Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich (D-Lackawanna) passed away overnight from complications from heart surgery. He had already been hospitalized earlier this month.

The Pennsylvania Senate sent legislation to tighten laws around hazing and phase out the Keystone exams as graduation requirements to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk Monday, both of which he announced his intent to sign.

A lawsuit filed by two district residents, including the chair of a local Republican committee, alleges that a Democratic candidate for state Senate is ineligible to run or be seated if she wins.

The suit, filed Monday, claims that Lindsey Williams, the Democratic candidate in Allegheny County’s 38th Senatorial District, missed the state’s four-year residency requirement by about two months.

Williams, a former teachers’ union official, is running against Republican Jeremy Shaffer, a local town commissioner who beat incumbent Sen. Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny) in the May primary.

Members of the House of Representatives spoke to The PLS Reporter about the passing of their colleague Rep. Mike O'Brien (D-Philadelphia) passing. 

O'Brien died at age 64 from a heart attack and was a member of the House of Representatives for the last 12 years.

Lawmakers, animal advocates, and a few furry friends joined in the media center Monday afternoon for an event sponsored by the Justice for Libre Animal Advocacy Group to promote two priority animal protection bills and raise awareness of the cruelties associated with puppy mills.