WASHINGTON (AP) — “THIS IS A TEST”: If you have a cellphone or are watching television Wednesday, that message will flash across your screen as the federal government tests its emergency alert system used to tell people about emergencies.

The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System sends out messages via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts.

The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that’s designed to allow the president to speak to the American people within 10 minutes during a national emergency via specific outlets such as radio and television. And Wireless Emergency Alerts are short messages — 360 characters or less — that go to mobile phones to alert their owner to important information.

While these types of alerts are frequently used in targeted areas to alert people in the area to thing like tornadoes, Wednesday’s test is being done across the country.

The test is slated to start at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday. Wireless phone customers in the United States whose phones are on will get a message saying: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” The incoming message will also make a noise and the phone should vibrate.

Customers whose phones are set to the Spanish language will get the message in Spanish.

The test will be conducted over a 30-minute window started at 2:20 p.m., although mobile phone owners would only get the message once. If their phones are turned off at 2:20 p.m. and then turned on in the next 30 minutes, they’ll get the message when they turn their phones back on. If they turn their phones on after the 30 minutes have expired they will not get the message.

People watching broadcast or cable television or listening to the radio will hear and see a message lasting one minute that says: “This is a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, covering the United States from 14:20 to 14:50 hours ET. This is only a test. No action is required by the public.”

Federal law requires the systems be tested at least once every three years. The last nationwide test was Aug. 11, 2021.

The test has spurred falsehoods on social media that it’s part of a plot to send a signal to cellphones nationwide in order to activate nanoparticles such as graphene oxide that have been introduced into people’s bodies. Experts and FEMA officials have dismissed those claims but some social media say they’ll shut off their cellphones Wednesday.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Solitary confinement conditions in a Pennsylvania state prison are unconstitutional, worsening and creating mental illness in those held there, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday on behalf of five inmates who say they have spent long periods in “torturous conditions.”

With limited mental health resources, some of the plaintiffs inside the Department of Corrections’ State Correctional Institution at Fayette have attempted suicide, flooded their cells with dirty toilet water, punched walls and written in their own blood, their lawyers said.

The lawsuit accuses prison officials of placing inmates into confinement based on secret evidence, leaving them unable to challenge their placement. Those practices violate the constitutional rights of those incarcerated to due process and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment, their lawyers said.

A number of lawsuits nationally have targeted the conditions of solitary confinement, saying that the treatment of incarcerated people there has led to psychiatric episodes of self-mutilation and death due to lack of adequate care.

The lawsuit asks the court to end the use of secret evidence and solitary confinement for mental health patients. It also seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections declined comment, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit said that a majority of the 30 to 50 men held in solitary confinement in the prison are Black and Latino and that the five plaintiffs have spent at least 11 months in solitary confinement.

According to the lawsuit, the men are placed in solitary confinement if they’re identified as posing possible threats to the security, safety and operation of the facility.

Those incarcerated are placed in small rooms, about 80 square feet (7.4 square meters), for 22 hours a day. The rooms have minimal furniture, no windows facing outside and lights are on at all times, the lawsuit said.

The men are granted one hour of recreation time, in a cage outside, but many refuse it, due to declining mental health, the lawsuit said.

In a statement, Angel Maldonado, one of the plaintiffs, called the confinement “draconian.”

“I’m a strong person, but it broke me down, I felt like I was trapped,” Maldonado said. “I had brothers in there swallowing batteries, razors, tying nooses. We organized this lawsuit because we felt it was a time to make change, we felt like if we didn’t do something positive or take a stand the DOC were going to keep doing this.”

The lawsuit says Maldonado had come to the prison with no history of psychiatric treatment. But mental health treatment in the prison is “grossly inadequate” and Maldonado’s time in solitary confinement caused insomnia, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation, his lawyers said.

Mental health staff speak to the men through a food slot in the steel doors, or a crack between the cell door and frame, the inmates said.

The visits, which are often brief, are called “drive-bys,” according to the lawsuit.

In Maldonado’s case, the lawsuit said a psychiatrist visited briefly, speaking to him through the door. Maldonado was prescribed an antidepressant, but was also taunted as being weak by others in solitary confinement, who can hear visits from mental health staff. The taunting went on for 10 hours, and worsened his condition, the lawsuit said.

Other plaintiffs who had documented mental health conditions saw insufficient support.

Once in solitary confinement, inmates can progress through phases to access more privileges — such as in-person non-contact visits, reading materials, tablets or TV — but the lawsuit said that “vague, arbitrary criteria” can keep the men from advancing.

Those held at the lowest tier can’t access phones, reading materials, radios, TV or commissary food; they can have only one non-contact visit per month.

At all levels, the men are not allowed to receive alcohol and drug addiction rehabilitation services or anti-violence and behavioral therapy, the lawsuit said. Often, participation in programs like that is necessary for parole, it said.

“No one should be forced to endure these conditions,” said Alexandra Morgan-Kurtz, deputy director of the Pennsylvania Institutional Law Project, which is one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs. “It is time for the DOC to eliminate practices long recognized as inhumane and unconstitutional, including the unlawful placement of disabled individuals in circumstances that cause life-threatening harm.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Most Pennsylvania lawmakers want to move their state’s presidential primary election up from late April, but disagreements arose in the House on Tuesday over whether to embrace a Senate-backed plan that would shift the election to mid-March.

A House committee first rejected, but later passed, a bipartisan Senate bill that seeks to hold the election on March 19. That second vote came hours after the committee approved its own bill to move the primary to April 2.

Most lawmakers are motivated to move the primary from April 23 — where it is set by state law — to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover and to make it earlier in the primary calendar, thereby giving voters in the battleground state more of a say in deciding presidential nominees.

“I think at its core, people recognize that Pennsylvania is frankly the center of the political universe,” said the bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia. “If you want to win a national election in the United States of America, you have to win the state of Pennsylvania.”

House Democrats supported the bill to move the date to April 2. The bill passed narrowly, 13-12, and goes to the full House for a floor vote. Democrats, on a second vote, advanced the Senate bill to the floor, with a 13-12 vote.

It gives the chamber more flexibility, and two mechanisms, to shift the date, said the committee’s chairman, Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre.

“Things were fluid this morning as it was going through,” he said. “Some members had some reservations about the bill the way it was written.”

After negotiation, he said, they passed it.

Still, the votes by the committee earlier on Tuesday raised questions about whether an agreement on a new date is possible any time soon.

House Republicans opposed both the Senate and House bills.

April 2 would be just two days after Easter next year. Lawmakers aired concerns about polling equipment being in place in churches around the Holy Week, and whether poll workers would be away for the holiday.

Republicans emphasized the impact it would have to schools’ calendars, the work it would put on counties to abbreviate their own and potential changes to voters’ habits as reasons to not move the primary at all, at this point.

Voters observing Passover could vote by absentee ballot, said Rep. Brad Roae, R-Crawford.

“Well, with all the different religions that we all have — Christianity, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist — there’s so many different religions,” he said. “Probably almost every day is a holiday for somebody.”

The move could also open the state to scrutiny, said Rep. Lou Schmitt, R-Blair.

“This election, whether we change the primary date or not, will not be perfect,” he said. “However, by changing the primary date, we hand a stick to these people who thrive on chaos in elections to beat our poll workers and our directors of elections over the head.”

Democrats dismissed that concern.

“I think we have very, very good folks around the Commonwealth, not only at the Department of State, but in our counties, who I have a lot of faith in their ability,” said Rep. Ben Waxman, D-Philadelphia. “You know, if they can handle 2020, they can handle this.”

Pennsylvania is a premier battleground in presidential elections, but state law sets its primary date on the fourth Tuesday in April, relatively late in the presidential primary calendar. It hasn’t hosted a competitive presidential primary since 2008, when Hillary Clinton pulled off a win to stay alive against Barack Obama, the leader in delegates and eventual winner of that year’s Democratic nomination.

The House committee’s proposed date would put Pennsylvania alongside Delaware, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, as well as New York where Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a bill that sets that state’s presidential primary for April 2.

The March 19 date would send Pennsylvanians to the polls on the same day as Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Arizona.

Both dates still come after primaries in other big delegate states, including California, Texas, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

CLEVELAND (AP) — For one of the few times in his life, Terry Francona won’t have to follow a strict daily schedule. He’s got freedom and flexibility.

He’ll no longer have to rush to Progressive Field early in the morning to review scouting reports. There’s no required pregame media interviews anymore, and Francona doesn’t have to get out to the field for batting practice.

Those hectic days are done.

“I’m going to be OK not having that,” Francona said. “It’s been 40-something years of that. I’m ready to rest a little bit and let somebody else be in charge.”

No one, though, will replace him.

One of baseball’s most beloved figures, Francona stepped away from the game — at least temporarily — on Tuesday, ending a 23-year managerial career that began in Philadelphia, peaked with two World Series titles in Boston and concluded with an 11-season stay in Cleveland.

Although his decision to leave the Guardians has been known for weeks, Francona and the Guardians didn’t make it official until two days after their season ended with a third-place finish in the AL Central.

And while he won’t return to Cleveland’s dugout, the 64-year-old Francona will have a future unspecified role with the team.

He’s not sure what or when. And that’s just fine.

“I know I need to go home and get healthy and see what I miss about our game and then maybe after some time see the best way to maybe quench that appetite — whatever it is,” he said. “I don’t foresee managing again. If I was going to manage, I like doing it here. But I also don’t want to just turn away from the game.”

Francona, who only had two losing seasons with Cleveland, became the fourth major league manager to depart in five days following the firings of San Francisco’s Gabe Kapler, the New York Mets’ Buck Showalter and the Los Angeles Angels’ Phil Nevin.

Slowed by serious medical issues in recent years, Francona intends to spend more time playing with his grandkids, getting healthy (shoulder replacement and double hernia surgery is scheduled for next week) and enjoying an extended offseason after a four-decade grind.

At some point, he’ll consult with Chris Antonetti, the team’s president of baseball operations, and general manager Mike Chernoff on how he can further assist an organization he’s helped make one of MLB’s strongest.

While he was saluted over the season’s final weeks, Francona stayed clear of saying this was a retirement.

Maybe more of a pause than anything permanent.

“I never was real concerned about the word retire,” he said. “I guess when you say retire, it’s like, well, you’re going home and not doing anything. Don’t feel that way either. We’ll figure something out that makes sense.

“Just need some time. I mean normally after a season I need some time anyway. This is a little different.”

When Francona was hired in October 2012, Antonetti said he never imagined their partnership would extend beyond a decade. That rarely happens in major professional sports.

But Francona’s uncanny ability to connect with people along with the club’s willingness to support and grow with him, created a situation that may be impossible to duplicate.

The Guardians have had it good with Francona, and vice versa.

“I’m a way better person now for coming here,” said Francona, the winningest manager in club history. “It’s just been good, man. I came here for the right reasons. I’m leaving for the right reasons and in between it’s been really good.

“That doesn’t mean we haven’t been challenged. We get challenged all the time. But doing it with people you respect and care about and care about you is really good.”

The Guardians now search for his replacement, who will have a monumental challenge in filling Francona’s shoes.

Antonetti said the team has already conducted several interviews after beginning with an initial list of over 45 internal and external candidates to succeed Francona, who won three AL Manager of the Year Awards in Cleveland.

Antonetti said Guardians first-base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. declined an opportunity to interview, but told the team he wants to stay in a similar position on the new manager’s staff.

Cleveland bench coach DeMarlo Hale, who filled in for Francona when he had to step down during the 2021 season, is believed to be among the candidates.

“The most important thing is that we get to the right person, and if we can do that quickly, great,” Antonetti said. “But if it takes us a month or longer, then that’s the necessary timeframe. But the most important thing is getting the right person.”

That was certainly the case with Francona.

With 1,950 career wins, he’s 13th on the all-time list, sandwiched by Casey Stengel (1,905) and Leo Durocher (2,008), two other colorful managers who like Francona endeared themselves to fans and players.

Every manager ahead of Francona is a Hall of Famer except for Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy, who remain active and likely will be enshrined one day.

Francona’s rise as one of the game’s best managers was somewhat unexpected.

Things didn’t go particularly well for him in Philadelphia, where he had four straight losing seasons, got constantly booed in a demanding, sports-crazed city and had the tires on his car slashed on fan appreciation day.

He was an unlikely choice for Boston’s job, but immediately claimed legendary status by winning the World Series in his first season.

The Red Sox overcame a 3-0 deficit in the AL Championship Series and swept St. Louis to end an 86-year championship drought and exorcise the “Curse of the Bambino,” a perceived hex on the team after Babe Ruth was sold to the rival New York Yankees.

When his tenure in Boston ended in 2011 amid some controversy, Francona took a year off and worked in broadcasting before going to Cleveland, where his dad spent six seasons and he himself played 62 games in 1988.

He was an ideal fit, nearly perfect. And, who knows, if there’s not a rain delay late in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, it may have been even more special.

Francona’s not exactly sure what’s next.

Once he recovers from his surgeries, he’ll go home to Tucson, Arizona, and cheer on his beloved Arizona Wildcats. Some golfing buddies are planning another trip to Ireland next summer, and Francona may finally join them.

Finally, he’s got some time.

“It’ll be nice to just be able to do something if I want to,” he said.

FILE – The bulldog hood ornament is seen on a used Mack truck that is available at a lot in Evans City, Pa., Jan. 9, 2020. The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks that covers about 4,000 workers in three states. Mack Trucks confirmed a tentative agreement on a five-year contract early Monday, Oct. 12, 2023 after the UAW announced the deal just before midnight Sunday. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, file)

The United Auto Workers union has reached a tentative contract agreement with Mack Trucks that covers about 4,000 workers in three states. Mack Trucks confirmed a tentative agreement on a five-year contract early Monday after the UAW announced the deal just before midnight Sunday. Mack President Stephen Roy says the deal delivers significantly higher wages and will allow the company to compete. The UAW says that more details would become available as members review the tentative deal with Mack, which is owned by Volvo .

FILE – A Union Pacific train travels through Union, Neb., July 31, 2018. The federal government has joined a number of former workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used its own vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train. The new lawsuit was announced Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The federal government has joined 21 former rail workers in suing Union Pacific over the way it used a vision test to disqualify workers the railroad believed were color blind and might have trouble reading signals telling them to stop a train. The lawsuit announced Monday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is the first by the government in what could eventually be hundreds — if not thousands — of lawsuits over the way Union Pacific disqualified people with a variety of health issues. Union Pacific has vigorously defended itself in court, arguing it needs to disqualify these workers to preserve rail safety.

Supporters of President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Federal authorities have revealed a reason for the unusual secrecy surrounding a Pennsylvania man’s guilty plea and prison sentence for attacking police during the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. In a court filing on Monday, Justice Department prosecutors say Samuel Lazar supplied the government with information as part of a plea agreement that remained under seal for months. Prosecutors want to keep details of Samuel Lazar’s cooperation under wraps. A coalition of media outlets, including The Associated Press, has asked a judge to unseal records of Lazar’s guilty plea and 30-month prison sentence. But prosecutors say releasing information that Lazar provided to the government could interfere with ongoing investigations.

Photos and information provided by Alzheimer’s Association 

(Beaver, Pa) Around 150 people participated in this year’s Beaver/Lawrence County Walk to End Alzheimer’s^® at Irvine Park on Saturday, September 30, 2023. Participants raised over $27,600 to support the care, support and research programs of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Happy Helen was the top fundraising team at this year’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s, raising more than $2,300. Brenda Dhayer, Team Captain, started the team to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of her mother.

Fundraising for the Beaver/Lawrence County Walk to End Alzheimer’s continues through December 31.

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease – a leading cause of death in the United States. Additionally, more than 11 million family members and friends provide care to people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. In Pennsylvania alone, there are more than 280,000 people living with the disease and 400,000 caregivers.

Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s^®

The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research.  Since 1989, the Alzheimer’s Association mobilized millions of Americans in the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk^®; now the Alzheimer’s Association is continuing to lead the way with Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Together, we can end Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Association^®

The Alzheimer’s Association is a worldwide voluntary health organization dedicated to Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Its mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimer’s and all other dementia — by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support. Visit alz.org or call 800.272.3900.

 

Harrisburg, PA – Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt today reminded registered Pennsylvania voters that they have until 5 p.m. Oct.  31 to apply for a mail ballot for the Nov. 7 municipal election. Ensuring that our elections are conducted securely, freely, and fairly – and that every eligible voter can make their voice heard – are top priorities of the Shapiro Administration.

“Voting by mail is a safe, secure, and convenient way to make your voice heard in the upcoming election,” Schmidt said. “Voters can apply online for a mail-in or absentee ballot, or they can apply in person at their county board of elections office.

“I encourage all voters to take time today to request their mail ballot so they have plenty of time to receive it and then return the voted ballot before the deadline, which is 8 p.m. on Nov. 7.”

As soon as voters receive their mail ballot, they should:

• Read the instructions carefully.
• Fill out the ballot, being sure to follow instructions on how to mark selections.
• Seal the ballot in the inner secrecy envelope marked “Official Election Ballot.” Be careful not to make any stray marks on the envelope.
• Seal the secrecy envelope in the pre-addressed outer return envelope.
• Complete the voter’s declaration on the outer envelope by signing and writing the current date.
• Affix a postage stamp to the outer envelope before mailing.

Voted mail ballots must be received by a voter’s county board of elections by 8 p.m. Nov. 7, Election Day. Mail ballots received after that time do not count, even if they contain a postmark before the deadline. Some counties may provide drop boxes or drop-off sites for mail ballots. Voters should check their county’s website for information on locations.

Pennsylvanians can also request their mail ballot, complete it, and return it in one visit to their county election office until 5 p.m. Oct. 31. Voters are encouraged to check their county election office hours before making the trip.

Pennsylvania voters also have the option of voting in person on Election Day at the polls, which will be open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 7. Voters can find their polling place on vote.pa.gov.

Voters who received an absentee or mail-in ballot may vote in person on Election Day if they bring their mail ballot and outer return envelope with them to be voided. After they surrender those materials and sign a declaration, they can then vote on a regular ballot.

Voters who requested a mail ballot and did not receive it or do not have it to surrender may vote by provisional ballot at their polling place. The provisional ballot will be reviewed by the county board of elections after Election Day to determine whether it can be counted.

“Whichever voting option you choose – by mail ballot or in person at the polls on Election Day – the important thing is to exercise your constitutional right to vote and let your voice be heard,” Schmidt said.

For more information on voting in Pennsylvania, call the Department of State’s year-round voter hotline at 1-877-VOTESPA, visit vote.pa.gov, or follow #ReadytoVotePA on social media. Vote.pa.gov is available in English, Spanish, and Chinese and offers online voter registration, a polling place locator, and county boards of elections contact information. It also includes voting tips for first-time voters and members of the military.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published October 3, 2023 9:38 A.M.

(Midland, Pa) Beaver County 9-1-1 reported Tuesday morning that firefighters were called to a fire at the corner of Fourth Street and Ohio Avenue in Midland at 1 a.m. Tuesday.
As of 8:30 a.m. there was no update available on the fire. Beaver County Radio is working to get more information.