May 30 2015

Judge: UPMC Must Provide In-Network Access To Highmark Medicare Members

More than 180,000 seniors who rely on Highmark Inc. for Medicare Advantage will keep in-network access to UPMC at least until 2019, Commonwealth Court President Judge Dan Pellegrini ordered Friday.

His three-page decision commands the Downtown-based rivals into binding arbitration to resolve other disagreements they cannot settle on their own — a move that delighted Gov. Tom Wolf and Attorney General Kathleen Kane.

UPMC vowed to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

“The feud between these two companies must end — the people of Western Pennsylvania have had enough,” Wolf said in a statement.

May 15 2015

Attorney General: Charges Filed Against Exeter Township (Luzerne County) Officials

Four Exeter Township officials are facing charges for inflated billing on a contract for an EMA building nearly a decade ago, state Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane announced today.

Charged were supervisors John E. Coolbaugh, Richard E. Overman, James W. Douse, and current secretary and former supervisor Mary F. Martin.

According to Kane, the case was referred to her office by Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis due to lack of resources.

According to the criminal complaint, the township received a $50,400 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) towards the cost of erecting a pre-fabricated EMS building in 2006.

Jan 8 2015

Grand Jury Recommends Criminal Charges Against Attorney General Kathleen Kane

The special prosecutor and grand jury investigating allegations that Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane leaked secret information to a newspaper have found evidence of wrongdoing and recommended that she be criminally charged, according to numerous people familiar with the decision.

The panel concluded that Kane violated grand-jury secrecy rules by leaking investigative material in a bid to embarrass political enemies, sources said.

Some of those familiar with the grand jury presentment say it recommended charges that included perjury and contempt of court.

The statewide grand jury sitting in Norristown has turned over its findings to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who must decide whether to affirm its findings and arrest Kane, the state’s top law enforcement official.

Dec 1 2014

Blair County’s Operation Our Town Funds Law Enforcement And Rehab Efforts

In 2006, Michael A. Fiore was talking with a police officer about a shooting — the kind that never happened in Altoona before big-city drug dealers came to town.

The officer said his department didn’t even have bulletproof vests to wear on raids, Mr. Fiore recounted Tuesday. “I said, ‘Go out and get eight of them, and send me the bill.’”

Over the course of a year, that act of generosity morphed into the creation of Operation Our Town, in which Blair County business leaders pledge $10,000 each year to fight drugs.

Last year the organization backed Altoona’s schools, after school programs, youth sports groups, mentoring for first-time mothers and construction of a playground, among other efforts.

Oct 17 2014

The Political Porn Circus Adds A 3rd Ring

THE HARRISBURG porn circus consuming the state’s Capitol added a third ring yesterday.

The first ring: Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane last month released a selection of explicit emails sent and received by Gov. Corbett‘s top deputies when he was attorney general.

The second ring: State Supreme Court Justice Ron Castille and Justice Seamus McCaffery continued their long-running feud, swapping accusations this week after Castille disclosed that McCaffery sent and received many of the explicit images.

And the third ring: Emails obtained yesterday by the Daily News show that state Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin used a fake name on a Yahoo email account to receive emails with explicit and racist images in 2010.

Oct 3 2014

Porngate: The Pa. Good Old Boys Club Strikes Again (York Daily Record Opinion)

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note: Worth the read as it makes some good points about the political “culture” in our state.

The latest scandal enveloping Harrisburg has already been given the “-gate” treatment.

Every political scandal since Watergate, no matter how absurdly frivolous, seems to have been given the treatment.

Thus, we had Bonusgate in the state capital.

And now, we have Porngate.

Jun 24 2014

Three Birdsboro Residents Arrested In Drug Ring Investigation

Map of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG, PA — A joint investigation between state and local officials uncovered a large-scale drug ring that spanned three counties.

The results of the year-long “Operation Tourniquet” lead to the arrests of “48 mid- and street-level drug dealers,” a press release from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said.

The dealers, the release said, “were part of two organizations, who were loosely tied and responsible for distributing drugs throughout at least three counties including Berks, Lancaster, and Schuylkill.”

Three Birdsboro residents where among the alleged “street-level” dealers who were arrested.

Jun 9 2014

Authorities Seize More Than 1,500 Bricks Of Heroin In Mt. Washington

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Law enforcement officers seized more than 1,500 bricks of heroin in a drug bust in Mt. Washington on Sunday, court records show.

Agents with the state Office of Attorney General charged James Perrin, 35, no address given, and Price Montgomery, 33, of Mt. Washington with drug possession with intent to deliver, corrupt organization, illegally possessing a firearm and other crimes.

May 20 2014

Pennsylvania Gay Marriage Ban Overturned

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage was overturned by a federal judge Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III called the plaintiffs — a widow, 11 couples and one of the couples’ two teenage daughters — courageous.

“We now join the 12 federal district courts across the country which, when confronted with these inequities in their own states, have concluded that all couples deserve equal dignity in the realm of civil,” Jones wrote.

Mar 10 2014

Drug Overdose Deaths Spur Legislation

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG, PA – Concerns about a spate of drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania have put the spotlight on legislation to create a state database to monitor illegal use of prescription drugs.

The issue surfaced last month during state Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane’s budget hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Passage of monitoring legislation is key to combatting illegal drug use, Kane said. Prescription drug abuse is often a gateway to heroin use, she said.

“We have a heroin problem,” Kane said. “We also have a prescription pill problem.”

Nov 25 2013

Officials Say Heroin A Huge Problem In Pa.

English: Modified IM/IV syringe used for “plugging” heroin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG — Heroin is a growing epidemic in Pennsylvania, and Luzerne County is no exception.

State police Commissioner Frank Noonan told the state House Judiciary Committee this week that the drug is dangerous because users become adjusted to the high it produces. As a result, users have to inject more of the drug, which leads to a higher risk of overdose.

He said users will also typically mix the drug with others in an attempt to achieve the same high.

The Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing to discuss the heroin epidemic this week. Afterward, committee member state Rep. Tarah Toohil provided data on the number of heroin deaths in Luzerne County. So far this year, 20 people have died form using heroin with other drugs — users often take multiple drugs. There were 31 deaths in 2012.

Read m0re: http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/1001824/Officials-say-heroin-a-huge-problem-in-Pa.

Aug 30 2013

18 Charged In Wilkinsburg Heroin Ring

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Allegheny County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Detectives had known about the Wilkinsburg Crew for quite some time when they met with a confidential informant on Oct. 8, 2012, searched him for drugs and cash and then asked him to call a number operated by the violent heroin dealers.

There was no answer. Almost immediately, the informant received a call back. The man on the other line had two bundles — or 20 stamp bags — of heroin called Daily Dosage. It was less powerful than the kind the informant had requested, but it could be his for $140.

The informant got into a car, drove down winding McNary Boulevard in Wilkinsburg and parked in an agreed-upon location.

A boy, about 13 years old, walked up to him and passed him 56 bags of heroin. The informant handed the boy cash and the two parted ways.

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