• Require all customers to wear masks while entering, exiting or otherwise traveling throughout the restaurant or retail food service business (face masks may be removed while seated). Further, employees are required to wear masks at all times.
• Provide at least six feet between parties at tables or physical barriers between customers where booths are arranged back to back.
• Ensure maximum occupancy limits for indoor and outdoor areas are posted and enforced.

US Capitol on lockdown after report of gunfire nearby
By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Police have locked down the U.S. Capitol after a report of gunshots in the area. U.S. Capitol Police said early Friday afternoon that all Capitol buildings were being locked down “due to an external security threat” and staff members were told they could not enter or exit the buildings. A law enforcement official says officers were responding to a report of a possible shooting on a street near the Capitol complex. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was injured. The official could not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

US employers add 916,000 jobs in March as hiring accelerates
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers unleashed a burst of hiring in March, adding 916,000 jobs in a sign that a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession is taking hold as vaccinations accelerate, stimulus checks flow through the economy and businesses increasingly reopen. The March increase — the most since August — was nearly double February’s gain of 468,000, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate declined from 6.2% to 6%.

Harrisburg, PA – Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding today announced that the department has purchased an additional $12.9 million worth of U.S. Department of Agriculture Foods through The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Pennsylvania to provide critical support and food to food banks in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

These supplemental federal funds, provided as part of the recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 in response to increased needs driven by COVID-19, have been used to purchase more than 7.9 million pounds of food, which will be delivered between June and December 2021.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the department distributed, on average, approximately 23 million pounds of USDA Foods through TEFAP every federal fiscal year. In federal fiscal year 2020, which ran from October 2019 through September 2020, the department distributed nearly 70 million pounds of food through TEFAP. And, in federal fiscal year 2021, with the addition of this food, the department is once again on track to distribute an estimated 70 million pounds of USDA Foods.

“While we’re actively getting Pennsylvanians back to work as the pandemic slows, many are still recovering from severe economic stress which has in turn stressed our charitable food system,” said Redding. “These federal funds are allowing us to increase the flow of food to food banks across the commonwealth as they work to continue meeting unprecedented demand.”

The department will push $3.2 million in TEFAP money directly to the food banks to cover administrative costs associated with storage, transportation, and distribution of the USDA Foods. In addition to this direct funding, the department has purchased 7.9 million pounds of USDA Foods – including meats, vegetables, canned goods, cheese and more – to the state’s food banks to distribute through their network of local food pantries and other distribution agencies. The food will be disbursed statewide to individuals in need of assistance in all 67 counties.

“We’re proud of all that Pennsylvanians have done to get us to this point, to mitigate against loss and bring us to a new year with new hope and a vaccine,” added Redding. “I encourage anyone who is still experiencing a financial strain to take advantage of these foods through your local food pantry. Better days are ahead, but for now, take a hand up.”

Pennsylvanians looking for help to put food on the table are eligible for state and federal food assistance found at Pennsylvania’s food banks and pantries. Additional support can be found through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Commodity Supplemental Food Program, and the Farmers Market Nutrition Program.

For more about the Wolf Administration’s efforts to address food insecurity in Pennsylvania, visit agriculture.pa.gov/foodsecurity.

(Ellwood City, Pa.) Pa State Police in New Castle are reporting that they received a phone call from Rinay Pounds of Ellwood City at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday to report that someone stole her ATV.

Troopers reported via release that a 2004 Dark Green Polaris 400 ATV was reported stolen from Pounds’ residence on West Lawrence Ave. sometime between March 30 at 4 pm and March 31, 2021 at 8:00 a.m.. Troopers are investigating and asking anyone with information to contact Pa. State Police in New Castle at 724-598-2211.