The official White House Christmas tree — an 18-foot Douglas fir (above) — arrived in D.C. delivered by Chris and Brandi Botek of the Crystal Spring Tree Farm in Lehighton, Carbon County.
The mayor of Philadelphia decided to reinstate the “Christmas” label that had been removed from a traditional German Christmas Village display outside City Hall.
Some Jews say Hanukkah’s early timing — falling just after Thanksgiving — helps set it apart from the holiday rush this year.
With the support of a generous benefactor, the Hispanic Catholic community in Avondale, Chester County, has its own parish and soon will have its own 500-seat house of worship.
A North Carolina evangelist has been ordered to stand trial on charges he raped an 11-year-old girl while in southwestern Pennsylvania for a revival meeting sometime in 2008. The Rev. Walter Bradshaw has pleaded not guilty.
Police say a fire that destroyed a Civil War-themed chapel in Gettysburg on Friday was set intentionally, and they’re seeking three white teenage males. The same chapel was vandalized in July.
In Israel, firefighters and soldiers battle a forest fire that has become the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, using a command center that Pittsburghers modernized two years ago.
The new bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton has invited members of the church to tell him what they hope for their parishes and schools as he begins to shape a stated “vision” for the 11-county diocese. The letter to parishioners from Bishop Joseph C. Bambera did not address whether changes could include school and parish closings.
Scranton Preparatory School sent a letter to alumni who graduated between 1961-89 to say a former science teacher and Jesuit priest may have abused children in the Scranton area.
For Thanksgiving, three pastors and a priest in Pitcairn took turns in the bucket of a fire truck to raise money for local food banks as part of an Up in the Air for Turkeys event. They brought in more than $2,500.
That’s a big tree!