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Health insurance rates poised to rise again in Pa.

HARRISBURG — As health insurance companies propose some of the largest rate hikes in recent memory, the Shapiro administration says it is limited in what it can do to cap increases and is calling for federal action. Nearly 202,000 people have canceled their plans through the state’s marketplace, Pennie, over the past nine months. That drop occurred after Congress let subsidies lapse, which caused premium payments to skyrocket. Consumer advocates and healthcare workers are concerned that number will continue to rise if the Pennsylvania Insurance Department approves the 2027 rate ...

Tragedy and heroism of Flight 93 remembered in southwestern Pa.

(The Center Square) - Teenaged students from Greater Johnstown School District were clambering about the rope course set in the rural beauty of Camp Harmony that morning, and teacher Lugene Shaver felt good about it. They were kids with extra challenges in life who benefited from bonding and thrills at the faith-centered camp, set in the breathtaking topography of southwestern Pennsylvania. On high ground away from the woods, you could see forested rolling humps that stretched into the distance, sometimes appearing gauzy bluish-green in haze. It was about 10 a.m. when Shaver heard a ...

Pennsylvania targeted ‘CDL mills’ before federal action

(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania tied for the most physical training locations affected by a sweeping federal interagency crackdown on fraud in the commercial trucking industry announced Aug. 31. State lawmakers, however, saw the need for action long before that. Sen. Judy Ward, R-Hollidaysburg, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, introduced a three-bill package earlier this year aimed at tightening Pennsylvania’s commercial driver training, licensing, and safety requirements. Senate Bill 1294 became Act 50 of 2026 in July, increasing penalties for unauthorized CDL ...

Lifers ask Pa. Supreme Court to open pathway for resentencing

In the face of legislative inaction, four people serving mandatory life for second-degree murder want the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to step in and open a pathway for sentences like theirs to be reconsidered. Their Thursday morning filings ask the court to intervene quickly through a rare legal process known as a King’s Bench petition. This type of filing allows the state Supreme Court to take up a legal matter directly, bypassing lower courts and the typical appeals process, if it deems the issue urgent. Since 2021, the court has received 288 such petitions, but agreed to hear only ...

ICE has ramped up its use of Penn State’s airport

BENNER TOWNSHIP — Penn State’s airport has seen a dramatic surge in flights chartered by ICE to move people between detention centers in the United States. While ICE has said such transfers are necessary for operational reasons such as bed space, immigration experts claim the practice is intended to cut detainees off from loved ones, wear them down, and make it harder to pursue legal challenges. The State College Regional Airport is a roughly 40-minute drive from the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest immigration detention facility in the Northeast. Since the beginning ...

Talk of device seizure and criminal charges as ‘skill games’ deadline nears

(The Center Square) - The fate of 70,000 or more illegal yet lucrative gambling devices frequently referred to as "skill games" is up to state political leaders for the next 34 days, but state police are preparing to act if the politicians do not. "All establishments possessing, operating and/or maintaining such machines are subject to criminal prosecution and immediate seizure of the machines as of October 14," Pennsylvania State Police said in a written statement Wednesday afternoon. The setting of Oct. 13 as the final day for state leaders to enact legislation was contained in a ...