBURG (AP) — The results of a tight race for a seat on the statewide Commonwealth Court will be recounted because two candidates finished within a half-percentage point of each other in last week’s election, the Pennsylvania Department of State announced Wednesday. The race pits Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Lori Dumas, the Democrat, against former Pennsylvania Senate Republican aide Drew Crompton, who was appointed last year to fill a Commonwealth Court vacancy until a replacement could be elected. Commonwealth Court handles cases involving state government and local ...