Pennsylvania Legislators Flying a Too-Friendly Sky?
Taxpayers pick up tab for conferences in California, union meetings
AUGUST 16, 2010 | Investigative Report by DARWYYN DEYO
Between 2007 and 2009, Pennsylvania’s state legislators spent $52,564.80 on flights within the state and to special legislative conferences and presentations around the country. Some waited until the day beforehand to book their flights, and some lacked receipts for flights costing hundreds of dollars. Of the 59 state legislators who requested reimbursement, more than $42,000 was spent by 42 Democrats in the House and Senate, and 17 Republicans spent a little under $12,300.
Edinboro University Death A Suicide?
School, police clam up; Family just wants answers
AUGUST 12, 2010 | Investigative Report by JIM PANYARD
EDINBORO- What were conceivably the happiest three years of 18-year-old Kieran McHugh's life ended in the early morning hours of September 14, 2008, shortly before he was discovered hanging by bed sheets from his third floor dorm room window at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook, a resident of Edinboro, ruled the freshman's death a suicide and said no autopsy was necessary. The Edinboro University police department handled the investigatio
Barnes Foundation Moving with RACP Funds
Concerns over national heritage site status persist
JULY 13, 2010 | News Release by DARWYYN DEYO
The art collection of the Barnes Foundation, valued between $25 billion and $30 billion, is being moved to Philadelphia from Lower Merion Township with the use of taxpayer dollars, even while opponents argue the current location, over 80 years old, is eligible for national heritage status. “They're starting to build a replica of the Barnes foundation, a school for art appreciation that has an immensely valuable art collection, but it's a national heritage site,” said Evelyn
Five Years Later, Pay Raise Legislators Still in Office
Moving onwards and upwards to Senate, Congress
JULY 7, 2010 | Investigative Report by DARWYYN DEYO
Five years after the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the controversial pay raise in the middle of the night, more than half of the 119 state representatives who voted in favor of the bill are still serving in state government or higher. In the 2006 election following the pay raise, 45 of those who voted for the pay raise lost their seats, and since then 14 more have given up their seats through retirement or lost elections. But five years after the pay raise, 59 representatives st
WAMs Are Still Part of “Bare Bones” Budget
No one knows where the $65M came from
JULY 1, 2010 | Investigative Report by DARWYYN DEYO
Over $65.5 million for special community and development grants, though removed from last year’s budget, are included as part of Pennsylvania’s 2010-2011 appropriations bill, passed Wednesday. The line items, all for the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), are marked as funding for local economic development and assistance, but are also WAMs, or “Walking Around Money”, which were ruled unconstitutional by the Commonwealth Court in
