Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Health is alerting parents and caregivers of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recall and recommendation not to buy or feed WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches to children because the product may contain elevated lead levels. This includes all lot codes and expiration dates. The FDA has secured a voluntary recall from the manufacturer.

The fruit puree pouches are primarily white and green in color, with a purple cap, as shown in the picture below:

“Lead can be very harmful if ingested, especially for a young child,” said Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen. “We want to get the message out to help protect and prevent potential harm to children. Puree pouches are a popular food option for our youngest residents. Parents and caregivers should check their child’s puree pouches and dispose of any of the recalled products.”

All families should have their children tested for lead exposure, per CDC recommendations. Early identification of elevated lead levels can prevent the most serious effects, so all children can reach their full potential.

The Department maintains a toll-free lead information hotline (1-800-440-LEAD) to provide information about lead poisoning prevention, testing, follow-up, and local resources.

More information about lead can also be found on the Department of Health’s website.

The pouches are sold nationally through multiple retailers, including Sam’s Club, Amazon, and Dollar Tree.

Parents and caregivers of children who may have consumed WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches should contact their child’s health care provider about getting a blood lead test.

The Department of Health has shared a health alert notice to further communicate this recall among state and local public.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) The City of Beaver Falls Fire Department is set to hold a competitive entry level test for the position of Firefighter/EMT/Code Enforcement Officer. Applications can be obtained now through Wednesday, November 22. The starting salary for 2024 will be $46,367 with a benefits package and pension plan. Applications can be picked up by visiting www.beaverfallspa.org, or on the 2nd floor of the city building at 715 15th Street in Beaver Falls between the 8:30am and 3:30pm, Monday through Friday.

WASHINGTON, DC – Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman secured over $40 million in funding for Pennsylvania after the U.S. Senate passed its first bipartisan FY24 appropriations bill this afternoon. The legislative package includes millions of dollars in funding for Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. The bills will fund projects in Pennsylvania ranging from agriculture research to homelessness assistance to veterans’ health care.

 

“I am proud to have secured these critical funds for the people I was elected to represent during my first annual appropriations process. These projects will benefit our rural communities and farmers, our servicemembers and veterans, our unhoused population, and so many other Pennsylvanians,” said Senator Fetterman. “Investing in these communities is critical. I’m particularly proud we were able to get the William Way LGBT Community Center funded after House Republicans stripped it out. They must stop playing partisan games and get to work so we can deliver these investments where they are needed.”

 

Senator Fetterman has spent his time in the Senate fighting for forgotten communities that are typically left behind by Washington, and he ensured that these communities were not left behind in this appropriations cycle. He worked with his colleagues in the Senate to secure funds that will benefit the entire commonwealth. The Senate’s bipartisan process stands in stark contrast to the House’s partisan approach to funding the government by passing appropriations bills that are littered with extreme social policy riders.

 

Specific projects in Pennsylvania that Sen. Fetterman pushed for in Congressionally Directed Spending requests include:

 

• $3.3 million for the Dauphin County Bridge Improvement Program
• $2 million for the Abigail Pankey Apartments in Philadelphia
• $2 million for housing projects in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
• $1.8 million for creating a safer, more efficient Clarion County Courthouse
• $1 million for the William Way LGBT Community Center
• $564,000 for the City of Clairton Public Library
• $494,000 for the Oil City Library

 

In addition, the appropriations bills funded critical programs that will greatly benefit Pennsylvania, including:

 

Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies

 

• Fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with no new restrictions on eligibility.
• Fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the school lunch program.
• $1.8 billion for agriculture research.

 

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies

 

• $120.1 million for total military construction funding for PA.
• $20.2 billion for FY24 and $24.4 billion for FY25 for the Toxic Exposure Fund.
• Over $2 billion more funding than FY23 for mental health services, including suicide prevention outreach, the Veterans Crisis Line, and addiction services.

 

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

 

• $3.4 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration, including a $32 million increase for FRA’s safety and operations budget.
• $2.45 billion for the Capital Investment Grants program (the biggest source of funding for transit infrastructure).
• $1.145 billion for bridge replacement and rehabilitation.
• $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnership Program to construct 10,000 new affordable rental and owner-occupied housing units.

AMBRIDGE, Nov. 1 – New funding of $49,000 will allow an Aliquippa-based nonprofit group to move forward with the planning and design of a community food hub, state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver, announced today.

Matzie said the funding to the RiverWise group will help Beaver County make inroads against a persistent community issue.

“Connecting folks who are struggling to an easily accessible network of fresh food helps us make inroads against food insecurity,” Matzie said. “Securing this new funding will help RiverWise expand that network through the planning and design of a community food hub. Broader outreach to all parts of the community helps ensure that more families have the fresh food they need.”

The funding is part of a statewide grant package administered by the state Department of Agriculture through the Pennsylvania Farm Bill’s Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grant Program to expand the supply of fresh food in underserved neighborhoods.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks gather at center ice, before an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, to honor former Penguin player Adam Johnson, shown on scoreboard, who died in while playing in an English hockey league game. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The death of American hockey player Adam Johnson from a skate blade to the neck has led officials in the NHL and other leagues to continue discussions about cut-resistant protection. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh have already touched base. More talks are planned between the league and union on the topic of skate blade safety. The American Hockey League and ECHL last summer mandated cut-resistant wrist and foot and ankle protection. At least one minor league team is mandating neck guards immediately in response to Johnson’s death.

This aerial photo provided by WTAE shows a multi-vehicle crash on I-80 in Mercer County, Pa. The wreck involved between eight to 10 vehicles, which included tractor trailers and passenger cars, said Pennsylvania State Trooper Bertha Cazy (WTAE via AP)

MERCER, Pa. (AP) — A multi-vehicle crash on a snowy stretch of interstate in western Pennsylvania has killed one person. Officials say the crash occurred around 5:45 a.m. Wednesday at mile marker 14 on Interstate 80 near Mercer. About 11 miles of the road remain closed. Officials say they don’t know when it will reopen. The wreck involved at least eight vehicles including tractor-trailers and passenger cars. A Mercer County coroner says the man who died was the passenger of a car that was involved in the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A state police spokesperson says at least six others sustained minor injuries.

FILE – In this file photo from June 10, 2021, a flume of emissions flow from a stack at the Cheswick Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, in Springdale, Pa. Pennsylvania cannot enforce a regulation to make power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, a state court ruled Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, dealing another setback to the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A court says Pennsylvania can’t enforce a regulation to make power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The ruling Wednesday by the Commonwealth Court is another setback for the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming. The court temporarily blocked it last year, and the new ruling makes that decision permanent. The plan would’ve made Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel-producing state to adopt a carbon-pricing program. The court agreed with Republican lawmakers and coal-related interests that the plan amounted to a tax that would require legislative approval. It would be up to Wolf’s successor, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, to decide whether to appeal.

FILE – Cooking spray oils by Pam, a Conagra brand, rest on a supermarket shelf, June 25, 2019, in Cincinnati. On Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, a jury in Illinois ordered Chicago-based Conagra Brands to pay $7.1 million to a Pennsylvania woman who was badly injured in 2017 when a can of commercial brand cooking spray ignited in a kitchen at her workplace and set her aflame. The verdict is the first of numerous other cases from burn victims across the country with similar stories citing accidents that occurred with Conagra-made cooking spray brands, including its popular grocery store brand Pam. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — A jury in Illinois has ordered Chicago-based Conagra Brands to pay $7.1 million to a Pennsylvania woman who was badly injured in 2017 when a can of cooking spray ignited in a commercial kitchen at her workplace and set her aflame. Conagra Brands is the parent company of Pam and many other high-profile food brands. A Cook County Circuit Court jury ruled Monday that the company must pay compensatory and punitive damages to Tammy Reese of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. According to a lawsuit, Reese suffered deep second-degree burns on her head, face, arms and hands when “suddenly and without warning” a can of cooking spray “exploded into a fireball.”

Harrisburg – The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today announced the return of more than $2.3 million in licensing fees to 1,351 municipalities in which licensees are located.

 

Twice a year, as required by law, the PLCB returns liquor license fees paid by PLCB-approved licensees to the municipalities that are home to those licenses. Municipalities have flexibility in allocating and spending the returned license fees to meet local needs.

 

The PLCB oversees the regulation of more than 15,000 retail liquor licenses statewide, including restaurants, clubs and hotels. Licensees pay liquor license fees ranging from $125 to $700, depending on the type of license and the population of the municipality in which the license is located, as part of the annual license renewal or validation process, as well as in conjunction with approval of certain new applications.

 

The current dispersal period represents fees paid from Feb. 1 to July 31, 2023. In all, 55 cities, 536 boroughs, and 760 townships will receive payments ranging from $25 to $375,475.

 

The complete list of license fee distributions by municipality is available on the PLCB website.

 

Over the last five fiscal years, the PLCB returned just over $17.5 million in licensing fees to local municipalities.

 

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates about 600 retail and wholesale sales locations statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits – totaling nearly $20.3 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.