Angela Couloumbis

Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich speaks during a multidisciplinary protective services training session June 30, 2025, in Harrisburg. (Commonwealth Media Services)

Elder abuse agencies fail to mitigate risk as Shapiro admin defends system, touts changes

December 27, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.

Critics believe Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich’s changes have relaxed oversight of county agencies and weakened efforts to keep older adults safe.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro pauses during a news conference at the governor’s official residence discussing the alleged arson that forced him, his family and guests to flee in the middle of the night on the Jewish holiday of Passover, Sunday, Apr. 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

Shapiro admin subpoenaed for records detailing use of public funds to upgrade gov’s private home

December 10, 2025 at 9:46 a.m.

A committee led by Republican state Sen. Jarrett Coleman of Lehigh County voted along party lines to issue subpoenas for records detailing Gov. Josh Shapiro’s use of public funds to...

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman speaks Thursday, July 18, 2024, during the unveiling a new sign renaming state Route 143 in Lehigh County as Heroes Highway in honor of local fallen firefighters Marvin Gruber and Zachary Paris. The firefighters died in the line of duty Dec. 7, 2022, when they became trapped while fighting a house fire in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County. Paris was 36 years old and served as the assistant fire chief with the New Tripoli Fire Department, located in Lehigh County. Gruber was 59 years old and served as a volunteer firefighter with the New Tripoli Fire Department. He volunteered with the fire service since the late 1980s and served the New Tripoli Fire Department since 2020.(April Gamiz/The Morning Call)

Lehigh Valley GOP senator threatens subpoenas over $1M in security upgrades at Shapiro’s private home

November 23, 2025 at 11:19 a.m.

Drafts seek documents from the State Police describing construction, landscaping, and other security-related work at Shapiro’s family home.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hasn’t formally declared that he is running for reelection in 2026. (Matt Rourke/AP)

$1 million in Pa. taxpayer money will be used to make security upgrades at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private residence

October 26, 2025 at 6:01 a.m.

Taxpayers are paying for roughly $1 million in security upgrades to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s private home in Montgomery County after a brazen arson attack on the first family earlier this...

Inside the governor’s residence after an arson attack on April 13. (Shapiro administration via public records request)

Are Pa. governor mansion repairs going beyond what insurance will cover? Shapiro admin won’t say.

September 26, 2025 at 2:21 p.m.

Two insurance plans cover the residence, but it’s unknown if they’ve covered anything already or how much will ultimately be covered.

A photo from inside the Pennsylvania governor’s residence shows the extent of the damage inside the home, where an arsonist set fire Sunday morning. Josh Shapiro and his family had celebrated Passover in the same room just hours before the fire was set. They evacuated the home safely. (Commonwealth Media Services/Commonwealth Media Services/TNS)

Taxpayers billed $6M for arson-related repairs to governor’s mansion, but Shapiro admin withholds full details

September 11, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

The Shapiro administration has spent more than $6 million in public dollars over the past four months to fix extensive damage to the governor’s stately residence following a brazen, middle-of-the-night...

Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich speaks during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Older Adult Advocacy Center at Telespond Senior Services in Scranton on Friday, May 16, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Whistleblower says Shapiro admin retaliated after he raised alarms about elder abuse system failures

August 28, 2025 at 4:40 p.m.

The whistleblower also alleges that top aging department officials purposely suppressed or manipulated data when responding to Spotlight PA’s public records requests.

Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich speaks to representatives of 23 Area Agencies on Aging on June 30, 2025, in Harrisburg. (Kevin Rist / Commonwealth Media Services)

State delays new contract with extra accountability measures for Pa. elder abuse agencies

August 12, 2025 at 10:20 a.m.

The Department of Aging pointed to a new system to monitor whether counties are conducting quality abuse and neglect investigations.

This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)

Big-dollar donors are helping fund fixes at the governor’s mansion. For now, we don’t know who they are.

July 18, 2025 at 8:01 a.m.

The Shapiro administration has yet to say just how much repairing and upgrading the Harrisburg residence will cost after a brazen arson attack.

Karns Foods Board Chair Scott Karns in one of his stores. (Commonwealth Media Services)

Trump’s massive tax bill could cost Pa. $800M to keep food benefits program going

July 6, 2025 at 10:35 a.m.

Two million Pennsylvanians rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, many of them children and older adults.

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