Free Republic

CORNWALL, Pa. — Finishing the second day of his bus tour in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, an impassioned Mitt Romney declared that he would carry the Keystone State this fall. Referencing remarks made during a warm-up speech by Rep. Jim Gerlach, in which he suggested the crowd would have to “convince” Romney that he can win Pennsylvania this fall, Romney came bounding off his bus to tweak the representative’s remarks. “He said that you guys need to convince me that I’m going to win Pennsylvania,” Romney said. “I’ve got news for you, congressman, I am going to win Pennsylvania.”

When Mitt Romney's bus tour pulls into Pennsylvania on Saturday, it will be entering a state no Republican candidate has won since George H.W. Bush in 1988. John McCain lost the state to Barack Obama by more than 10 points in 2008, and with 1 million more voters registered Democrat than Republican, it should be enemy territory for the Romney team. But Romney will make three stops there on Saturday and this time the GOP thinks it can take the state and its 20 electoral votes. The presumptive nominee is sounding confident, telling a Philadelphia radio station this week, "We...

Poll: Obama leads Romney in Pa. June 12, 2012 President Obama holds a six-point lead over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania, built on advantages among women and independents, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday. Mr. Obama leads Mr. Romney 46 percent to 40 percent, down from an eight-point margin a month ago in the same survey. The president leads among women 51 percent to 36 percent, and among independents 43 percent to 35 percent.

OHIOVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania woman has been jailed on charges she attacked her son's father with a fork used to roast marshmallows, and bit the man when he tried to remove her from the residence.Online court records don't list an attorney for 23-year-old Sarah Chambers, of Ohioville Township.The Beaver County Times (http://bit.ly/KpQAZ7 ) reports Thursday that Chambers was arrested shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday when police were called to the residence, where neighbors saw the alleged victim being bitten while he was dragging Chambers outside the house.Police say Chambers told them, "Take me to jail now" when...

Bradford County and approximately a dozen other counties across the United States are establishing an association that will advocate for the safe and responsible development of natural gas, the chairman of the Bradford County commissioners said. Increasing the production of natural gas and oil in the United States will accelerate the economic recovery, and the safe and responsible development of natural gas and oil "is critical to powering our nation's future," the Bradford County Commissioners wrote in a resolution that they plan to pass today, which will make Bradford County a member of the association. There is "a lot of...

Testimony from three more accusers Thursday included some of the most graphic details of the trial’s four days and gave the term “tickle monster” a dark, almost nefarious meaning. Jurors heard one accuser say he spent more than 100 nights at Jerry Sandusky’s home, sleeping on a waterbed in a basement room he thought was soundproof because no one heard him scream when he was assaulted. Another accuser told jurors Sandusky called himself the “tickle monster” before embracing him in a shower.

They can't even cross-examine one of the prime witnesses, a former Penn State janitor who now has dementia but alleged a particular graphic 2000 assault in a locker room shower. Judge Cleland allowed hearsay evidence to be admitted, a brutal hurdle for an already challenged defense.

PHILADELPHIA – Every pay period, the Philadelphia school district puts $155 per union member into a special fund that helps educators pay their personal legal bills, which includes everything from routine legal advice to estate planning. That single perk, nestled deep within the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers’ union contract, cost taxpayers $2.6 million during the 2010-11 school year. It also contributed to the district’s financial woes, which led to 2,200 teachers being laid off last year. The “PFT Legal Services Fund” is just one example of Philadelphia public schools’ extravagant spending practices, which are the focus of EAGnews.org’s latest investigative...

Governor Corbett's budget cuts have been the source of much debate in recent months, and today a protest in downtown Erie brought out police forces. For the past few weeks it's been peaceful protests downtown by a group calling for action against budget cuts to human services. They gathered on State Street earlier today in front of the building which houses the governor's Erie office. Within a few minutes, the protesters moved into the street, blocking traffic completely.

The San Francisco Examiner calls it a “dirty secret:” Groups of black people targeting Asians for violence, robbery and even murder. “In 85 percent of (300) physical assault crimes, the victims were Asian and the perpetrators were African American,” the newspaper said recently, citing a police study. In Philadelphia, secrets may be even more violent and widespread. Over the last three years, the Philadelphia Daily News found “at least 15 home invasions or other attacks on Asian business owners outside their businesses in Philadelphia, Delaware and Montgomery counties in 2008, followed by another spike of at least 19 actual or...

Penn State responded to Tuesday's report that former university vice president Gary Schultz kept a secret file on former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and related allegations of sex abuse. "The University has responded to several subpoenas and gathered documents from many sources across the institution," spokesman Dave La Torre said in a statement. "As soon as any relevant documents were discovered, the University immediately provided them to the office of the Attorney General and the Freeh Group. ... New evidence surfaced Tuesday morning involving former Penn State vice president Gary Schultz. According to KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, the State Attorney...

For much of the presidential campaign, President Obama’s top strategists have outlined their numerous paths to 270 electoral votes: win Florida, sweep the Southwest, or pick off a Southern state or two. But they didn’t prepare for the possibility that working-class white voters in the Rust Belt could abandon the president en masse, throwing his well-laid plans into disarray. With the economy struggling to pick up steam, three must-win “blue-wall” states are looking increasingly winnable for the Romney campaign: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Both election results (from the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall) and reputable polling show that all three states are...

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Documents filed by the Attorney General’s office indicate new evidence has been uncovered against several former Penn State officials, including Graham Spanier and Gary Schultz. In documents obtained by KDKA-TV investigators, the Attorney General’s Office indicates former vice president Schultz kept a secret file with allegations regarding Sandusky and sex abuse. This comes after an NBC report alleges Spanier did not report alleged abuse because it would be humane to Sandusky to not report the matter. “Only recently was the commonwealth provided with a file containing documents relating to incidents involving Sandusky,” a statement from the Attorney...

York, PA - When Blaine Bosserman was searching for an apartment, he stayed with his mother until he could find a building that allowed smoking. And when he settled upon a high rise in the 400 block of East King Street owned by York's housing authority, Bosserman, 45, made sure there were no conditions in the lease that would prevent him from lighting up inside. But a proposed ban on smoking in the York Housing Authority's 1,068 units countywide could soon force Bosserman to extinguish his cigarettes. Pending approval of the authority's board and the U.S. Department of Housing and...

Sharon Needles, the spooky drag queen who vaulted to national cult celebrity as the winner of Season 4 of "RuPaul's Drag Race," was presented with an official proclamation declaring today "Sharon Needles Day in Pittsburgh" at a City Council meeting this morning. "This is a city of champions in many regards," Councilman Patrick Dowd said, mentioning the Steelers and first-place Pirates. "We have a real champion in the room today." Mr. Dowd praised the Bloomfield resident for her fearlessness as an artist and for speaking out against bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. "A win for Sharon Needles...

Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary told jurors in Jerry Sandusky's sex abuse trial today that he saw his ex-colleague with a boy in an on-campus shower after hearing 'skin-on-skin smacking sounds'. His account of the night differed little from his appearance in December at a preliminary hearing for Penn State administrators Tim Curley and Gary Schultz. The one difference: He said the shower encounter took place in 2001 instead of 2002.

A measure that would open Lancaster city and other municipalities to lawsuits from gun advocates is moving forward in the state Legislature. Senate Bill 273, first proposed last year as an extension of the "castle doctrine," has been rewritten and reintroduced with language allowing lawsuits against cities, townships and boroughs that attempt to regulate guns. In the cross hairs of the bill are ordinances passed by Lancaster and 29 other municipalities that require gun owners to report if their gun has been lost or stolen. Lancaster City Council passed its ordinance in 2009 in an attempt to address illegal gun...

The latest poll in Pennsylvania gives President Barack Obama a six point lead over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney, though voters in the Keystone State say Romney would do a better job fixing the nation's troubled economy. The poll from Quinnipiac University indicated Obama leading Romney 46%-40%. The president's lead was bolstered by strong advantages over Romney among women and independents – 51% of women back Obama, compared to 36% who support Romney. Forty-three percent of independents say they would vote for Obama, compared to 35% who would go for Romney. Voters were more confident in how a President Romney...

Unionized cafeteria workers in one western Pennsylvania school district have won the right to eat expired food for free - at their own risk. The Herald of Sharon, Pa., reports Monday (http://bit.ly/LDdM6d ) that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a grievance against the Sharpsville Area School District last year after school officials "violated established past practice" by no longer allowing workers to eat the expired food for free. SNIP Under the agreement, food items that are past their expiration date or reheated in a way that they can no longer be served to students may...

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier could face criminal charges in relation to the Jerry Sandusky case now that prosecutors have uncovered new evidence, NBC News reported this morning. According to NBC, prosecutors uncovered emails sent in 2001 in relation to what former assistant coach Mike McQueary reported he saw in a Lasch Building shower. McQueary, a graduate assistant at the time, testified that he saw Sandusky doing something that appeared to be "severe" and "sexual" in nature. Emails uncovered by investigators suggest Spanier conferred with former Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz, saying it would be...