Free Republic

At its first opportunity, Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff said the chamber will attempt to override Gov. Tom Wolf's planned veto of a bill that would allow schools the choice to hold fall sports and decide how many spectators can attend them. Aug. 20, 2020 Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com The Pennsylvania House Republican leader vows a veto override vote will happen in the near future if Gov. Tom Wolf carries through with his planned veto of a bill that would give local school officials the exclusive authority to decide whether to allow sports and...

Science. Michigan’s crazed governor/tyrant ordered all high school and college football, soccer and volleyball athletes to wear face masks — even during competition.

The Department of Human Services (DHS) announced policy changes surrounding child care to better accommodate working families, including relaxed guidance for non-licensed child care services. These changes come as schools across the state are reopening in person or virtually — after many parents spent the summer “scrambling” to establish childcare options for their families. One of these changes creates criteria for “learning pods” and other makeshift child care options to ensure they are safe for families. Although these groups are organized independently between same-age school children and their families, they have to register with the Department of Health and Safety...

Restaurants and bars in Pennsylvania are getting some relief. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced today that starting Sept. 21 establishments can increase indoor seating capacity from 25% to 50%. But Wolf also threw in an additional caveat - restaurants with alcohol sales will have to cut off booze sales at 10 p.m. “While our aggressive and appropriate mitigation efforts have kept case counts low, we must continue to take important steps to protect public health and safety as we head into the fall. At the same time, we must also support the retail food services industry that has struggled throughout...

Pennsylvania restaurant and bar owners have been waiting since mid-July for Gov. Tom Wolf to relax dine-in capacity limits. Today, the governor gave his blessing, announcing that starting Sept. 21 establishments can bump up indoor seating from 25% to 50%. However, any reason to celebrate was quickly squashed when Wolf threw the industry a curveball. As part of the updated orders, establishments with liquor licenses will have to cut off booze orders at 10 p.m., while those restaurants and bars wishing to move up to 50% will need to fill out a self-certification document to be eligible. Central Pennsylvania restaurant...

An audit that examines the consistency and fairness of Gov. Tom Wolf’s controversial coronavirus waiver process that allowed some businesses to reopen after appealing the governor’s March 19 business closure order while others were told to remain closed will be released next month. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that his auditors have collected a significant amount of data about the more than 40,000 businesses that requested waivers from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to offer an analysis about its fairness. He said his auditors are examining the consistency...

For the second time since the first two presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus appeared in Pennsylvania on March 6, Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday renewed the state’s disaster declaration for the pandemic for another 90 days. “As we approach the six-month mark of this crisis, I continue to be amazed at the resiliency and strength shown by Pennsylvanians during this pandemic,” Wolf said in a statement. “We are going to continue to combat the health and economic effects of COVID-19, and the renewal of my disaster declaration will provide us with resources and support needed for this effort.” This...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will run the first-ever Emergency Alert System (EAS) test for 30 seconds Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST, which will be used to inform Americans in the case of a national emergency. *snip* The alert, administered in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will be used to inform Americans in the event of a national emergency, should other modes of communication be unavailable.

China's state-controlled Catholic church says it wants to quickly ordain at least 40 bishops, a move likely to further aggravate tensions with the Vatican. The official Xinhua news agency quoted Yang Yu, spokesman for the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, as saying more than 40 of the country's 97 dioceses were without a bishop. The report said Church leaders agreed at a recent meeting that the church would strive to select and ordain bishops at those diocese without delay. Tensions between Beijing and the Vatican have been high since an official church gathering in December which, the Vatican says, bishops...