Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to arson attack on governor’s mansion

Published

4 weeks ago

October 14, 2025

Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to arson attack on governor’s mansion

Oct 14 (Reuters) – A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attempting to murder Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro in an April arson attack on the governor’s residence in which he scaled a fence and ignited part of the house with gasoline-filled beer bottles as Shapiro and his family slept inside.

Cody Balmer also pleaded guilty to terrorism, 22 counts of arson, 21 counts of reckless endangerment, burglary, aggravated assault, and loitering, according to records from the Dauphin County Court in Pennsylvania.

A Pennsylvania judge sentenced Balmer to 25 to 50 years in state prison, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo, who prosecuted the case.

The April attack was part of a surge in political violence in the United States. There were about 150 politically motivated attacks in the first half of 2025, nearly double the number from that period last year, according to political violence researchers.

In an emotional press conference on Tuesday, Shapiro said the attack had taken a profound toll on him and his family, and that despite rising levels of political violence in the U.S., nobody should “grow numb” to it.

“We need real accountability for acts of political violence, and today is real accountability for the violence that came here to Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro, who is seen as a potential candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028.

After the attack, Balmer told police he “harbored hatred” toward Shapiro and would have beaten him with a hammer if he had encountered the governor inside the residence.

According to a police search warrant released in April when Balmer called 911 to confess, he told police he believed Shapiro, who is Jewish, was encouraging the war in Gaza, and that he “needs to stop having my friends killed,” and “our people have been put through too much by that monster.”

Since the attack on Shapiro’s residence, other acts of political violence in the United States have targeted figures on the right and left.

In June, a Christian nationalist murdered a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota, and wounded a second Democrat.

In July, a group of at least 11 militants in black military-style clothing attacked an immigration detention center in Texas. The group set off fireworks, spray-painted “traitor” and “ICE Pig” on vehicles, and shot a responding police officer in the neck, wounding him, while another sprayed gunfire at detention guards, according to the FBI.

Reporting by Julia Harte
Editing by Bill Berkrot

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Pennsylvania

Here’s a quick snapshot of veterans in Pennsylvania

Published

15 hours ago

November 11, 2025

Press Room

Here’s a quick snapshot of veterans in Pennsylvania

As the United States marks Veterans Day on Tuesday, here’s a quick snapshot of veterans living in Pennsylvania today. The projections, based on 2023 data, were provided by the National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics.

Total number of veterans in Pennsylvania: 697,655

Pennsylvania’s veteran population: 4th largest

Percentage of Pennsylvania veterans 65 and older: 51.76%

Percentage of U.S. veterans 65 and older: 46%

Percentage of Pennsylvania veterans who are women: 9.1%

Percentage of U.S. veterans who are women: 11.3%

Number of Pennsylvania veterans enrolled in VA health care system: 319,155

Projected Pennsylvania population of veterans in 2050: 335,617

Pa. population of veterans by period of service:

Gulf War Era

2023: 251,618.

Projected 2048: 205,310

Vietnam Era

2023: 232,404

2048: 14,716

Korean conflict

2023: 40,398

2048: 48

World War II

2023: 7,038

2048: 0

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Pennsylvania

1 escaped wildcat returned to Pennsylvania wildlife center as search for remaining 2 ramps up

Published

3 days ago

November 8, 2025

Press Room

1 escaped wildcat returned to Pennsylvania wildlife center as search for remaining 2 ramps up

Frederick Sutton Sinclair

Updated on: November 8, 2025 / 8:26 PM EST
/ CBS Philadelphia

One of three wildcats that escaped from a wildlife center in Berks County, Pennsylvania, earlier this week has been safely returned.

The Cricket Wildlife Center announced in a Facebook post that one of the African Servals, which escaped Wednesday, is now back at the center. The other two African Servals, have been spotted between Huffs Church, Bitting, and Delong roads and appear to be staying close together.

The center also said the Berks County Emergency Services Special Operations Group is assisting in the search for the wildcats using thermal drones. The Mighty Pawz Humane Society, is also helping the wildlife center repair the enclosures.

The wildcats’ enclosures were damaged during Wednesday night’s windstorm, which toppled a tree onto their pen and allowed them to escape.

According to a post on social media, the three wildcats are the wildlife center’s last three from its time doing cat rescues.

The wildlife center says the wildcats are old and are not a danger to humans or pets.

“Please do not harm them,” the wildlife center wrote on Facebook.

The wildlife center is asking anyone in the Alburtis or Berks County area who spots the animals to call them at 717-381-9893.

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