MARC LEVY

Wolf expands mask order, wants new restrictions to be local
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration moved Wednesday to expand its indoor mask order to public places outdoors where social-distancing is impossible.
 
Pennsylvania officials eye areas where COVID-19 cases rising
Pennsylvania health officials are taking a deep dive into areas where COVID-19 cases are ticking up and threatening to undo months of progress against the disease. The state’s health secretary, Dr.
 
Dueling Trump-Biden events offer contrasting virus responses
The presidential campaign is starting to take on a more traditional look. The campaign has largely been frozen for several months because of the coronavirus.
 
Pennsylvania lawmakers begin passing police reform bills
Pennsylvania’s House and Senate have begun passing legislation spurred by widespread protests over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd, including legislation designed to prevent “bad apples” from continuing to find employment in police departments.
 
Pennsylvania lawmakers wrestle anew with major gambling bill
Top Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state Senate are pressing sweeping gambling legislation that would allow slot machine-like terminals in thousands of bars, restaurants, social clubs and other businesses that hold liquor licenses.
 
LNG shipments by rail approved in US amid pipeline battles
The Trump administration has taken the final step to allow rail shipments of liquefied natural gas, a new front in the movement of energy products that had been opposed by environmental groups and 15 states. The U.S.
 
12 more counties get Wolf’s green light to enter green phase
Gov. Tom Wolf will allow 12 more counties that are home to 1.3 million people to enter the least-restrictive phase of his pandemic reopening plan.
 
Trump, Biden win Pennsylvania primary amid unrest, pandemic
Pennsylvania held a primary election amid civil unrest, a pandemic, the introduction of new voting machines in 22 counties and the debut of mail-in balloting that pushed county election bureaus to their limits. Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
 
Governor to lift more pandemic restrictions in Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf will lift most of his pandemic restrictions in an additional 16 counties that are home to nearly 3 million people across western and central Pennsylvania.
 
Pro sports can resume in Pennsylvania, without spectators
Professional sports can resume in Pennsylvania where the governor’s stay-at-home order to stem the spread of the coronavirus is no longer in force, but without spectators. Gov.
 
Nursing home testing a massive challenge for Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania must boost its testing numbers several times over to meet Gov. Tom Wolf’s goal of administering a weekly coronavirus test to well over 100,000 people in long-term care facilities across the state.
 
Pandemic restrictions to ease in 12 Pennsylvania counties
Another 2.6 million people across western Pennsylvania are emerging from pandemic restrictions as Gov. Tom Wolf announced that 12 more counties will soon join them in a partial easing.
 
Western Pennsylvania to escape lockdown amid growing anger
Thirteen western counties, comprising nearly 2.7 million residents and most of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, will see relief from Gov. Tom Wolf’s most restrictive pandemic orders on movement and businesses next week.
 
Virus restrictions to be eased in 24 Pennsylvania counties
Gov. Tom Wolf has announced that 24 counties in rural northern Pennsylvania will see some relief from his strictest orders for residents to stay at home and businesses to close as part of a strategy to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
 
Wolf resists calls to reopen economy, ease stay-home order
Gov. Tom Wolf says he has not set any timetable for allowing nonessential businesses to reopen or people to leave their homes.
 
78 more virus deaths set new single-day high in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has smashed its single-day high for reported coronavirus-related deaths, recording 78 more fatalities. The count boosted the statewide death toll to 240, although the secretary of health, Dr.
 
Pennsylvania lawmakers vote to delay primary election
Pennsylvania lawmakers voted to delay its primary election by five weeks to June 2, potentially past the spike of the state’s spreading coronavirus cases. Both chambers of the state Legislature approved it Wednesday and Gov.
 
Wolf reopens gun shops, orders more residents to stay home
Gov. Tom Wolf is quietly allowing gun shops to reopen on a limited basis during the coronavirus pandemic after several justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court urged him to do so.
 
State to open virus testing sites; job losses spike
Pennsylvania’s Department of Health is working to open public testing sites for the coronavirus, as more services shut down and the state sees a spike in people filing for unemployment compensation.
 
Lawmakers urged to act now to save state university system
The leader of Pennsylvania’s system of 14 state-owned universities told lawmakers that it is urgent they act to help the schools in the face of sinking enrollment, rising student debt and a lagging commitment of public tax dollars to higher education.
 
Pennsylvania may tweak new law to avoid vote-counting logjam
A top Pennsylvania lawmaker says the Legislature may change Pennsylvania’s sweeping 4-month-old election law in an effort to avoid a logjam of mail-in ballots that could extend vote-counting in the presidential race for days afterward.
 
Pennsylvania’s big higher education problem gets a spotlight
Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposal to start a major new scholarship program for students at Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities spotlit an uncomfortable truth about Pennsylvania’s ragged performance on higher education funding.
 
Governor’s budget pushes for aid for schools, college debt
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf wants to create a major new program for college scholarships, require public schools to provide full-day kindergarten, and pump $1 billion into cleaning up lead and asbestos in aging school buildings.
 
Pennsylvania on track to expand overtime pay eligibility
Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is on the brink of making Pennsylvania one of a handful of states to expand eligibility for overtime pay beyond federal thresholds. The regulation won a final vote Friday from a state board.
 
Governor floats plan to attack lead, asbestos in schools
Gov. Tom Wolf is unveiling a $1.1 billion package intended to help eliminate lead and asbestos contamination, primarily in Pennsylvania’s schools.
 
Pennsylvania governor has $2.2M to help Democrats win seats
Gov. Tom Wolf will have at least a couple million dollars to spend in this year’s legislative elections to help his fellow Democrats pick up seats and aid his push for priorities that stalled in Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature.
 
GOP eyes shakeup of Pennsylvania’s Democratic-majority court
Legislation to amend Pennsylvania’s constitution that could cut short the current Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court is advancing through the Republican-controlled Legislature.
 
Lawmakers aim to stop closure of 2 institutions for disabled
A fight to block Gov. Tom Wolf from closing two state centers for the intellectually disabled produced a second large majority in Pennsylvania’s Legislature.
 
Firms to pay $386 million to settle price-fixing allegations
Thirteen large financial firms are agreeing to pay $337 million to settle a lawsuit in a bond price-fixing case.
 
Prosecutor: ‘Buy-a-badge’ pipeline security plan was illegal
A county prosecutor is accusing the owner of multibillion-dollar pipelines carrying natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania of illegally using uniformed state constables as a private security force.
 
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