Free Republic

Columbia Borough police weren’t about to let anyone — or anything — ruin a visit from Saint Nicholas on Saturday night. Authorities say they responded to multiple calls regarding a suspect, dressed as Santa, who threatened to ruin Christmas while Saint Nicholas was distributing free Christmas trees at the Turkey Hill store located at 301 Linden Street. When they arrived, officers found the suspect attempting to escape in a multicolored tow truck belonging to Unlimited Towing. He didn’t get far, according to a Crimewatch release. The suspect was apprehended, and during a search, police said they discovered contraband (pine needles)...

New records obtained by Spotlight PA show Pennsylvania is planning to spend just shy of $1.1 million in public dollars for security upgrades to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private family home in the Philadelphia suburbs, including $311,000 for a new security system and nearly $290,000 for landscaping and other groundskeeping. The upgrades, the Shapiro administration has said, were recommended by Pennsylvania State Police after a middle-of-the-night arson attack earlier this year on the state-owned mansion for the governor some 100 miles away in Harrisburg. Shapiro and his family were asleep inside at the time, but no one was injured.

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/0903/090309la.htm Leader of ring that moved thousands of illegal aliens across U.S. sentenced to more than 6 years in prison LOS ANGELES - A Guatemalan national who helped run a Los Angeles-based organization that harbored and transported more than 9,000 illegal aliens was sentenced today to 78 months in federal prison. Francisco Andres-Francisco, 40, was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. King in Los Angeles. Andres-Francisco has been in custody since he was arrested 14 months ago in Pennsylvania after being found driving a van allegedly loaded with illegal aliens. Andres-Francisco...

Alleged gunman Luigi Mangione will be back in court Tuesday for a second day of testimony as the judge overseeing his state murder case weighs whether to throw out key evidence. On Monday, Judge Gregory Carro heard a 911 call a McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania, made telling the dispatcher some customers were concerned the alleged killer of United Healthcare Chief Executive Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot in Midtown Manhattan, was in the restaurant. Two corrections officers who work at SCI Huntingdon, the state prison where Mangione was held until he was extradited to New York to face charges,...

“I’m thankful for my health” is a common refrain heard around the Thanksgiving table. But for Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, the feeling is a bit more complicated. David J. Garrow reviews the senator’s frank memoir, Unfettered. “An October 25 debate against Oz was a disaster. ‘My nerves beat me down. I had wilted. I’d choked,’ and in its wake ‘I had mentally collapsed.’ Now ‘I never thought I would win’ the race to become a senator, which felt all well and good since ‘I didn’t deserve to be one.’ But win Fetterman did, by a margin of more than 250,000 votes,...

The latest brutal act of Afghan refugee terrorism claimed the lives of two brave members of the National Guard in D.C.. Since their arrival in the United States, Afghan ‘refugees’ have been involved in violent attacks, in assorted crimes, and in sexual assaults on women and girls.The attack by Rahmanullah Lakanwal took place a mere week after another Afghan, Abdullah Haji Zada, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the Election Day plot.Abdullah and Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, his Afghan brother-in-law, a former ‘guard’ at an American facility in Afghanistan, had plotted a mass shooting attack directed at “large groups...

Inside a West Philadelphia hair salon Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a law solidifying protections against hair discrimination in the state. The CROWN Act, which stands for "Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair," prohibits discrimination based on a person's hairstyle, type or texture. Pennsylvania is the 28th state to pass a version of the CROWN Act. "This is a place where the community gets nurtured, and folks get to walk in and walk out looking and feeling their absolute best," Shapiro said. "I think that's noble work." "Wearing our crown is very important to me," said...

Pennsylvania has joined 27 other states across the country in officially prohibiting discrimination based on a person's hair type, texture or style. On Tuesday, Nov. 25, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro joined fellow lawmakers at Island Design Natural Hair Studio in West Philadelphia to sign House Bill 439 -- or, Pennsylvania's version of The CROWN Act -- which is legislation intended to ban discrimination in schools and the workplace based on hairstyles. The bill, Shapiro said, would help address an issue that disproportionately impacts Black Pennsylvanians who wear their hair in "protected styles like locks, natural braids or twists

Prosecutors announced they will be seeking the death penalty for a Pennsylvania man accused of raping and killing his 2-year-old son in August. The McKean County District Attorney’s Office announced the filing on Monday against 33-year-old Tyler Prescott of Bradford, citing four reasons that support the commonwealth’s first execution this century. That sentence, however, would hinge on Prescott being convicted of first-degree murder, which is the only crime that can be punished by death according to PA law, but also comes with an alternative sentence of life in prison. McKean County DA Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer said the Commonwealth will list the...

Willie Jordan, 68, of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to one year in prison, one year of supervised release, $142,991 in restitution, and forfeiture of $142,991 by United States District Judge Harvey Bartle III for two separate fraud schemes. The defendant was charged by information with two counts of wire fraud and pleaded guilty in July of this year. As detailed in court filings and statements made in court, Jordan was a deacon and trustee for Religious Organization #1, located in Philadelphia, Pa. Jordan was responsible for managing and overseeing various financial matters involving Religious Organization #1, including collecting funds...

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman is breaking with veteran party strategist James Carville, arguing that Democrats should “win more elections” rather than change the rules. His remarks come as a response to Carville’s recent calls to pack the Supreme Court and confront the party’s “identity left.” “I strongly rejected trying to pack the Supreme Court or to change those things,” Fetterman said on “Saturday in America.” “When I ran for the Senate back in the ‘21, ’22, I rejected those things,” he added. The difference in opinion between Carville and Fetterman underscores a growing divide within the Democratic Party between reformers...

Several congressional Democrats filed police complaints over social media posts from President Donald Trump calling for them to face arrest and even punishment by death after they advised U.S. service members to defy illegal orders. At least three lawmakers — Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) — said they contacted U.S. Capitol Police and filed complaints about Trump’s threats, which they said has undermined their personal safety and the safety of their offices. Though the complaints are unlikely to result in any further action by Capitol Police, it marks an escalation in the tensions simmering...

The Pennsylvania Working Families Party says it will support a primary challenger against Democrat Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman in 2028. "We're primarying John Fetterman. Last week, Fetterman once again sold out working Pennsylvanians. He was the deciding vote for a Republican budget bill that will strip healthcare from over 400,000 Pennsylvanians. We deserve real working-class leadership in the U.S. Senate, not a Trump-enabling Democrat," the group said in a social media post. "We're training potential candidates, recruiting volunteers, and soliciting donations to help us defeat him," it added. The party has not yet fielded a candidate. Fetterman has, on occasion,...

Fox News national correspondent Alexis McAdams reports on the Butler shooting case as former Deputy Asst. Attorney General John Yoo reacts to a new report on Thomas Crooks’ online activity. (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) New details emerging about the man who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. The White House says Americans need to know what happened, and so does the president. There are so many questions out there. And I mean, you know, did he act alone, et cetera? And it's, you know, it's over a year, it's 16 months now....

The Trump administration is issuing a $1 billion loan to help finance the restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant.Three Mile Island was the name of a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, one of whose reactors partially melted down in 1979, becoming one of the U.S.’s highest profile nuclear incidents.Last year, Microsoft and Constellation Energy announced a deal to reopen an unaffected reactor at the plant to power data centers. It was last operational in 2019. The Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it was closing a $1 billion loan with Constellation to help finance the project, known...

A new bombshell has dropped in the case of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the individual who attempted to assassinate President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year. Ever since the shooting, questions have remained about Crooks’ motive and his history. The government has not exactly been forthcoming with information about the would-be assassin. But a New York Post report has revealed details that have been hidden until now. Then-FBI Director Chris Wray told Congress after the July 13, 2024, attack that the bureau had found nothing in Crooks’ online history that pointed to a motive or political...

A mother and son face felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from an investigation into ballot tampering at a West Scranton polling place during the Nov. 4 municipal election. The Lackawanna County district attorney’s office charged Kathie Sico, 67, and Michael Sico, 46, both of Chestnut Street, Dunmore. The probe began after the county Bureau of Elections received a report from a voter who alleged they were handed a ballot with Kathie Sico’s name already written in for judge of election for Scranton Ward 6 Precinct 1. The election bureau referred the complaint about the incident, which occurred at the Jackson...

Washington — Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has been hospitalized after a fall near his home, which caused minor injuries to his face, his spokesman said in a statement posted on social media. Fetterman fell to the ground after feeling light-headed, which was due to a ventricular fibrillation flare-up, the statement said. Ventricular fibrillation is a type of irregular heartbeat. Fetterman is remaining at the hospital for observation so doctors can "fine-tune" his medications. "During an early morning walk, Senator Fetterman sustained a fall near his home in Braddock," his spokesperson said. The statement continued: "Out of an abundance of...

Sen. John Fetterman's office said the Pennsylvania Democrat is under "routine observation" in a Pittsburgh hospital after he fell during an early morning walk Thursday near his home in Braddock, Pennsylvania. "It was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries," a statement from his office said. Fetterman opted to stay in the hospital so doctors can "fine-tune his medication regimen," the statement said.

The state’s core program to close its psychiatric hospitals and shift care to less-restrictive community programs — the centerpiece of its legal obligation to people with severe mental illness — has instead been used for the past decade to do the opposite, a Spotlight PA investigation has found. Created more than 30 years ago, the Community Hospital Integration Project Program, or CHIPP, was designed to get people and dollars out of restrictive and expensive state-run psychiatric hospitals and into more effective, community-based care. The money saved by closing hospital beds would be sent to counties. Former state officials told Spotlight...