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Turnpike’s $104M in unpaid tolls draws scrutiny

HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania senators grilled turnpike executives over their efforts to collect unpaid tolls that amounted to $104 million last year during a hearing Wednesday prompted by an Associated Press report last week regarding some 11 million rides that generated no revenue for the debt-hobbled agency. Transportation Committee Chairman Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, scolded the turnpike brass for not alerting him to the growing problem that he said “should have been a red flag within your department.” “Why was this not shared with us until a Right-to-Know (Law) ...

Pennsylvania high court OKs ‘comfort dogs’ for witnesses

Canines in the courtroom? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court says yes — under certain conditions. A trial witness may be accompanied by a “comfort dog” if the animal will help yield reliable, complete and truthful testimony, the justices ruled Wednesday in a precedent-setting opinion that established a “balancing test” for Pennsylvania judges confronted with such a request. Ruling unanimously in a murder case, the Supreme Court pointed to other states that allow witnesses to testify with the help of emotional support dogs. The justices said it’s permissible, as long as steps ...

Defense seeks to bar capital punishment in girl’s 2018 death

HOLLIDAYSBURG (AP) — Defense attorneys are asking a Pennsylvania judge to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against a man charged in the 2018 smothering death of a 16-month-old child, citing a psychiatrist’s conclusion that he was only 19 and had the brain development of a juvenile. Drue Burd, now 22, of Altoona was in Blair County Court on Tuesday as attorneys argued the motion by the public defender’s office, The (Altoona) Mirror reported. Burd was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, strangulation and related charges in the May 2018 death of ...

Justices ponder victim rights amendment that has been on the border

HARRISBURG (AP) — Questions about the legality and practical effect of a victims’ rights amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution that has been in limbo for almost two years dominated oral arguments in the state Supreme Court on Tuesday. The justices could act to put the ballot question into the constitution, upholding unofficial tallies that showed it being approved in 2019 by a ratio of 3 to 1, or could kill it because it bundled together various provisions that opponents say are insufficiently related. The amendment spells out 15 rights for victims, including notification ...

Pa. ‘well prepared’ for virus vaccine boosters

HERSHEY (AP) — Pennsylvania’s network of vaccine providers is ready to deliver booster shots of the coronavirus vaccine as soon as federal authorities sign off, the state’s top health official said Tuesday. More than 2,000 providers have COVID-19 vaccine inventory and will be able to administer the extra doses to people who are eligible, while continuing to offer initial vaccinations against the coronavirus, according to the state Health Department. “Vaccine providers are well prepared to start administering booster shoots as soon as the CDC gives final approval and issues ...

Bus crashes on I-81

DONALDSON (AP) — A bus carrying high school students and leaders returning from a church retreat crashed in Pennsylvania, injuring more than two dozen people, at least three critically, authorities said. State police in Schuylkill County said the bus was heading south on Interstate 81 in ...