(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

At the commissioners’ work session on Wednesday, the board was notified of several resolutions to be voted on at the May 26 public meeting. Of the 29 total resolutions to be voted on, three of them are updates to human resources policies.

One of those policy updates involves the salary rates for those on parental leave. Solicitor Garen Fedeles spoke about the details: “Any parent who goes on parental leave–this is for the birth or adoption of a child–the county would pay that employee 80% of their salary for the first 20 days, and 50% of their salary for an additional 20 days.”

Fedeles specified that this applies to both mothers and fathers who are full-time employees of the county, although there is a policy for part-time employees as well. The resolutions will be voted on at the public meeting at 10:00 AM on Thursday morning.

Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp participated in the work session by phone feed for undisclosed reasons. The next work session is scheduled for June 1 at 10:00 AM.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A massive recall is getting most of the blame for the U.S. baby formula shortage, but experts say the products have long been vulnerable to this type of crisis. They point to decades-old policies that have allowed a handful of companies to corner the market. Safety and manufacturing rules imposed by U.S. regulators make it hard for smaller companies to enter the market. And federal contracting rules also favor the largest manufacturers who can offer the lowest prices on formula. Those government rules are aimed at assuring safe, affordable formula. But they are now getting renewed scrutiny because of the shortage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to sign an executive order on policing Wednesday, the second anniversary of George Floyd’s death. Most of the order is focused on federal law enforcement agencies — for example, requiring them to review and revise policies on use of force. It would also create a database to help track officer misconduct. The administration cannot require local police departments to participate in the database, which is intended to prevent problem officers from hopping from job to job. But officials are looking for ways to use federal funding to encourage their cooperation. The order would also restrict the flow of surplus military equipment to local police.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia must pull back to its pre-war positions as a first step before diplomatic talks. The negotiating line is one that Moscow is unlikely to agree to anytime soon. Zelenskyy was speaking by video to attendees on Wednesday at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Zelenskyy said he currently sees no willingness on the part of Russia to resume earnest negotiations on ending the three-months war. A regional governor in eastern Ukraine said Wednesday that at least six civilians have been killed by the latest Russian shelling in a town at the epicenter of fighting. Luhansk region’s governor accused the Russian troops of deliberately targeting shelters where civilians were hiding.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks shook off some early weakness and turned tentatively higher Wednesday, led by gains in store operators and other retailers. That sector has been beaten down in recent days over concerns that soaring inflation was eating into their profits. Some of those concerns dissipated after the high-end department store operator Nordstrom reported higher sales and raised its profit forecast. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%. A modest turn higher in the volatile technology sector helped push the Nasdaq up 1%, erasing its loss for the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which helps set mortgage rates, fell slightly, to 2.74%.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Fallout from last week’s primary election in Pennsylvania is playing out in the General Assembly. Two central Pennsylvania Republican House members are being punished for working to unseat fellow incumbents. In the Senate, Republican gubernatorial nominee Sen. Doug Mastriano is being allowed back inside the Republican caucus’ closed-door meetings. He’d been kicked out last year after leaders concluded he had shared information that was supposed to be confidential. In the House, Republican leaders stripped state Rep. Mike Jones of several committee assignments after his primary campaign work in York County helped defeat two senior incumbents. Republican Rep. Dave Zimmerman also lost committee spots over similar efforts in Lancaster County.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former hedge fund CEO David McCormick is going to Pennsylvania’s highest court in an eleventh-hour bid to help him close the gap in votes with celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania’s neck-and-neck Republican primary for U.S. Senate. McCormick’s request for the state Supreme Court’s intervention came less than four hours before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. deadline for counties to report their unofficial results to the state. A separate court battle could go to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the candidates separated by fewer than 1,000 votes. Counties will continue counting hundreds of ballots after Tuesday’s deadline in a contest that’s almost certainly headed for a recount.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 25, 2022 8:00 A.M.

(Hopewell Township, PA)  Hopewell School Board met Tuesday night and approved the retirement of  the high school attendance secretary Cindy Jamison effective July 20, 2022.  Business manager, Brooke Baker’s resignation was approved effective July 15. 2022.  She was reappointed board treasurer from July 1,2022 through June 30, 2023.
Commencement is set for tonight, Wednesday , May 25, 2022 at Tony Dorsett Stadium, according to high school principal Michael Allison. One hundred and thirty students will receive their diplomas, he said.  Solicitor John Salopek received a new 1 year contract effective July 1, 2002 through June 30,2023.

 

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — An anguished and angry President Joe Biden is calling for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman massacred at least 19 children at a Texas elementary school. “We have to act,” Biden told the nation Tuesday night from the White House, after years of failure to pass new laws. He spoke after arriving home from a five-day trip to Asia that was bookended by “horrific” mass tragedy. Just two days before he left on his trip, he met with victims’ families after a hate-motivated shooter killed 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York.