Pennsylvania

Am I registered to vote in Pennsylvania? Making sure you’re still registered ahead of the election

Published

1 year ago

October 18, 2024

Am I registered to vote in Pennsylvania? Making sure you’re still registered ahead of the election

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – If you want to vote in this election, which is now 18 days away, you are facing a critical deadline.

Monday is the deadline to register to vote and before then, you might want to check to see if you’re registered.

This is a contentious election and the last thing you want to do is find out when it’s too late and you don’t get to have a say in the outcome.

For years, you’ve done your patriotic duty, stood in line, and voted to make your voice heard, but now, are you still on the election rolls? Some people are shocked to find out they have been removed.

“If you haven’t voted, if you’ve moved, if someone has challenged your residency, which has happened for tens of thousands of folks in Allegheny County, there is a chance that they, you know, removed you from the rolls,” said Abigail Gardner of Allegheny County said.

Gardner said before Monday, that anyone who worries they may have been removed from the voter rolls can go to VotesPA.com and check to see if they are still registered to vote.

“If it’s showing that you’re inactive, if you did move and you need to update your address, you have until this coming Monday, October 21 to re-register, you know, update your voter registration,” Gardner said.

It’s easy and can be done in minutes.

Now, about those mail-in ballots, if you get one, it will have three parts.

“The first one is your ballot, then you have a secrecy envelope, and then you have your outer envelope, which is your declaration envelope,” Gardner explained. “First things first, is your vote. You make sure to fill in those ovals and then try not to make any other marks on the ballot besides that. You’re going to fold it into thirds, and then, very importantly, you’re going to put in the yellow envelope that says ‘Official Election Ballot.’ We call this the secrecy envelope.”

The yellow envelope goes in the declaration envelope and you sign that with the date you filled it out, not Election Day, not your birthday, the day you filled it out.

“So, if you forget to sign, if you forget to date, or you forget your secrecy envelope [Allegheny County] are returning this ballot to you,” Gardner said. “We’re going to send it back to you in the mail and say we identified an error,” Gardner said.

Then you can get it back to the board of elections by 8 p.m. on Election day. No ballots that arrive in the mail the next day or any time after that will count and that is by court order.

While Gardner could not put an exact number on it, she said that since the 2020 presidential election, a lot of registrations have been challenged and said that number is in the thousands. So again, head to the link above and make sure you’re registered by Monday or it will be too late.

John Shumway

John Shumway joined KDKA in October 1988 as a General Assignment Reporter. During his years at KDKA, he has anchored the morning and weekend news and is currently a featured General Assignment Reporter on the station’s 4, 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.

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Pennsylvania

Bill would create alert when children with autism go missing in Pennsylvania

Published

9 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Bill would create alert when children with autism go missing in Pennsylvania

(WHTM) — Legislation is in the works for a statewide warning system to locate missing children with autism.

State Rep. Robert Leadbeter (R-Columbia County) announced the formal introduction of a bill to create a “Purple Alert” system. It would quickly notify police and community members when a child with autism, or other cognitive issues, is missing.

His bill is called “Aiden’s Law,” named for a young boy in Columbia County, who disappeared earlier this year and drowned in the Susquehanna River. Leadbeter said a “Purple Alert” system would fill a gap in Pennsylvania.

“So, individuals with cognitive disabilities are able to then, if they go missing, have an alert go out to law enforcement organizations that work directly with them and that’ll save time expand resources, and ideally result in a safe return home for the missing individual,” Leadbeter said.

In this bill, the system would mirror others like Amber Alerts for missing children in danger and Silver Alerts for missing seniors.

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Pennsylvania

Bethlehem man sentenced under Pennsylvania’s new AI child porn law

Published

21 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Bethlehem man sentenced under Pennsylvania’s new AI child porn law

A Bethlehem man is among the first to be sentenced under a Pennsylvania law passed last year, making it a crime to possess AI-generated child sex abuse material.

On Monday, Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kristie M. Marks sentenced 35-year-old Adam Erdman to two years, four months to 10 years.

Erdman in September pleaded guilty to felony possessing child sex abuse material. He faced a possible sentence of 5 to 10 years in prison.

Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan announced the sentencing in a news conference Monday afternoon. The DA credited U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who introduced the new legislation and state Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, who championed the final version of the law last year.

“Before this law was passed, the use of AI to generate child sexual abuse materials went unpunished,” Holihan said. “Prosecutors like me need legislation like this to arrest and convict the criminals who use evolving technology to victimize others.”

Macungie-based attorney Michael Ira Stump, representing Erdman, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.

Bethlehem police on March 31 were called by Erdman’s estranged wife, who reported finding three AI-generated nude images of juvenile girls on his personal computer.

Prosecutors said Erdman downloaded photos of the children on vacation from their parent’s social media account, and then used artificial intelligence photo-editing software to make the children appear naked.

Erdman was charged on April 17.

The case was investigated by Bethlehem Police Det. Stephen Ewald and was prosecuted by Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney Sarah K. Heimbach.

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Pennsylvania

Central Pennsylvania awarded over $1M for Chesapeake Bay Watershed conservation

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Central Pennsylvania awarded over M for Chesapeake Bay Watershed conservation

PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — Over $17 million has been awarded to county teams across the Commonwealth for projects in reducing nutrient and sediment pollution in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Grants were awarded to counties with projects taking place over the next 12 to 24 months. Many different human activities cause nutrient pollution and eroded sediment to enter streams, rivers, and lakes. This pollution can come from fertilizer, plowing and tilling farm fields and can cause stripping away of trees and vegetation, and increasing paved surfaces.

Here are the grants awarded in our area:

Blair County Conservation District: $308,095
Cambria County Conservation District: $200,000
Centre County Government: $566,399
Clearfield County Conservation District: $368,209
Huntingdon County Conservation District: $409,134

“Pennsylvania’s clean water successes are rooted in collaboration—state, local, federal, legislative, and non-governmental partners, and of course landowners,” Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Jessica Shirley said. “The work will continue to evolve, and our focus will remain on setting our collaborative partnerships up for success well beyond 2025. The momentum is real, and you can see it in our improved water quality.”

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In total, 222 projects were approved, and it’s estimated to reduce nitrogen by 113,493 pounds/year, phosphorus by 28,816 pounds/year, and sediment delivered to the Chesapeake Bay by 1.8 million pounds/year.

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