Pennsylvania
Endangered status proposed for eastern hellbender | StateImpact Pennsylvania
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Rachel McDevitt
Courtesy: Pa. Department of Environmental Protection
Eastern hellbenders are indicators of good water quality.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing new protections for the eastern hellbender five years after denying endangered status for the state’s official amphibian.
“This is definitely a massive win for the species, for the habitats and the areas in which they thrive,” said Ted Evgeniadis, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper.
Evgeniadis’s organization, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and others, sued in 2021 over Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2019 determination that the eastern hellbender did not warrant protection. Last year a federal judge vacated the 2019 decision and ordered a new finding.
The eastern hellbender – which can grow to be 29 inches long and live up to 30 years – breathes through its skin, and needs cool, clean water to thrive. Its population has been shrinking, due to stream sedimentation, poor water quality, disease, habitat loss and collection for use as a pet, according to FWS.
The Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association said extreme storms due to climate change are also devastating hellbender populations. In a statement on the proposed listing, it said, “Hurricane Helene destroyed the healthiest part of their range in North Carolina, and forest damage and contamination from the storm will continue to pollute these areas.”
Less than 60% of documented hellbender populations still exist. Of those, only 12% are stable and 59% are in decline, according to FWS. Eastern hellbenders historically were found across Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
The Ozark hellbender, a separate subspecies that’s found in Missouri and Arkansas, was listed as an endangered species in 2011.
The federal Endangered Species Act prohibits harming, harassing or killing a species listed as endangered.
That creates restrictions for developers who want to build in an area where the hellbender lives.
Whether it’s a gas station, a shopping center, or a housing development, Evgeniadis said, “it makes it much more difficult [to get permits], because earth disturbing activities are going to affect critical water resource areas.”
Evgeniadis noted there are risks for environmental protections under incoming president Donald Trump. In his first administration, Trump rolled back 125 environmental safeguards, according to tracking by the Washington Post.
“It’s yet to be seen what could potentially happen,” Evgeniadis said. “Some of the rollbacks that we saw were pretty much unprecedented rollbacks.”
Evgeniadis said he hopes the proposal leads to more federal and state resources going to help protect and restore the hellbender population and habitat in Pennsylvania.
The Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed listing is subject to a 60-day public comment period, which closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 11, 2025. To comment on the proposed listing, people can go to regulations.gov, search for docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0152, then click “comment.”
Written comments can also be mailed to: Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R3-ES-2024-0152, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, MS: PRB/3W, 5275 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041-3803.
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Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania state police trooper pleads guilty to using work computer to create AI-generated pornography
A Pennsylvania State Police corporal has pleaded guilty to creating AI-generated pornography, possessing child sexual abuse material and secretly filming women, including coworkers and a Montgomery County judge, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
Thirty-nine-year-old Stephen Kamnik pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court Wednesday to a total of 15 charges for years of abusing law enforcement databases, state-owned devices and unauthorized material for personal sexual gratification.
Kamnik, who is currently suspended without pay, used secured law enforcement and commonwealth computer systems to create AI-generated pornographic images of numerous women, according to the attorney general’s office. Prosecutors said Kamnik created some of the explicit material at a Montgomery County barracks.
The investigation, which was conducted by state police, found that Kamnik secretly filmed and photographed numerous women while on duty. Authorities said he repeatedly entered the women’s locker room at the state police barracks to take pictures of female officers.
Prosecutors said Kamnik also used the state’s Justice Network, known as JNET, to obtain hundreds of photographs of women, violating database policies.
Investigators also found an unlawfully recorded video of a Montgomery County magisterial district judge during a court proceeding that prosecutors said Kamnik edited for lewd purposes.
Authorities also found a stolen .22-caliber gun during a search of Kamnik’s vehicle in January 2025.
Kamnik pleaded guilty to four felony counts of unlawful use of a computer, sexual abuse of children, misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy, tampering with evidence and other related offenses.
A Montgomery County judge is scheduled to sentence him July 8.
“These crimes stain the great work being done by law enforcement every day in communities across the Commonwealth,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement.
A lawsuit filed by a victim who alleges her image was used in AI-generated pornography claims Pennsylvania State Police were aware of prior incidents of Kamnik abusing his position as a state trooper but failed to properly discipline him.
The complaint alleges Kamnik took undergarments belonging to female troopers from a locker room and kept a mannequin at his assigned station where he placed the stolen clothing to photograph it.
It also alleges Kamnik conducted traffic stops involving female motorists while presenting himself as a law enforcement officer and making degrading requests, including asking them to stick out their tongues while he secretly filmed them.
Pennsylvania
When is the deadline to register for the Pennsylvania primary?
(Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
PENNSYLVANIA – The 2026 midterm elections will decide control of the next U.S. Congress and key state leadership, including Pennsylvania’s statewide offices.
Before the general election, each state will hold primaries to determine which candidates appear on the November ballot.
By the numbers:
In Pennsylvania, the May primary will narrow the field of candidates who will compete in the November general election for several important posts, per Ballotpedia.
- U.S. House of Representatives — All 17 districts will hold primaries to choose nominees.
- Pennsylvania Governor — Although both major parties’ current frontrunners are effectively unopposed in their primaries, the contest sets the stage for the November race between incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican Stacy Garrity.
- State Legislature — all 203 seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and half of the State Senate seats are up for election, with primaries deciding many general election matchups.
Dig deeper:
Pennsylvania is considered a key battleground state in the 2026 midterms, with several congressional districts expected to be highly competitive and potentially pivotal in determining which party controls the two chambers of Congress.
As of April 2026, the Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress.
On Nov. 3, voters will cast ballots for all 435 U.S. House seats, 35 U.S. Senate seats and numerous state and local positions, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Voters will decide 33 regularly scheduled Senate seats, plus two special elections to fill the seats vacated by J.D. Vance of Ohio and Marco Rubio of Florida, who left Congress to serve as vice president and Secretary of State, respectively.
Voter registration and deadlines
What you can do:
Voters in Pennsylvania who want to take part in the state’s 2026 primary must register by Monday, May 4, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. This deadline applies to both new registrations and updates to existing voter registrations.
The primary election will be held on Tuesday, May 19. The mail-in ballot request deadline is Tuesday, May 12.
Voters are encouraged to check their registration status and ballot information well before these dates to ensure participation in both the primary and the November general election.
The Source: Information from the Pennsylvania Department of State, Ballotpedia, the Bipartisan Policy Center and previous FOX 5 NY reporting.
Pennsylvania
Multiple Reports Of Fireball Sighting In Eastern PA Skies
Multiple people in the Philadelphia region reported seeing a fireball in the sky Tuesday.
The American Meteor Society listed the event in its meteor sighting database, saying it had received nearly 150 reports from across the region, including in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut about the fireball.
According to the database, reports of the fireball came in from Doylestown, Lansdale, Willow Grove, King of Prussia and more.
Nick Brucato of Whiting shared video of it in The Pine Barrens group on Facebook and with Patch. “Took this video as fast as I could today in Whiting at 2:34 PM. Heard the loud boom minutes later,” he said.
“We were out on our deck and my wife saw it,” a Waretown resident said on the Tri-County Scanner News post. “She said it was bright white ball and then it broke apart into several pieces and then it was gone. Then the sonic boom hit!”
A meteor is the flash of moving light that becomes visible when a meteoroid — a chunk of an asteroid or a comet — hits the Earth’s atmosphere, according to the American Meteor Society.
In mid-March another meteor was the likely cause of a large boom that was felt over parts of Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio.
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said it received reports from numerous people across Western Pennsylvania of the tremendous noise and a fireball in the sky on March 17.
A weather service employee caught the cause of the boom and the weather service posted it. MORE: Meteor Causes Tremendous Boom Over Parts Of PA
With reporting by Karen Wall
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