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Centre County man indicted on child sexual abuse material conspiracy charge

From staff reports STATE COLLEGE — A Centre County man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to produce child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced. Morris W. Reese, 65, was charged in an indictment returned Tuesday. According to U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller, Reese is accused of conspiring with others to produce child sexual abuse material between November 2024 and November 2025. The case was investigated by the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police and the Centre County District Attorney’s ...

Harrisburg leaders miss budget deadline

For the fifth year in a row, state leaders have failed to meet the June 30 deadline for finishing an annual budget - a situation that will have little practical effect in the short term but raises the ugly specter of last year’s 135-day impasse. In 2025, even though political leaders spoke in late June and early July of being “close” to a deal, none was reached until November. Billions of dollars in state payments were withheld, counties lost millions of dollars, programs were cut and employees were furloughed. Chances for making the deadline this year ended before 3 p.m. ...

Field surveys for State College Area Connector begin next week

STATE COLLEGE — Field survey work for the proposed State College Area Connector Project is scheduled to begin the week of July 6, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. PennDOT said members of the project’s design team will conduct field reconnaissance and collect data along the project’s preferred alternative route. Crews will use ground-penetrating radar and other noninvasive utility-locating equipment to identify septic tanks, drain fields and existing underground utilities that could be affected by construction of the proposed highway ...

Data center moratoriums get support in Pennsylvania

A key Senate committee on Wednesday gave bipartisan support to the concept of letting a municipality put in place an 18-month moratorium on data center development, but it shunned the notion of one lasting three years. In separate votes, the Senate Local Government Committee passed two different data center moratorium bills. The votes occurred as municipalities across the state are struggling to accommodate data center proposals that are complex, unpopular, and often accompanied by many unanswered questions. One bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman of Lehigh County, ...

Will education again divide Pa legislature this budget cycle?

HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to include $565 million in this year’s budget to continue closing an “adequacy gap” among public schools as his fellow Democrats push a proposal to overhaul tax credit programs that fund private school scholarships. Republicans who control the state Senate have pushed back, calling for changes to the formula adopted two years ago to rectify the funding disparity and for an expansion of the scholarships. While a dispute over education funding contributed to a months-long budget impasse a few years ago, one key lawmaker thinks the issue ...

18-year-old dead and two others wounded in Williamsport shooting

From the Williamsport Sun-Gazette WILLIAMSPORT — An 18-year-old city man was shot to death and two other men were wounded in a shooting that occurred at Memorial Avenue and Lloyd Street, just east of Memorial Park, about 2:50 p.m. Monday, according to city police. In a telephone conversation about 5 p.m., Lycoming County Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. confirmed the 18-year-old suffered multiple gunshot wounds and never regained consciousness after being shot. The teen was pronounced dead in the emergency room at UPMC Williamsport at 3:10 p.m. Kiessling said. Due to the nature of ...