FILE – Wind turbines stand in fields near Palm Springs, Calif, March 22, 2023. Electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced that electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal electricity production in the United States for the first time in 2022. The growth of wind and solar significantly drove the increase in renewable energy and experts say these two resources will be the “backbone” of clean energy growth in the U.S. because of their reliability and affordability. Renewables passed nuclear electricity production for the first time in 2012 and continued to outpace it.

Photo submitted by Congressman Deluzio Staff

BEAVER COUNTY, PA — On Saturday, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) hosted a roundtable conversation with Beaver County constituents and SEIU members who work in nursing homes across the 17^th Congressional District. Hosted at a union hall in Beaver, Pennsylvania, the Congressman heard workers’ stories about being understaffed, overworked, and underpaid in their efforts to try and support some of western Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents.

“High-quality care in our nursing homes can only be achieved through safe staffing standards,” said Congressman Deluzio. “We heard plenty of talk calling these essential workers ‘heroes’ during the pandemic, but we need action to improve both the level of care and workplace quality in our nursing homes. I was grateful for the chance to hear directly from nursing home workers and SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members in Beaver County this weekend and am proud to support their fight for national staffing standards.”

“We’re glad Congressman Deluzio sees the care crisis in our nursing homes as the important issue it is,” said Matthew Yarnell, President of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. “I always say that the way we treat our caregiving workforce is a direct reflection of how we treat our residents, and a direct reflection of our Commonwealth’s values. I’m glad Congressman Deluzio can see that it’s our union members who are the constant advocates for our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, who show up to care for their residents every day. More of Congress should listen to them and pass nationwide staffing standards.”

The nursing home industry has been in crisis for decades due to severe understaffing, regulatory neglect, and lack of owner accountability. The COVID pandemic brought it to the brink of collapse, especially in Pennsylvania which ranked 4th in the nation for COVID resident deaths. Understaffing, outdated regulations, and little owner accountability undermined nursing homes’ ability to operate safely. Now, COVID-weary caregivers watch as for-profit business practices continue to make the industry worse for them and their residents.

“It was important for the Congressman to hear directly from us,” said Shelina Clarit, a certified nursing assistant who has worked at Beaver Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center for almost 22 years. “My coworkers and I talk about staffing until we’re blue in the face. Safe staffing is just common sense. With more staff, we’d have more time with residents. We wouldn’t have to rush, and we wouldn’t be burned out having to help cover other shifts. As a CNA, you get attached to the residents, and they are attached to us.”

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Shelly Houk, a certified nursing assistant who’s been at her Beaver nursing home for 24 years. “Back in the day, we used to be able to sit and have a conversation with our residents, curl their hair. Some residents like to just talk about things in their lives, but you don’t have time to talk to them. Some residents don’t have family members, don’t have anything, and you might be all they have. With more staffing, we’d be able to give residents more than just a brush over.”

Across 22 nursing homes, around 700 Pennsylvania nursing home staff members were on strike last September. While each nursing home had a separate contract with its unionized workforce, employees at various worksites coordinated their organizing efforts. This resulted in contracts with higher wages, more staff time for residents, and better health insurance. While the strikes last year were able to achieve stronger contracts, they did not include required national staffing standards. However, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did institute new rules this year, requiring higher staffing levels and more disclosure when nursing homes are sold. These new staffing ratios will go into effect this July. Now, nursing home workers and SEIU are trying to take this successful state effort to the national level with support from members of Congress like Rep. Deluzio.

President Biden announced in his 2022 State of the Union Address that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would begin a year-long study on staffing in nursing homes and propose new mandatory staffing standards to ensure residents receive full, quality care and workers are not overburdened with high caseload and inadequate support. At Saturday’s event, Congressman Deluzio announced that he has signed onto a letter written by Reps. Doggett and Schakowsky calling for congressional action on Pres. Biden’s commitment to federal nursing home reforms, including national staffing standards at nursing homes across the country. The letter also pushes CMS to improve staffing data collection and to examine Medicare and Medicaid payments to ensure reimbursement rates are sufficient to meet safe staffing standards.

PITTSBURGH, PA – Neurosurgical oncologists at Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), the flagship medical center of Allegheny Health Network (AHN), are the first in the Pittsburgh region to use a novel radiation-emitting implant to treat patients with life-threatening recurrent brain tumors. The new treatment, called GammaTile therapy, delivers low-dose radiation over a period of weeks following surgical resection of a tumor to inhibit cancer cell regrowth.

The postage stamp-sized GammaTile implant is similar in function to the radioactive seed brachytherapy treatment now commonly used for cancers of the prostate and breast. It’s one of the latest promising advancements in the field of brain cancer therapy, and AHN’s Neuroscience Institute is now one of just two neurosurgery centers in Pennsylvania using the technology.

GammaTile therapy is beneficial when brain tumors recur and when post-operative radiation or chemotherapy options are limited.

After tumor removal, neurosurgeons place one or more GammaTiles at the resection site. The tiles then direct radiation to where the tumor is most likely to recur and where leftover cancer cells might still be hiding. Because the GammaTile radiation seeds are encased in a collagen wafer, the seeds are held in place until they become inert after two or three months. The surrounding tissue then resorbs the collagen tile.

“This is a game-changer,” said Matthew Shepard, MD, neurosurgeon with the AHN Neuroscience Institute. “GammaTiles target remaining tumor cells immediately once deployed. And because the tile keeps the cesium seeds securely in place while the radiation is released, the therapy occurs while the patient is out of the hospital, as they go about their daily life.”

63-year-old Anthony Parise of Beaver County was the first to receive the new treatment at AGH. Anthony had undergone multiple surgeries and multiple rounds of traditional radiation therapy to shrink and remove his brain tumors, only for them to recur. In March 2023, Dr. Shepard removed Parise’s recurrent brain tumor and placed the GammaTiles in its place within the occipital lobe.

“Dr. Shepard explained it like building a house in my head,” said Parise. “He said he was building a wall around the tumor and placing the GammaTile within those walls to try to contain everything so that tumor won’t grow back and spread.”

In clinical trials conducted at centers around the country for patients with recurrent meningiomas and brain metastases, GammaTile therapy demonstrated a significant delay in treatment site recurrence compared to their previous treatment methods.

“This is a significant patient-centered advancement in brain tumor and brain cancer surgery,” said Donald Whiting, MD, Chair of the AHN Neuroscience Institutes and AHN’s chief medical officer. “Because the GammaTile’s radiation dose is so targeted, we can more effectively treat this challenging disease while preserving healthy brain tissue, reducing cognitive or motor skill complications, and minimizing other common side effects of radiation therapy, like hair loss.”

In one study, only 1 out of 74 patients who received the GammaTile radiation therapy experienced hair loss.

Over 200,000 patients are diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor in the U.S. each year. Aggressive brain tumors tend to resist current treatments and have a high likelihood of recurrence. The current standard of care for patients with operable brain tumors is surgical removal of the cancer, followed by radiation therapy or chemotherapy.

Traditional external beam radiation is delivered in as many as 30 treatments extending over a period of several weeks, each requiring separate visits to a hospital or outpatient cancer center.

“With a technology like GammaTile, we now have options to provide advanced brain cancer care in the setting that patients prefer most – their own homes,” Dr. Shepard said. “We are thrilled to now be offering this therapy to our patients who might benefit from it.”

Dr. Shepard specializes in surgical removal of cancerous and benign tumors of the brain, skull, and spine, as well as Gamma Knife radiosurgery and craniotomies. He offers corrective surgical options to address conditions such as Chiari malformation, stenosis, herniated discs, radiculopathy, and myelopathy.

Under Dr. Whiting’s leadership, experts at the AHN Neuroscience Institute treat neurological conditions, from headaches to brain tumors, with the most advanced treatments available. The institute comprises more than 50 physicians and 54 advanced practice providers, offering care at more than 30 clinical locations across Western Pennsylvania.

To learn more, visit ahn.org/services/neuroscience.

CARNEGIE, PA — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced $1,140,952 in federal funding for law enforcement, public safety, and addiction recovery services across Pennsylvania’s 17^th Congressional District. The grants are going to Allegheny County, Bell Acres, Brighton Township, Leet Township, Moon Township, and Scott Township. These federal grants are from the Local Law Enforcement Grant Program categories of the American Rescue Plan as well as Federal State Opioid Response funds.

“I am thrilled to bring home these federal funds for police, public safety, and addiction and recovery services for communities in Allegheny and Beaver County,” said Congressman Deluzio. “I will keep fighting to ensure that every municipality across the 17^th District has the resources and support they need to have safer communities.” 

The grants were allocated by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), and are as follows:

Allegheny Passages to Recovery, Inc., $500,000: Criminal justice focused peer support program for justice-involved individuals and families dealing with opioid or substance use disorders.

Bell Acres Borough, $35,513: Local law enforcement support program Records Management Systems upgrade.

Brighton Township, $194,035: Police video evidence system update.

Leet Township, $54,752: Police Records Management Systems upgrade, Body-worn cameras.

Moon Township Moon Police Department, $174,420: Records Management Systems upgrade and technology equipment upgrade.

Northern Regional Police Department, $105,300: Data migration to achieve National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) conversion.

Scott Township, $76,932: Portable radios and reception upgrades.

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission (PHMC) today announced the appointment of Heather Hicks, to the position of site administrator at Old Economy Village, Ambridge.  Hicks takes over the position from former site administrator Michael Knecht who took over operations at Drake Well Museum and Park, Titusville in the spring of 2022. Ms. Hicks’ start date is April 3.

As site administrator, Hicks will be responsible for day-to-day operations and all aspects of visitor services and site operations at Old Economy Village. She will manage a volunteer program and ensure the site is welcoming to visitors and maintains the highest standards of customer service.

“We are very fortunate to have someone with Heather’s passion for public history take on the leadership of Old Economy Village,” said Melissa Mann, Director of PHMC’s Bureau of Historic Sites and Museums. “Heather brings with her a wealth of experience in educational programming, museum and non-profit management and relationship-building, all of which will serve the historic site and community well.”

Hicks previously served as site manager at Daniel Boone Homestead, Birdsboro, and before that as the site administrator at Fonthill Castle, which is owned by the Bucks County Historical Society (BCHS). At Fonthill she was responsible for all day-to day management of the site. She supervised over 40 staff and volunteers, managed, and produced fundraising events, created new community outreach initiatives, managed the retail museum shop, and coordinated maintenance of the facility and grounds. Before that, she worked at Stenton House in Philadelphia. Ms. Hicks has a BA in art history and fine art from Arcadia University and a MA in archaeology from Temple University.

Old Economy Village, a National Historic Landmark, tells the story of the Harmony Society, one of the oldest and most successful religious communal groups of the nineteenth century. The Society sought to create a utopia inhabited by German Lutheran separatists who subscribed to the mystical religious teachings of their leader George Rapp (1757-1847).

Old Economy Village is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission with the active support of the Friends of Old Economy Village, a non-profit community-based organization and is one of 23 historic sites and museums that make up the Pennsylvania Trails of History.

For more information on Old Economy Village, visit: http://oldeconomyvillage.org/.

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission is the official history agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Learn more by visiting PHMC online or following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Emergency personnel work at the site of a deadly explosion at a chocolate factory in West Reading, Pa., Friday, March 24, 2023. ( Ben Hasty /Reading Eagle via AP)

Investigators looking for the cause of a deadly explosion that leveled part of a Pennsylvania chocolate factory are facing an even more difficult task as they comb through wreckage that was picked apart and moved around during the weekend search for victims and survivors. Seven people were killed and several others wounded in the powerful blast at the R.M Palmer Co. plant in West Reading (REHD’-ing). With the recovery effort now over, attention turned to identifying the cause. Authorities say that task is even more complicated because heavy equipment was used to pick apart the wreckage.

A child weeps while on the bus leaving The Covenant School following a mass shooting at the school in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The former student who shot through the doors of a Christian elementary school in Nashville and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance of the building before carrying out the massacre. Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake did not say exactly what drove the shooter to open fire Monday morning at The Covenant School before being killed by police. But he provided chilling examples of the shooter’s elaborate planning for the bloodshed, including a manifesto and other writings that police are going over. The victims include three 9-year-old children, the school’s top administrator, a substitute teacher and a custodian.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Two men accused of stuffing fish with lead weights and fish fillets in an attempt to win an Ohio fishing tournament last fall have pleaded guilty to charges including cheating. The two men have also agreed to three-year suspensions of their fishing licenses. Both are scheduled to be sentenced May 11. Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of six months’ probation. The cheating allegations surfaced in September. A walleye fishing tournament director became suspicious when their fish were significantly heavier than typical walleye. They would have won a little over $28,000 in prizes for winning the tournament.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published March 28, 2023 10:13 A.M.

(Monaca, PA) Shell Polymers Monaca released a statement Saturday that they will be performing maintenance and conduct repairs on on of their systems. They said they will initiate a controlled shutdown of portions of the plant. An elevated flare will be fully activated for a “period of time”.  Shell said “We apologize for any noise or visual disruption this may cause our friends and neighbors. All appropriate regulatory agencies have been notified. The safety of our employees, our community and the environment are our top priorities.”