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Harris interrupted multiple times by pro-Palestinian protesters as she rallies in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

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Harris interrupted multiple times by pro-Palestinian protesters as she rallies in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania


WILKES-BARRE, PA. – Vice President Kamala Harris spoke for around a half hour to a packed crowd at the McHale Athletic Center of Wilkes University in Pennsylvania on Friday, where she was interrupted at least twice by pro-Palestinian protesters.

“You’re supporting a war criminal,” one protester shouted about two-thirds of the way into her speech. 

A second appeared shortly after the first was ushered out, and shouted for several minutes until he also was removed, crying out “Free Palestine” as he was led past the press cordon.

In response, Harris said, “I respect your voice, but right now, I am speaking,” before moving on with the rest of her address over the interjector’s din.

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PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS TAUNT HARRIS RALLYGOERS AS VEEP SUPPORTER HITS BACK: ‘WHAT ABOUT HAMAS?’

Harris had been introduced by Mary Grace, a local nurse who said she was a longtime Republican who could not support former President Trump.

After thanking Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Wilkes-Barre Democratic mayor George Brown, all of whom preceded her remarks, she began the crux of her remarks by referencing the ABC News debate from earlier in the week.

“I take it many people here watched it,” she said, as the reference drew applause.

“You’ll remember that night I talked about issues that matter to families across America, like bringing down the cost of living, investing in America’s small businesses, protecting reproductive freedom. And keeping our nation safe and secure. But that is not what we heard from Donald Trump. Instead, it was the same old show, the same tired playbook we’ve heard for years with no plan, no plan on how he would address the needs of the American people. Well, folks, it’s time to turn the page.”

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Harris claimed Trump will give billionaires and large corporations “massive” tax cuts while also taking a scalpel to entitlements.

She also said the Republican wants to impose a “Trump sales tax,” which some observers claim to be a reference to the former president’s foreign tariff plans.

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US Vice President Kamala Harris during the second presidential debate. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Harris also spoke about national division, saying “we are not going back” to past years, and instead called for a “new way forward.”

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“We need a President of the United States who works for all the American people and that just stops with all the trying to divide us,” she said.

“People are exhausted with that stuff.”

She also called herself the “underdog” in the race, predicting it will be tight in the crucial Commonwealth in which she spoke.

“So Pennsylvania, today I ask you, are you ready to make your voices heard? Do we believe in freedom?” Harris asked

Making the trek north on I-81 from Harrisburg, Shapiro – who many believed was the proverbial runner-up to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in Harris’ running mate consideration – offered a booming endorsement shortly before the candidate came onstage.

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“We have proved … that we can ‘get sh—done’!” Shapiro shouted, referencing his gubernatorial administration’s edgy slogan of sorts.

“[We’ve invested] a historic amount in our public schools… when those kids go to and from schools, they deserve to live in safe communities,” he added.

“We want everyone to know that you are valued here, whether you choose to be a lawyer or a laborer, we want you to know you belong here [in Pennsylvania].”

“Where you come from, who you love, and who you pray to – you belong and I got your back,” Shapiro went on, adding Harris’ campaign offers a similar vision.

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Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Senator JD Vance, U.S. President Joe Biden and Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris stand on the day of a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

“She and I have both been prosecutors,” said Shapiro, who served as the separately-elected attorney general during the governorship of predecessor Tom Wolf.

“Kamala Harris has always been for the people… She stood up for our union sisters and brothers.

This time borrowing a line instead from Harris, Shapiro added of Trump’s tenure in the White House, “we are not going back to that.”

“When you go back and look at his record, it was … less jobs and a whole lot less freedom when Donald Trump was in charge,” he said, invoking the abortion issue and claiming women lost “basic freedom to make decisions about their own bodies.”

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Shapiro went on to point to Philadelphia, just 100 miles on the other end of the Northeast Extension from where he spoke, saying that Americans “declared our independence from a king [there, once] and we are not going back.”

In response to Harris visiting the Commonwealth, PA Trump Team spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital that Pennsylvanians are fed up with the rising costs of groceries, gas, and utilities thanks to the Harris-Biden administration’s disastrous inflationary, anti-energy agenda.”

“The choice between another four years of retirees scraping by off ramen under Kamala or a return to the peace, prosperity, and stability of the Trump administration couldn’t be easier for Pennsylvanians.”

At the debate in Philadelphia, Harris made reference to the approximate 800,000 Polish-Americans who reside in Pennsylvania. Outside Port Richmond and the Philadelphia area, the counties in and around where Harris rallied Friday have a sizeable such population.

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Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump speaks as he meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower on April 17, 2024. ((Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images))

In Wilkes-Barre’s Luzerne County, about one-sixth of the population is Polish American, and cities like Nanticoke, Hazleton and Shamokin – in nearby Northumberland County – also host sizable communities.

In that regard, when asked, Desai said Trump is an “especially easy choice” for Pennsylvania’s Polish-Americans, noting his “blossoming friendship” with Polish President Andrzej Duda and his work with Warsaw to build a stronger alliance, including within their shared NATO status.

At the debate, Harris appeared to draw a connection between the Polish-American electorate and her criticisms of how Trump would end the war in Ukraine – which borders Poland:

“Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch,” Harris said, referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

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Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico

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Pa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico


A Pennsylvania man was found guilty of repeatedly raping his daughter’s best friend over a three-year span before fleeing with the teen to Mexico.

On Thursday, March 5, 2026, Kevin Esterly, 53, of Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, was convicted on all counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary sexual intercourse and endangering the welfare of children.

Esterly shook his head as the verdict was read but said nothing in the courtroom.

Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.

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Esterly’s trial began on Tuesday, March 3, after a judge denied his pretrial motion for the charges against him to be dismissed and for the Lehigh County District Attorney to be removed as a prosecutor in the case.

Both Esterly and his victim testified on Wednesday, March 4.

The victim — who is now 24-years-old — told the courtroom that she met Esterly and his family while attending church as a child and became best friends with one of his daughters. Esterly was a youth leader and elder at the church at the time. The victim said Esterly also coached her soccer team.

The victim said she became so close to Esterly’s family that she called his wife “mom” and eventually spent almost every weekend at their home in Lowhill Township, Pennsylvania. She also said she vacationed with them in New York state and Ocean City, Maryland.

The victim said Esterly first sexually assaulted her in August 2015 when she was 13-years-old after he gave her alcohol during a family birthday party.

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“I was scared. Frozen in fear,” the woman told the courtroom on Wednesday. “I pretended I was sleeping.”

The woman accused Esterly of sexually assaulting her almost every time she slept over at his home. She told the courtroom she eventually became addicted to alcohol and drugs, which Esterly gave her in exchange for sex. According to the woman, Esterly gave her cocaine and methamphetamine to keep her awake during school because she “would be up with him all night.”

The woman said Esterly continued to sexually assault her until he was confronted by his wife in 2017. Esterly’s wife then threw him out of the house, according to the victim. She said Esterly continued to sexually assault her over the next year.

Esterly was later arrested and then sentenced to prison after federal agents found him with the victim in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in 2018. She was 16-years-old at the time.

The woman said she moved on and went to college after Esterly’s sentencing though she still struggled with drug addiction. She said she sought counseling in February 2025. She told the courtroom she received a message from Esterly on LinkedIn that same month in which he apologized for “failing you as a person I was supposed to be for you.” At that point Esterly had been released from prison.

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The woman said she had not told anyone about her relationship with Esterly up to that point and replied to him, “I live with our secret every day as I promised. I would appreciate an apology.”

The woman told the courtroom that Esterly responded by writing, “I hope one day you can forgive me. Nobody knows I reached out to you. That is the best for both of us.”

On Feb. 21, 2025, Allentown Police received a report of Esterly’s sexual assaults which led to the new charges being filed against him. He was arrested in West Virginia in June 2025 after two police pursuits. He was then extradited to Pennsylvania.

The victim told the courtroom on Wednesday that she kept quiet about Esterly’s abuse for years because she “was afraid to speak,” and felt “dirty and ashamed.”

“I wasn’t ready to tell anyone,” she said. “He was a father figure in my life. I loved him.”

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The woman also said she didn’t want to hurt Esterly’s daughter who was her best friend.

When the District Attorney asked her why she was “here today,” she replied by saying, “I want to tell the truth. I want to be set free.”

The woman ended her testimony by saying, “I don’t want to live with this secret anymore.”

After her testimony, Esterly took the stand for 45 minutes, denied all of the accusations against him and accused the woman of lying.

Closing arguments then took place Thursday morning. It then took an hour for the jury of seven women and five men to reach their verdict.

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3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say

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3 dead in apparent murder-suicide spanning from Pennsylvania to Illinois, police say



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Two women are dead in Pennsylvania and a man is dead in Illinois after an apparent murder-suicide, police said on Wednesday.

According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police, the investigation began in Hillside, Illinois, when police there were dispatched after a man reported two women dead in Jackson Township, Pennsylvania. Police said that when officers got to Hillside, about 15 miles west of Chicago, they found that the man had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

After identifying him, troopers said Hillside officers contacted police from Jackson Township to request a welfare check at the man’s home on Dior Drive, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. 

Map shows distance from Hillside, Illinois, to Zelienople, Pennsylvania

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KDKA


Police said officers used forced entry to get into the home and found two women dead from apparent gunshot wounds. It’s believed the two women were family members of the man who died by suicide in Illinois, investigators said. 

Pennsylvania State Police said they’ve assumed control of the case and are “actively investigating” what happened surrounding the three deaths.

Police didn’t release any names, saying the process of formal identification and notification of next of kin hasn’t been completed. Sources told KDKA that the victims were a husband, wife and their daughter.

“At this time, investigators believe there is no ongoing threat to the public, and law enforcement is not searching for any additional individuals in connection with this incident,” police wrote in the public information release report. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation.”

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State police didn’t release any other details on Wednesday but said more information will be made public when it’s available.  

“My first reaction was shocked because this is such a close-knit neighborhood, and to think something that horrible could happen here is very tragic because they were such a good family,” neighbor Danielle Sporer said on Wednesday. 



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Top Pennsylvania 2027 quarterback enrolls into Coatesville (Pa.)

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Top Pennsylvania 2027 quarterback enrolls into Coatesville (Pa.)


One of the top 2027 Pennsylvania high school quarterbacks from the 2025 season has announced that he’s leaving for a new home.

Per an announcement by Class of 2027 signal caller Mikal Shank Jr., the quarterback has left Harrisburg (Pa.) and is now at Coatesville (Pa.) for his senior season. Shank Jr. last season started 14 games for the Cougars and is arguably one of the state’s top returning players behind center heading into the 2026 campaign.



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