Pennsylvania’s top elections official says one-third of the state’s counties are advancing plans to install new voting systems ahead of 2020’s presidential election. Kathy Boockvar, Gov. Tom Wolf’s acting secretary of state, told lawmakers Tuesday that 21 of 67 counties have approved plans amid the administration’s push to adopt systems with voter-verifiable paper trails that are viewed as a hedge against hacking. Boockvar was testifying during a Senate committee hearing.

A report by an environmental and consumer advocacy group is giving Pennsylvania an “F” for its efforts to remove lead from drinking water in schools. PennEnvironment and PennPIRG released the grade Tuesday, saying Pennsylvania hasn’t been aggressive enough in replacing lead pipes, plumbing or fixtures in schools.

In the first major policy proposal of her presidential campaign, Sen. Kamala Harris of California is focused on boosting the salaries of teachers. Harris’ campaign says her plan is an unprecedented investment in teacher pay and toward programs dedicated to teacher recruitment, training and professional development. In new details released today, the Democrat’s campaign described the underpayment of teachers as a “national failure that’s holding America back” and said that “we’ve failed to give teachers the respect and resources they deserve.”

THE HOPEWELL COMMISSIONERS HAVE APPROVED THE FIVE POINTS ISLAND PROPOSAL. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS MORE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

(File Photo Provided by Sandy Giordano)

According to the week’s Triple-A East Central Gas Price report The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania held steady this week at $2.79 per gallon. With an eight-cent jump on the week, at $2.62, the national average continues to trend more expensive since mid-February. Increasing demand and tightening gasoline stocks have been helping to drive prices upward, and with spring around the corner, motorists could see prices increase further in the weeks ahead as demand continues to increase. The price a year ago in Western Pennsylvania was 2.77.

Following recent incidents where people have opened fire at township meetings, a state Senator has introduced legislation that would allow local municipalities to restrict firearms at their facilities. Don Rooney has more…

A program which encourages families start saving for a newborn’s future post-secondary education is now statewide. The Keystone Scholars Program provides $100 to every child born in Pennsylvania or adopted by a PA family on or after January 1st, 2019 to be used for the child’s post-secondary education when the time comes. Legislation expanding the program was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Wolf last June.

Lawmakers, students and supporters of improving workforce development programs rallied in Harrisburg on Monday to acknowledge the successful passage of a Good Jobs for Pennsylvania package of legislation by the full House…and, as it turns out, Beaver County played a prominent role in that rally. The 11-bill package would help match up interested students and individuals with the best training for their career paths. The bipartisan, career and technical education (CTE) package includes measures to address workforce shortages in business and industry, strengthen educational partnerships with employers, increase access to career oriented technical training and alleviate misperceptions regarding vocational education programs. House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) pointed to the forthcoming Shell Cracker Plant in Potter Township as an example of why he supports this package…

A freshman Republican state representative’s opening prayer in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is drawing complaints that it was inappropriately divisive. Rep. Stephanie Borowicz began the day’s session Monday with a Christian invocation that thanked Jesus for the honor and President Donald Trump for standing “behind Israel unequivocally.” Democratic Leader Frank Dermody called Borowicz’s invocation beneath the dignity of the state House.

The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office has charged a co-founder and former executives of an addiction treatment firm and accused them of profiting off addicts by fraudulently billing insurance companies for tens of millions of dollars. The charges announced Monday by Attorney General Josh Shapiro against 11 people and nine corporations focus on Liberation Way, a for-profit treatment company. The firm that bought a majority stake in Liberation Way in 2017 says the staff has been overhauled.