Visitors’ complaints about cigarette butts on lakes and beaches have the Bureau of State Parks considering a smoking ban pilot program. “We have swimming beaches at many of our beautiful state parks with our lakes, and often you have these cigarette butts washing up. You have cigarette butts in the sand,” explains Department of Conservation […]
After the state budget kept funding level for the 14 state owned universities, the board of governors is keeping the tuition increase around the rate of inflation for the upcoming academic year. Tuition will rise by 3%, marking the 5th time in the last 8 years the State System of Higher Education has held the […]
Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files. Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast: [audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable07-06-12.mp3]
Fresh off his second budget cycle, Governor Tom Corbett wants to address Pennsylvania’s rising pension costs this fall. While the Republican majority did not invite Democrats to the table for budget negotiations this spring, Corbett says public pensions are a different matter altogether. “This is not a partisan issue… so we’ll probably be reaching out […]
There has been no clear answer as to whether Jerry Sandusky can keep his state pension once he’s sentenced on child sex abuse charges. A state representative wants to change that. Sandusky was convicted last month on 45 counts and will be sentenced later this summer. York County Democrat Eugene DePasquale is introducing legislation to […]
This will be the last month of state-issued checks for more than 60,000 needy and disabled residents who’ve been beneficiaries of General Assistance cash grants from the Department of Public Welfare. The roughly $150-million dollar program has been on the chopping block since Governor Tom Corbett’s initial budget plan was unveiled in February. Late in […]
Something is missing from Pennsylvania’s new teacher evaluation law… charter schools. The new teacher evaluation system approved in the late June budget rush will, for the first time, take student performance into account and provide assistance to educators who fall into the bottom two categories of a new four-tier rating system. However, during House debate, […]
The new fiscal year began on Sunday with the second straight on-time, no tax increase budget. “Today we reaffirm our commitment to job growth, to education, to the needy and to the taxpayers… our goal is growing new jobs,” Governor Corbett said upon signing the $27.7-billion dollar spending plan late Saturday night. But critics say […]
Lawmakers may soon finalize a new system for teacher evaluations in Pennsylvania. The amended bill has already garnered unanimous support in the state House, and the issue has long been one of Governor Tom Corbett’s top education reform priorities. The current system, which is almost entirely based on classroom observations, allows for teachers to receive […]
Radio PA Roundtable is a 30-minute program featuring in-depth reporting on the top news stories of the week. Professionally produced and delivered every Friday, Roundtable includes commercial breaks for local sale and quarterly reports for affiliate files. Click the audio player below to hear the full broadcast: [audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/witfaudio/radiopa/Roundtable06-29-12.mp3]