CARNEGIE, PA – Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced that he secured a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) for the work to be conducted at the Montgomery Locks and Dam. His effort makes sure that the expected 28,000 construction jobs created there will be solid, union Western Pennsylvania jobs. Pennsylvania’s biggest discretionary-funded recipient of federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Montgomery Locks and Dam project in Beaver County along the Ohio River is a critical part of the regional and national economy, transporting around 20 million tons of goods through the river system each year.

As defined by the United States Department of Labor, a Project Labor Agreement is a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement negotiated between construction unions and construction contractors that establish the terms and conditions of employment for construction projects. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers received $857 million from the Infrastructure Law to upgrade the Ohio River Locks and Dam system but was not initially following President Biden’s Executive Order to require PLAs for all federally funded projects of more than $35 million or more. When Congressman Deluzio heard there was no PLA requirement in bidding out work for the massive Montgomery Locks and Dam project in his congressional district, he jumped into action, coordinating with the Army Corps, the Biden Administration, and local unions to require a PLA for all of the work on this project. An agreement was finalized on February 22, 2024.

“I’m proud that I secured a Project Labor Agreement requirement for the work at the Montgomery Locks and Dam project, protecting the more than 28,000 expected construction jobs so that they are solid, union, Western Pennsylvania jobs,” said Rep. Deluzio. “When I heard from workers and unions that the work for the project was being bid without a PLA, I knew we had to act to protect jobs here in Western Pennsylvania. Ultimately, we got the Army Corps of Engineers to bid this project out with a strong PLA. This means worker protections and solid pay for workers right around here in Western Pennsylvania—and it also means high-quality craftsmanship on the job. I am so proud that the Biden Administration is helping us make sure that we’ll have good, solid union jobs here in Western Pennsylvania, doing this important work.”

“We have a chance to lift people and communities up, through workforce development, through Project Labor Agreements, and through union jobs,” said Steve Mazza, Council Representative at Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. “When we found out that President Biden’s Executive Order requiring that all large projects funded from the Infrastructure Law have a PLA in place wasn’t being followed at the Montgomery Locks and Dam site, the Carpenters connected with Congressman Deluzio who immediately got involved. He was a great help with this, and it is largely thanks to Congressman Deluzio that we now have this PLA in place to ensure that the project is done on time and that it will bring more jobs and more opportunities to working people in Beaver County.”

Locks and dams are critical to waterway commerce and transportation. Activity at the Upper Ohio River, where the Montgomery Locks and Dam are located, is valued at more than two billion dollars annually. Built in the 1930s, the Montgomery Locks and Dam requires modernization and maintenance to meet the demands of modern waterway transportation, and even a one-year closure would cost the U.S. economy nearly $180 million and would require more than 100,000 rail cars or 400,000 trucks to augment the load that would have passed on the rivers. The Upper Ohio Navigation Project seeks to make the necessary maintenance and modernization improvements without interrupting operations. This project also expects to bring more than 28,000 jobs to the region during construction and will continue to support 5,300 long-term jobs after the project concludes.

Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Nancy A. Walker today announced a new Shapiro Administration initiative to make the process of applying for Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits even more accessible to Pennsylvanians who have lost a job through no fault of their own.

Pennsylvania’s system for filing UC claims uses numerous fraud-detection measures, including virtual identity verification vendor ID.me to verify the identities of all new UC applicants. With grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, L&I has installed kiosks at 17 PA CareerLink® locations and 29 UPS locations throughout the Commonwealth to help Pennsylvanians navigate the ID.me process. By July, ID.me kiosks will be available in all PA CareerLink® locations.

“These kiosks are a lifeline for folks who don’t have internet access or who need a little extra help navigating online systems,” Secretary Walker said. “This is another way the Department is making identity verification accessible for underserved populations — or for someone who simply wants in-person assistance.”

The new kiosks are designed to enhance and improve the accessibility of the identity verification process, which claimants can still complete from their home computer or mobile phone should they choose to do so. For most claimants, the self-service identity verification options take fewer than 10 minutes to complete.

The kiosks are free to use and require no appointment. The kiosks allow claimants to bring physical documents to the location and skip the step of scanning a photo. For individuals who share a phone with others, the kiosks make the process of verification much easier.

All locations with kiosks have trained personnel on site who know how to help a claimant navigate the ID.me verification process.

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
When he took office, Governor Josh Shapiro promised to make overhauling the UC system a priority and directed L&I to focus first on resolution of the pandemic-era backlog – a workload of 40,000 remaining claims filed between March 2020 and November 2021 that each required individual examination and adjudication. Under Secretary Walker’s leadership, the entire backlog was eliminated within seven months.

With bipartisan support in the 2023-24 budget, L&I leveraged the Service Improvement and Infrastructure Fund (SIIF) to hire more than 380 additional UC interviewers to staff service centers and answer calls since January 2023. The impact of that investment is clear: wait times for phone assistance have decreased dramatically, and Pennsylvanians are once again receiving the efficient, timely customer service they deserve.

L&I distributed more than $1.7 billion in UC benefits in 2023 to about 326,000 Pennsylvanians – all of whom experienced the loss of a job or work hours through no fault of their own. 

In March 2024, L&I received 40,390 claims and distributed UC benefits totaling $192,068,334 to 116,447 eligible claimants.

In March, L&I served:

• 93,335 individuals through the UC helpline at 888-313-7284;
• 4,365 individuals through the UC Live Chat service;
• 16,690 individuals through email.

Since May 2023, UC staff have been answering most emails within 24 hours. 

Through the Department’s UC Connect program offering in-person customer service at PA CareerLink^® locations, L&I served 2,394 individuals in March for a total of 73,117 since the program’s launch in May 2022.

L&I reminds UC claimants of their responsibility to file weekly benefit certifications online or by using the Department’s touch tone telephone service, called PAT, at 888-255-4728 (en Español, 877-888-8104).

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published April 30, 2024 1:16 P.M.

(New Brighton, Pa) New Brighton Mayor Valerie McElvy wants residents to collaborate and connect. While she is planning many events for New Brighton, the first will be “Take a stroll downtown New Brighton with the Mayor”. The date is Wed., June 12th at 8 am. The location is to be announced. Mayor McElvy said “Downtowns are on the rebound. The value small businesses can bring to communities should never be underestimated.” There will be more details to follow and refreshments are part of the event. There is no charge for the event and all are invited.

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published April 30, 2024 1:10 P.M.

(Greene Township, Pa) PA State Police in Beaver say they responded to a false report of a burglary in Georgetown earlier this month. Troopers were called to Tomlinson Church Road on April 3rd for a call of a burglary in progress. When Troopers arrived, they say they encountered 33 year old Cody Cox who was allegedly high and not actually being burglarized. Charges have been filed against Cox.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan holds display check above his head after speaking during a news conference where it was revealed that he was one of the winners of the $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot at the Oregon Lottery headquarters on Monday, April 29, 2024, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — One of the winners of a $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot this month is an immigrant from Laos who has had cancer for eight years and had his latest chemotherapy treatment last week.

Cheng “Charlie” Saephan, 46, of Portland, told a news conference held by the Oregon Lottery on Monday that he and his 37-year-old wife, Duanpen, are taking half the money, and the rest is going to a friend, Laiza Chao, 55, of the Portland suburb of Milwaukie. Chao had chipped in $100 to buy a batch of tickets with them. They are taking a lump sum payment, $422 million after taxes.

“I will be able to provide for my family and my health,” he said, adding that he’d “find a good doctor for myself.”

Saephan, who has two young children, said that as a cancer patient, he wondered, “How am I going to have time to spend all of this money? How long will I live?”

After they bought the shared tickets, Chao sent a photo of the tickets to Saephan and said, “We’re billionaires.” It was a joke before the actual drawing, he said, but the next day they won.

Chao, 55, was on her way to work when Saephan called her with the news: “You don’t have to go anymore,” he said.

Saephan said he was born in Laos and moved to Thailand in 1987, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1994. He wore a sash at the news conference identifying himself as Iu Mien, a southeast Asian ethnic group with roots in southern China. Many Iu Mein were subsistence farmers and assisted American forces during the Vietnam war; after the conflict, thousands of Iu Mien families fled to Thailand to avoid retribution and eventually settled in the U.S.

Tens of thousands of Iu Mien people live along the West Coast, with a sizeable and active community in Portland.

Saephan graduated from high school in 1996 and has lived in Portland for 30 years. He worked as a machinist for an aerospace company.

In the weeks leading up to the drawing, he wrote out numbers for the game on a piece of paper and slept with it under his pillow, he said. He prayed that he would win, saying, “I need some help — I don’t want to die yet unless I have done something for my family first.”

The winning Powerball ticket was sold in early April at a Plaid Pantry convenience store in Portland, ending a winless streak that had stretched more than three months. The Oregon Lottery said it had to go through a security and vetting process before announcing the identity of the person who came forward to claim the prize.

Under Oregon law, with few exceptions, lottery players cannot remain anonymous. Winners have a year to claim the top prize.

The jackpot had a cash value of $621 million before taxes if the winner chose to take a lump sum rather than an annuity paid over 30 years, with an immediate payout followed by 29 annual installments. The prize is subject to federal taxes and state taxes in Oregon.

The $1.3 billion prize is the fourth largest Powerball jackpot in history, and the eighth largest among U.S. jackpot games, according to the Oregon Lottery.

The biggest U.S. lottery jackpot won was $2.04 billion in California in 2022.

This image provided by Walmart shows products from the store’s new Bettergoods label. Walmart said Tuesday it is launching its biggest store-label food brand in 20 years in terms of its breadth of items, as it seeks to appeal to younger customers who are not brand loyal and want chef-inspired foods that are more affordably priced. (Walmart via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is launching the U.S. retailer’s biggest store-label food brand in 20 years in terms of the breadth of items, seeking to appeal to younger customers who are not loyal to grocery brands and want chef-inspired foods that are more affordably priced.

The brand, called Bettergoods, is just hitting Walmart stores and the company’s online shopping site. Walmart said Tuesday it expects to have 300 products in the line by the fall, including frozen foods, dairy items, snacks, beverages, pastas, soups, coffee and chocolate. The prices range from under $2 to under $15, with most products costing under $5.

The Bettergoods line is divided into three categories: plant-based options like desserts made with oat milk and non-dairy cheeses; products catering to other dietary lifestyles, such as gluten-free, or made without artificial flavors, colorings or added sugars; and “culinary experiences.” The last category features items like creamy corn jalapeno chowder and pasta from Italy.

The launch from the country’s largest retailer comes as inflation has driven shoppers to seek less-expensive alternatives, lifting the popularity of private-label brands. Private brands accounted for nearly 26% of the overall market share in the number of units in the food and beverage category sold last year, up from 24.7% during the previous year, according to market research firm Circana. That compares with 74.5% for national name brands last year, down from 75.3% in 2022.

For so-called core pantry items, including breakfast meats, baking items, fresh bread and salty snacks, private brands accounted for 36.6% of market share in dollars in 2023, up from 36.2% in 2019. That compares with national brands, which accounted for 63.4% last year. That’s down from 63.8%, according to Circana.

But these store brands are becoming tastier and higher quality, mirroring national brands. Walmart’s rivals, including Target, have been growing and sprucing up their own labels. Target’s Good & Gather food and beverage brand, launched in 2019, has expanded to include dishes such as chicken tikka masala.

Many grocery retailers face increasing competition from Trader Joe’s, which offers shoppers a treasure hunt experience with its variety of high-quality meals, ingredients and snacks.

Bettergoods joins Walmart’s other store label food brands, including Great Value and Equate, that provide lower-priced alternatives to national brand products. In contrast, many of Bettergoods products are designed to be unique to Walmart while introducing its customers to new trends and flavors, the retailer said.

”As an industry, we’re seeing younger customers be more brand agnostic, prioritizing quality and value, and driving increased interest in private brands,” Scott Morris, Walmart’s senior vice president of private brands, food and consumables, said.

FILE – Norfolk Southern locomotives are moved through the Conway Terminal in Conway, Pa., June 17, 2023. The activist investors trying to take control of Norfolk Southern’s board are picking up key support, but the railroad’s CEO promised Monday, April 29, 2024, to continue fighting until the May 9 vote because he believes his strategy is the best in the long run for investors, customers and workers. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The activist investors trying to take control of Norfolk Southern are picking up key support. But the railroad’s CEO promised Monday to fight the takeover attempt because he believes his strategy is the best in the long run. Ancora Holdings’ bid has gained the backing of one of the major proxy advisory firms, one of the railroad’s biggest customers and two of its largest labor unions. The main issue is whether CEO Alan Shaw’s strategy of keeping additional resources on hand during a downturn and his investments in safety are the best course for the railroad. Norfolk Southern that has been in the spotlight ever since its fiery 2023 Ohio derailment. Ancora argues a dramatic overhaul is needed to bring Norfolk Southern’s profits in line with its peers.

Harrisburg, PA – Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Nancy A. Walker today announced a new Shapiro Administration initiative to make the process of applying for Unemployment Compensation (UC) benefits even more accessible to Pennsylvanians who have lost a job through no fault of their own.

Pennsylvania’s system for filing UC claims uses numerous fraud-detection measures, including virtual identity verification vendor ID.me to verify the identities of all new UC applicants. With grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, L&I has installed kiosks at 17 PA CareerLink® locations and 29 UPS locations throughout the Commonwealth to help Pennsylvanians navigate the ID.me process. By July, ID.me kiosks will be available in all PA CareerLink® locations.

“These kiosks are a lifeline for folks who don’t have internet access or who need a little extra help navigating online systems,” Secretary Walker said. “This is another way the Department is making identity verification accessible for underserved populations — or for someone who simply wants in-person assistance.”

The new kiosks are designed to enhance and improve the accessibility of the identity verification process, which claimants can still complete from their home computer or mobile phone should they choose to do so. For most claimants, the self-service identity verification options take fewer than 10 minutes to complete.

The kiosks are free to use and require no appointment. The kiosks allow claimants to bring physical documents to the location and skip the step of scanning a photo. For individuals who share a phone with others, the kiosks make the process of verification much easier.

All locations with kiosks have trained personnel on site who know how to help a claimant navigate the ID.me verification process.

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
When he took office, Governor Josh Shapiro promised to make overhauling the UC system a priority and directed L&I to focus first on resolution of the pandemic-era backlog – a workload of 40,000 remaining claims filed between March 2020 and November 2021 that each required individual examination and adjudication. Under Secretary Walker’s leadership, the entire backlog was eliminated within seven months.

With bipartisan support in the 2023-24 budget, L&I leveraged the Service Improvement and Infrastructure Fund (SIIF) to hire more than 380 additional UC interviewers to staff service centers and answer calls since January 2023. The impact of that investment is clear: wait times for phone assistance have decreased dramatically, and Pennsylvanians are once again receiving the efficient, timely customer service they deserve.

L&I distributed more than $1.7 billion in UC benefits in 2023 to about 326,000 Pennsylvanians – all of whom experienced the loss of a job or work hours through no fault of their own. 

In March 2024, L&I received 40,390 claims and distributed UC benefits totaling $192,068,334 to 116,447 eligible claimants.

In March, L&I served:

• 93,335 individuals through the UC helpline at 888-313-7284;
• 4,365 individuals through the UC Live Chat service;
• 16,690 individuals through email.

Since May 2023, UC staff have been answering most emails within 24 hours. 

Through the Department’s UC Connect program offering in-person customer service at PA CareerLink^® locations, L&I served 2,394 individuals in March for a total of 73,117 since the program’s launch in May 2022.

L&I reminds UC claimants of their responsibility to file weekly benefit certifications online or by using the Department’s touch tone telephone service, called PAT, at 888-255-4728 (en Español, 877-888-8104).