Woman from Mali gives birth to 9 babies in Morocco
By BABA AHMED and TARIK EL BARAKAH Associated Press
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s Ministry of Health says a Malian woman has given birth to nine babies after only expecting seven. It appeared to be the first time on record that a woman gave birth to nine surviving babies at once. The 25-year-old mother gave birth by cesarean section on Tuesday in Morocco. Mali’s health minister confirmed that the five girls, four boys and the mother are all doing well. Associated Press reporters saw the babies in incubators in the neonatal ward, some wiggling their hands and feet. The Guinness Book of World Records said in an email to The AP that its current record for most living births at once is eight, and that it is verifying the Morocco birth.

GOP wants to restore work-search rule for jobless benefits
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature are advancing legislation to reinstate work-search requirements for people claiming unemployment benefits. The bill cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee on a party-line vote Tuesday. The sponsor, Rep. Jim Cox of Berks County, said many employers are having trouble finding workers. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has waived the requirement for now. Still, Wolf’s office said certain industries may have difficulty hiring workers because, for instance, some parents have children learning at home or some people are waiting for a second vaccine dose. Others may have chosen to change careers during the pandemic. Wolf’s office also suggested that employers need to pay more.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

2020 proved that anything and everything could change, and 2021 is trying to shift that change in a positive direction–at least in the eyes of the Beaver County Office of Planning & Redevelopment.

The BCOPR, in conjunction with Michael Baker International, will begin a public survey of fixed and mobile broadband availability throughout Beaver County on May 10. Their goal is to provide access and effective use of technology for residents and businesses alike, and to bridge any gaps between high-speed and low-speed usage.

One of the biggest pushers of the new survey is County Commissioner Jack Manning, who spoke to Beaver County Radio about the importance on improving the amount of technology throughout the county in lieu of last year’s chaos.

“We certainly saw during COVID,” said Manning, “the impact it had on education and the impact it had on working from home. Broadband is an eligible infrastructure expenditure, and that’s what we hope to do–to find out what the need is, what the different solutions are, and be able to apply that money to make this thing much better for Beaver County.”

Michael Baker International will perform tasks including (but not limited to): taking photographs of utility poles and associated infrastructure, performing mobile internet tests for upload and download speed, placing door hangers at the entry ways of businesses being surveyed, and communicating with the owners of those businesses and residents.

The online survey can also be done by the general public on their internet-use devices (laptop, phone, tablet, etc.) by going to the link on the Beaver County home page, or by going to connectbeavercounty.com to find the speed of their internet. “We ask people to do it as many times as they can,” Manning suggested, “so that we get better data points—cause sometimes the signal is a lot stronger at some points in the day as opposed to others of peak demand.”

For questions and more info, contact BCOPR director Lance Grable at 724-770-4422 or email at lgrable@beavercountypa.gov.