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HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- Gov. Tom Wolf will go through with a veto of a bill that would give school districts the sole ability to make decisions on sports, including whether and how many spectators to allow, he said Monday. The Wolf administration's gathering limits of 25 people indoors and 250 people outdoors apply to youth sports, but legislation that cleared the state House and Senate would empower schools to make their own rules about the number of spectators permitted at games. Some families have chafed at the statewide limits, saying attendance could safely be expanded while still allowing for adequate...

Gov. Tom Wolf is changing the time for last call in bars and restaurants, but it won’t be as early as he had previously indicated. The governor signed an order Thursday putting a halt to sales of alcoholic drinks in bars and restaurants at 11 p.m., beginning Monday, Sept. 21. Customers will have until midnight to finish their drinks. Wolf had previously said the cut-off would be at 10 p.m. to reduce congregating at bars and restaurants, a measure designed to limit the spread of the coronavirus. As he previously said he would, Wolf is allowing restaurants and bars can...

Pennsylvania members of the Committee to Protect Medicare said Thursday that politically-motivated attacks on Gov. Tom Wolf’s actions to control COVID-19 are a danger to their patients and all state residents. They said they are speaking out because of this week’s opinion by a federal judge which said restrictions including the state-wide state-at-home order were unconstitutional. The lawsuit was driven by Republicans who echo views similar to President Donald Trump, who pressed Wolf and other governor’s to “reopen” their states even as COVID-19 cases were rising and public health officials feared hospitals would be overwhelmed. “As physicians, we’re concerned that...

Does the Wuhan virus, which arguably escaped from a Chinese virology lab, supersede the rights guaranteed to American citizens under the U.S. Constitution? U.S. Federal District Judge William Stickman IV has ruled in a case brought before him that there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and that the Bill of Rights cannot be trampled with impunity whenever there is a health emergency leftist ideologues try to exploit to impose their desired control over every aspect of our daily lives. As Reason Magazine reports: A federal judge on Monday has ruled that lockdown restrictions imposed by Pennsylvania Gov....

Restaurants in Pennsylvania are being asked to self-certify with the state that they are following the COVID-19 guidelines. And those that do will be permitted to increase their capacity. The self-certification for restaurants requires them to submit online through the DCED’s website that they meet all of the state’s coronavirus prevention guidelines. The submission form will be available online starting on September 21. “Self-certifying your establishment shows your employees and customers that you care about their health and well-being, and demonstrates your commitment to helping mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth,” said Secretary Dennis Davin of the Department...

‘The liberties protected by the Constitution are not fair-weather freedoms—in place when times are good but able to be cast aside in times of trouble.” So federal judge William Stickman IV wrote Monday in an instructive ruling that overturned Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s use of emergency power. The decision comes nearly six months after Mr. Wolf invoked police powers to impose a strict lockdown as his strategy against Covid-19. Mr. Wolf argued the case is moot since he has relaxed his orders, but Judge Stickman noted that Mr. Wolf continues to assert that he can reinstate restrictions, as other governors...

On Monday a federal judge in western Pennsylvania ruled that parts of Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home and business closure orders in response to the coronavirus pandemic were unconstitutional. The ruling was in a lawsuit filed in March by four western Pennsylvania counties and several Republican state lawmakers that claimed the governor’s orders violated the First Amendment as well as the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. What does it mean for the average Pennsylvanian? Here’s what we know so far. Why did the judge rule the shutdown orders unconstitutional? U.S. District Judge William S. Stickman IV...

Pennsylvania was like most states at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, soon enough implementing a series of coronavirus lockdowns and related mandates that included shuttering “non-life-sustaining” businesses to curb the spread of the virus. The measures also included clamping down on gatherings of 25 people indoors and 250 people outdoors. Unfortunately, the restrictions led a group of plaintiffs including hair salons, drive-in movie theaters, as well as some Republican officeholders to file a lawsuit against Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his health secretary against measures they claimed were over-broad and infringed on their rights. And, in a bit of...

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- Gov. Tom Wolf's pandemic restrictions that required people to stay at home, placed size limits on gatherings and ordered "non-life-sustaining" businesses to shut down are unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday. U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, sided with plaintiffs that included hair salons, drive-in movie theaters, a farmer's market vendor, a horse trainer and several Republican officeholders in their lawsuit against Wolf, a Democrat, and his health secretary. The Wolf administration's pandemic policies have been overreaching and arbitrary and violated citizens' constitutional rights, Stickman wrote in his ruling. The...

House Republican legislative leaders say “a return to normalcy might be on the horizon” after reviewing U.S. Western District Judge William Stickman IV’s ruling that found Gov. Tom Wolf’s restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 to be unconstitutional. In a ruling issued on Monday, the federal judge ruled Gov. Tom Wolf’s and Health Secretary Rachel Levine’s congregate gathering, stay-at-home and business shutdown orders violated the First and Fourteenth amendments. In their reaction, House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, and House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, cited an excerpt from the judge’s opinion that highlight that a response...

Federal judge rules Gov. Wolf’s shutdown orders were unconstitutional A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Monday found that orders issued by Gov. Tom Wolf restricting the size of gatherings and closing non-essential businesses to protect against the spread of covid-19 were unconstitutional.

At its first opportunity, Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff said the chamber will attempt to override Gov. Tom Wolf's planned veto of a bill that would allow schools the choice to hold fall sports and decide how many spectators can attend them. Aug. 20, 2020 Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com The Pennsylvania House Republican leader vows a veto override vote will happen in the near future if Gov. Tom Wolf carries through with his planned veto of a bill that would give local school officials the exclusive authority to decide whether to allow sports and...

An audit that examines the consistency and fairness of Gov. Tom Wolf’s controversial coronavirus waiver process that allowed some businesses to reopen after appealing the governor’s March 19 business closure order while others were told to remain closed will be released next month. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that his auditors have collected a significant amount of data about the more than 40,000 businesses that requested waivers from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to offer an analysis about its fairness. He said his auditors are examining the consistency...

Pennsylvania restaurant and bar owners have been waiting since mid-July for Gov. Tom Wolf to relax dine-in capacity limits. Today, the governor gave his blessing, announcing that starting Sept. 21 establishments can bump up indoor seating from 25% to 50%. However, any reason to celebrate was quickly squashed when Wolf threw the industry a curveball. As part of the updated orders, establishments with liquor licenses will have to cut off booze orders at 10 p.m., while those restaurants and bars wishing to move up to 50% will need to fill out a self-certification document to be eligible. Central Pennsylvania restaurant...

Restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania are getting some relief. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced today that starting Sept. 21 establishments can increase indoor seating capacity from 25% to 50%. But Wolf also threw in an additional caveat - restaurants with alcohol sales will have to cut off booze sales at 10 p.m. “While our aggressive and appropriate mitigation efforts have kept case counts low, we must continue to take important steps to protect public health and safety as we head into the fall. At the same time, we must also support the retail food services industry that has struggled throughout...

LATROBE, Pa. — A crowd of about 7,000 people gathered at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe Thursday night to watch President Donald Trump’s speech ahead of the November elections. The airport estimated that 5,000 people were on the field and inside the event -- with an extra 2,000 surrounding the airport and 900 of those estimated to be sitting in the hangar when the president spoke. Thousands of people were shuttled in, standing to watch Trump’s 90 minute speech. The majority of those in attendance were not wearing face masks or within six feet of each other, so why...

For the second time since the first two presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus appeared in Pennsylvania on March 6, Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday renewed the state’s disaster declaration for the pandemic for another 90 days. “As we approach the six-month mark of this crisis, I continue to be amazed at the resiliency and strength shown by Pennsylvanians during this pandemic,” Wolf said in a statement. “We are going to continue to combat the health and economic effects of COVID-19, and the renewal of my disaster declaration will provide us with resources and support needed for this effort.” This...

Sen. Pat Toomey and Rep. Scott Perry on Wednesday took aim at the Wolf administration’s handling of the coronavirus, blaming it for what they said was a weak state economic recovery. At a press conference in York attended by about two dozen business leaders and elected officials, the two Republican lawmakers criticized some of the restrictions and measures rolled out by Gov. Tom Wolf intended to mitigate the spread of the highly contagious virus. Toomey first outlined the federal response to the pandemic, including the release of trillions of dollars to states under the CARES Act, which he said significantly...

The Justice Department is seeking data about “orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents,” sending letters Wednesday to the governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Officials say Wednesday that the Justice Department’s civil rights division is evaluating whether to initiate investigations under a federal law that protects the rights of people in state-run nursing homes and other facilities. Prosecutors are trying to determine whether state orders requiring admission of COVID-19 patients to nursing homes could have led to deaths. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband says the federal government must...

Today the Justice Department requested COVID-19 data from the governors of states that issued orders which may have resulted in the deaths of thousands of elderly nursing home residents. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan required nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients to their vulnerable populations, often without adequate testing. For example, on March 25, 2020, New York ordered: “No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to [a nursing home] solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. [Nursing homes] are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for...