Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Darlington Twp., Pa.) Maintenance workers in the Blackhawk School District discovered about 50 windows broken at the Northwestern Elementary School on Monday morning, according to Darlington Township police Chief Al Filauri. Filauri said rocks were thrown at the windows all around the school  The school has been closed for 2 years, and is for sale, the chief said.

Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) released its employment situation report for August 2020.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was down 2.2 percentage points over the month to 10.3 percent in August. The national rate fell 1.8 percentage points from July’s level to 8.4 percent. The commonwealth’s unemployment rate increased by 5.8 percentage points from August 2019 while the national rate was up 4.7 points over the year.

Pennsylvania’s civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was down 59,000 over the month as the unemployment count fell by 144,000 while employment increased 86,000.

Pennsylvania’s total nonfarm jobs were up 59,500 over the month to 5,577,900 in August. Jobs increased in 9 of the 11 industry supersectors. The largest volume gain was in trade, transportation & utilities, up 19,600 jobs from July.

Over the past four months, Pennsylvania has recovered 52.4% of the total nonfarm jobs lost in March and April.

Over the year, total nonfarm jobs in Pennsylvania were down 499,600 with declines in 10 of the 11 supersectors. The largest 12-month change among supersectors was a decline of 163,000 jobs in leisure & hospitality.

Additional information is available on the L&I website at www.dli.pa.gov or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Note: The above data are seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted data provide the most valid month-to-month comparison.

Harrisburg, PA — As part of the Wolf Administration’s ongoing efforts to ensure public health and safety and support economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine today signed new orders following the recent announcement that restaurants may increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent starting Monday, September 21. The order requires that serving alcohol for on-site consumption must end at 11:00 PM starting on Monday, September 21 and all alcoholic beverages must be removed from patrons by midnight. This applies to both restaurants that do not self-certify to increase to 50 percent and those that choose to stay at 25 percent. There is no change to the requirements for the temporary sale of cocktails-to-go and take out alcohol sales from bars, restaurants or hotels with a liquor license.

“As we continue to take critical steps to continue to mitigate the spread of COVI-19, we also recognize that this pandemic has taken a significant toll on the food services industry, so we must balance public health and economic recovery,” Gov. Wolf said. “These orders give restaurants the ability to increase indoor occupancy safely while giving customers confidence when deciding to patronize a restaurant.”

The recently announced self-certification process will enable restaurants to increase indoor occupancy to 50 percent while adhering to mitigation efforts that will keep employees and customers safe. Starting September 21, restaurants can begin submitting their self-certification documents to an Open & Certified Pennsylvania database. ​

Restaurants that self-certify will appear in an Open & Certified Pennsylvania searchable online database of certified restaurants across the commonwealth and will receive Open & Certified Pennsylvania branded materials, such as window clings and other signage designating their certification, which they can display for customers and employees.

The self-certification documents and information about the Open & Certified Pennsylvania program will be available online on September 21 and will contain the following:

• A list of requirements contained in the current restaurant industry guidance and enforcement efforts;
• A statement that the owner has reviewed and agrees to follow these requirements;
• The business’ maximum indoor occupancy number based on the fire code; and
• A statement that the owner understands that the certification is subject to penalties for unsworn falsification to authorities.

Restaurants should complete the online self-certification process by October 5 when enforcement relative to 50 percent occupancy will begin. Self-certification will still be available after October 5.

Business owners should keep a copy of the self-certification confirmation they will receive by e-mail. The self-certification will be used as part of ongoing enforcement efforts conducted by Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, and will be shared with the departments of State, Labor & Industry and Health, and other enforcement agencies.

Self-certifying will not lead to additional inspections. The occurrence of regularly scheduled or complaint-based inspections from enforcement agencies will not be affected by certification status. In fact, certifying proves that a business is committed to protecting employees and providing patrons a safe dining experience. Any health and safety violations from self-certified businesses will be handled first with warnings and education rather than fines or other penalties.

The Wolf Administration has released Frequently Asked Questions as a reference for restaurant owners and the public, along with updated restaurant guidance.

Restaurant owners with additional questions about the self-certification program can contact covidselfcert@pa.gov. 

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department announced this morning   that Lilandra Redman 20, formerly of  Rochester,PA  was wanted for child abduction-non-parental and luring a child from Woostock, IL to PA last month.  According to information from the  sheriff’s department  she met the victim online  and had been in contact with him for a few years. The two used social media and apps to converse, as well as a disposable phone which Redman got to the victim by way of another student.

What are the rules on masks in schools?
By The Associated Press undefined
Whether students have to wear masks in schools depends on where they go to school. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control encourages masks for most students over age 2, especially when they are less than 6 feet apart. But how districts and states have interpreted the guidance varies. So do the consequences for not going along with the rules. In Utah, students and staff could be charged with a misdemeanor for not wearing a mask. South Carolina says students have to wear masks in the hallways, but can take them off in the classroom if a teacher allows it.

COVID-19 danger continues to drive joblessness in US
By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000, a historically high figure that reflects economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak. Before the pandemic hit the economy, the number signing up for jobless aid had never exceeded 700,000 in a week, even in the depths of the 2007-2009 Great Recession. The Labor Department also said Thursday that 12.6 million are collecting traditional unemployment benefits, compared with 1.7 million a year ago.

HARRISBURG –  Attorney General Josh Shapiro has secured an agreement to obtain $11.9 million in debt relief for former ITT Tech students in Pennsylvania as part of a settlement with 48 attorneys general and the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This agreement is in the form of an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance.

Nationally, the settlement will result in debt relief of about $330 million for 35,000 borrowers who have outstanding principal balances.

The settlement is with PEAKS Trust, a private loan program run by the for-profit college and affiliated with Deutsche Bank entities. ITT filed bankruptcy in 2016 amid investigations by state attorneys general and following action by the U.S. Department of Education to restrict ITT’s access to federal student aid.

“This settlement will provide debt relief for more than 1,400 hardworking students in Pennsylvania who were pressured and coerced into accepting loans from PEAKS for fear of losing the credits they had earned,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “As Attorney General, I will continue to hold accountable any student loan company or for-profit college that preys on the students they should be helping and not hurting. Thanks to the hard work of my Bureau of Consumer Protection and colleagues across the country we have canceled unfair debt for thousands of former students.”

PEAKS was formed after the 2008 financial crisis when private sources of lending available to for-profit colleges dried up. ITT developed a plan with PEAKS to offer students temporary credit to cover the gap in tuition between federal student aid and the full cost of the education.

The States found that:

• ITT and PEAKS knew or should have known that the students would not be able to repay the temporary credit when it became due nine months later. Many students complained that they thought the temporary credit was like a federal loan and would not be due until six months after they graduated.
• When the temporary credit became due, ITT pressured and coerced students into accepting loans from PEAKS, which for many students carried high interest rates, far above rates for federal loans. Pressure tactics used by ITT included pulling students out of class and threatening to expel them if they did not accept the loan terms. Many of the ITT students were from low-income backgrounds and were left with the choice of enrolling in the PEAKS loans or dropping out and losing any benefit of the credits they had earned, because ITT’s credits would not transfer to most schools.
• The default rate on the PEAKS loans is projected to exceed 80%, due to both the high cost of the loans as well as the lack of success ITT graduates had getting jobs that earned enough to make repayment feasible.  The defaulted loans continue to affect students’ credit ratings and are usually not dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Under the settlement, PEAKS has agreed that it will forgo collection of the outstanding loans and cease doing business. PEAKS will send notices to borrowers about the cancelled debt and ensure that automatic payments are cancelled. The settlement also requires the PEAKS to supply credit reporting agencies with information to update credit information for affected borrowers.

Students will need to do nothing to receive the debt relief. The notices will explain their rights under the settlement.  Students may direct questions to PEAKS at customerservice@peaksloans.com or 866-747-0273, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at (855) 411-2372.

In June 2019, Attorney General Shapiro was part of a $168 million settlement that resulted in debt relief for 18,664 former ITT students. That agreement was with Student CU Connect CUSO, LLC, which also offered loans to finance students’ tuition at ITT Tech.

Since taking office in 2017, Attorney General Shapiro has secured more than $50 million in debt cancellation for student borrowers in Pennsylvania.

ITT operated seven campuses in Pennsylvania.

In addition to Pennsylvania, the settlement was signed by the attorneys general of Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.