Pennsylvania

(AP) --- A Pennsylvania man who was sentenced in secret for his role in the U.S. Capitol riot cooperated with authorities investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and an unrelated case, according to court documents unsealed this week.

The documents provide insight into the unusual secrecy in the case of Samuel Lazar, who had been released from federal custody in September after completing his sentence in his Capitol riot case. His case remained under seal even after his release, so there was no public record of a conviction or sentence.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss and illegally block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden.

The ruling, late Monday, came more than a year after Perry’s personal cellphone was seized by federal authorities who have explored his role in helping install an acting attorney general who would be receptive to Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. (AP) — When a health care startup dreamed of building a network of rural hospitals several years ago, it turned to Jim Biden.

Although he wasn’t a public health consultant or a medical expert, Jim Biden was the brother of Joe Biden, who had recently finished his term as vice president. The company’s chief executive believed Jim Biden would help provide the enterprise with “serious horsepower.”

Philadelphia  (AP) —Local elections in Democratic strongholds at both ends of Pennsylvania next month could show how voters feel about progressive candidates and issues such as abortion and crime ahead of the 2024 election.

Philadelphia will get a new mayor, and Allegheny County — where Pittsburgh is the county seat — will see a new executive. Voters there will also decide whether to reelect the district attorney with backing of another party, after his long career as a Democrat.

INDIANA, Pa. (AP) — One person was killed and eight were wounded in a shooting during a private party at a Pennsylvania community center early Sunday, authorities said.

State police in Indiana County said troopers, local officers and emergency services responded at 12:35 a.m. Sunday to the shooting at the Chevy Chase Community Center in White Township, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.

PENFIELD, Pa. (AP) — In the heart of Pennsylvania elk country, Eric McCarthy and his client, Don Reichel, got up before sunrise to scour the forest floor for so-called “brown gold” — a rack of freshly shed antlers to add to Reichel’s collection back home.

One hill over, a team of FBI agents was also hunting for gold. The metallic yellow kind.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally.

That suddenly changed over the summer.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Groups of teenagers swarmed into stores in several areas of Philadelphia in an apparently coordinated effort, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing, authorities said. Police arrested 15 to 20 people.

The flash mob-style ransacking Tuesday night at stores including Foot Locker, Lululemon and Apple came after a peaceful protest over a judge’s decision to dismiss murder and other charges against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver, Eddie Irizarry, through a rolled-up window.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge dismissed all charges, including a murder count, against a Philadelphia police officer who shot and killed a driver who had a knife, agreeing with defense lawyers who said the officer could have feared for his life.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican David McCormick is expected to announce Thursday that he will enter Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race and make his second bid for the office, this time to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey after losing in last year’s crowded Republican primary.

McCormick’s aides have sent invites to a “special announcement” by McCormick at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh at 5 p.m. ET.

The Associated Press previously has reported on McCormick’s plans, citing three people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss his intentions.