Aliquippa School Board approved several motions at Wednesday night’s meeting. An agreement between the school district and the Beaver County Mental Health Association , an agreement with Pressley Ridge, and 1 year contract with Medic Rescue at a rate of $3,400 effective July 1, 2021 through and including June 30, 2022. A new one year contract with Nutrition Group, Inc. is effective July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022. Adult cafeteria prices for lunch were increased by .$.25 for the 2021-2022 school year.
Summer school sessions for the elementary school are June 14-July 9, July 12 to August 5, and August 9-20, 2021 from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.. JSHS summer school is scheduled for June 14-July , 2021 from 8:15 a.m. to noon. All costs are covered by ESSR funding. Dates are subject to change based on student enrollment. Board secretary Delcine McBride’s salary beginning July 1m 2021 and ending June 30, 2025 will be an annual stipend of $1,800.00.
The board tabled the resignation of business manager/board treasurer Debbie Engleman.
The board’s next regular meeting, is. scheduled for Wednesday, June 17 at 6 p.m. in the JSHS Black Box Theater.

Nearly one-third of federal correctional officer jobs in the United States are vacant, and that’s forcing prisons to use cooks, teachers, nurses and other workers to guard inmates. At a federal penitentiary in Texas, prisoners are locked in their cells on weekends because there aren’t enough officers to watch the inmates. Elsewhere in the system, fights are breaking out and inmates have escaped in recent months. The Justice Department budgeted for 20,446 full-time correctional officer positions in 2020, but the agency that runs federal prisons says it currently employs 13,762 officers. The Bureau of Prisons insists that many of its facilities still have a full complement of officers who focus solely on maintaining order.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois man accused of killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, is expected to make his first in-person court appearance. Rittenhouse is set to appear at a status conference Friday morning in Kenosha County Circuit Court. Rittenhouse’s attorneys and prosecutors are expected to iron out deadlines and other housekeeping matters ahead of his trial in November. Rittenhouse is charged with killing two men and wounding a third during the August protests. Rittenhouse was 17 at the time. He maintains he was defending himself. COVID-19 protocols forced Rittenhouse to make his earlier court appearances virtually but those restrictions have now been lifted.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A senior adviser to Donald Trump is taking to Twitter to stress that the former president has made no endorsement of anyone to become governor of Pennsylvania. Thursday’s statement by the adviser, Jason Miller, comes a day after a Republican state senator said that Trump had asked him to run for governor in 2022 and promised to campaign for him. Miller, on Twitter, reiterated that Trump “has not made any endorsement or commitments yet” in the race. The state senator, Doug Mastriano, hasn’t declared his candidacy. However, Lou Barletta, the Republican Party’s Trump-endorsed nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018, has declared his candidacy for governor.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With voters shifting major new responsibilities to them, Pennsylvania’s state lawmakers are now tasked with deciding whether hundreds of state government regulations waived during the COVID-19 pandemic should be reinstated. This massive review is fueled by Tuesday’s referendum in which voters curbed the governor’s emergency powers by approving constitutional amendments that give lawmakers much more power over disaster declarations. A key component of a disaster declaration is a governor’s authority to waive a regulation. On Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf renewed the disaster declaration, his fifth straight in response to the coronavirus. Under the provisions of the constitutional amendments approved Tuesday, it will expire in three weeks.

Pennsylvania is firing a company that performed COVID-19 contact tracing and exposed the private medical information of tens of thousands of residents. That’s according to the state health secretary. Employees of Insight Global used unauthorized Google accounts to personal information about residents who had been reached for contact tracing. The state had planned to drop Insight Global once its contract expires at the end of the July, but the Health Department told House Republicans on Thursday that it will terminate the contract early, on June 19.

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17), a member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, was joined by Representative Mike Doyle (PA-18) to introduce the Freight Rail Innovation Act.  Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.  The bicameral legislation would establish a Freight Rail Innovation Institute, comprised of a university research partner and locomotive manufacturer, with the goal of developing zero-emission locomotives.

“This legislation is a perfect example of Congress working together with industry and academic leaders to develop new and innovative transportation technologies,” said Lamb.  “This federal funding could be used locally in Western Pennsylvania to accelerate the development of hydrogen-powered locomotives, creating jobs in the energy industry and boosting our local economy.”

“This legislation will invest in alternative energy freight rail technology and lower emissions, incentivize more and longer lasting private investment in energy solutions, contribute to research and development in Pittsburgh and create jobs in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I look forward to seeing its inclusion in future infrastructure legislation,” said Casey.

“Investing in innovative technologies like fuel cell locomotives and more efficient rail operations won’t just make our freight transportation sector the cleanest in the world, it will enable us to move more freight, grow our economy, and create thousands of new good-paying jobs,” said Doyle.

The Freight Rail Innovation Act would carry out a research and development program to:

• Develop technologies necessary for the design, development, manufacturing, and operation of zero-emission battery and hydrogen-powered freight locomotives;
• Develop technologies that enhance freight rail safety, efficiency and utilization; and
• Accelerate the deployment of zero-emission locomotives, including passenger locomotives, as well as support supply chains; advance freight and logistics systems; and related workforce development and education innovations.

The legislation also includes Buy America and Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements for institute grant recipients, and requires a 50% non-federal match.

Visit Lamb’s website to learn more about the Freight Rail Innovation Act.

Pennsylvania reports 50% of adults are fully vaccinated
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is marking a milestone, with 50% of adults statewide now considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Wolf administration says it will lift an order requiring unvaccinated people to wear masks in public once 70% of Pennsylvanians aged 18 and older are fully vaccinated, meaning at least two weeks beyond their last required dose. That percentage stood at 50% on Thursday, according to federal data. The pace of vaccinations has been slowing for weeks. State Health Department data shows Pennsylvania ordered only about a quarter of the vaccine doses to which it was entitled last week, signaling a steep drop-off in demand.

The Veteran’s Break fast Club will be hosting a zoom breakfast with special guests  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough and Congressman Conor Lamb Wednesday June 26, 2021 at 9:00 AM.  Veteran’s will be able to ask any questions they have or issues they’d like them to discuss that are V.a. Related by emailing them to todd@veteransbreakfastclub.org.  You can also email Todd with any questions you have about the event  at todd@veteransbreakfastclub.org and plan to join us on Zoom on the 26^th