Latest news with #Right-to-KnowLaw
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Office of Open Records orders Cambria County to search again for 2024 election failure
CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Cambria County officials have been ordered to conduct a new search for records related to a major voting system failure during the November 2024 election, following a successful appeal from State Rep. Frank Burns under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. The state Office of Open Records ruled that the county's original reason for denying Burns' records request, citing a noncriminal investigation, was not valid, requiring the county to either provide the documents or legally attest that they do not exist. Burns requested any documentation explaining the nature of the voting machine malfunction that led to ballots going unscanned and unaccounted for, as well as a tally of how many ballots were successfully or unsuccessfully scanned on Election Day. The Nov. 5, 2024, issue reportedly involved voting machines that had passed pre-election testing but failed when used, prompting concerns from voters and lawmakers alike. Burns has continued to push for transparency surrounding the incident, stating that the public still has no clear explanation for what went wrong or how many ballots were impacted. In response to an inquiry from WTAJ, Cambria County's solicitor, Ronald Repak, provided a statement acknowledging the OOR ruling and outlining the four key parts of the decision. According to the county, the OOR deemed one of Burns' requests moot after the county turned over the logic and accuracy testing records. The OOR also denied Burns' request for a finding of bad faith, instead stating, 'The County has been timely, attentive, and professional in both its responses to the Requester and to the OOR and has made serious attempts to provide the Requester with the information he is seeking.' The county confirmed the OOR did grant Burns' request for the number of ballots that failed to scan, which officials say occurred because the ballots did not include TIS (timing) marks required by the tabulation system. The county said this issue affected all ballots when polls opened. Additionally, the OOR granted Burns' request for documentation explaining the nature of the problem. The county reiterated it has repeatedly said the mistake was due to a clerical error by a county worker who uploaded ballots to the system without the necessary marks. Officials said there was no malicious intent. 'The County has no issue with completing another search to answer questions which the County has already gone to great lengths in answering,' Repak stated. The OOR has given the county 30 days to provide Burns with the relevant records or a sworn statement that they do not exist. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Township allegedly fleeced by its own employee sues Spotlight PA to block access to bond claim details
This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a weekly newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at STATE COLLEGE — A small rural township has sued Spotlight PA to prevent disclosure of financial records as it seeks to recover through its insurer almost $533,000 in public money allegedly stolen by a former employee. This week, Gregg Township and the newsroom agreed to stay the case in Centre County court until the township's insurance company can make a determination. In November, Pennsylvania State Police accused Pamela Hackenburg of stealing more than half a million dollars from Gregg Township over five years and charged her with four felonies. The township then officially terminated Hackenburg, who had been on unpaid leave since last May. In December, Spotlight PA published an investigation into how the alleged theft had escaped detection by elected officials for years. That report was based in part on documents obtained through the state's open records law, including township credit card statements that showed numerous transactions with the sports betting company DraftKings. Hackenburg is awaiting criminal proceedings in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, but she has not entered a plea, according to the county prothonotary office. While the criminal case proceeds, Gregg Township hopes to recover the township funds she allegedly stole. Gregg Township holds a bond policy issued by Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, which covers liability on behalf of the former secretary with a limit of $700,000, according to a copy of the renewal certificate Spotlight PA previously obtained. According to minutes from an Oct. 10 meeting, Township Solicitor David Gaines 'said that he made it clear [to the insurance company] that the township needs the money.' During a public meeting in November, Gaines reported that the insurance company was finalizing its response, and it was unclear how much money the insurer might decide to pay out. Spotlight PA filed an open records request in December seeking communications between Gregg Township and Travelers Insurance Company, as well as any documents the township had submitted to support the claim. Gregg Township denied Spotlight PA's request related to the bond claim in late January, saying the requested materials were exempt from disclosure under the state Right-to-Know Law. The newsroom appealed the following month. In April, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, a quasi-judicial agency that adjudicates public records matters, gave a partial ruling. The office ordered the township to provide some financial records related to the bond investigation, but denied Spotlight PA's request to obtain the township's communications with its insurance company. In a filing to the Centre County Court of Common Pleas a week later, Gregg Township said the decision by the OOR 'was erroneous and violated relevant law.' Because the bond claim investigation is ongoing, 'among other concerns, the Township does not want to risk upsetting that process at the peril of the Township's bond claim,' the filing said. 'The Township is more than happy to divulge records once Travelers has finalized its review of the matter.' After being sued, Spotlight PA emailed Gaines and township supervisors to ask about the lawsuit and seek additional clarity on the insurance claim. Gaines asked the news outlet to ask questions during monthly public meetings and not over email. 'Last year, Gregg Township uncovered evidence indicating that one of its employees may have used Township funds as her own. The Township continues to investigate that matter, and the Township has provided routine reports to the community about the status of the investigation, most often through discussion at the supervisors' meetings,' Gaines wrote in an email to Spotlight PA. Josh Bonn, transparency attorney at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC, is representing Spotlight PA pro bono in this case. He said public access to government financial records, especially when there are allegations of misuse of public funds, is critical. 'The 1976 film All the President's Men popularized the catch phrase, 'follow the money,' as an effective means to root out public corruption,' he said in an email. Gregg Township and Spotlight PA entered into an agreement Wednesday to stay the proceedings in court, letting the dispute remain in place while the bond company makes its decision on the claim. The township said in its filing that Travelers is expected to render a decision in the next 30 to 60 days. and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
University system doesn't take noncitizens over residents, chancellor says
The University System of New Hampshire does not prioritize international or noncitizen students at the expense of qualified residents for enrollment, officials said. Keene State College, Plymouth State University and the University of New Hampshire have a total 109 noncitizen students out of 21,427 enrolled this spring semester, according to numbers released in response to state Rep. Joe Sweeney's accusations that the state is admitting nonresidents at an alarming rate and denying admission to qualified residents. 'Students are denied admission if they are not academically prepared,' University System of New Hampshire Chancellor Catherine Provencher said in a written statement Wednesday. 'The last thing we want to do is have students paying tuition and possibly taking on debt if we do not think they will succeed academically. We do not admit any students from outside of New Hampshire at the expense of our Granite State students.' The number of in-state undergraduate students actually increased 2.8% last fall across the University System after 12 straight years of decline, officials said. The number of nonresident students, however, continued to fall. New Hampshire's university system doesn't accept noncitizens over residents, chancellor says State Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, has questioned the admissions policies in the University System of New Hampshire. USNH Chancellor Catherine Provencher said his accusations of favoring international and noncitizen students over residents is off-base. Sweeney, a Salem Republican and House deputy majority leader, has questioned the system's admission policy, filing at least two Right-to-Know Law requests, and has continued to criticize the university system. 'New Hampshire taxpayer funded colleges and universities are denying New Hampshire Residents admission while encouraging illegals to apply. This is just wrong!' Sweeney said in April after he launched the second request for records. The total number of international students — those attending from foreign countries on visas, separate from the 109 noncitizens — at Keene State, Plymouth State and UNH is 649. Sweeney contends that the university system accepted those students instead of 742 New Hampshire residents who were denied admission. Provencher said Sweeney is wrong and left out an important detail: Of those 742 who were not accepted, many had applied to more than state college or university, and many now attend one of the schools. Thirty-five percent of residents who applied to one state school also applied to at least one other, according to the USNH. 'In fact, USNH accepted 95.2% of New Hampshire resident students to at least one institution over the past four fall terms. The number of students denied admission to any institution over the past four fall terms was 1,083 individuals (4.8%) out of 22,557 applicants,' Provencher's statement said. Sweeney doubles down Sweeney released a written response Wednesday afternoon in which he doubled down on his criticism of the USNH. He said three of the 109 noncitizen students are 'either undocumented or under temporary immigration protections' and threatened to have campus police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) 'restore accountability' if USNH officials didn't take his objections to their admissions policy seriously. 'USNH is publicly encouraging illegal aliens to apply and rewarding them with in-state tuition,' Sweeney wrote. Sweeney has based his disputed accusations on partial text from one sentence in a small section of a secondary UNH admissions web page concerning the policy for nonresident students. The section he continues to quote is not on the main admissions page – 'DACA applicants' is the 18th of 19 subsections of the that inside webpage for admission and reads in full: 'UNH encourages the application and enrollment of undocumented students and students granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to contribute to an environment of inclusive excellence where all students, faculty, and staff can thrive. DACA students are students that came to the U.S. as children and meet guidelines in which they can work/study in the United States. It is the student's responsibility to contact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to request consideration of DACA. This determination is not made by the University of New Hampshire. DACA students are not eligible for financial aid.' To read the entire page, visit Sweeney did not respond to a phone call seeking clarification of his claims. Plenty of room in USNH Enrollment fell 11% from 2020 to 2024 with 2,709 fewer students enrolled in state colleges and universities, according to data from USNH. There's plenty of room for more state residents who are qualified, officials said. In fact, enrollment has decreased by 19% at Keene State and nearly 16% at Plymouth State during that time. Enrollment went up by 93 among the two UNH campuses from 2020 to 2024, but that's mostly due to Granite State College closing and about 1,000 of its students being absorbed into UNH Manchester. The enrollment at the public college level is similar to the statewide drop in kindergarten through 12th grade. From the 2019-2020 school year to the 2024-25 school year, K-12 enrollments fell 8% (13,508 fewer students), according to the state Department of Education. dpierce@
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Somerset approves $125,000 settlement with former employee
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways SOMERSET, Pa. – A federal lawsuit has been settled between Somerset County and a former county maintenance worker over free speech rights. Somerset County commissioners voted 3-0 to approve an agreement outlining the settlement's terms, which Somerset County Co-Solicitor Benjamin Carroll said includes a $125,000 payment to the former employee. The move settles a six-year-long dispute with former county worker Eric Trent, who sued the county in 2020. Carroll said the payment includes both county funds and an unspecified payout from the county's insurance company. He said under terms of the agreement, he could not get more specific but that the document 'speaks for itself.' Carroll acknowledged the written agreement is a public record subject to the Right-to-Know Law and that the media is able to request a copy. The Tribune-Democrat filed a written RTK request with the office Tuesday, and Carroll said the county must discuss the request with all parties involved prior to its release. Barring any valid objections, 'it's our intent to follow the law and release it,' he said Tuesday. First Amendment suit Issues raised in the lawsuit date back to mid-2019. None of Somerset's current commissioners were serving in office at the time. Somerset County and former President Commissioner Gerald Walker were sued by Trent after he voiced concern to Walker about a trend of hiring out-of-state workers for administrative roles at the time. Federal court documents indicated the discussion between Walker and Trent occurred during a trade show and ended with Trent saying he'd work to see Walker defeated in an upcoming election for continuing the hiring practice. Trent lost his county job a short time later. He was publicly escorted from the courthouse, his suit alleged at the time. Trent responded with the 2020 lawsuit, maintaining he had a right to voice his opinion and frustration about the county's practice. The county's hired Pittsburgh legal counsel, Gabriel Fera, argued Trent raised issues too 'trivial' to be of public concern – and the board was within its right to terminate Trent. But an appeals court sided with Trent in 2024. As a county citizen, Trent had a First Amendment right to voice his opinion about a public concern, a federal appeals court wrote. The matter was sent back to the federal courts for mediation since. Trent was contacted by The Tribune-Democrat for comment Tuesday. He said he could not discuss settlement specifics, but in a telephone interview said he was 'happy' with the way the case was resolved. 'I'm thankful for all the support I received from county employees,' he said, adding that he's continued receiving supportive calls from fellow Somerset County residents. 'It was a long process, but I'm just glad it's settled now.' 'Happy to have it resolved' Somerset County officials said they were also eager to move on from the matter. 'This is an issue that arose prior to the term of these commissioners. (The legal dispute) has gone on for a long time, and we're happy to have it resolved,' Carroll added during an interview after the county's board meeting alongside current commissioners board members Brian Fochtman, Irv Kimmel Jr. and Pamela Tokar-Ickes. Online court documents show the case was resolved in late February through mediation between Somerset County's legal counsel and Trent's attorneys. Efforts to reach Walker were not successful Tuesday. A message for comment was not returned. DeLuca: 'Recoup' losses Somerset county officials did not specify how they'll specifically cover the county's settlement costs. During the county's retirement board meeting Tuesday, Somerset County Treasurer Anthony DeLuca Jr. suggested the county take steps to recoup the funds from Walker. DeLuca said the former commissioner's pension is not yet being dispersed to Walker and suggested that those retirement funds could be 'frozen ... to recoup some of that money.' 'Otherwise ... it's coming from taxpayer's pockets,' he said. 'I'd want to go after that (money).' The county's three commissioners did not respond to DeLuca's suggestion during the board meeting. Carroll said it's something the commissioners board could discuss among themselves as an option, if they choose.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House GOP leader challenges USNH on immigrant admission policies
A leading House Republican wants to know if there are any children of illegal immigrants attending any of the schools in the state's four-year university system. House Majority Leader Joseph Sweeney, R-Salem, said he's asking for the information after learning from a recent Right-to-Know Law request that 649 foreign students attend the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University and Keene State College in the current academic year. During the same period, 742 New Hampshire residents were denied admission: 655 at UNH, 16 at Plymouth State and 71 at Keene State, respectively, Sweeney said. Sweeney said he was alarmed to learn that UNH's admission website "encourages the application and enrollment of undocumented students and students granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)" — a policy he said was not disclosed in USNH's original response to his request for information. 'New Hampshire taxpayer funded colleges and universities are denying New Hampshire Residents admission while encouraging illegals to apply. This is just wrong!' Sweeney said in launching a second Right-to-KnNow Law request for records. Catherine Provencher, chancellor for the University System of New Hampshire, said all New Hampshire residents who met basic admission requirements were admitted and she said the colleges have additional capacity to admit even more qualified applicants. According to USNH's response, 85.5% of New Hampshire residents who applied to UNH were admitted, while the admission rates were much higher for both Keene State (96.3%) and Plymouth State (99.3%). 'Our public universities must prioritize New Hampshire students — not international applicants or undocumented illegal aliens,' Sweeney said. 'I will keep fighting to ensure accountability and fairness for our families and ensure that Granite Staters are put first." House Republicans have defended their decision to pass a proposed budget that cuts state aid to USNH by $25 million a year above the 4% cut that Gov. Kelly Ayotte had initially called for last February. USNH officials could not be reached for comment. klandrigan@
