Tag: pennsylvania

Pennsylvania GOP Senator Calls Marijuana Prohibition A ‘Disaster,’ Signaling Support For Treating Cannabis Like Alcohol And Tobacco

Amid growing calls for marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania, a GOP state senator says prohibition has been a “disaster,” and a regulated sales model for cannabis—similar to how alcohol and tobacco are handled—could serve as an effective alternative.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R) said both alcohol and tobacco have been “used for thousands of years,” just like marijuana. Yet only cannabis continues to be strictly criminalized.

“I don’t think marijuana is any different than these other things,” Yaw told The Standard-Journal. “We’ve regulated it and taxed it.”

The senator noted that Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced numerous cannabis reform bills over recent sessions. And while, years ago, “I never thought I would support medical marijuana,” he said he came around on the issue and voted for it because “it has its place for some people.”

Yaw didn’t explicitly endorse any specific recreational marijuana legalization proposals that have been filed for the 2025 session, but his description of prohibition as a “disaster” indicates a willingness to advance the reform at a key time in the Pennsylvania legislature.

Voters are ready to see that policy change, according to a poll released this week.

The survey found that nearly 7 in 10 voters in the state support the reform—including a majority of Republicans. And 63 percent want to see the legislature enact the reform this year, rather than delaying it.

While Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) once again included a proposal to enact cannabis legalization in his latest budget request, there’s been mixed feedback from legislators—some of whom want to see the governor more proactively come to the table to discuss possible pathways for reform and others skeptical about the possibility of advancing the issue this session.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Scott Martin (R), for example, said this week that he doesn’t “see any path whatsoever” to enacting legalization in line with the governor’s plan.

At the same time, the state secretary for the Department of Revenue has predicted that Shapiro’s proposal could be passed during the current budget cycle, indicating that he feels reform could start to be implemented within months.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D), meanwhile, said following the governor’s budget speech that “there is real diversity of opinions among our members,” likely referencing split perspectives on regulatory models, with some lawmakers pushing for a state-run cannabis program.

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Woman admits she made up rape claims that put innocent man in jail and reveals she targeted him over his ‘creepy’ looks

A 20-year-old Pennsylvania woman admitted she fabricated kidnapping and rape allegations that kept an innocent man locked up for over a month — saying she targeted the stranger because he was “creepy.”

Anjela Borisova Urumova is now facing jail time herself after pleading guilty to charges that she fabricated the sexual assault outside a local supermarket, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.

Urumova claimed a 41-year-old man attacked her from behind outside a Redner’s supermarket on April 16, cooking up a story that the assailant pulled her pants down and smacked her, leaving a bruise on her face.

The phony victim, who had a cut lip at the time, fingered Daniel Person as her attacker, Law & Crime said.

She later confessed to cops that she got the cut on her lip from an object her grandmother, who suffers from dementia, threw at her when she walked into their home prior to the fake attack.

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Small-Town America “Fights Back” In Court Against Globalists Who Flooded Their Town With Haitians

A resident of Charleroi, Pennsylvania, who was among the first to draw national attention to the massive influx of Haitian migrants into his small town, is now locked in a legal battle with a local food packaging plant that employs primarily migrants from the third world. Eyes on Charleroi first appeared when President-elect Donald Trump highlighted the town’s staggering 2,000% surge in its migrant population before the presidential elections. The resident is also planning a class-action lawsuit on behalf of hundreds of residents, demanding accountability from those responsible for the migrant invasion. 

Local media outlet Pennsylvania Record reports the lawyer of Andrew Armbruster, a resident of Charleroi, filed Pennsylvania’s new anti-SLAPP law, a measure that gives defendants, in some instances, the opportunity to evade litigation. This is regarding a defamation lawsuit filed against Armbruster by the Charleroi business Fourth Street Foods

“SLAPP stands for strategic lawsuits against public participation, and anti-SLAPP laws give defendants a First Amendment argument,” Pennsylvania Record’s John O’Brien wrote.

The motion stated that Fourth Street Foods owner David Barbe filed the lawsuit against Armbruster primarily to suppress protected public expression.

“Armbruster’s rights to speak to public issues, community members, and prevailing wages without ever being accused of mentioning ‘Dave Barbe’ are an incredible encroachment on everyone in Charleroi’s right to free expression on public matters,” the motion said. 

The motion continued, “Not only are they chilled from speaking about Mr. Barbe, by this lawsuit they are chilled from mentioning the hiring practices of a local employer.”

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‘Big Win’ for Amish Farmer and Food Freedom in Raw Milk Case

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania last week ruled that Amos and Rebecca Miller, farmers who produce raw milk, may continue to sell raw milk outside the state while a lawsuit filed by the state against them moves through the courts.

The court’s ruling upheld a March 2024 decision by a Lancaster County trial court, which concluded that the Millers were not clearly violating Pennsylvania statutes by selling their raw milk products outside Pennsylvania.

That court previously issued a preliminary injunction that completely blocked the Millers from selling raw milk. However, the court later modified the injunction, limiting it to blocking Millers’ raw sales only within Pennsylvania.

The Commonwealth Court also acknowledged that the Millers raised “potentially meritorious constitutional challenges” to Pennsylvania’s Milk Sanitation Law. These challenges involve the Commerce Clause, the Supremacy Clause, the right to travel, and the fundamental right to purchase “traditional foods directly from the producer of that food.”

Robert Barnes, the Millers’ attorney, celebrated the decision on X, formerly Twitter, calling it a “big win” for food freedom.

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Antifa terror couple who bombed Michael Knowles event at University of Pittsburgh sentenced to 5 years in prison

A United States District Court Judge has sentenced a Pennsylvania Antifa terror couple to prison and probation over a 2023 bombing attack at the University of Pittsburgh. Brian DiPippa, 37, and his wife Krystal DiPippa, 42, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty to plotting and attacking a conservative speaking event using homemade incendiary devices and explosives. Several police officers were injured in the attack, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan sentenced Brian “Peppy” DiPippa on Monday to five years in prison. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of law enforcement. His charge of using an explosive to commit a federal felony was dismissed as part of a plea agreement. Krystal DiPippa pleaded guilty to obstruction of law enforcement and received a sentence of three years of probation, including 80 hours of community service. The conspiracy charge against her was dropped as part of a sweetheart plea deal, court filings show.

The DiPippas, who belong to a violent Antifa terrorist cell, were also ordered to jointly pay the University of Pittsburgh $1,400 in restitution and $47,284 to a University of Pittsburgh police officer for financial damages resulting from injuries sustained by the couple’s actions.

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Scranton Finally Turning on Biden as Officials Demand Removal of His Name from Landmark

President Joe Biden has proudly referenced his roots in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on countless occasions.

But after he pardoned a judge involved in a cash-for-kids program that jailed thousands of juveniles in northeastern Pennsylvania, the Electric City is no longer feeling that spark of love.

The newly elected Pennsylvania Republican State Rep. Brenda Pugh called on officials in Scranton to remove Biden’s name from expressways labeled in his honor after he pardoned former Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan.

That now-disgraced official was convicted after taking kickbacks in exchange for sending juveniles to jail for committing minor crimes, or committing no crime whatsoever, according to PAHomepage.

Pugh said the fact that Biden pardoned Conahan was a disgrace that merits renaming the “President Joe Biden Expressway,” originally named for the commander-in-chief by the Scranton City Council in 2021.

“Conahan’s conduct is forever a blight on Pennsylvania and is a slap in the face to the victims and their families who deserve justice to be served for his atrocious crimes,” Pugh wrote, per PAHomepage.

“His clemency places complicity and a stamp of approval on his behavior,” she continued. “Children are among the most vulnerable Pennsylvanians. This decision is nothing short of a travesty and his clemency is a miscarriage of justice.”

Pugh is far from the only Pennsylvania official to express concern over the presidential pardon.

Even Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro cringed at the pardon of the corrupt official.

“I’ll offer these thoughts as an outsider, not privy to all the information he looked at, but I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said last week, per the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

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Pennsylvania Woman Faces Charges for Registering Dead and Fake Voters

Delaware County prosecutors announced charges Thursday against Jennifer Hill, a Collingdale woman accused of attempting to register dead and fake voters.

Hill, a paid canvasser for the New Pennsylvania Project—a self-proclaimed ‘nonpartisan’ group launched in 2021—now faces 40 criminal counts, including four felony charges of forgery.

Prosecutors allege Hill submitted more than 300 voter registration forms through a state-provided app, with 129 of them deemed invalid. Among her fraudulent attempts, Hill reportedly tried to register three deceased individuals, including her own father, and even fabricated a voter using her grandmother’s name but with an altered birthdate, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

While no ballots were allegedly cast from these fraudulent registrations, the case has reignited conservative calls for tighter voter registration laws and greater oversight of groups funded or affiliated with Democrat initiatives.

“I can’t say I’m totally surprised, given the egregious lack of integrity one finds in that particular political Party involved,” one X user wrote.

The investigation, led by Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, represents the first voter fraud-related charges stemming from the 2024 election in the county.

In addition to Hill, an 84-year-old man, Philip Moss, faces charges for double-voting in Florida and Pennsylvania. Although Moss’s actions resulted in one fraudulent ballot, the scale of Hill’s attempted fraud has drawn the most attention.

“Let this pair of cases send a message out there that no matter how busy we are … we are attentive to the signs of fraud,” said Jim Allen, the Delaware County election director.

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Pennsylvania Democrats openly admit to counting illegal ballots in McCormick-Casey race

As the contested Pennsylvania Senate race barrels towards a $1 million recount, Democratic officials in a few blue counties are openly admitting to counting disqualified ballots in defiance of state law and court orders. 

The Associated Press has called the race for Republican Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, who currently holds a 26,000 vote lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. But Casey has refused to concede and insisted that every vote be counted. The close margin – within one percentage point – triggered an automatic recount under Pennsylvania law. 

Yet the critical question is which votes should be counted? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled before the election that mail ballots lacking formally required signatures or dates should not be included in official results. However, Democratic officials in Philadelphia and surrounding Bucks, Centre and Montgomery counties are ignoring that court order. 

“I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn’t matter anymore in this country,” Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat, said Thursday as she and other Democrats voted to reject a GOP-led challenge to ballots that should be disqualified. 

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Pennsylvania Secretary of State Announces There Are ‘100,000 Ballots Remaining to Adjudicate’ as Democrat Loser Bob Casey Refuses to Concede Senate Race – Despite Call By Leftist Media

Senator Bob Casey and his Democratic allies are refusing to concede defeat in the Pennsylvania Senate race.

Casey, who has served as Pennsylvania Senator since 2007, has so far refused to admit defeat to Republican David McCormick, despite the race being called by multiple mainstream media outlets including The Associated Press.

Instead, Casey and his allies are sending out fundraising emails to supporters claiming that the race isn’t over and that they could somehow still squeeze out a victory.

Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt on Thursday announced there are at least 100,000 ballots that need to be adjudicated.

In a statement, Casey spokesperson Maddy McDaniel said that “tens of thousands” of ballots still needed to be counted and the race could therefore not be called.

“As the Pennsylvania Secretary of State said this afternoon, there are tens of thousands of ballots across the Commonwealth still to count, which includes provisional ballots, military and overseas ballots, and mail ballots,” she wrote.

“This race is within half a point and cannot be called while the votes of thousands of Pennsylvanians are still being counted. We will make sure every Pennsylvanian’s voice is heard.”

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Voting Site in Key Swing State of Pennsylvania Evacuated After ‘Disruptors’ Storm Polling Station

A voting site in Centre County, Pennsylvania was evacuated after a group of unidentified “disruptors” stormed the polling station, Daily Mail reported.

According to the Centre County Report, local police ordered the evacuation around 7 p.m. ET as multiple individuals burst into the polling site.

The identities of those involved, as well as their affiliations or motivations, remain undisclosed. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the disruptors are linked to either of the leading campaigns.

Daily Mail reported:

Centre County Report journalist Haley Jacobs shared a clip of the scene, with multiple locals forced to stand in a parking lot while cops probe the disruption.

Bellefonte sits in Central Pennsylvania. Centre County voted Democrat in the most recent presidential election, with Joe Biden winning 51.4% of the vote to Donald Trump’s 46.7%.

Local officials have yet to say what steps they’ll take to ensure anyone booted from the election office will be able to cast their vote if the disruption continues after 8pm.

People were allowed back into the center shortly after 8pm ET.

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