Free Republic

The Republican National Committee was dealt a blow by a unanimous decision of the Third Circuit Appeals Court in the RNC's effort to discard undated and misdated ballots in Pennsylvania. The three-judge panel said in the 55-page ruling that the affected ballots needed to be counted and failing to do so was unconstitutional. Pennsylvania voters are required to write the date on the envelope for their mail-in ballots. "The date requirement imposes a burden on Pennsylvanians' constitutional right to vote," the court ruling reads. "And it culminates in county election boards discarding thousands of ballots each time an election is...

The tallest of Snow White’s dwarfs is not tall. The cheapest Tesla is not “cheap.” And, moderate Democrats are not “moderates.” Not by any standard of what we used to mean by moderate. Pennsylvania’s two leading Democrats — Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator John Fetterman — underscore it. Even if one believes they say moderate things, compared to their fellow Democrats, their votes and records prove they’re not moderates. Any attempt to label them moderates is an attempt not only to mask their progressive views, it papers over the reality that today’s Democratic Party is built around a left-wing platform,...

--SNIP-- Almost 84 percent of SEPTA’s budget comes from taxpayer subsidies, not riders. And they still can’t make it work — and have shown little willingness to embrace reality and change. SEPTA is pretending to be “broke” to cause crises to get more taxpayer money. They have $400 million in reserves and millions more in designated taxpayer funding. The present system cannot be supported without a never-ending, ever-growing annual subsidy from non-riders needed to prop up an outdated, non-customer friendly, bureaucratic, politically operated, unaccountable system. They want money, not reform. Democratic politicians — from Shapiro to the state House, to...

Villanova University was the victim of an active shooter hoax for the second time in less than a week — prompting a police sweep Sunday morning before authorities confirmed the threat was bogus, according to officials. “Radnor Township Police Department is on location at Villanova University Austin Hall for a reported active shooter,” the department said in a social media post around 11:40 a.m. “Law enforcement has confirmed the call to be false,” Radnor police added.

James Kpou was clutching his “senior citizen” fare card for this city’s vast network of buses, subways and light rail trains when he heard the announcement this week over the intercom at the 69th Street Transit Center. “Due to a lack of funding, reduced service on all Metro lines begins Aug. 24,” the announcement said. ---SNIP--- Transit agencies also can no longer rely on the billions of dollars of aid they received during the pandemic from the federal government. Philadelphia received $1.5 billion in federal funds, which were spent by June 2024. Meanwhile, fare revenue has climbed back to just...

The Benedictine Sisters of Erie, falsely charged with election fraud ahead of the 2024 election, are the recipients of a prestigious national award for political courage. The nuns are the 2025 winners of the Margaret Chase Smith American Democracy Award from the National Association of Secretaries of State. Other recipients of the award include President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and civil rights activist Rosa Parks. “The good Sisters earned this award by courageously challenging political disinformation when they were targeted with false charges of voter fraud just before the 2024 election,” said Pennsylvania Secretary of...

Villanova University reported an active shooter alert through its Nova Alert system on Thursday, urging students and staff to lock and barricade doors. The university said to move to a secure location and stay clear of Law School Scarpa Hall. The Radnor Township Police Department said it is at the scene and asked all nearby residents and students to shelter in place.

Residents in Philadelphia's Fishtown and Port Richmond neighborhoods are facing safety concerns as thieves continue to strip copper wiring from streetlights, leaving streets significantly darker and more dangerous. The thefts have been ongoing for about a year, affecting multiple blocks and council districts.

A U.S. district court decided on Wednesday to strike down a 2017 federal regulation that exempted religious employers from the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for employer-sponsored health insurance to cover the cost of contraception. If the ruling holds, religious non-profit organizations such as the Little Sisters of the Poor may now be required to file for an accommodation process with the government that still maintains employees’ access to contraception without the religious organization having to pay. For-profit employers would have access to no religious exemption from the mandate whatsoeve

Rescue crews raced to save multiple people trapped beneath the rubble after an explosion at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh on Monday, an official said. The blast happened just before 11 a.m. at the Clairton Coke Works. Abigail Gardner, director of communications for Allegheny County, told The Associated Press there are no confirmed fatalities yet.

As attention has turned to Washington, DC and crime in the district in the wake of a former DOGE employee being attacked, it has been revealed that a commander with the Metropolitan Police Department was placed on paid administrative leave in mid-May after being accused of falsifying crime data. Commander Michael Pulliam was placed on leave and under investigation for questionable changes to crime data, five law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation told NBC 4. Pulliam was the commander of the 3rd District, which patrols the Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. [snip] The police union has accused Pulliam...

Americans from out of state still would have to pay higher tuition price Anyone who has lived in Pennsylvania for at least 12 months “regardless of immigration status” would be eligible for in-state tuition under a new bill. Introduced by state Rep. Greg Scott, D-Conshohocken, House Bill 1762 would include illegal immigrants among those eligible for the lower cost tuition price at public colleges and universities, Campus Reform reports. Last week, the bill was referred to the House Education Committee for consideration. Scott described the current in-state tuition law as “exclusionary” in a co-sponsorship memo with state Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz,...

A bronze statue of a man who lost his life during an attempted assassination of Donald Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania in July 2024 has been placed at the site. Corey Comperatore, 50, a volunteer firefighter and former chief, was shot and killed when Thomas M. Crooks, 20, opened fire during a Trump campaign rally in Butler July 13, 2024. Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks less than 30 seconds after he opened fire. A statue of Comperatore was installed near the entrance to the 77th annual Butler Farm Show. The statue shows Comperatore wearing his...

Two Pennsylvania state troopers were shot on Thursday morning in northeastern Pennsylvania. The troopers were taken to a local hospital. Their conditions are not known. “Pennsylvania state police are investigating the incident that saw two state troopers shot while responding to a call in Northeastern Susquehanna County,” Fox 29 reported. “About an hour ago in Susquehanna County, two state troopers were shot. Lori and I are praying for those troopers,” Pennsylvania’s Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro said, according to the Associated Press. WATCH: VIDEO AT LINK................ DEVELOPING…

A potential 2028 Democratic presidential nominee has joined a lawsuit that would block President Trump from placing a ban on sex change surgeries for minors. He then took it even farther and criticized his state's Senate bill that would ban biological men from competing in women's sports. The Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said: I am suing the Trump administration alongside 16 other states for threatening baseless civil investigations and criminal prosecutions against healthcare providers in Pennsylvania and trying to take medical decisions away from parents and local communities. The freedom to make...

— Former Mayor Jim Kenney violated the City Charter when he signed a 2021 executive order replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day, a Commonwealth Court panel said Wednesday. In a unanimous decision, the seven appeals court judges found that by eliminating a city holiday and creating a new one, Kenney engaged in “lawmaking” that is reserved to City Council. “It therefore runs afoul of the separation of powers inherent in the Charter and, accordingly, is invalid,” Judge Patricia McCullough wrote in the opinion. The judges pointed out that federal holidays are established by Congress, and state holidays by the...

HARRISON CITY, Pennsylvania -- Eileen Cunningham is a mother of four and grandmother of three with another on the way. The wife of "Goose" Cunningham -- when you are from Hazelwood, everyone has a nickname -- possesses the unique quality of bringing people together to form communities. How? The natural athlete coached girls' hockey, track and field, cross country and basketball at the school her children attended when no one else stepped up. An engineer by trade, a substitute teacher by design, she also coached coed soccer and even cheerleading at the same school district. If your child has ever...

Several other states are also facing new scrutiny as the Trump administration refocuses election-law enforcement... The U.S. Department of Justice is asking Pennsylvania for a wide range of information on how it manages voter registration and voter rolls, as part of what it calls “nationwide efforts” to monitor compliance with a key federal voting statute. In a June 23 letter to Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, the department asked for 14 categories of information on the state’s voter registration activities, including how voters are added to and removed from the voter roll, and how the state prevents unauthorized...

President Trump on Tuesday afternoon threating to federalize DC over out-of-control crime. “Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. Local “youths” and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released. They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now! The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these “minors” as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14. The...

If a gang of white people stalked and beat a black couple on the streets of Cincinnati, we all know what would happen. Politicians would be wearing kente cloth scarves, taking knees, begging for forgiveness that white people exist, and preparing scaffolds for the perpetrators. There would be marches, speeches, yet another national reckoning on race, and endless think pieces in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and a 60,000-word essay in The New Yorker about the horrors of white supremacy in America. But in this case, the perpetrators were black thugs and the victims a middle-aged white couple, so...