(Pittsburgh, PA) The Pennsylvania Game Commission is reminding Pennsylvanians to watch out for deer when you are traveling on the road as the fall season begins. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, deer become more active in autumn, leading up to their fall breeding season or “rut,” and the Commision also notes that a recent report showed Pennsylvania led the country in animal collision insurance claims. 

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

Labor unions in the battleground state of Pennsylvania say they could play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of this year’s election. In 2023, the state had 749-thousand union members, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Anthony Ferriera, a retired federal worker and member of the American Federation of Government Employees, is among those mobilizing. He says he‘s walking neighborhoods, knocking on doors and talking with voters in an effort to motivate them to go to the polls. 

Source for Photo: FILE – An early election ballot completion area is being prepared at a collection location at the North Park Ice Skating Rink Lodge area, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in McCandless, Pa. Pennsylvania lawmakers plan to begin voting on legislation Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary date, although the dates under discussion may do little to give the state’s voters more say in deciding presidential nominees. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

(Monaca, PA) According to a release from Leslie Tennant, Associate Vice President of Communications for the Community College of Beaver County, the CCBC community celebrated the dedication of the Atwell Student Commons on Monday, October 14, 2024, in memory of Janet M. Atwell and her husband Curtis J. Atwell. Tennant also noted that a gift of $477,000 to date has been given to the CCBC Foundation through Mrs. Atwell’s estate, the largest unrestricted individual gift to that foundation. Tennant also stated that the CCBC Board of Trustees renamed CCBC’s Student Life area to the Atwell Student Commons on August 20, 2024 after Mrs. Atwell, both a Beaver County resident and a CCBC alumna. 

(Story reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondant Sandy Giordano, Published on October 25, 2024 at 7:21 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) The Aliquippa School Board approved their National Honor Society criteria. At last week’s school board meeting, the Aliquippa School Board approved the 3.5 GPA requirements on a 4.0 grading scale. The district is also now a member of the National Junior and Senior High School Honor Society Woodlawn Chapter. 

Noah J. Sperling, an elementary guidance counselor, was also hired, contingent on providing all of the necessary documents by November 20, 2024. Once the process is complete, his starting date will be approved, and Sperling will earn $49,000 a year. 

(Story reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondant Sandy Giordano, Published on October 25, 2024 at 7:18 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) The Beaver County Youth Football league briefly suspended the Aliquippa Youth football team after an altercation following a game at Central Valley’s field last Saturday. The incident in question involved a group of women fighting in the stands over the game being moved to Central Valley. The coaches and team were not involved in the incident. Mayor Dwan B. Walker who took to social media on Wednesday night to set the record straight on the incident was who stepped forward to break up the fight. Walker was punched and kicked during the incident.
The league has now reversed their decision and all games for the weekend are back on according to Coach Malik Shegog. Shegog told Giordano: “After a lot of uncertainty and chaos, we made it  through to the other side. We love how the community and even outside communities came through to speak up for the kids, and A HUGE SHOUT OUT to the coaches Jay Harv, Donald C. Walker III, Derhon Towler, and Mayor Dwan B. Walker and Marco Harris.” Shegog said that all players are to show up for practice ready to go and he also said, “Let’s go 3 for 3, ready to play.” The Center Township Police Department expected to file charges in the case. This is a continuing story and we will have updates as they are available.

HARRISBURG, Oct. 23 – The Pennsylvania House yesterday adopted Rep. Rob Matzie’s H.R. 318, which directs the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to perform a comprehensive study of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Matzie, who is the vice chairman and longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee, said a thorough study of PIAA’s decision-making processes and operations is needed because of concerns that the association – and particularly the way it classifies schools for competition – puts student athletes in harm’s way and forces them to compete against wealthier schools with bigger budgets and larger rosters.

“For too long, we have been hearing from parents and student athletes across the state that the PIAA’s policies are jeopardizing student health and creating a dangerous and uneven playing field,” Matzie said. “We have taken those concerns to the PIAA, but they have gone unanswered. It’s time to move the ball on this issue, and we start by taking a closer look at the association, its structure and its decision-making.”

Matzie’s resolution directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to perform a comprehensive study and make recommendations regarding:

• PIAA’s competition classification formula and transfer policy.
• The location of state championships.
• The association’s financial performance; broadcast agreements; and name, image and likeness policy.
• The composition of the Board of Directors and the feasibility of legislative and state departmental appointees to the board.
• The potential for expanding the authority of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee.

The PIAA oversees senior high and junior high athletic competitions in the state and is charged with developing and enforcing rules regulating those competitions. More than 1,400 public, charter and private schools with more than 350,000 student athletes fall within PIAA’s jurisdiction.

FILE – The sign outside a McDonald’s restaurant is seen in Pittsburgh, June 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

E. coli food poisoning linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states, including one person who died and 10 who were hospitalized, federal health officials said Tuesday.

The death was reported in an older person in Colorado, and one child has been hospitalized with severe kidney complications, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Infections were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11, in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Colorado has the most cases, 26, followed by Nebraska with nine.

Everyone interviewed in connection with the outbreak had reported eating at McDonald’s before falling ill and most mentioned eating Quarter Pounder hamburgers, the CDC said. The U.S. Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and state health officials are also investigating.

A specific ingredient has not been identified as the cause, but investigators are focused on onions and beef. A preliminary FDA investigation suggests that slivered onions served on the burgers are a likely source of contamination. The USDA is investigating the hamburger patties.

In a statement, McDonald’s officials said that initial findings suggest that some illnesses are linked to onions sourced from a single supplier. The company has halted distribution of the slivered onions and temporarily removed the Quarter Pounder from menus in the affected states, and also in portions of Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

“We take food safety extremely seriously and it’s the right thing to do,” the statement said.

E. coli bacteria are harbored in the guts of animals and found in the environment. Infections can cause severe illness, including fever, stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. People who develop symptoms of E. coli poisoning should seek health care immediately and tell the provider what they ate.

The news comes in an already tough year for the Chicago-based McDonald’s chain. Its global same-store sales fell for the first time in nearly four years in the second quarter as inflation-weary customers skipped eating out or chose cheaper options. The company responded with a $5 meal deal, which was introduced at U.S. restaurants in late June and was recently extended through December. The deal doesn’t include the Quarter Pounder.

McDonald’s shares dropped 9% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the CDC’s announcement.

The type of bacteria implicated in this outbreak, E. coli O157:H7, causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. each year, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths. Infections are especially dangerous for children younger than 5 and can cause acute kidney failure.

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Associated Press writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this story.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE – Chester County, Pa., election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Wednesday said people whose mail ballots are rejected for not following technical procedures in state law can cast provisional ballots, a decision sure to affect some of the thousands of mail-in votes likely to be rejected this fall.

The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Butler County’s Republican-majority election board must count provisional ballots that were cast by two voters after they learned their mail-in ballots were voided because they arrived without mandatory secrecy envelopes.

The decision was a legal defeat for the Republican National Committee and the state Republican Party, which had argued Butler County had correctly rejected the provisional ballots cast during the April primary.

Secrecy envelopes keep ballots concealed as elections workers open the stamped outer envelopes used to mail the whole packets back. Voters also must sign and date the exterior envelopes. Pennsylvania voters have so far applied for more than 1.9 million mail ballots.

The two voters had received emails notifying them of the “naked ballot” problem, and they both went to their polling places on the primary election day and cast provisional ballots. They sued after learning the Butler County Board of Elections also rejected their provisional ballots, and a county judge upheld the election officials’ decisions.

Mail-in ballot rules in Pennsylvania changed drastically under a 2019 law, widely expanding their use and producing a series of lawsuits. Pennsylvania’s status as the swing state with the most electoral votes in the close presidential election, now in its final two weeks, puts the court decision under heightened scrutiny as the parties scrape for votes.

Most counties — but not all — help inform voters in advance of Election Day that their mail-in ballot will be rejected, giving them the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

“The General Assembly wrote the Election Code with the purpose of enabling citizens to exercise their right to vote, not for the purpose of creating obstacles to voting,” wrote Justice Christine Donohue for the majority.

In a dissent joined by the other Republican on the court and one of the five Democratic justices, Justice Kevin Brobson argued the two voters had already cast their ballots by mail, so the provisional ballots they also cast should not be counted.

He said voters have to follow election laws, whether that means using the secrecy envelope or showing up at the polls during the time they are open. State lawmakers could have told election boards to count provisional ballots under such circumstances, Brobson wrote.

“The General Assembly, however, clearly did not, and this Court is not at liberty to make additions or modifications to the unambiguous statutory language in order to effectuate that result,” Brobson said.

An ACLU lawyer involved in the case, Witold Walczak, said Wednesday the decision applies across the state, that all voters whose mail-in ballots are disqualified for any reason will be allowed to cast valid provisional ballots.

“In the end, this is about not two votes counting or zero votes counting, it’s about one vote counting,” Walczak said. “If your first vote does not count, as with these disqualified mail ballots, the provisional ballot must count. You’re entitled to have one vote counted.”

Walczak expects the number of disqualified mail-in ballots to be in the tens of thousands in this year’s election.

FILE – A Denny’s restaurant is shown Sept. 14, 2017, in Cranberry, Pa.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Denny’s says it’s closing 150 of its lowest-performing restaurants in an effort to turn around the brand’s flagging sales.

About half of the closures will happen this year and the rest in 2025, the company said during a meeting with investors Tuesday. The locations weren’t revealed, but the restaurants represent around 10% of Denny’s total.

Stephen Dunn, Denny’s executive vice president and chief global development officer, said in some cases, the restaurants are no longer in good locations.

“Some of these restaurants can be very old,” Dunn said during the investor meeting. “You think of a 70-year-old plus brand. We have a lot of restaurants that have been out there for a very long time.”

Others saw traffic shifts during the pandemic that have yet to reverse, he said.

On Tuesday, Denny’s reported its fifth straight quarter of year-over-year declines in same-store sales, which are sales at locations open at least a year.

Restaurant inflation is outpacing grocery price inflation, which makes it harder for some customers to justify eating out, Denny’s said. And when they do eat out, they often head to fast-casual brands like Chipotle or fast-food chains. Denny’s said family dining — the category in which it competes — has lost the most customer traffic since 2020.

Still, Denny’s said it has bright spots, including a value menu that lifted sales in its most recent quarter and growing sales of its delivery-only brands like Banda Burrito.

Shares in Denny’s Corp., which is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, tumbled almost 18% on Tuesday.