Category: News

Gov.Wolf to ease restrictions elsewhere, but still has concerns. Pa State Rep. Bernstine Says Beaver County is on the list.

Wolf to ease restrictions elsewhere, but still has concerns
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf will announce that more counties can see some of his tightest pandemic restrictions lifted, as counties and lawmakers pressure him to ease his orders. In a telephone news conference Thursday with reporters, Wolf said he will make his decision Friday morning. However, he said he hasn’t changed his criteria for deciding which counties can emerge from his stay-at-home order and his business shutdown order. His health secretary echoed that, saying the administration will continue to count cases in prisons, factories and nursing homes in a county’s total. That is bad news for counties that blame much of their outbreak on a single institution.

Pa State Rep. Aaro Bernstine  via his Facebook Page is reporting that Beaver County is on the list of counties that Gov. Wolf will announce today that will be moving into the yellow phase next Friday May 22, 2020.

President Trump says he’ll replenish stockpile for future pandemics

Trump says he’ll replenish stockpile for future pandemics
By JILL COLVIN and DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — President Donald Trump says he intends to prepare the country for future pandemics by restocking the national stockpile. He says that includes bringing critical manufacturing back to the U.S. from abroad. Trump announced his plans Thursday while visiting a Pennsylvania medical equipment distributor. His comments came the same day a whistleblower testified that the Trump administration had failed to properly prepare for the current pandemic. Trump is also trying to convince the public that it’s time for states to begin to reopen, even as the virus continues to spread. He is calling on Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor to open up the state.

House to vote Today on more virus aid, despite GOP skeptics

House to vote Friday on more virus aid, despite GOP skeptics
By ANDREW TAYLOR and ALAN FRAM Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House is pressing ahead with votes on another massive rescue bill that would pump almost $1 trillion to states and local governments, renew $1,200 cash payments for individuals, and extend a $600 weekly supplemental federal unemployment benefit. Friday’s measure — with a $3 trillion-plus price tag — promises to pass largely along party lines. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has loaded the 1,815-page measure with a slew of Democratic priorities, and it has earned a White House veto threat and a scathing assessment from top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who called it “a totally unserious effort.”

Wolf Administration Launches LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program to Ease Utility Costs for Pennsylvanians Affected by COVID-19 Crisis

Wolf Administration Launches LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program to Ease Utility Costs for Pennsylvanians Affected by COVID-19 Crisis

Harrisburg, PA – Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Teresa Miller today announced a Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Recovery Crisis Program to help Pennsylvanians during the COVID-19 public health crisis. Beginning in May, DHS will work with utility companies and deliverable fuel vendors to help Pennsylvanians at risk of losing access to electric, natural gas, or deliverable fuels such as oil, pay utility bills, and maintain access to home energy services.

“The COVID-19 public health crisis has created difficult economic situations for households around Pennsylvania. For low-income families, these uncertain times are creating even greater challenges to meeting essential needs and making ends make,” said Secretary Miller. “The LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program will help households across Pennsylvania bridge this uncertainty and the recovery period ahead.”

LIHEAP provides assistance for home energy bills, helping ensure continuity of utility and other energy services for low-income Pennsylvanians. Assistance is available for both renters and homeowners. The LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program will offer a crisis benefit and a supplemental payment for households that previously received a crisis payment made directly to utility companies or fuel providers to help offset costs for home utilities.

LIHEAP Recovery Crisis benefits may be available if a household:

  • Has their main or secondary energy source completely shut-off;
  • Is notified that their utility service will be shut off in the next 60 days;
  • Has broken energy equipment or leaking lines that must be fixed or replace; or,
  • Is in danger of being without fuel in 15 days or less.
  • Owes funds to a utility provider that would constitute a service termination if not for the Public Utility Commission’s moratorium on terminations.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act provided $900 million in additional LIHEAP funds to states. Pennsylvania received $34.9 million in LIHEAP funds through CARES. DHS will use these funds and funds remaining from the 2019-20 LIHEAP season to fund the LIHEAP Recovery Crisis Program.

LIHEAP Recovery Crisis program will open on May 18, 2020, and run through August 31, 2020, or until all budgeted funding is expended. The LIHEAP Recovery Crisis maximum benefit will be $800 for this period. Eligibility guidelines will be the same as those used during the 2019-20 LIHEAP season, and DHS will permit a file transfer agreement with utility providers to allow a utility to submit a LIHEAP Recovery Crisis application on behalf of a consenting household, provided the household has already received LIHEAP Cash to the utility during the regular season. Utility terminations are prohibited for the duration of the Governor’s disaster declaration, but past due balances can be submitted as proof of Recovery Crisis eligibility if the utility company confirms that the balance would result in a termination if the moratorium was not in place.

DHS will also automatically issue a $100 supplemental payment to approximately 100,000 households that received LIHEAP Crisis funds during the 2019-20 season. Any household that has not reached the maximum benefit in the 2019-20 season can apply for additional assistance up to the $800 maximum limit.

More information about LIHEAP and household income eligibility is available here. LIHEAP Recovery Crisis applications and instructions can be found here or can be submitted online at www.compass.state.pa.us.

Visit pa.gov for a “Responding to COVID-19” guide or the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s dedicated Coronavirus webpage for the most up-to-date information regarding COVID-19.

Guidance to DHS providers related to COVID-19 is available here.

Yellow Phase Orders Updated to Include 13 Additional Counties Moving at midnight. Gov. Expected to announce more counties tomorrow. 

Yellow Phase Orders Updated to Include 13 Additional Counties Moving on May 15 

Harrisburg, PA – Today, the yellow phase orders were amended to include 13 counties moving to the yellow phase at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow, May 15. Those counties include Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Indiana, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland.

The 13 counties join 24 counties that moved into the yellow phase on May 8: Bradford, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Montour, Northumberland, Potter, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, Union, Venango, and Warren.

An announcement on additional counties is anticipated tomorrow, May 15.

Renowned Cancer Researcher and Surgeon David L. Bartlett, MD, Assumes Leadership of AHN Cancer Institute, Opens Erie Practice

Renowned Cancer Researcher and Surgeon David L. Bartlett, MD, Assumes Leadership of AHN Cancer Institute, Opens Erie Practice

PITTSBURGH, Pa.  (May 14, 2020) – David L. Bartlett, MD, a renowned cancer researcher and a pioneer in the use of highly advanced surgical therapies for abdominal cancers, has officially assumed his new role as Chair of the Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Cancer Institute, and has opened his surgical practice at AHN’s Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie.

Dr. Bartlett came to AHN from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he held several leadership positions, including vice chair for surgical oncology and gastrointestinal surgery services, director of the David C. Koch Regional Perfusion Cancer Therapy Center, chief of surgery for Shadyside Hospital, and the Bernard Fisher Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His appointment to the chairmanship of AHN Cancer Institute was effective May 1.

“It has been a pleasure to meet the people behind the AHN Cancer Institute, and to see up-close their talent, compassion, and commitment to outstanding patient care,” Dr. Bartlett said. “With the support of Highmark Health, the AHN Cancer Institute has made tremendous progress over the past few years in expanding access to community-based care, state-of-the-art technologies and innovative clinical trials, including through a unique collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. I look forward to beginning the process of leading the AHN Cancer Institute to greater heights of excellence alongside the program’s many exceptional caregivers.”

At his clinic in Erie, Dr. Bartlett will see adult patients for the surgical treatment of abdominal cancers, including gastric, pancreatic, colorectal and appendix cancers, as well as care for sarcoma, neuroendocrine and liver tumors, and peritoneal metastases. His Pittsburgh-based clinical practice will open in May 2021.

AHN Cancer Institute is currently in the midst of a significant growth strategy that will culminate this summer with the opening of the $80 million AHN Cancer Institute – Allegheny General, a patient-friendly, state-of-the-art cancer treatment center that will also serve as a hub for research and innovation. AHN is also opening a state-of-the-art cancer genomics lab on the North Side that will support the development and use of leading-edge biologic therapies.

The network’s investment in the cancer program also included the construction of five regional comprehensive cancer centers – in Monroeville, Butler County, Beaver County, Erie, and Hempfield Township.  The expansion, supported by Highmark Health’s $300 million commitment to the program, greatly enhanced and expanded AHN’s leading cancer-treatment capabilities across western Pennsylvania.

As chair, Dr. Bartlett oversees a multidisciplinary team of more than 200 physicians and 500 advanced-practice oncology professionals.  Clinicians within the Institute annually deliver more than 150,000 cancer treatments to more than 11,000 patients at clinical sites across western Pennsylvania.

In addition, AHN’s unique collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center has greatly enhanced and streamlined patient access to new therapies being explored in cancer clinical trials as well as to consultations and second opinions from Johns Hopkins team of leading cancer specialists.

Dr. Bartlett helped to develop and refine new regional perfusion techniques, including the modern version of the hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemoperfusion (HIPEC) therapy, in which chemotherapeutic drugs are heated and delivered directly into the abdominal cavity in an effort to eradicate cancer cells.

A graduate of the University of Texas School of Medicine, Dr. Bartlett completed a residency in general surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, and a fellowship in surgical oncology at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.  He also performed clinical research at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He is immediate past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology, a leading professional organization whose mission is to improve patient care by advancing the science, education, and practice of cancer surgery worldwide.Dr. Bartlett’s office is located within the Department of Urology at Saint Vincent Hospital, located at 311 W. 24th St., Erie PA 16502. To make an appointment, call 814-452-7134,

Department of Agriculture Outlines Order of Restaurant Enforcement Actions, Urges Compliance.

Department of Agriculture Outlines Order of Restaurant Enforcement Actions, Urges Compliance

Harrisburg, PA – The Department of Agriculture today outlined the order of enforcement actions that would be taken against restaurants offering dine-in services to patrons in violation of Governor Tom Wolf’s March 19 business closure Executive Order to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth.

“It’s important that Pennsylvania’s restaurants don’t stray from the course now, we’ve come too far, sacrificed too much to change our path,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Restaurants are encouraged to continue only offering their services for carry-out or delivery. I, along with all of Pennsylvania, am grateful for your dedication to maintaining these life-saving measures.”

The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Food Safety will enforce this order for retail food facilities under the department’s jurisdiction that are re-opening and offering dine-in services. In Governor Wolf’s plan to reopen Pennsylvania, restaurants in counties in both the red and yellow phases are prohibited from offering dine-in service and are limited to take-out and delivery options only.

Food safety inspectors will follow up on reports of restaurants offering dine-in service in violation of the order. Once confirmed, the following actions will be taken by the department:

  • Warning letter from the Departments of Agriculture and Health;
  • Follow up inspection;
  • If still in violation of the order at follow up inspection, adjudication to suspend the businesses retail food license;
  • If the business continues to operate after license is revoked, citations will be filed with the magisterial district judge;
  • The department may pursue civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day of violation.

The department will work with the Pennsylvania Department of Health and collaboratively across other agencies – such as with the Pennsylvania State Police, and Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board – to report and follow up on violations.

“We know that people dining together in a restaurant puts many people at risk of exposure, including patrons and employees,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “It is essential that restaurants comply with guidance and continue with carry-out and delivery options at this time. Social distancing is a primary tool to fight this virus, and we must stay the course.”

Restaurants under the department’s jurisdiction that are inspected as a result of such complaints will have public reports with details of violations filed in Pennsylvania’s restaurant inspection database, publicly accessibly via the department’s website or the free EatSafePA mobile app for both Apple and Android devices.

Reports related to food safety concerns or restaurants offering dine-in services can be made online through the department’s Food Safety Complaint Form.

Pennsylvania restaurants and retail food establishments are required to comply with Secretary Levine’s worker safety order and adhere to guidance issued by the department for Retail Food/Manufacturing Processes for Sanitization and Diagnosed Employees.

For a complete list of guidance documents and information as it relates to agriculture during COVID-19 mitigation in Pennsylvania visit agriculture.pa.gov/COVID. For the most accurate, timely information related to Health in Pennsylvania, visit on.pa.gov/coronavirus.

Brush fires shut down portion of I-75 in southwest Florida

Brush fires shut down portion of I-75 in southwest Florida
Associated Press undefined
NAPLES, Fla. (Naples (Fla.) Daily News) — Authorities say smoky conditions have caused the Florida Highway Patrol to shut down a section of Interstate 75 known as Alligator Alley as four brush fires have merged together in southwest Florida. The  state Department of Agriculture & Consumer Affairs says the fire has grown to about 4,000 acres and is about 10% contained. On Wednesday fire threatened about 30 homes in Collier County. The Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were coordinating voluntary evacuations in the areas near the fires. The efforts to fight the fires were led by the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District.

Mother charged with manslaughter in death of 3-year-old son

Mother charged with manslaughter in death of 3-year-old son
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (AP) — The mother of a 3-year-old western Pennsylvania boy who died last month of suspected abuse has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. Authorities say 23-year-old Teresa Fetterman, of New Kensington, was also charged Wednesday with reckless endangerment, two counts of aggravated assault on a child and other counts stemming from the death of Mikel Fetterman. The counts come a few weeks after 31-year-old Keith Lilly Jr., of New Kensington, was charged with homicide and sexual assault in connection with the child’s death. Authorities have said Lilly injured the boy and caused bruises and fractures, including a fractured skull with a brain bleed.

Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe

Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe
By ERIC TUCKER, MICHAEL BALSAMO and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Richard Burr stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after the FBI served a search warrant for his phone as part of an ongoing insider-trading investigation tied to the coronavirus pandemic. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move, saying he and Burr had agreed it was in the Senate’s best interests. FBI officials showed up at Burr’s home with the warrant on Wednesday. That marks a significant escalation into the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Burr broke the law with a well-timed sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet, The Justice Department declined to comment. His attorney did not respond to phone and email messages.