Free Republic

The Department of Veterans Affairs ordered a Pittsburgh VA hospital to block attempts by two congressmen to find out about hundreds of patients languishing on the hospital’s wait list, according to a CNN report. Congressional sources told CNN that Rep. Tim Murphy (R., Penn.) received a call from Pittsburgh VA director and CEO Terry Gerigk Wolf, who said that the hospital had passed an internal audit on patient wait times “with flying colors.” “It is my belief the purpose of the unannounced call was not to provide me the facts on patient wait times at the Pittsburgh VA, but was...

Or.. Democratrina. Far more destructive than any bomb or hurricane, Democrat locusts destroy lay waste to Detroit. This is the 'progress' they want for the rest of America.

J. Whyatt Mondesire, the embattled former president of the local and state NAACP, is facing new accusations that he misspent state money. Mondesire’s nonprofit, Next Generation CDC, claimed to have improved the home field for the North Philly Aztecs with a state grant. But according to a report published Saturday on the AxisPhilly.org website, Mondesire did nothing to fix up the field where the Pop Warner Jr. Pee Wee Super Bowl champs played.

Last month, Rishi and Suvir Mirchandani traveled to sunny Los Angeles. The Fox Chapel Area High School students weren't taking a vacation. They were there to compete in one of the world's most rigorous science competitions, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Rishi, 17, a junior, ended up with a third-place award in the mathematics section of the fair for his work on the most efficient way for traffic to travel along a network of roadways. Younger brother Suvir, 15, got the $1,500 Web innovator award from GoDaddy for his project to allow paralyzed people to interact with a...

JUNE 8, 2014 4:00 AM Mother Courage Miss Pennsylvania USA’s remarkable mother By Kevin D. Williamson Valerie Gatto does not want to talk about abortion. That’s probably prudent, inasmuch as she very much desires to be the next Miss USA, and contestants in that pageant are expected to have ruthlessly anodyne interests along the lines of reading children’s literature to blind dolphins. But she is admirably direct, even bracing, about the aspect of her life that intersects that troublesome issue: She was conceived when her mother, a teenager at the time, was attacked on the streets of Pittsburgh and raped...

by Gina Cassini | TopRight NewsOnce again, the anti-gun fanatics are running loose in our children's schools. And this time they are punishing a kid who did the right thing! As a mom, this one has steam coming out of my ears. First-grader Darin Simak goes to Martin Elementary in New Kensington, PA. On Wednesday he went to school just like any other day but, when he arrived, he realized there was a toy gun in his backpack. What did Darin do? Darin tried to do the right thing by immediately bringing the toy gun to his teacher and explained that “he...

For the hour that Mike McMonagle and his allies stood in protest Thursday outside Gov. Corbett's office in Center City, they were spared from heat and rain. But little else went in their favor. Drivers paid no attention to the 30 people holding rosaries and signs railing against same-sex marriage. A man spat on the ground at their feet. Soon, they had to share the sidewalk with other protesters - a younger, louder, more organized group. While McMonagle's group spoke of the need to "defend our children" from nontraditional families, a group from Cook-Wissahickon School brought in actual children to...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Democratic upstart Tom Wolf leads Republican incumbent Tom Corbett by a formidable 20 points as Pennsylvania's gubernatorial campaign shifts into gear for the general election, according to a poll released Wednesday. The survey of 1,308 Pennsylvania voters by Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University showed Wolf backed by 53 percent and Corbett by 33 percent.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local's current legal director was disbarred from the practice of law over 20 years ago. Edward C. Chew III is the Executive Assistant to the President and Legal Director of UFCW 1776. Chew is also the Chairman of the UFCW Local 1776 Legal Trust Fund. The Supreme Court of New Jersey disbarred Chew from the practice of law “for the knowing misappropriation of client funds” in 1992. According to the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Review Board’s website, Chew remains ineligible to practice law in the state of Pennsylvania. Chew was admitted as a member of...

We are the dead; short days ago/ We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,/ Loved and were loved, and now we lie/ In Flanders fields. —In Flanders Fields Lt. Col. John McRae John B. Young was born more than a century ago. His parents lived in Salford Township, but he also lived with his maternal grandparents in Telford before being killed while fighting in World War I. Femke Heynderycx is 17 and lives in Ghent, Belgium. At first, it would seem they don’t have much in common, but Heynderycx, who has adopted Young’s Flanders fields grave, says they’re now family...

WILMINGTON, Del. - (AP) -- Highway engineers say a crucial bridge on the Eastern Seaboard's interstate highway system could imperil drivers if traffic is allowed back on it. The bridge, near Wilmington, Delaware, was closed Monday when its support pillars were found to be tilting. The Interstate 495 bridge won't reopen anytime soon, highway officials said Tuesday, and the 90,000 vehicles that cross it every day are being diverted onto the main north highway, I-95, further overloading one of the most crowded arteries in America.

Three years after it resumed operation of the last vestige of the old National Tube Works, U.S. Steel is pulling the plug on pipemaking in McKeesport. McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko said he is “extremely disappointed” with U.S. Steel Corp.'s announcement on Monday that it will idle indefinitely its McKeesport Tubular Operations effective in early August. “I think it is devastating for the entire Mon Valley region,” the mayor said shortly after receiving word about the shutdown of plants in McKeesport and Bellville, Texas, two of 10 plants in the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker's Tubular Products division. The announcement came 60 days before...

Block Communications Inc. said it will lay off 136 people at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and 131 at the Blade of Toledo, a decision that will help cut costs at the two money-losing dailies where the company has been wrangling with unions for more than a year over concessions. [snip] Negotiations with the unions over a new contract have been ongoing for a year, with Block asking for wage and benefit concessions after years of losses. In March, members of the Newspaper Guild “celebrated” their 3,000th day without a raise with a pie party in the newsroom. Block told employees in...

EASTON, Pa. - A resolution passed by Easton City Council is not sitting well with Northampton County John Morganelli, who said giving illegal immigrants driver licenses could open the door for terrorists. Morganelli said he respects the Easton City Council's decision, but he wishes law enforcement would have been consulted. Easton Mayor Sal Panto said the council did its homework. Panto said the resolution is a way to show support for people who are in Pennsylvania illegally but still paying taxes. "It's not an ordinance of the city, it's not a law. We don't have that right," said Panto. "It's...

A survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average income for families of all sorts decreased from 2012 to 2013 by $103 to $65,069 before taxes, but their expenses went up by $777 a year to $51,408. ... The biggest share of the increased expenses of the average American household went to transportation, which cost a total of $8,999 a year, or $494 more than the previous year, as a result of purchase prices going up.

Democratic nominee Tom Wolf has gotten quite the post-primary bounce. In the first poll released after the former Department of Revenue Secretary won the Democratic primary, Tom Wolf holds a twenty point lead over the Governor. According to Rasmussen Reports, 51% of likely voters would support Wolf while 31% would vote for Governor Tom Corbett. Only 14% of respondents were undecided. As expected, Wolf is supported by 83% of Democrats yet only 59% of Republicans favor Corbett. Wolf pulls away 25% of PA Republicans and holds a ten point lead among independents. Meanwhile, among those surveyed Governor Corbett’s job approval...

Lewis Katz, 72, co-owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Daily News and Philly.com, died Saturday night in the crash of a private jet at a Massachusetts airfield. Katz's death was confirmed by Inquirer editor Bill Marimow, who said he learned the news Sunday morning from close associates. All seven people were killed aboard the private aircraft that crashed at Hanscom Field and erupted into a fireball, authorities said Sunday. The Gulfstream IV crashed about 9:40 p.m. Saturday as it was departing for Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey, said Matthew Brelis, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which...

Pennsylvania's Republican Gov. Tom Corbett decided not to challenge a federal judge's ruling overturning his state's same-sex marriage ban after an "immense struggle" due to "his religious beliefs based on his Catholic upbringing and teachings," an aide says. "The governor personally struggled immensely with this decision," Corbett's chief of staff, Leslie Gromis Baker, tells Philly.com. "Prior to the opinion being released, the governor was conflicted between his personal and religious beliefs based on his Catholic upbringing and teachings, and the legal arguments that were made in Judge Jones' opinion." "Given the high legal threshold set forth by Judge Jones in...

SCRANTON — A 16 year old is locked up on murder charges for the shooting death of a cab driver in Scranton. Aazis Richardson was arraigned Friday night on numerous felony charges for killing Vincent Darbenzio early Friday morning. Aazis Richardson is charged with murder in the first, second and third degrees. Police said Richardson was riding in Darbenzio’s cab when Richardson shot him because he felt the driver was trying to overcharge him. “What did you say to him when you guys were in the cab together?” Richardson was asked. “I didn’t say [expletive] to him, I just told...

Second of a two part series. Part 1 is here.) When Zimmerman Industries’ health insurance came up for renewal this year, its carrier was more than willing to continue its existing coverage. Provided, that is, Zimmerman paid double the previous premium: 100.4 percent more, to be exact.