Harrisburg, PA – The Wolf Administration today urged Pennsylvanians to take food safety precautions as they plan celebrations during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday and the summer season.

“With Memorial Day approaching and the summer event season kicking off, we must remember grilling and picnic food safety measures,” Department of Health Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam said. “As the weather gets warmer, foodborne germs are more abundant, yielding food poisoning. It is important to keep perishable foods refrigerated and properly handle raw meats.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tips to keep food safe for the upcoming summer season. If you are preparing food in advance for Memorial Day, divide cooked foods into shallow containers and store them in the refrigerator or freezer to rapidly cool. After cooking or grilling raw meats, throw away marinades and sauces that have touched raw meat juices. Use a clean plate and utensils to remove cooked meats from the grill.

Refrigerating your food promptly will help prevent harmful bacteria from multiplying and making you sick. Always keep your refrigerator below 40 degrees and chill perishable foods within two hours. If the outdoor temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, refrigerate food within one hour. The safest way to thaw frozen food is in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave. Never thaw foods on the counter, because bacteria can grow quickly in foods that are left at room temperature.

If you are going to community events or festivals, bring hand sanitizer and disposable wipes to clean your hands. Be sure to only order food from vendors that have licenses to sell food, are wearing gloves and using appropriate utensils when serving food.

“Preparing, storing and serving food safely can keep a celebration from turning into an emergency,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “As we gather around the table together again, enjoy the bounty of food Pennsylvania has to offer, and eat safely.”

Learn more about food safety in Pennsylvania restaurants, grocers and on the farm at agriculture.pa.gov or download the EatSafePA app from your Apple or android app store.

If you have a food-related illness, your doctor or the laboratory that did the testing will report it to the department. You can also call 1-877-PA-HEALTH to speak with a public health nurse.

Additional information on foodborne diseases can be found on the Department of Health’s website at www.health.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

(Beaver Falls, PA) Tyrone Zeigler, of New Brighton, is looking to take the next step in the his wave pool revival project, that he has been working on for 4 years now.  Zeigler has raised $80,000 in donations, which is secured by the Beaver Falls Community Development Corporation.  He is reportedly now starting the feasibility process, which we reported on earlier this month, that the Beaver Falls City Council agreed to assist him with. Once the feasibility study is complete, he will be able to start applying for grants to cover additional costs.  Insurance issues have caused a stop in construction of the pool for the time being. He is reportedly currently working on securing general liability insurance.

Pittsburgh, PA – Ahead of the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Allegheny County Health Department and Steel Valley High School held a virtual media briefing to discuss their partnership to engage students on seat belt safety as part of the current ‘Click It Or Ticket’ mobilization and Youth Traffic Safety month.

National Youth Traffic Safety month is recognized in May to remind young drivers to practice responsible behavior behind the wheel. Additionally, the current ‘Click It Or Ticket’ enforcement period runs through June 6. The agencies found value in engaging students in a conversation about seat belt safety just ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, a prime time to travel and the unofficial kickoff to the summer travel season.

PennDOT and the Allegheny County Health Department partnered with Steel Valley High School through the Allegheny County Youth Traffic Safety Council to use social media to discuss the current initiatives. The school used their active Instagram account to pose the question “What is one reason why you choose to wear your seat belt?” Students were invited to answer in either a word post or video.

Students displayed a variety of good reasons for wearing their seat belt in the vehicle. One student responded, “One reason I choose to wear a seatbelt is seeing how excited my dog is to see me when I get home,” while two others replied, “I got into a car accident a few years ago and a seatbelt saved my life. I always wear one because you never know what will happen while driving,” and “I choose to wear a seatbelt for safety, no matter who you’re in the car with. Even if they are a good driver, you never know how other drivers are or what could happen.”

Other students kept their families in mind when justifying seat belt usage, “I wear my seatbelt for my parents and family. They’d be the ones dealing with the aftermath if I were to die or get very seriously injured,” said one student while another added “I choose to wear a seatbelt because I have two little sisters who look up to me and wait for me to come home each day.” To see other responses, follow Steel Valley High School’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) chapter’s Instagram account @steelvalleysadd.

The Allegheny County Youth Traffic Safety Council is hosted by several organizations, including PennDOT and the Allegheny County Health Department, where open dialog is maintained with local high schools regarding how to promote driving safety among students and young drivers. Each participating school selects student representatives to attend meetings to discuss how the organizations can support students by providing guest speakers, activities, and resources for educational peer-to-peer interactions. Any school interested in joining the committee may contact Yasmeen Manyisha at ymanyisha@pa.gov.

Pennsylvania’s primary seat belt law requires drivers and passengers under 18 years of age to buckle up anywhere in the vehicle. The state’s secondary law requires drivers and passengers 18 years and older wear a seat belt when behind the wheel or in the front passenger seat. If a driver 18 years or older is pulled over for another violation, they can receive a second ticket if they or their front-seat passengers are not wearing seat belts.

PennDOT data shows there were 11,265 crashes in 2020 where at least one occupant was not wearing a seat belt in Pennsylvania, resulting in 348 fatalities.

It is imperative to teach young people the importance of wearing a seat belt at an early age, as these behavior patterns can be life lasting. In the event of a crash, seat belts are the first defense to safety.

For more information on seat belt safety, visit www.PennDOT.gov/Safety.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is set to approve a big innovation bill aimed at making the U.S. more competitive with China and other countries. The measure slogging through Congress includes $50 billion in emergency funds to shore up domestic computer chip manufacturing amid a shortfall that’s hit businesses across a range of industries. Senators had been expected to vote late Thursday, but proceedings came to a standstill when Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin protested the rush to finish and insisted on more changes. A few other Republicans joined him. The Senate recessed until Friday morning. The American Innovation and Competition Act is key to President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plans.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are poised to block the creation of a special commission to study the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. That action would dash hopes for a bipartisan investigation amid a GOP push to put the violent insurrection by Donald Trump’s supporters behind them. A vote on the procedural motion was bumped to Friday after delays on an unrelated bill. Broad Republican opposition was expected even as Capitol Police officers and relatives of an officer who died went office to office asking GOP senators to support it. The siege was the worst attack on the Capitol in 200 years and interrupted the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election win over Trump.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is lifting its mask mandate no later than June 28. The Department of Health announced Thursday that it will no longer require unvaccinated people to wear masks in public on June 28 or once 70% of adults are fully vaccinated, whichever comes first. People are considered fully vaccinated once they are two weeks beyond their last required dose of COVID-19 vaccine. According to federal data, 70% of Pennsylvania residents aged 18 and over have already received at least one vaccine dose, with just over half of the adult population fully vaccinated.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday will announce commitments from a dozen companies and organizations to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the root causes of migration from the region. Participants include corporate giants such as Mastercard and Microsoft as well as Pro Mujer, a nonprofit that focuses on providing aid to low-income women in Latin America, along with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the World Economic Forum. The vice president is expected to issue a “call to action” for businesses and nonprofits to make new commitments to promote economic opportunity in the region.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are poised to block legislation that would create a commission on the Jan. 6 insurrection. That’s despite both a bipartisan effort to salvage the bill and a last-minute push by the mother of a Capitol Police officer who died after the siege. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has set up a Thursday procedural vote on the bill, challenging Senate Republicans to support it. But it was unlikely that Democrats would be able to win the 10 Republican votes necessary to move forward. The bill would set up a bipartisan panel to investigate what happened when President Donald Trump’s supporters violently broke into the Capitol.

A new world weather agency forecast says it’ll likely be so hot in the next five years that there’s a 40% chance the globe will push past the temperature limit set by the Paris climate agreement. Thursday’s report by the World Meteorological Organization doubles the chances it gave last year for one year to be 2.7 degrees warmer than pre-industrial times. The Paris climate accord tries to prevent that much warming, but already Earth has warmed 2.2 degrees. The report also sees continued drought in the U.S. Southwest and more strong Atlantic hurricanes.