Voter Identification

PA Voter ID Law Would Keep 93-Year-Old Who Marched With Martin Luther King From Voting

Ryan J. Reilly | May 2, 2012, 9:05AM

If there's a contest for most sympathetic plaintiff in a lawsuit opposing a state voter ID law, Pennsylvania's Viviette Applewhite wins.

The 93-year-old has voted in almost every election since 1960. Her daughter was a public servant. She has five grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. She's a widow. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Macon, Georgia during the civil rights movement and traveled to Atlanta to hear him preach.

Under Pennsylvania's voter ID law, Applewhite wouldn't be able to vote.

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Hurricane Irene

Army Captain Found Dead After Allegedly Killing Four During Hurricane Irene

Jillian Rayfield | August 29, 2011, 11:05AM

Police in Pennsylvania say an active duty U.S. Army Captain committed suicide after allegedly shooting and killing four people across two states, leading to a manhunt as Hurricane Irene bore down on the east coast.

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Tom Corbett

PA Gov Suggests Universities Tap Into Shale Deposits Under Campuses

Eric Lach | April 28, 2011, 5:32PM

Governor Tom Corbett (R-PA)

Ah, college. All-nighters. Ultimate frisbee. Fraternities. Fracking.

According to The Erie Times-News, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is telling state universities that an answer to their financial troubles lies literally under their feet. Speaking at Edinboro University in Northwestern Pennsylvania on Thursday, Corbett told the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees that six campuses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education sit on the Marcellus Shale Formation, which could be tapped for natural gas.

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Colleen LaRose

'Jihad Jane' Pleads Guilty To Terror Charges

Eric Lach | February 1, 2011, 3:30PM

Colleen LaRose, a.k.a. Jihad Jane

Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman also known as "Jihad Jane," pleaded guilty in her terrorism case on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements and attempted identity theft. LaRose, 47, faces up to life in prison and a $1 million fine.

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Jihad Jane

Report: 'Jihad Jane' To Plead Guilty Today In Terror Case

Eric Lach | February 1, 2011, 11:05AM

Colleen LaRose, a.k.a. Jihad Jane

At a hearing today, Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman facing terrorism charges and allegedly known as 'Jihad Jane' online, is expected to change her plea to guilty, CNN reports. The government alleges that LaRose used the Internet to recruit people for violent global Jihad, and that she planned to murder the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.

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Emerson Begolly

Father Of 'Nazi Jihadist' Wants His Arsenal Of Guns Back

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2011, 10:10AM

Shawn Begolly, the father of 'Nazi jihadist' Emerson Begolly (who allegedly bit two FBI agents when they tried to question him about extremist writings the feds say he posted online), wants the arsenal of weapons the government seized from his home back now that his son is behind bars.

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Emerson Begolly

Gov't: Nazi-Dressing Alleged Jihadist Doesn't Need An AK-47

Ryan J. Reilly | January 13, 2011, 10:55AM

The government doesn't want Emerson Begolly, the 21-year-old former Penn State student who allegedly bit two FBI agents in the parking lot of a Burger King when they tried to question him about apparent pro-jihad messages he posted online, released.

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Emerson Begolly

Nazi-Dressing Alleged Jihadist Charged With Biting Two FBI Agents

Ryan J. Reilly | January 10, 2011, 8:52AM

Emerson Begolly, a 21-year-old Penn State student who allegedly expressed pro-jihad and anti-Semitic sentiments, was arrested in the parking lot of a Burger King in Pennsylvania last week after he allegedly went for a gun in his pocket and then bit two FBI agents when they tried to question him about his online activities.

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Pennsylvania

After Dispute, Bucks County PA Won't Count Absentee Ballots Until Wednesday

Rachel Slajda | November 2, 2010, 10:30AM

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R)

We've told you about the brouhaha in Bucks County, Pa., where Republicans have accused the Democrats of forging absentee ballot applications and the Democrats have accused the GOP, and the local board of elections, of disenfranchising voters.

The fight has centered over absentee ballot applications the Democrats mailed to registered voters in Bucks County. The return envelope, marked "Pennsylvania Voter Assistance Office," went to a P.O. box owned by the Democratic Party. Hundreds of those applications that were forwarded to the board of elections were thrown out. The Dems maintain that the Republican-dominated board of elections is improperly throwing out applications on technicalities.

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voter fraud

PA Elections Board To Sequester Absentee Ballots After Dueling Fraud Claims

Rachel Slajda | October 29, 2010, 5:24PM

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA)

After Democrats and Republicans in Bucks County, Pa., accused each other of scheming to steal the election via absentee ballot, the county elections board ruled today that all absentee ballots will be sequestered until after the election.

According to the Allentown Morning Call, the 8,000 (and counting) absentee ballots the county has received will not be counted until after Election Day, and only if the discrepancy between two candidates is smaller than the number of absentee ballots. The county also extended the deadline for casting an absentee ballot to 8 p.m. Tuesday, when the regular polls close.

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voter fraud

In PA, GOP Accuses Dems, Rep. Murphy Of Sending Illegal Official-Looking Ballot Requests

Rachel Slajda | October 28, 2010, 1:58PM

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA)

An elections board in Bucks County, Pa., will hear accusations from the local Republican Party tomorrow that the local Dems broke election law by sending out official-looking mailers asking voters to apply for absentee ballots.

According to the Republicans, the mailers purported to come from the fictional "Pennsylvania Voter Assistance Office" and warned voters that they could lose voting privileges if they didn't fill out the absentee ballot request forms. They came with an envelope addressed to a post office box associated with the Democratic Party. At the bottom, the letters note that they were paid for by the party.

More than 100 people called the elections board within two days, confused.

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Pennsylvania

Church Carnival Sets Up Shooter Game With Obama As Target

Rachel Slajda | August 5, 2010, 1:45PM

The "Alien Attack" carnival game

In Roseto, Pa., a carnival company closed down a shooter game called "Alien Attack," after complaints and news stories that President Obama was one of the targets.

The black "alien leader" is holding a scroll titled "Health Bill" and wearing a presidential seal belt buckle. He also has antennae and a troll doll with a KISS T-shirt on his shoulder.

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Right Wing Extremist

Police: Prison Guard Killed Lawyer, Stole Guns For 'Overthrowing The Federal Govt'

Rachel Slajda | August 2, 2010, 3:00PM

Raymond Peake (left) and Thomas Tuso

According to police in Cumberland County, Pa., a prison guard allegedly killed a lawyer and stole his custom rifle -- part of a plan, the guard admitted, to steal guns in preparation for an armed coup.

Raymond Peake, a 64-year-old guard at the Camp Hill state prison, allegedly shot Todd Getgen to death at a local shooting range and stole Getgen's gun, a custom, silenced AR-15 rifle. He then allegedly stashed the gun with a fellow guard, Thomas Tuso, until he could put it in a storage unit.

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