Pennsylvania State Senator Steve Santarsiero and Bucks County State Representatives Tina Davis and Jim Prokopiak announced that Bucks County has been awarded almost $45,000 in environmental education grants from the PA Department of Environmental Education.
The Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, unveiled a site-specific, permanent work from artist Roberto Lugo on Thursday night to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
To the sound of cheers, music and fanfare from the Pennsbury High School cheerleaders, band and chorus, work formally began on “the future of Pennsbury” with the groundbreaking for the new $270 million high school in Falls Township.
The repairs focused on sections of the Delaware Canal Towpath damaged by Tropical Storm Ida.
Two important infrastructure projects at Delaware Canal State Park have been completed after more than $6 million in combined investments to improve long-term climate resiliency and expanding safe outdoor recreation.
DOYLESTOWN, PA—Plans for Doylestown’s old Almshouse Building got another boost last week in the form of a $2 million grant to fund a pilot program for a mixed-use development that includes housing.
The complex that contains the Almshouse Building, which is located near the corner of Almshouse Road and Easton Road, has been the topic of meetings and discussions by Bucks County officials for years. While no formal plans have been announced for the property, county officials have been talking about how to revitalize the property for years.
Local state lawmakers gathered Thursday announce legislation that would require high-risk facilities to coordinate emergency preparedness plans with nearby emergency crews.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero and State Rep. Tina Davis, both Democrats, announced the “Preparedness Requirements for High Risk Facilities” bill in the wake of the Dec. 23, 2025, fatal blast at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center in Bristol Township.
In the hours after a December explosion rocked Bristol Health & Rehab Center, leaving three dead and another 20 injured, first responders could not be certain they had evacuated everyone.
“There were probably extended searches that went on in that building that were unnecessary because we thought we had everybody, but we continued searching and searching to make sure, because we didn’t know,” Bristol Township Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said Thursday, the nursing home rubble behind him.
The biggest challenge facing the dozens of firefighters searching for survivors in a partially collapsed, gas-filled Bristol Township nursing home last year was that they didn’t know how many people were still inside.
With no record of unaccounted for people available, firefighters were forced to conduct extensive, hours-long searches under dangerous conditions that turned out to be unnecessary.
DOYLESTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — The Doylestown Township Municipal Authority has been awarded a $4.4 million grant for the removal of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” from its water system.
The grant award, made through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST), was announced by State Senator Steve Santarsiero and State Rep. Tim Brennan.
LOWER BUCKS COUNTY – A group of state lawmakers has formally called on PECO to reconsider its recent regulatory filings seeking additional increases to electric and natural gas rates.
In a letter sent April 2, the legislators expressed concerns that PECO’s proposals would place further financial strain on residents already facing high utility costs.
The letter was signed by Sen. Frank Farry (R-6), Rep. Shelby Labs (R-143), Rep. Joe Hogan (R-142), Rep. Kristin Marcell (R-178) and Rep. Kathleen Tomlinson (R-18).
BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Three Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Bucks County State Senator Steve Santarsiero, have introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow local law enforcement agencies to use radar speed detection, a tool used by local police in every other state in the nation.
State Senators Nick Miller (D-14), Greg Rothman (R-34), and Steve Santarsiero (D-10) introduced bipartisan legislation, Senate Bill 1237, to put radar technology in the hands of local police departments.
For the third time in four years, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed legislation to raise the minimum wage. For the third time, this bill now sits in the Senate awaiting action.
The question is no longer whether we should raise the minimum wage. The question is why we haven’t already.
At $7.25, Pennsylvania has the lowest minimum wage in the Mid-Atlantic region – a fact that isn’t set to change any time soon unless Pennsylvania’s senators vote to finally increase it.
A vote on HB 2189 to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour cleared the Pennsylvania House on Tuesday 104-95 – mostly along party lines with Democrats supporting the move and most Republicans voting against it.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero and state Rep. Tina Davis, both Democrats announced the Third District Volunteer Fire Company has been awarded a $541,835 grant for facility improvements to the fire station.
The funds are earmarked towards the first of several planned major improvements to the fire station which was built in 1964, fire company officials said.
A perennial political question in Pennsylvania is back on the menu: should your local cops have radar?
A bipartisan group of state Senators announced Friday that they have re-introduced legislation that would permit municipal police in the commonwealth to use radar for traffic speed enforcement, something that currently only state police are broadly authorized to do.
In the United States, vaccines have long been one of the most successful public health tools available. They have saved millions of lives, prevented the spread of dangerous diseases, and allowed generations of children to grow up protected from once devastating illnesses. This progress is thanks to the work of scientists like Bucks County’s own Stanley Plotkin, the “godfather of vaccines”, who helped develop vaccines for rubella, rabies and rotavirus, and wrote a seminal textbook on vaccines that’s still in print today.
The Central Bucks Board of School Directors has formally thrown its support behind a proposed statewide ban on student cellphone use during the entire school day.
In a resolution approved at its Thursday night meeting, the board expressed unified support for Senate Bill 1014, legislation that would require Pennsylvania school districts to prohibit students from using cellphones “bell-to-bell” beginning in the 2027–28 school year.
The bill, co-sponsored by State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, passed the Pennsylvania Senate on Feb. 3 and has moved to the House of Representatives for consideration. Gov. Josh Shapiro has announced he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
On February 27, Sen. Steven Santarsiero (D-Bucks) introduced Senate Bill 1157 establishing the obligations of pipeline owners and anyone discharging hazardous substances to respond to and clean up spills and releases.
The bill also gives the Department of Environmental Protection additional authority to respond to these emergencies.
The legislation is in response to an Energy Transfer/Sunoco jet fuel pipeline rupture in Upper Makefield Township, Bucks County that contaminated water wells in a residential neighborhood.
The Pennsylvania Senate passed SB 1014 last week, a bill to create cellphone-free classrooms from bell-to-bell in K-12 schools across our Commonwealth. As Senator Devlin Robinson (R–37), Senator Vincent Hughes (D–7), and I were writing the bill, we worked with many stakeholders to address concerns from parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members. This policy did not originate in Harrisburg, but in the lived experiences of parents, educators, and students who have seen firsthand how constant access to cellphones is reshaping the school day.
SOLEBURY TOWNSHIP, PA — A $350,000 grant awarded to Solebury Township by the state will be used toward the transformation of the historic Bond House at Aquatong Spring Park from a residential to a public use.
According to Solebury Township, the grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s Local Share Account will fund two-thirds of the cost required to create an accessible space inside the vacant structure.
BRYN MAWR, PA — Aqua Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities (NYSE: WTRG), has completed a new PFAS treatment system at its Edgely Water Treatment Facility in Bristol Township, marking the tenth PFAS treatment facility the utility has placed into operation since 2018 as it moves to comply with new national drinking water standards.
YARDLEY BOROUGH / LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA — Local lawmakers have secured over $1 million in state grants for projects in the borough and the township, one which includes funding for the Patterson Farm buildings renovation project.
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-10) and State Rep. Perry Warren (D-31) announced grants of $1,074,901 in state funding.
DOYLESTOWN, PA — Doylestown Borough celebrated the last day of Hanukkah on Sunday afternoon with donuts, games, and dancing in the streets at the Giant Dreidel.
Temple Judea, in partnership with Kehilat HaNahar (The Little Shul by the River), brought the afternoon of fun to downtown Doylestown where youngsters formed a human menorah, colored pictures and danced to songs played by a guest deejay.
A bill aiming to impose a ban on cellphones in Pennsylvania’s K-12 schools is gaining momentum in Harrisburg as educators struggle to compete with mobile devices for their students’ attention.
The state Senate Education Committee unanimously voted Dec. 9 to advance the legislation to the chamber floor for consideration.
Pennsylvania could soon follow more than half the states in the country in restricting cellphone use in schools if a bipartisan bill continues moving through the General Assembly.
Senate Bill 1014 would require school districts to prohibit students from using cellphones during the instructional day. Exceptions would include specific instructional use and students who need them to assist with disabilities or other conditions of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
