HARRISBURG – Following the approval from the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives, Sen. Elder Vogel, Jr.’s (R-47) telemedicine legislation (Senate Bill 739) is now set to become law.

“This legislation has been a work in progress for the past several legislative sessions, and I am glad to see the vast amount of bipartisan support for telemedicine expansion in our state,” said Vogel. “This legislation is key to expanding access to telemedicine services to Pennsylvanians and allowing our residents to take care of their health in a way that suits their needs and schedules.”

Senate Bill 739 sets a base for how telemedicine will be covered by insurance companies and medical providers in Pennsylvania.

Specifically, this legislation:

• Requires health insurance policies to provide coverage for covered health care services delivered through telemedicine consistent with the insurer’s medical policies.
• Requires insurers to pay providers for covered health care services delivered through telemedicine consistent with the terms of the contract between the insurer and participating network provider.
• Requires Medicaid and CHIP programs to pay for covered health care services consistent with federal and state law.

The bill will be sent to the governor for enactment.

(Beaver County, Pa) Investments awarded by the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) are ensuring Beaver County becomes one of the first counties in the nation to have complete access to high-speed internet. The achievement will be made possible through the Capital Projects Fund’s (CPF) Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP) grants enabling Comcast to reach approximately 620 residents in 35 municipalities – all of whom were previously without access to internet at qualifying broadband speeds. This investment complements existing programs such as Connect Beaver County Broadband Program’s Early Action Projects, performed by Armstrong and Kinetic in the northwest and southeast areas of the County, respectively, and underway by Verizon.

Signage for the upcoming presidential debate is seen at the media file center near the CNN Techwood campus in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. A new poll finds that most U.S. adults plan to watch or listen to some element of Thursday’s presidential debate. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most U.S. adults plan to watch some element of Thursday’s presidential debate and many think the event will be important for the campaigns of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Both men remain broadly unpopular as they prepare to face off for the first time since 2020, although Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, maintains a modest enthusiasm advantage with his base compared to Biden, the Democratic incumbent.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” likely to watch the debate live or in clips, or read about or listen to commentary about the performance of the candidates in the news or social media.

The poll suggests tens of millions of Americans are likely to see or hear about at least part of Thursday’s debate despite how unusually early it comes in the campaign season. Both Biden and Trump supporters view the debate as a major test for their candidate — or just a spectacle not to miss.

“I think it’s super important,” said Victoria Perdomo, a 44-year-old stay-at-home mom and a Trump supporter in Coral Springs, Florida. “It shows America what you’re going to see for the next four years.”

Nic Greene, a libertarian who is a registered independent, said he’ll likely vote for Trump as the “least worst candidate.” He doesn’t think debates do much to help voters make decisions, but he’s expecting to be entertained and plans to listen to post-debate analysis on podcasts.

“I think the majority of people have their minds made up with or without these debates,” he said. “It’s a circus.”

Both sides see the debate as important

About half, 47%, of Americans say the debate is “extremely” or “very” important for the success of Biden’s campaign and about 4 in 10 say it’s highly important for Trump’s campaign. About 3 in 10 Americans say it is at least “very” important for both campaigns.

Most Democrats, 55%, think the upcoming debate is extremely or very important for the success of the Biden campaign. About half of Republicans, 51%, say the same thing about the importance of the debate for the Trump campaign. Only about one-third of independents say the debate, taking place at a CNN studio in Atlanta, is highly important for either campaign.

Arthur Morris, a 40-year-old operations manager at a major financial firm, is an undecided voter open to Biden, Trump or a third-party option such as independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He, along with a significant share of Americans, has doubts about the mental capabilities of the aging candidates, and sees Biden’s debate performance as an important test.

“I need Biden to demonstrate to me that he’s cogent enough to be able to hold this office and execute to the level that we need him to,” Morris said.

Trump, meanwhile, needs to show he can be trusted after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol in which Trump supporters disrupted the certification of his 2020 loss to Biden and Trump’s recent conviction in a hush money scheme, said Murray, of Lewiston, Ohio.

About 4 in 10 say they are likely to watch or listen to some or all of the debate live, while a similar share say they will watch or listen to clips later. Another 4 in 10, roughly, expect to consume commentary about the debate and candidate performance in the news or on social media. Republicans and Democrats are more likely than independents to be following debate coverage in some capacity.

Voters are still unhappy about their options

Biden and Trump are each entering the debate with low favorability ratings. About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Biden, and a similar number have a negative view of Trump.

Most Americans, 56%, say they are “very” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with Biden being the Democratic Party’s likely nominee for president, and a similar majority are dissatisfied with Trump as the likely GOP nominee. The poll indicates that Republicans continue to be more satisfied with a re-nomination of Trump than Democrats are with an anticipated Biden re-nomination. Six in 10 Republicans are satisfied with Trump as a nominee; just 42% of Democrats say that about Biden.

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults are dissatisfied with both Trump and Biden as their party’s likely nominees – with independents and Democrats being more likely than Republicans to be dissatisfied with both.

Republicans and Democrats are more likely to have a negative view of the opposing party’s candidate than they are to have a positive view of their own.

About 9 in 10 Republicans have an unfavorable view of Biden, and about 9 in 10 Democrats have a negative view of Trump. By comparison, roughly 7 in 10 Democrats have a favorable view of Biden, and about 7 in 10 Republicans have a positive view of Trump.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of how Biden is handling his job as president, in line with where that number has stood for the past two years. Biden’s approval rating among U.S. adults on handling the economy is similar, as is his handling of abortion policy. Only 3 in 10 approve of his approach to immigration.

“I do believe there has been some progress under Biden, but I believe it’s Congress who is the one stalling on any of the policies that Biden wants to proceed with,” said Jane Quan-Bell, 70, a school librarian from Chico, California, and a Democrat.

The conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is an especially vulnerable spot for Biden. With only 26% of U.S. adults approving of his handling of the issue, it’s well below his overall approval rating. Nearly 6 in 10 Democrats disapprove of his approach.

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The poll of 1,088 adults was conducted June 20-24, 2024, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

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Cooper reported from Phoenix.

FILE – Bimbo bread is displayed on a shelf at a market in Anaheim, Calif., on April 24, 2003. On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, U.S. federal food safety regulators warned Bimbo Bakeries USA – which includes brands such as Sara Lee, Oroweat, Thomas’, Entenmann’s and Ball Park buns and rolls – to stop using labels that say its products contain potentially dangerous allergens when they don’t. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, Files)

Federal food safety regulators are warning Bimbo Bakeries USA to stop using misleading labels that say products contain potentially dangerous allergens when they don’t. Bimbo is the company behind major baked goods brands such as Sara Lee, Thomas’, Oroweat and Entenmann’s. U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors found that the company listed ingredients such as sesame or tree nuts on labels when they weren’t in the foods. FDA officials said Tuesday that food labels must be truthful. They also say labeling is not a substitute for preventing cross-contamination. Bimbo says it’s working with FDA to resolve the issue.

FILE – A Ford logo is seen on signage at Country Ford in Graham, N.C., Tuesday, July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 550,000 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the transmissions can unexpectedly downshift to first gear no matter how fast the trucks are going.

The recall covers certain F-150 pickups from the 2014 model year. Ford’s F-Series pickups are the top-selling vehicles in the U.S.

Ford says in documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators that the downshifting can cause drivers to lose control of the trucks, increasing the risk of a crash.

The recalls come after U.S. auto safety regulators in March began investigating complaints that more than 540,000 Ford pickup trucks from 2014 can abruptly downshift to a lower gear and increase the risk of a crash.

Documents say the problem is caused by a lost signal between a transmission speed sensor and the powertrain control computer. There also could be corrosion and problems with connector pins.

Dealers will update the powertrain control software at no cost to owners, who will be notified by letters in early July.

In a statement Tuesday, Ford said it expects repairs to be available in the third quarter of this year. Owners will be able to use mobile service or pickup and delivery at participating dealers.

Ford says in documents posted Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it has 396 warranty and field reports and 124 customer complaints about the problem, covering 482 trucks.

The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker says it knows of 130 complaints to the government, with 52 alleging that rear wheels locked up or that drivers lost control of the trucks. Two of the complainants reported injuries and one reported a crash that could have been caused by the problem, Ford said.

Ford’s statement said that before the trucks downshift, drivers could see a malfunction indicator light on the dashboard. In some cases, signals can be restored while the trucks are moving, and they can be driven normally. In other cases drivers may need to stop and restart the engine to get the transmissions to work properly.

The company says it expects fewer than 1% of the recalled vehicles to have the problem.

NHTSA said it started its investigation in March after getting complaints about sudden downshifts in the trucks’ automatic transmissions.

The agency is looking into whether those trucks should have been included in previous recalls for the problem.

Ford started recalling trucks and other vehicles from the 2011 and 2012 model years in 2016, and added two recalls in 2019 covering pickups from the 2011 to 2013 model years. The recalls covered about 1.5 million vehicles.

The company said it’s working with NHTSA to support the investigation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Transportation and Infrastructure Committee member Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) released the following statement after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a board meeting to approve the final report on the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine last year. The executive summary of the report will be published by the NTSB after the conclusion of Tuesday’s meeting.

Congressman Deluzio represents constituents in Beaver County, PA, the community just on the other side of the state line from the Ohio derailment—dozens of whom were within the evacuation zone in the wake of the derailment. He is the lead sponsor of the Railway Safety Act, a comprehensive measure to address issues that contributed to the derailment and has been pushing for action on the bipartisan legislation for over a year. Last year, he wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson calling for a vote on the measure, and he hosted President Joe Biden in Darlington Township to speak with first responders who responded to the derailment.

“Today’s NTSB meeting makes clear: it is long past time for Congress to act to make freight rail safer.

“Since the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine unleashed a toxic fireball into the sky near the homes, schools, businesses, and farms of my Beaver County constituents, I’ve been pushing for accountability for this disaster and for strong rail safety reform.

“We cannot trust the railroads to regulate themselves—and Congress must take action to protect communities like mine.

“We are tired of the delays, and with the final NTSB findings public, opponents of common-sense safety reforms are out of excuses.

“The American people want to see Congress make rail safer. It’s time to pass my bipartisan bill, the Railway Safety Act.”

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published June 26, 2024 11:16 A.M.

(Hopewell Township, Pa) On Tuesday night the board announced that the budget will be $47,793.064, and real estate tax millage will be 11.99 mills.

The board announced that Dr. Robert Kartychak will begin his duties as high school principal effective on July 1, 2024. His salary will be $122,500.

Debbie Engleman was reappointed as the district’s treasurer for the 2024-25 school year.

The board approved the Nutrition Group’s contract for the upcoming school year . Student lunches will be $2.75, Adult breakfasts $2,85, and adult lunches $4.10.

Retired athletic trainer and athletic director Don Short will provide consulting services to the district for the 2024-25 school user effective on July 1, 2024. He will be paid $500 a month.

The board meets on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published June 26, 2024 11:15 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) Francis Edward Morrison, 33, was apprehended after he fled from police Tuesday morning. Police were called to Polk Street at 7:40 a.m. for a theft of items from a vehicle. Morrison proceeded to flee the area in a Silver Nissan SUV that was stolen. Door bell cameras in the area provided his description to police. Before fleeing he stole a 22 caliber firearm from a residence. He was located outside a convenience store on Monaca Road, fled on foot, but was apprehended by police. Morrison was found with the stolen items and drug paraphernalia. He threw the stolen firearm and it was recovered by police.

He is charged with 2 felonies, theft of a motor vehicle and theft of a firearm. Misdemeanor charges include: tampering with evidence, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft from a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, fleeing on foot, and a summary offense for criminal trespass.

He is lodged in the Beaver County Jail.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published June 26, 2024 11:12 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) Firefighters responded to a fire at an abandoned building on Erie Avenue in West Aliquippa at 4 a.m. The building is owned by the city, according to the report and was destroyed by the blaze. Firefighters remained on scene for 45 minutes and were assisted by Ambridge, Center Township, and Crescent Township.

Danyelle Blackwell, Councilwoman, Upper Darby Township, District 4 PA goes for a test drive in an EV during EOPA’s United for Health and Energy Security Tour, (Lauren Urbiztondo)

Danielle Smith – Keystone State News Service

Pittsburgh is one stop on a nationwide summer tour to raise awareness about electric vehicles and clean energy.

The group Elected Officials to Protect America said in 2022, electric vehicle registrations increased by about 82% from the previous year.

Jake Pawlak, deputy mayor and director of the Office of Management and Budget for the City of Pittsburgh, said the city will invest $15 million in EVs for its fleet this year with federal help. He added Pittsburgh is working with organizations on a new program to help low-income residents cut energy costs with more electric appliances, weatherization and solar installation.

“Our goal is to have significantly reduced the energy burden for 100 City of Pittsburgh residents by the end of this year,” Pawlak explained. “And in the next six years, do so for 10,000 residents across the southwestern Pennsylvania region.”

Pittsburgh’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 is the same target President Joe Biden set for the country. Pawlak notes Pittsburgh is leveraging its designation as a federal workforce hub, working with businesses, unions and government to create training programs for clean energy jobs.

Khari Mosley, a Pittsburgh city council member, said Pennsylvania’s transition to clean energy is an opportunity to revitalize the city and become a leader in a new, sustainable economy. He added it includes improving infrastructure to withstand extreme weather and affect the economy and environment.

“Pittsburgh can truly be a leader for the country,” Mosley contended. “As we invest in these new technologies that not only are going to create economic prosperity, but again, make our cities more resilient as we fight climate change and ensure that this next generation of Americans will truly be the environmental stewards that set our country on the right path.”

Brittany Prischak, deputy director of sustainability for Allegheny County, said the county has invested in electric vehicles since 2020. She added Pennsylvania is also deploying infrastructure for charging stations, which is now standard on all new construction projects and renovations.

“We’ve had great partnerships — Duquesne Light Company and West Penn Power — that operate within Allegheny County,” Prischak emphasized. “They’ve assisted us in infrastructure or electric upgrades to our facilities so that we can put in charging stations, make sure our vehicles can make it to their destinations.”

Pennsylvania has seen a significant increase in EV purchases. As of December, there were more than 47,000 electric vehicles registered in the state.