Free Republic

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

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...

Pennsylvania voters on Tuesday opted to retain three Democrat justices on the state Supreme Court, preserving a 5-2 liberal majority that pro-life advocates warn will expand abortion access to any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy. With more than 54% of the vote tallied, 62.3% voted yes to retain Justice Christine Donohue, 62.5% for Justice Kevin Dougherty and 62.4% for Justice David Wecht. The outcome ensures Democrats maintain control of the court, which pro-life groups had urged voters to reject as a direct threat to unborn children. The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, in a pre-election alert, called on voters to...

---SNIP--- The documents — which were released by the alleged hacker on LeakForum and reviewed by The Daily Pennsylvanian — include internal University talking points, memos about donors and their families, receipts of bank transactions, and personal identifying information. In a message accompanying the data, the group claimed that it gained “full access” to a University employee’s PennKey account and export data on “1.2 million University of Pennsylvania students, alumni, and donors” from University databases

Pennsylvania voters have rejected a Republican effort to remove three Democrats from the state Supreme Court. The stakes of Tuesday’s election were high: Had Pennsylvanians voted to remove the justices, the court would have gone from a seven-member Democratic majority to a four-member group with a complete ideological split. The three justices’ vacant seats would not have been filled until another election at the end of 2027. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court regularly holds these kinds of votes for its justices. The justices are first selected in partisan elections, but at the end of their 10-year terms, voters then decide whether to...

A Democrat trans activist has won the mayoral race in Downingtown, PA, a small town of about 9,000 people in Chester County, west of Philadelphia. Deuso defeated Republican Richard Bryant. Erica Deuso, who is openly transgender, had recently suggested armed violence against the federal government after footage came out of illegal immigrants being detained. “Tonight, the numbers are clear,” Deuso stated early Wednesday morning, according to WHYY. “We won. Voters chose hope, decency, and a community where every neighbor matters. I am honored to be elected as Pennsylvania’s first openly transgender mayor. I carry that responsibility with care and with...

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 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...

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...

The Chester County District Attorney said the violence may have included multiple shooters. One person alleged to have a gun was in custody, the D.A. said. One person is dead and at least six others were wounded in a shooting amid homecoming festivities Saturday night at Lincoln University, one of the nation's first historically Black colleges, authorities said. One person alleged to have a gun has been taken into custody, Chester County District Attorney Chris de Barrena-Sarobe said during an overnight news conference on campus. He said it was possible someone else may have opened fire as well, but investigators...

A Lebanon County woman who describes herself as a devout Christian was suspended from work after she refused to escort a transgender woman to a women’s locker room at a spa operated by the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. Middle District court.

The bills would return Pennsylvania to the Kermit Gosnell era, with legal protections for abortionists and late-term abortions.The Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee votes on a package of six bills Wednesday that will make it possible for pregnant Pennsylvania women to kill their unborn babies up to birth. It will also turn Pennsylvania into an abortion tourism destination, allowing women from states with stronger pro-life rules to kill their babies in Pennsylvania with no legal entanglements. Currently Pennsylvania bans abortion after 24 weeks (six months), though even then state law makes an exception “when the pregnancy poses a serious health risk...

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...

The Philadelphia Police Department is solving so many homicides and arresting suspects at nearly the same rate as the force was about four decades ago, according to a new report from The Philadelphia Inquirer. Homicide clearance rates have hovered between 86 and 91 percent this year, which is the highest it has since the department reached 95 percent in 1984. Technological advancements, including license plate readers and high-definition surveillance cameras have assisted the department greatly. The tools, along with social media and cell phone location analysis, not only provide more evidence for cases, but also make the crimes get solved...

Early voting commenced in Pennsylvania yesterday, the same day Charlie Kirk would have turned 32. So Scott Presler came to the heart of Doylestown to celebrate the life and work of the late MAGA lion in a way Presler believes his friend would have loved. “The world is watching how we respond to Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” Presler said. “We’re not going to respond with violence; we’re not going to respond with burning down buildings; we’re not going to respond with anything other than peace. And also, we fight with ballots, not bullets.” The seasoned activist observed that turnout inevitably drops...

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, during an appearance on Meet the Press with Kristen Welker, said the Trump administration is trying to “stifle dissent” following ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. “Without question, they’re trying to stifle dissent,” Shapiro said after noting that selectively firing people for their viewpoints is “dangerous.” The indefinite suspension of Kimmel’s show came after his Monday night monologue about the 22-year-old man accused of shooting and killing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. On Wednesday afternoon, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr on a conservative podcast threatened to cancel ABC affiliate broadcast...

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro confirmed he is on his way to a shooting that happened in York County on Wednesday involving multiple law enforcement officers.

A Montgomery County official is under fire from both sides of the aisle after making comments that critics say glorified violence in the wake of the killing of far-right activist and media figure Charlie Kirk. ---SNIP--- "I’m so tired of being told that violence isn’t the answer," Stomsky wrote. "I'm so tired of being told we have to be better than the other side...History is filled with blood, so stop being so (expletive) righteous and squeamish, and climb out of the (expletive) pot before it boils you." She added further that Democrats were "bringing fluffy down filled pillows to a...

Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania proves yet again to be the voice of sanity and reason in the Democratic Party, criticizing them in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination. He has called on his party to stop calling President Trump "Hitler" and an "autocrat." On Wednesday, before it was confirmed that Charlie had died from the shot, Fetterman noted to CNN's Manu Raju that just a day before the assassination, people were protesting President Trump and calling him the "Hitler of our time." Senator Fetterman condemned the characterization and said that the Democrats must "turn the temperature down." "I...

Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro is extremely aggrieved by President Donald Trump pointing to leftist violence and referring to individuals perpetrating it as “scum.” Shapiro attempted to spread blame around by stating that “no one party is immune from political violence.” […] “We are at an inflection point in America. Violence transcends party lines — and the way to address it and have true peaceful debate is for leaders to speak and act with moral clarity. That needs to start with the President,” he said, placing blame on Trump and completely ignoring the fact that Kirk did just that —...