Former President Jimmy Carter celebrates 96th birthday
By BILL BARROW Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter marks his 96th birthday Thursday, the latest milestone for the longest lived of the 44 men to hold the highest American office. Carter planned to celebrate at his home in Plains, Georgia, with his wife of 74 years, Rosalynn Carter, according to a spokeswoman for the Carter Center in Atlanta. The 39th president, in office from 1977-81, has largely receded from the public eye amid the coronavirus pandemic and his own health challenges due to a series of falls in 2019. He previously survived a dire cancer diagnosis in 2015. Yet Carter remains a quiet force still active in both politics at home and, through his post-presidential center, in public health and human rights advocacy around the world.

US layoffs remain elevated as 837,000 seek jobless aid
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits declined last week to a still-high 837,000, evidence that the economy is struggling to sustain a tentative recovery that began this summer. The Labor Department’s report, released Thursday, suggests that companies are still cutting a historically high number of jobs, though the weekly numbers have become less reliable as states have increased their efforts to root out fraudulent claims and process earlier applications that have piled up. For example, California, which accounts for more than one-quarter of aid applications, simply provided the same figure it submitted the previous week. The state had said it would stop accepting jobless claims online so it could tackle a backlog of 600,000 claims.

PennDOT Extends Expiration Dates on Commercial Driver Licenses, Commercial Learner’s Permits and Hazardous Materials Endorsements (HME)

 The previous version of this release had an incorrect date for the extension on expiration dates for commercial driver licenses and permits. Please note that the correct date is November 29, 2020.

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that expiration dates for commercial driver licenses and commercial learner’s permits will be extended for Pennsylvania residents in response to statewide COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

Effective September 30, the following products’ expiration dates will be extended:

• The expiration date for a commercial learner’s permit scheduled to expire from March 16, 2020, through November 29, 2020, is extended through November 29, 2020.
• The expiration date for commercial driver licenses scheduled to expire from March 16, 2020, through November 29, 2020, is extended through November 29, 2020.
• The expiration date of a Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) for an individual who is a Pennsylvania-licensed commercial driver’s license holder and who held a valid, unexpired HME with a determination of no security threat on or after March 6, 2020, is extended until October 29, 2020.

Expiration extension deadlines on non-commercial driver license, photo identification cards, learner’s permits and camera cards expired on August 31.

For a list of open driver license and photo license centers and the services provided, as well as their hours of operation, please visit www.dmv.pa.gov.

Customers may continue to complete various transactions and access multiple resources online at www.dmv.pa.gov. Driver and vehicle online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewals; driver-history services; changes of address; driver license and vehicle registration restoration letters; ability to pay driver license or vehicle insurance restoration fee; driver license and photo ID duplicates; and schedule a driver’s exam. There are no additional fees for using online services.

PennDOT will continue to evaluate these processes and will communicate any changes with the public.

Additional COVID-19 information is available at www.health.pa.gov. For more information, visit www.dmv.pa.gov or www.PennDOT.gov.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Gordano

(Aliquippa, Pa.) The city’s planning commission once had 7 members,  now there are 5, according to code and zoning officer Jim Bologna.  Councilman Donald Walker made a motion to reconstruct the board to have 3 members and 2 alternates.  Shady S.Jaber, Esquire was appointed as. a new board member by council.

House unanimously adopts resolution designating October 2020 as
‘Agent Orange Awareness Month’

HARRISBURG, Sept. 30 – The House today unanimously adopted state Rep. Rob Matzie’s resolution designating October 2020 as “Agent Orange Awareness Month” in Pennsylvania.

Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, said he introduced H.R. 1019 to keep the spotlight on a critical health issue affecting thousands of Pennsylvanian veterans.

“In addition to brutal combat conditions, U.S. troops in Vietnam faced an equally deadly but invisible hazard that would wreak havoc on veterans and their families for decades – exposure to Agent Orange,” Matzie said. “The herbicide, which U.S. forces sprayed to eliminate cover and destroy crops, was contaminated with the deadly chemical dioxin.

“After the war, the toll of Agent Orange manifested itself in severe skin rashes, cancers, diabetes, birth defects and a litany of other health issues. Passage of the Agent Orange Act in 1991 relaxed proof requirements for certain illnesses presumed to be caused by the chemical, although some conditions with a suspected link – including the form of aggressive brain cancer that killed John McCain – are still not covered.

“Vietnam veterans make up the largest group of veterans in Pennsylvania today. Nearly half a million served during the Vietnam War era, and an estimated 172,000 directly participated in the war. We owe it to the thousands who have died or suffered serious illnesses from Agent Orange to continue raising awareness about the deadly consequences of its use.”

Matzie noted that from 1962 to 1971, U.S. military planes dumped nearly 20 million gallons of Agent Orange – named for the orange stripes on the chemical storage drums – on Vietnam and portions of Laos and Cambodia.

Under the Agent Orange Act of 1991, 14 conditions are presumed caused by Agent Orange: Chronic B-cell leukemia, Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, respiratory cancers including lung cancer, some soft-tissue sarcomas, AL amyloidosis, chloracne, Type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, early-onset peripheral neuropathy, and porphyria cutanea tarda.

Keystone State News Connection

Report Shows Manufacturing Decline in PA

Andrea Sears

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A new study shows the manufacturing sector in Pennsylvania and three other key swing states had gone into decline before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The analysis, performed by experts at The Century Foundation, Policy Matters Ohio and The Groundwork Collaborative, looked at job and wage growth since 2000.

Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center, explained in 2019 manufacturing jobs in the rest of the country were growing, while in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin they were shrinking.

“We haven’t seen the rebound in manufacturing,” Herzenberg said. “We haven’t seen any recovery in manufacturing wages. There’s been a lot of over-promising and a lot of under-delivery.”

He added manufacturing jobs in three of the four states grew faster from 2010 to 2016, during the Obama administration, than during the first two years of the Trump presidency.

For workers with a high school diploma or less, manufacturing jobs generally pay more than other kinds of employment.

Herzenberg pointed out while that margin has declined over the years, manufacturing jobs still give workers an extra boost.

“Which is why manufacturing jobs are important to economic opportunity and our region,” Herzenberg stressed. “Our state suffers because we don’t really have a manufacturing policy.”

He said the decline in the manufacturing wage premium was due in part to union busting and both foreign and domestic outsourcing of jobs to areas with lower pay.

Herzenberg contends policies such as the trade war with China and trade deals that don’t protect workers’ rights or wages have contributed to the decline in manufacturing jobs, while policies that push wages up, invest in workers’ skills and innovation can turn it around.

“The outline of a real manufacturing policy that would be good for the country’s competitiveness but also good for workers and families in our region is not complicated,” Herzenberg urged. “We just don’t have that right now.”

He emphasized manufacturing has long been the economic backbone of Pennsylvania and the Midwest economies, and it can thrive again.

Keystone State News Connection

PA House Bill Would Divert CARES Act Money to School Vouchers

Andrea Sears

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania House Education Committee is scheduled to vote today on a bill that critics say would divert federal CARES Act money to fund a new school voucher program.

The Keystone State has about $1.3 billion in unspent CARES Act money.

Pennsylvania House Bill 2696 would put $500 million of that into a new state program that includes school vouchers for students at private and religious schools.

Christopher Lilienthal, assistant director of communications for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, contends that would appear to fall outside the parameters of the federal law.

“It is applying this money toward a program that is not directly related to COVID-19, the pandemic or any of the associated costs,” Lilienthal stated.

He said those funds are intended to address expenses directly related to the pandemic.

The bill’s sponsor said the vouchers would help students whose education has been disrupted.

But Lilienthal pointed out 90% of Pennsylvania’s children attend public schools, not the schools the vouchers would pay for, and those public schools are in trouble.

“Right now, we know that public school districts across the Commonwealth are struggling to address a $1 billion dollar local revenue shortfall that arose as a result of this pandemic and its economic effects,” Lilienthal said.

He called the bill an attempt by a small group of legislators to shift public funds from public education to tuition assistance for religious and private schools.

Lilienthal said the impact of the pandemic on public education is much more than a loss of revenue at the district level.

“There are additional expenses this year related to face coverings, hand sanitizer, certain PPE as well as certain expenses related to counselors and psychologists and mental health concerns for students,” Lilienthal added.

A similar bill will be the subject of a public hearing in the Pennsylvania State Senate next week.

Flash in dark sky was probably random meteor, expert says
PITTSBURGH (AP) — An expert says a flash that lit up the skies over parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio in the wee hours was most likely a random meteor. Many social media users in the Pittsburgh area reported seeing a streaking fireball shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday. It remained in the skies for a short time before disappearing from view. The American Meteor Society says it received more than 200 reports of a bright fireball over eastern Ohio. An official with the nonprofit says it was probably a random meteor not associated with any known meteor shower.