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Court tosses ruling against Pa. virus measures

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has dismissed a judge’s ruling that threw out Gov. Tom Wolf’s sweeping COVID-19 restrictions, saying the case is now moot because statewide mitigation measures have expired and Pennsylvania voters have since constrained a governor’s emergency powers. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that since the Wolf administration’s stay-at-home orders, limits on crowd size and business closures have been lifted and are no longer in effect, there is “consequently no relief that this court can grant.” Republican state lawmakers ...

Philly prosecutor files contempt motions against police

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office is asking that the city’s police department be held in contempt of court for failing to turn over information related to officers’ misconduct and disciplinary histories. Attorneys in the office filed motions in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and in Municipal Court Wednesday, as part of six ongoing criminal cases. District Attorney Larry Krasner and Patricia Cummings, the supervisor of the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, said in a news conference Wednesday that the files are necessary to ensure the ...

Wolf tells state health and prison workers; vaccine or virus test

HARRISBURG (AP) — Some 25,000 employees of Pennsylvania’s prisons and state health care and congregate care facilities have about a month to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or take weekly tests for the virus, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday. Wolf said workers in those jobs — and all new hires at those facilities — have until Sept. 7 to get fully vaccinated. In addition to the Corrections Department, it applies to state hospitals, veterans’ homes, community health centers and homes for those with intellectual disabilities. The state Health Department said this week that ...

County asks senator to stop seeking audit

HARRISBURG (AP) — A Republican-majority county board in rural northern Pennsylvania on Tuesday accused a state senator of creating “unnecessary chaos” in pushing for a detailed review of how the county collected and counted votes in former President Donald Trump’s reelection defeat last year. The three Tioga County commissioners all read portions of a statement at a board meeting urging state Sen. Doug Mastriano to reverse his demand that Tioga and two other counties turn over election records and equipment to the Intergovernmental Operations Committee he chairs. “It is ...

Coroner: Grandfather set fire that killed self, son, 2 kids

STEELTON (AP) — A grandfather set fire to a Pennsylvania apartment above a convenience store last week, killing himself as well as his son and two grandchildren, a coroner said Tuesday. Dauphin County Coroner Graham Hetrick told reporters that Jafar Afshar, 67, used accelerants inside the Steelton home and set it afire Friday, killing himself, his son Saeed Afshar, 36, and his two grandchildren, an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl whose names were not released. Jafar Afshar’s death was ruled a suicide and the other three deaths were ruled homicides, he said. All four died of ...

Man wounded in gunfire outside store faces charges

EASTON (AP) — A man wounded in gunfire outside a department store in eastern Pennsylvania that killed another man over the weekend is now facing charges in the case, authorities said Monday. Elijah Johnson, 20, of Barrett Township, was the person who died after multiple gunshot wounds outside the Target store in Lower Nazareth Township, Northampton County authorities said. His death was ruled a homicide. Prosecutors said 22-year-old Jayzell Sanders of the Mount Pocono area was taken to a hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to the right shoulder after the gunfire shortly after ...