Plymouth Meeting, PA – Today, Governor Josh Shapiro and Acting Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin highlighted the importance of providing free and nutritious breakfast to Pennsylvania students in a visit to Colonial Elementary School in Montgomery County.

Governor Shapiro’s first budget proposes $38.5 million to provide universal free breakfast to all Pennsylvania students – regardless of income – through the Free School Breakfast Program and to cover the cost of lunch for 22,000 school students whose families earn less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Since its implementation, the program has served more than 23 million breakfasts to students across the Commonwealth.

“We can’t expect our kids to pay attention in class, learn, and succeed if they haven’t eaten all day – and that’s why I want to give free breakfast to every child in our schools,” said Governor Shapiro. “More than 325,000 children across the Commonwealth – including more than 10,000 kids in Montgomery County alone – were food insecure in 2021. My budget would devote dedicated funding to making universal free breakfast a reality for the first time ever, because our children deserve a safe, healthy learning environment no matter what zip code they live in or how much their parents make.”

The Free School Breakfast Program ensures that all students have access to a healthy, nutritious meal to start the school day and eliminates the stigma associated with free and reduced-price breakfast that may deter eligible students from participating. Many students who come from families who earn just above the income limit still struggle to afford paying for school meals, but the Governor’s proposal would break down those barriers and ensure every student has access to the healthy, nutritious meals they need to learn and grow.

“Research shows that students learn best when they start their day with healthy, nutritious food, but sometimes — due to family budgets or busy schedules — breakfast can be the most difficult meal to come by,” said Acting Secretary of Education Mumin. “By providing free breakfast to all students in Pennsylvania, we can make the most important meal the most accessible meal and ensure that learners begin each day on the right foot.”

Under the program, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) will use the existing meal reimbursement program to pay schools for the difference between the free federal reimbursement and paid or reduced-price meal reimbursement so that no student has an out-of-pocket cost for a reimbursable breakfast and students eligible for reduced lunch can receive a school lunch at no cost to their families at schools participating in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. The Governor’s budget proposal will provide sustainable, recurring state funding to extend the program and will also allow students whose families are between 130% and 185% of the poverty line to receive a free lunch.

“Colonial School District understands the importance of nutrition as it relates to academic performance. We know that when students start the school day having had a nutritious meal, it can have a positive effect on the way they approach learning,” said Colonial School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Christian. “That’s why we have committed ourselves to offering a variety of healthy and tasty breakfast options for students when they first arrive. We are grateful for the state’s financial support of the school breakfast program, and we are hopeful that it will continue because we have seen the benefits it provides to our students.”

On average, more than 455,000 free breakfasts are served each day in Pennsylvania schools. There are 3,129 schools that participate in the program, serving more than 1.6 million students.

The Colonial School District serves more than 5,000 students from Conshohocken, Plymouth, and Whitemarsh in Montgomery County. Since the implementation of the Free School Breakfast Program, breakfast participation has increased by 175% at Colonial Elementary School and Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.

Interested schools that do not currently participate in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs can find information for applying on PDE’s website.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kyle Dubas wanted to take a breath and take a break after being fired as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Then the Pittsburgh Penguins called.

The break ended shortly thereafter.

Dubas joined the Penguins as the team’s president of hockey operations on Thursday, less than two weeks after a somewhat ugly exit from Toronto following a second-round playoff loss to Florida.

The 37-year-old Dubas goes from one type of hockey crucible to another. In Toronto, he was tasked with helping the Maple Leafs emerge from two decades of postseason futility. In Pittsburgh, his mission will be to prop open the Stanley Cup window for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang a little longer.

All three are 35 or older and haven’t won a playoff series since 2018. Yet Dubas believes strongly the issue isn’t the age of the franchise’s core but deficiencies elsewhere on the roster. Dubas replaces Brian Burke, who was fired along with general manager Ron Hextall in April after the Penguins failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

“I heard a lot of people that were highly skeptical of the team’s ability to contend here and the way I view it, if the people want to bet against (Crosby, Letang and Malkin) they can go ahead and do so,” Dubas said. “But I’m going to bet on them and go with them here. I think it is a group that’s capable of contending to win a championship.”

Crosby and Malkin were excellent for much of last season and Letang showed remarkable resiliency while dealing with multiple setbacks, including a stroke and the death of his father. Yet save for a 14-2-2 stretch in November and December, the Penguins struggled to find consistency and ultimately stumbled down the stretch to snap the longest active playoff streak in major North American Sports.

While the Penguins do have $20 million in cap space and the 14th overall pick in this month’s NHL draft, significant changes or upgrades could be difficult in the short term.

Dubas inherits a team that was the oldest in the NHL last season and is littered with question marks, particularly in goal and the forward group outside of Crosby, Malkin and Jake Guentzel.

Two-time All-Star goaltender Tristan Jarry will become a free agent this summer and was beset by injuries over the second half of the season. Forward Jason Zucker, who served as the emotional sparkplug for long stretches, is also scheduled to hit the open market and may have priced himself out of town.

Pittsburgh also has several aging players with full or partial no-movement clauses, including 38-year-old forward Jeff Carter, 30-year-old Bryan Rust and 35-year-old defenseman Jeff Petry.

“I think that those are obviously very real situations, everyone knows that they exist,” Dubas said. “To me the effect on it … is what we can add in terms of depth pieces? What we can add in terms of younger players? That’ll be the real key.”

Dubas does plan to hire a general manager to fill the vacancy created when Hextall was let go after a short but largely unfruitful tenure. Dubas will serve as the GM on an interim basis until early July.

Dubas comes to Pittsburgh after nine seasons with the Maple Leafs, including the last five as general manager. Toronto won a postseason series for the first time since 2004 this spring before falling to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games.

Shortly after the Maple Leafs’ playoff exit, Dubas said that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to remain in Toronto. His contract was set to expire on June 30, but team president Kyle Shanahan opted to pre-emptively fire Dubas instead. Toronto hired former Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving as Dubas’ replacement on Wednesday.

Dubas helped build the Maple Leafs into a regular-season power during his tenure. Toronto set single-season records for wins and points, and went 221-109-42 in his tenure. Dubas also didn’t shy away from big moves — he fired Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Babcock in November 2019 and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe — but struggled to find the right mix in the playoffs until this spring.

In the end, advancing beyond the first round for the first time since 2004 wasn’t enough for Dubas to remain in Toronto.

He joked he was maybe a little “too honest” during his season-ending press conference with the Maple Leafs when he expressed reservations about returning. Shanahan’s abrupt decision to move on came as a bit of a surprise, and Dubas planned to take some time to hit the reset button before looking for another job.

Yet the Penguins — who’d already been given clearance by the Maple Leafs to interview Dubas — provided a compelling reason to speed up the timetable. Dubas’ due diligence included speaking to Crosby and longtime coach Mike Sullivan to take the pulse of a leadership group that remains firmly in place.

Dubas called them “some of the best competitors” in hockey. Competitors that have — for one reason or another — been unable to recapture the magic of their runs to back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017.

Time is running out for Crosby to put his name on the Cup for a fourth time in a career that will almost certainly end in the Hall of Fame. Dubas knows he’ll be judged in part on whether he can make that happen. After taking more than six weeks of searching before landing on Dubas, Fenway Sports Group Chairman Tom Werner believes Dubas is up to the challenge.

“Our philosophy is giving Kyle and his associates the best possible resources to win,” Werner said. “Kyle’s been very articulate today about his path to success … we’re very confident that Kyle will execute the plan he’s articulated to us.”

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

At a special meeting held on Thursday night, the Blackhawk School Board voted to place Superintendent Dr. Robert Postupac on administrative leave with pay pending further board action and a louder mill hearing, effective immediately

According to the school board, Postupac was presented with charges against him leading to his suspension before the vote proceeded. The board also planned a subsequent hearing for Postupac on June 22, which could result in Dr. Postupac’s full removal from the school district.

The suspension is a result of an ongoing investigation by the state Ethics Committee into both Postupac and Moon Area school board member Mark Scappe involving employment opportunities for their children.

The board also announced Dr. William Pettigrew as Acting Superintendent of schools, with a daily rate of $650.

Harrisburg, PA –The Pennsylvania State Police investigated 651 vehicle crashes resulting in four fatalities and 142 injuries during the four-day Memorial Day travel period, which ran from May 26-29. Alcohol was a factor in 59 of the non-fatal crashes.

All four of the fatalities reported were in the Troop D sector of the PSP, which covers Beaver, Butler, Armstrong, Lawrence, and Mercer counties. Nine of the alcohol-related crashes took place within the Troop D sector.

Additionally, troopers across the state made 547 arrests for driving under the influence and issued 31,128 total traffic citations to include 1,318 individuals for not wearing seat belts and 224 tickets to people for failing to secure children in safety seats.

Table 1: Memorial Day Weekend Crash Statistics

Year	Total Crashes	Fatal Crashes	People Killed	People Injured	Alcohol-Related Crashes	Alcohol-Related Fatal Crashes
2023 (4 days)	651	3	4	142	59	0
2022 (4 days)	775	3	3	191	66	0

 

Table 2: Memorial Day Weekend Enforcement Statistics

Year	DUI Arrests	Speeding Citations	Child Seat Citations	Seat Belt Citations	Other Citations
2023 (4 days)	547	10,820	224	1,318	18,766
2022 (4 days)	526	9,905	233	1,080	16,616

 

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA – Sen. Elder Vogel, Jr. (R-47) has announced that Robert Lee from the Pennsylvania American Legion Veterans Assistance Program will be available on Thursday, June 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at his Cranberry Township District Office, 8001 Rowan Rd, Suite 205, Cranberry Township. No appointment is necessary.

Lee can help veterans and their families with understanding the benefits they have earned, enroll in the VA health care system, assist with the appeals process, and more. Participants are asked to bring any documentation and paperwork they may need.

For more information, contact Vogel’s Cranberry Township District Office at 878-978-2575.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Teachers are leaving their jobs at an accelerating rate in Pennsylvania, amid fears of a nationwide exodus of burned-out teachers and a collapse in enrollment in recruitment programs that is making teachers increasingly difficult to replace.

A new analysis by Penn State’s Center for Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis shows that the rate of teacher attrition in Pennsylvania grew faster in the 2022-23 school year and hit its highest point in a decade of tracking.

That reflects a pattern that is starting to emerge in other states and as schools across the country struggle to find teachers.

Ed Fuller, the Penn State education professor who conducted the analysis, said he has seen data from 12 states with similar increases in this school year.

Over the past two years, schools saw relatively modest changes in attrition even as teachers reported more dissatisfaction with the job amid the travails of the COVID-19 pandemic, growing workloads, shrinking autonomy and increasingly hostile school environments.

But now, labor markets are tight and it’s much easier for teachers to find jobs near where they live, Fuller said.

Fuller’s analysis shows that Pennsylvania saw a 1.5 percentage point increase in teacher attrition this year, the largest increase in the past decade.

All told, the attrition rate was 7.7% in 2022-23, up from 6.2% in 2021-22 and 5.4% in 2020-21. That comes out to nearly 9,600 leaving their jobs in 2022-23, nearly doubling the number of newly certified teachers in Pennsylvania in 2022.

The previous high was 7.5% in 2014.

The figures include terminations, resignations and retirements. The study did not track whether a teacher left for a teaching job in another state or took a non-teaching job in the education profession, for instance as an administrator.

Amid lackluster enrollments in colleges and programs that train teachers, the drop-off in teacher certifications is particularly steep in Pennsylvania, tumbling from 15,000 in 2011 to under 6,000 in 2021.

Fuller’s analysis found a number of long-term trends that he said are similar across states: teachers showing the highest rate of leaving the profession are Black and Hispanic.

In those cases, male teachers left at a higher rate than their female counterparts.

Attrition rates were also higher at charter and cyber-charter schools and poorer public schools. Those schools tend to suffer higher turnover, pay less and hire newer teachers, including many teachers of color.

In addition, middle school teachers left at a higher rate than teachers at other levels, Fuller found.

By county, Philadelphia had, by far, the highest attrition rate, at 16.4%. That is due primarily to high attrition rates of charter schools in the city, Fuller said.

In addition to the time and effort required to find a replacement, research has shown that teacher turnover has a negative effect on student outcomes, school climate and teacher quality, Fuller said.

Usually a less experienced teacher is hired as a replacement, Fuller said.

At the moment, state lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro are looking at ways to address the teacher shortage, including stipends for student teachers and tax credits for newly certified teachers.

In the Upper Darby School District, Superintendent Daniel McGarry wants to start a “grow your own” program to start paying 24 high school graduates or community members to work as apprentices in the schools while the district pays for their education to get certified.

Sherri Smith, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, said attrition comes up in every conversation as she travels the state to talk with school officials.

“I don’t go into a meeting where we don’t talk about educator workforce and what we’re facing,” she said.

Tomas Hanna, an associate superintendent for the Philadelphia School District, said at a news conference this month that the district that once had 1,200 student teachers now is down to 362.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said teachers are leaving because they feel overwhelmed and not supported.

Paying teachers more and boosting school funding is vital, he said.

When schools can’t find fully certified teachers, they hire teachers who aren’t fully credentialed. Those teachers have limited skills, and it’s tougher for them, resulting in constant turnover, Jordan said.

“It becomes a real cycle of putting in teacher after teacher with an emergency certification,” Jordan said. “The teachers become frustrated and they leave because they’re not getting support they need and they’re not making a lot of money, so they move on. You have a revolving door.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) voted to pass the Bipartisan Budget Agreement negotiated between President Biden and Speaker McCarthy to prevent a disastrous default on our nation’s debt.

After months of vocal opposition to Republican efforts to strip away funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, House Republicans ultimately folded to pressure from President Biden, House Democrats like Rep. Deluzio, and veterans’ advocates to fully fund veterans and the VA.

Following the vote, Congressman Deluzio released the following statement:

“The people of Western Pennsylvania sent me to Washington to govern and to fight for them. This deal to avert economic disaster is far from perfect, but I refuse to risk tanking America’s economy in the race against time to avoid a default.

“Time and time again throughout this process, Republicans attempted to use my fellow veterans as a bargaining chip to advance their radical right-wing agenda. Thankfully, the pressure from President Biden, House Democrats, and veterans’ advocates to protect the VA and to stop Republican efforts to underfund the PACT Act’s Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund worked. In the end, we protected veterans from the worst of the Republican-proposed attacks—and the American people saw plainly that extremist Republicans are more than willing to play politics with veterans’ health care.

“Speaker McCarthy manufactured a crisis to try to hold hostage our economy, working families’ retirements and livelihoods, veterans care, and the full faith and credit of the United States—and failed.

“The agreement that I voted for today achieves the most important task at hand, avoiding a debt default, but it does not tackle the underlying issue of Republican fiscal recklessness. The Republican tactic to hold our economy hostage while protecting obscene tax cuts to the wealthiest and massive corporations is fiscally irresponsible. It was a dereliction of duty and set a dangerous precedent.

“The path to long-term fiscal health is not through the fairy tale of trickle-down economics, but instead through fair taxation that requires the ultra-wealthy and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. Every single American ought to know that House Republicans prioritized tax cuts for the rich over programs that millions of hardworking families and count on.

“The American people should decide the path forward: the Republican plan—fiscal irresponsibility and slashing all of government to protect tax cuts for the richest people and corporations in human history—or a government and economy that grows our shared prosperity and rewards work, not just wealth. I will keep fighting for the latter.”

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bryan Reynolds drove in three runs and made a leaping catch against the wall, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 on Wednesday to climb back above .500.

Former Giants Andrew McCutchen and Connor Joe each went 3 for 4 with an RBI as the Pirates (28-27) won consecutive games after dropping below .500 for the first time since they were 1-2. Pittsburgh is 8-19 following a 20-8 start.

“I’m proud of our group,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Pretty resilient. Started this road trip off swinging the bats well, had a couple of tough games in Seattle, and came in here and beat probably the team that’s playing the best in baseball two of three.”

Mitch Keller (7-1) improved to 4-0 in his last five starts, allowing four runs and 10 hits in six innings with eight strikeouts. It was his seventh consecutive outing with at least eight strikeouts and his 93 strikeouts are the most before June in Pirates history.

“You always want to win the series, especially to cap off the month,” Keller said. “Definitely coming in trying to throw up zeros, keep us in the game and give us a chance to win. Our offense kind of took care of that.”

Added Shelton: “I think the maturation of Mitch Keller has been one of the most exciting things that we’ve had this year. The way he goes out and competes is really important and I think we’ve really seen him grow up and do that.”

Alex Wood (1-1) allowed a season-high six runs, eight hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings as the Giants fell back to .500 at 28-28.

“I think Alex is at his best when he’s really attacking the strike zone,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “He fell behind a couple of times and it wasn’t his best outing.”

Pittsburgh outhit San Francisco 14-12.

Reynolds hit a two–run single in the fourth and an RBI grounder in a two-run sixth. He made a spectacular leaping catch at the top of the left-field wall with two on in the sixth, holding Casey Schmitt to a sacrifice fly.

“That changes the complexion of the game if he doesn’t make that catch,” Shelton said.

Patrick Bailey’s RBI single put San Francisco ahead in the second, but Pittsburgh took a 4-1 lead in the third when McCutchen hit an RBI double and scored on Rodolfo Castro’s single, and Ke’Bryan Hayes tripled down the left-field line, taking third when San Francisco left the base uncovered.

Wilmer Flores had a broken-bat RBI single in the bottom half.

Keller threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the fifth that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 6-3. Joe had an RBI double in the sixth.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

Aliquippa Police Captain Don Lane led city council in prayer to begin last night’s city council meeting, and a moment of silence was observed to remember Council of Men and Fathers coordinator Shon Owens who died last Friday.

Mayor Dwan B. Walker presented information about the CDBG program requalification for 3 years. After a brief explanation of the program by Councilman Donald Walker, he told council the program has been beneficial to the city and added, “We have to get our fair share.” He said this is the third application for funding for the roads, and they haven’t received the funding. City Engineer Ron Rizzo reported that the funds depend on a community’s needs.

It was also announced that a Juneteenth observance will be held at Lefty Cepull Field on Saturday, June 17, 2023. The event is being held from 2 to 10 p.m. There will be entertainment and food, and fireworks will end the day- long celebration.

Council meets in regular session on Wednesday, June 7, 2023 at 7 p.m.

The Riverside Panthers and the Neshannock Lancers go scoreless and little offense except for 2 hits from the panthers Bo Fornataro both singles and to hits on the Neshannock side of things kept both teams  scoreless until the 5th inning were the Lancers scored on a hit from the their pitcher fry for the first run of the game, and in the bottom of the 5th the Panthers score their first run. In the 6th Neshannock was held scoreless and , Riverside responded to that with Bo Fornataro getting his 3rd hit and getting things started with a base hit up the middle 3 straight hits a balk and another hit to get 6 0f the last 10 batters had hits and Riverside breaks out to a 4to 1 lead and still at bat, Hays hits a long fly ball to make it 5 to 1 with the sac fly ball and Evan Berry hits a shot into right field to bring in a run and the Panthers Fornataro comes back up as the Panthers bat around and makes the out but not before  the Panthers get 5 runs on 7 hits and many of them hard hit balls, and the Panthers get their 6th WPIAL title and remain 21 and 0 they win 6 to 1.