(File Photo of Daylight Saving Time Picture)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Beaver County, PA) Daylight-Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 9th, 2025. The holiday leads up to the season of spring because of the traditional reminder to spring your clocks forward in the United States by one hour. The alternative is the autumn conclusion of Daylight-Saving Time, in which clocks go back one hour in the United States to fall back during the season of fall.
(File Photo of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday that he wants his administration to try to fill openings in the state’s workforce by recruiting federal workers who might be losing or leaving their jobs as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce.
Shapiro became the latest governor to make that pitch, joining other governors who are holding job fairs, fast-tracking hiring for such applicants or doing other kinds of outreach.
Shapiro, in a news conference at a state job fair in Harrisburg, said his administration will raise its consideration of federal job experience when it looks to hire and has assembled materials online to show federal workers how their experience translates to the state workforce.
Shapiro gave as examples nurses who can help staff state health care facilities, civil engineers who can work on road and bridge safety, accountants who can process state tax returns and emergency response professionals who can help the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
Shapiro noted that the state, with a workforce of almost 82,000 people, has nearly 6,000 open positions for which federal workers who are losing their jobs could apply.
“Some of them might have been laid off recently, some of them might just be looking for a change right now,” Shapiro said. “They can step into one of our vacancies and be ready to serve on day one.”
Trump administration’s cuts have made the country “less safe and less healthy and less protected,” Shapiro said.
Trump, through billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, is closing agencies, firing workers, laying off nearly all probationary employees who have not yet gained civil service protection and offering buyouts to almost all federal employees.
More layoffs could be on the way.
The IRS and Social Security Administration are preparing plans to cut their workforces, federal offices could be sold off and federal employees who don’t comply with Musk ’s demands for reports on their recent accomplishments could get fired. Trump also has vowed to dismantle the Department of Education.
Roughly 80% of the country’s 2.4 million federal workers are based outside of metropolitan Washington, D.C.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is spending more than $10 million to replace its electronic voter registration database with an election management system that will also provide election night results and handle campaign finance filings and lobbyist registration.
Secretary of State Al Schmidt announced Wednesday the Civix system should be fully in use by the time of the next presidential election in 2028, replacing the existing Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors, or SURE system.
Election management is closely watched in Pennsylvania, a perennial swing state where the two major parties are constantly seeking an edge in state and national contests.
State officials say the Civix system’s functions for public use will provide information about voter registration, coming elections and voting data.
The SURE system, used by counties to record, update and verify voter registration information, has been in place since 2003 and is widely considered to be outdated.
“That doesn’t mean it’s not reliable,” said Schmidt, who compared using the existing system to the frustrations of having a 20-year-old phone. “It is safe and secure. We are always having to make upgrades.”
It’s not clear how much the Civix software will also require hardware changes, Schmidt said.
“As the project develops, it will become more clear the extent to which new hardware is needed,” he said.
Forrest Lehman, who has served as Lycoming County’s elections director for about a decade, said there is a widespread feeling among county elections officials that the SURE system is in need of replacement.
“We all want this to succeed,” Lehman said. “We want a new voter registration system that can move this state and the counties that use it into the 21st century.”
Story by Curtis Walsh – Published March 5, 2025 2:46 P.M.
(Beaver, Pa) The Beaver County Commissioners briefly spoke about the Shell Cracker plant at their work session Wednesday morning.
Recent information has been released that suggests Shell is considering selling the plant that recently cost them over 14 billion dollars to build and has only been operating since 2022.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Shell is exploring the sale of their chemical assets in the US and Europe.
Commissioner Jack Manning commented that “everything has a price” and suggested that normally these kind of deals are not unusual but he does see this one as unusual considering the large investment and how quickly Shell is willing to sell.
Also during the meeting, the Commissioners spoke about administrative changes possibly happening between the New Brighton and Rochester School districts.
The schools recently announced two town hall meetings to discuss combining the administration between the schools.
Commissioner Dan Camp noted that “it’s been a long time coming” and Manning says that he supports the idea.
The meetings are open to the public and will take place on April 7th at New Brighton and April 24 at Rochester. Both meetings will be held in the auditorium of the respective school at 6pm.
(Photo Provided with Release)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Beaver County, PA) According to a release, the Rochester Area School District and the New Brighton Area School District will hold two Town Hall meetings to discuss a proposed plan for both districts to share administrative services. The first will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 7th at the New Brighton Area School District Auditorium with both a presentation of the plan and questions following. The second will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 24th at the Rochester Area School District Auditorium and the meeting is a follow-up on the first meeting with questions following.
(File Photo of a Truck from the Aliquippa Fire Department)
(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)
(Aliquippa, PA) Aliquippa firefighters went to both McDonald Heights and Raccoon Township to put out three separate fires on Tuesday. According to Aliquippa Fire Chief Tim Firich, there was a vehicle on fire in McDonald Heights and the fire spread to the yard and woods around it as well as a residence that was occupied and an out building. Firich stated that multiple local fire crews assisted to help the Aliquippa firefighters put out the fire in forty-five minutes. Firich also confirmed that both a brush fire and a fire in the woods occurred in Raccoon Township the same day and both were each extinguished after two hours.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE—In this file photo from May 5, 2021, a vehicle speeds by a hiring sign offering a $500 bonus outside a McDonalds restaurant, in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pa. Pennsylvania will resume work search requirements in July for hundreds of thousands of people receiving unemployment compensation, a top Wolf administration official said Monday, May 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)
(Harrisburg, PA) A new report shows Pennsylvania’s labor market is healthy and strong, with 139,000 more jobs than in early 2020 and a steady unemployment rate of 3.6 percent. The report says since 2022, the Pennsylvania labor market has offered robust job opportunities to workers. Carrie Amann with the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Association says her group’s research assesses how the state’s economy stands now, compared to four years ago and pre-pandemic. She stresses the need for targeted strategies to help more people find and keep jobs. Amann says economic struggles for people who aren’t college graduates are in the spotlight, with debates on trade, immigration and apprenticeships gaining traction. In Pennsylvania, among working-age men, one in seven is unemployed, highlighting the need for stronger workforce programs and job creation efforts.
(File Photo of the Transportation Security Administration Logo)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) Another gun was intercepted by agents from TSA at a checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport on Sunday. A man from Kentucky was found with a 9 mm handgun in his carry-on and one of the bullets was located in the chamber. TSA confirmed that there were seventeen bullets loaded in the gun and eighteen bullets were also discovered. This incident brings the total of guns intercepted at the Pittsburgh International Airport this year to nine.
(File Photo of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium Logo)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) An evacuation occurred on Tuesday morning at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium because of an electrical fire at the aquarium. Firefighters arrived at the scene and were able to put the fire out. Everyone evacuated safely. The zoo confirmed that the structure of the building where the fire occurred was intact after the fire was located in the ductwork. A smoke smell remains at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium, and both will be closed on Wednesday, March 5th to get rid of the smell.
(File Photo of Police Lights)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Potter Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that an investigation continues regarding an incident of reckless endangerment on I-376 West on Tuesday. At 7:16 p.m., the incident occurred in Potter Township as police went to locate an unidentified erratic driver who was in a truck. That is all the details we have at this time and police are still investigating this incident.