Free Republic

It would not be an exaggeration to say we could see abortion for any reason during all nine months of pregnancy in Pennsylvania if the three state Supreme Court Justices up for retention are re-elected. The vote is November 4th. Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht have been brazen in their promotion of abortion. Their TV ads gleefully proclaim their support for abortion, even though one would expect judges to be fair and impartial. As a result, the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation Political Action Committee is urging “No” votes for the 10-year retention of Justices Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht....

Rep. Thomas Massie has remarried a little more than a year after his wife of 35 years died. The libertarian (R-Ky), who has been blasted as a “loser” by President Trump, confirmed Monday that he wed former Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky) staffer Carolyn Grace Moffa — and “of course” raw milk was served at the wedding, he said. Paul and GOP reps. Jim Jordan, Warren Davidson, Marjorie Taylor Green and Victoria Spartz all attended the Oct. 19 ceremony in Pennsylvania, where his new wife is from, he said. Massie’s late wife and mother of his four children, Rhonda Massie, died...

Voters on Tuesday will choose either Democrat Corey O’Connor, the Allegheny County controller, or Republican Tony Moreno, a former Pittsburgh police officer, as Pittsburgh’s next mayor. O’Connor, 41, of Point Breeze, is a former city councilman and son of the late Mayor Bob O’Connor. He defeated incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey for the Democratic nomination in the May primary. Moreno, 57, of Brighton Heights, spent 24 years on the Pittsburgh police force. He came in third in the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary — behind Gainey and then-Mayor Bill Peduto — before running as a Republican in the general election, again losing...

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman noted Saturday night on Fox News Channel’s “My View with Lara Trump,” hosted by the president’s daughter-in-law, that he’ll “get grief” for sitting down with her. Still, he said, having conversations is “really important.” “We can’t ever collectively turn our back to others and people are increasingly forgetting to remember that we really need each other,” Fetterman said. Both Democrats and Republicans are feeling the effects of a federal government shutdown. Fetterman was one of three Democrats to side with a Republican bill that would’ve paid certain federal workers during the shutdown. “I’ve been really consistent...

A 13-year-old girl from East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, who went missing in October, has been recovered after being found hidden in a box covered by a sheet in the basement of a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home. The teen was last seen at the Greyhound bus station in Baton Rouge after traveling from Columbus, Georgia. Authorities traced her through online activity, discovering she had been in contact with 26-year-old Ki-Shawn Crumity via Snapchat. Crumity allegedly lured her by promising to help her get adopted by a trusted adult. The girl was transported from Baton Rouge to Georgia by 62-year-old Ronald Smith...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said Democrats need to “own” the government shutdown as the impasse has now stretched over a month. Fetterman, one of the few in his party who has broken with Democrats and voted to reopen the government, was asked about the shutdown during a Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. He said it is “deeply distressing” that 42 million people are losing food stamp benefits. “And now that’s one of the big reasons why I refuse to shutting our government down,” he said. “And again, I feel like the Democrats really need to own...

A Pennsylvania diocese has apologized for a shocking grade school Halloween parade float that displayed a replica of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp gate. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg formally apologized Friday for the offensive float’s appearance during Thursday evening’s Halloween parade. Bishop Timothy Senior said he was “shocked and appalled to learn” the float entered by the St. Joseph Catholic School in Hanover, which resembled the Auschwitz Concentration Camp gate, included the words “Arbeit Macht Frei.” The German phrase — translating to “Work Makes You Free” — was prominently displayed at World War II-era concentration camps across Europe, including...

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed a disaster declaration over SNAP funding, which is in danger of being cut off on Saturday due to the federal government shutdown. What the declaration does The declaration makes $5 million in state money immediately available to food banks. Shapiro made the announcement at a Friday afternoon news conference in Philadelphia. You can watch his complete remarks in the video player above. "Nearly two million Pennsylvanians rely on SNAP every month — and they shouldn’t have to wonder where their next meal will come from because of the dysfunction in Washington," Shapiro...

A mass email sent Friday to the University of Pennsylvania community called the Ivy League school an “elitist institution” with terrible security practices, according to a copy of the email shared with PennLive. The email, sent on Penn Graduate School of Education (GSE) letterhead, also included expletives and a slur, and said UPenn “love[s] breaking federal laws.” “We hire and admit morons because we love legacies, donors, and unqualified affirmative action admits,” the email reads in part.

HARRISBURG — How much are state and national groups spending to flood the airwaves, fill mailboxes, and buy up digital ads ahead of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention elections? That’s a harder question to answer than you might think, thanks to a mix of lagging reporting, weakly enforced rules, and a campaign finance system that requires little transparency. Many groups are trying to sway voters through independent expenditures — money spent without coordinating with the candidates’ campaigns. These expenditures are often made by groups that can’t legally give to candidates, including dark money nonprofits that don’t have to disclose their...

A set of extreme abortion bills in Pennsylvania could make the Keystone State one of the most radical pro-abortion states in the country if legislators carry them through both chambers. The Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee voted October 22 to advance seven bills that protect, grow, and subsidize the abortion industry. The bills passed in a 14 to 12 vote, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans against and all seven aim to thwart anyone who would disrupt the pro-abortion agenda. All 14 Democrat legislators on the Judiciary Committee are endorsed by and have received funds from Planned Parenthood's Political...

The entitled son of top lawyer has been arrested after he tried to evade police by mowing down two officers with his white Mercedes G-Wagen in Pennsylvania. Dalton Janiczek, 21, was charged with attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and was arraigned on Saturday. The drama unfolded on October 24, when a sergeant attempted to stop Janiczek's car - but the vehicle sped away, driving erratically at a high speed while crossing over a concrete median, police said. Police tracked the car down to a parking lot near the...

At least one person was killed and six others injured in a shooting at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University Saturday night, during the historically Black university’s Homecoming weekend, according to officials. A total of seven people were hit with gunfire outside the school’s International Cultural Center, authorities told reporters at news conference early Sunday. “We’re devastated to announce tonight that one person has died, six other people have been struck by gunfire,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said at the conference, without detailing the conditions of the injured. One person who was carrying a gun has been detained, the district...

Sen. John Fetterman calls on Republicans to “nuke the filibuster” during a Fox News interview, arguing the Senate should eliminate its own power to halt spending bills. ======================================================================== Democrat Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania called on Republicans to “nuke the filibuster” when it comes to government funding votes, effectively stripping the upper chamber of its own power to halt federal spending. During an interview with Kayleigh McEnany, Fetterman argued that the Senate should carve out an exception to the filibuster rule for budget and appropriations bills, saying that doing so would make it “almost impossible” for either party to force...

United States Attorney David Metcalf announced an indictment against a drug trafficking organization operating in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. The indictment charges 33 alleged members of the Weymouth Street Drug Trafficking Organization with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and dozens of related offenses. U.S. Attorney Metcalf discussed the case alongside FBI Director Kash Patel, FBI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Wayne Jacobs, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, and assisting federal and state law enforcement partners. The indictment alleges that, from about January 2016 through October 2025, the Weymouth Street Drug Trafficking Organization distributed fentanyl, heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine...

A Republican measure that would pay essential government employees faltered in the Senate, and the G.O.P. blocked a pair of Democratic bills to pay a broader swath of workers.Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked legislation to pay federal employees who have been working without compensation during the government shutdown, thwarting Republicans’ latest effort to weaken their hand in the federal spending fight. The defeat was part of a series of failed partisan votes on the 23rd day of the government shutdown that underscored the depth of the prolonged impasse, with neither Republicans nor Democrats showing any indication that they planned to...

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told "Hannity" Wednesday he’s willing to "pay a price" to help reopen the government, even if it means breaking with his party, as the shutdown stretches into its fourth week. "I am always going to vote country over my party and if I pay a price within my base, that's something I am willing to do," Fetterman said. Fetterman has been outspoken in his criticism of the shutdown, vocalizing his priorities to fund the military and Capitol Police over party politics. He noted that he's one of only two Democrats voting to keep the government open....

I don't know, man. This smells like a trap, even if Sen. John Fetterman offers this honestly. Ever since September 30, the Senate has had a clean continuing resolution on the table that will allow for several weeks of negotiations on the FY2026 budget. Senate Democrats refuse to end their filibuster, demanding well over a trillion dollars' worth of concessions, including the effective repeal of key parts of the GOP's reconciliation package that passed over the summer. For three weeks, Chuck Schumer has kept the government (mainly) shut down, and still refuses to consider ending the impasse. One big part...

Philadelphia’s George Soros-backed District Attorney Larry Krasner is facing mounting backlash after a repeat offender — previously released on low bail and freed when Krasner’s office dropped kidnapping and assault charges — was charged in the disappearance of Miss USA hopeful Kada Scott, 23, whose remains were found over the weekend. At a tense Friday news conference, Krasner blamed "systemic issues" for the suspect’s earlier release on bail — a defense that drew immediate rebuke from victims’ advocates and court officials, who accused the DA of dodging responsibility. Prosecutors have now filed additional charges against 21-year-old Keon King, escalating the...

The potential closure of a Mon Valley frozen food processing plant will create a “territorial disaster” for the 252 workers – many of them immigrants – who are employed there, according to a Pittsburgh immigration attorney. Facing a lawsuit for allegedly defaulting on $90 million in loans, Fourth Street Barbecue is downsizing at its two Charleroi area plants that operate under the Fourth Street Foods name by the end of the month, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the state. Closure of the plants is possible, according to the notice. Immigration attorney Joe Murphy...