Pennsylvania

Woman Will Stand Trial for Trying to Hire Hitman on Facebook

When you’re angry with your boyfriend, don’t post on Facebook that you want him killed. A judge may decide this threat deserves a felony murder solicitation charge and a felony weapons charge. The weapon, in this case, is a computer. It all started when 20-year-old London Eley of Philadelphia ranted on Facebook about her boyfriend…

Who Keeps Leaving 35-Pound Bags of Vomit Outside Bed Bath & Beyond?

We all have our hobbies. Fishing, golf, coin collection. Leaving 35-pound bags of vomit in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania Bed Bath & Beyond. Wait, what? It seems the good people of Radnor Township, PA have fallen victim to a vomit spree. On June 5th an unfortunate BB&B employee discovered a package containing 35…

Embroidery in The Hands of an Artist is Amazing

Forget what you know about dollar-store, decorative embroidery and check out what Pennsylvania artist Daniel Kornrumpf did with this form of needlework. Kornrumpf took a piece of canvas and used needle and thread to create a work that captures the subtle coloring and texture of paintbrush strokes. It’s beyond amazing when you realize all the…

Woman Pulled from Monstrous Jaws of ATM Machine

Getting cash out of an ATM is usually something I’d consider a non-dangerous activity. Usually! This was not the case for one Pennsylvanian woman, who had to have firefighters tear her stuck hand out of an ATM. This dangerous world… The woman, whose hand was trapped in the money slot up to her wrist, claims…

Google Pays Couple $1 for Street View Trespassing

In 2008, Pennsylvania couple Aaron and Christine Boring sued Google after a Street View car took pictures of their house. Now, they’ve been awarded $1 and Google is officially labeled a trespasser. The Borings (yes, yes, haw haw) live on a “clearly marked” private road near Pittsburgh, PA. Two years ago, they sued Google for…

A trip through the mists of Appalachia’s coal towns

Photographer Jim Lo Scalzo has captured the scorched earth beauty of America’s coal country. In the photo montage “Ghosts in the Hollow,” Scalzo navigates through fog, Centralia fumes, and old coal sluices. No wonder The Road was filmed out there. The song used in this piece is the 1933 toe-tapper “Sprinkle Coal Dust On My…

Computer Predicts Prisoners’ Chances of Murdering Again

A university professor has invented a computer program with crystal ball powers, only its channel is tuned purely to predicting the probability of murders—specifically, if inmates at a Pennsylvanian prison will ever kill again. Richard Berk, the University of Pennsylvania professor, has successfully placed it in the probation departments of Philadelphia and Baltimore police departments,…

A Fracking Problem: Is Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas Ruining Water Supplies?

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of extracting natural gas by blasting underground rock with water, sand and chemicals. People are protesting its use, saying fracking causes “yellowed and foul-smelling well water, deformed livestock, poisoned fish and itchy skin.” The NYT looks at the tension boiling over in a community in southwestern Pennsylvania, a…

Wine Vending Machines Are the Reason You’ve Been Saving All That Loose Change

Due to longstanding and elaborate liquor laws, it is not particularly easy to buy booze in Pennsylvania. But now the state’s trying to make it a little bit easier—with ID-swiping, breathalyzer-sporting wine bottle vending machines. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board recently introduced the hulking kiosks in two grocery stores as part of a pilot program,…

It looks like a Pennsylvanian has found a way to allow saltwater to burn when it’s being exposed to the proper frequencies. Can you say new fuel source? No? How about “We don’t know if this works or not.” Yea, me too. [Wired]