(Photo Courtesy of Pa Media Services)
Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 6:52 AM
(Harrisburg, Pa.) Governor Tom Wolf is taking action against surprise medical bills.
A surprise bill is an unexpected medical bill that a patient receives when they unintentionally receive health care from a provider that’s outside of their plan’s provider network.
The No Surprises Act will require emergency services to be billed as in-network, without needing prior approval.
Gov Wolf said via release that “Medical emergencies, surgeries, major medical procedures are stressful enough on their own, but for too long…Americans have suffered the added stress of surprise medical bills, These bills can cost thousands or some cases even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they cause immense financial strain for Pennsylvanians.”
It takes effect on January 1, 2022.

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Story by Frank Sparks, News/Program Director
Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 6:41 AM
(Clinton, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they filed theft charges against 45-year-old Sean Watkins from East Liverpool, Ohio for theft after he took pictures for the Southside Little Rams Football organization.
Troopers say via release that Watkins took the photos in August for the organization and cashed checks valued at $5451.00 but never produced a final product as promised.
Charges of Theft were filed by Troopers against Watkins at District Court 36-3-04.

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(Beaver Falls, Pa.) Today is the winter solstice as winter will arrive at 3:59 PM today. It also means that today is the shortest day of the year. The sun will rise at 7:42 AM and set at 4:57 PM. The winter solstice is the point here in the Northern Hemisphere that the earth is tilted the furthest away from the sun. In the Southern Hemisphere this is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. The solstice happens twice a year and our next solstice which will be the summer solstice will be June 21, 2022 at 3:32 AM.

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) The Pittsburgh Penguins’ game against the New Jersey Devils has been postponed due to COVID-19, the NHL announced Monday.
The Devils, who the Penguins just played Sunday, are dealing with “COVID-related issues,” the league said.
Tuesday’s game at PPG Paints Arena was supposed to have been the second game of a home-and-home series between the teams. The Penguins won at New Jersey, 3-2, for their seventh straight victory Sunday.

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Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 5:42 AM
By FARNOUSH AMIRI and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection has requested an interview and documents from congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. The Republican lawmaker is the first sitting member of Congress the panel has requested to speak with. The committee has requested Perry provide information for its investigation surrounding his efforts to “install former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General.” Investigators say Perry pushed the Justice Department to overturn the election and met with President Donald Trump ahead of the violent attack.

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Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 5:39 AM
(Harrisburg, Pa.) Republican Senator Sen. Doug Mastriano said in appearances online over the weekend that he has reached the fundraising goal he set to formally become a candidate for Governor of the state of Pennsylvania and is organizing an announcement rally Jan. 8 near his home in southcentral Pennsylvania. Mastriano is the third state senator to enter the double-digits-deep Republican field to potentially succeed outgoing Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat. On the Democratic side, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro has effectively cleared the primary field.

(Photo Courtesy of Keystone News Connection)
Keystone State News Connection

December 21, 2021

Emily Scott

Pennsylvania’s substitute-teacher shortage has put a lot of pressure on educators in the state, but a new law signed by Gov. Tom Wolf last week aims to expand the pool of eligible substitutes.

Under House Bill 412, retired teachers now can fill vacancies on an emergency or short-term basis. Public schools also can use some college students and recent graduates of an education program as substitutes.

Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the shortage has a ripple effect on students’ ability to learn. Nearly two years into the pandemic, he emphasized it is critical to ensure they stay on track.

“This law is going to help achieve that by reducing the number of overcrowded classrooms,” Askey explained. “The educators are now telling me they don’t have time in the middle of their day to take a bathroom break. They’re teaching two classes at once. It’s a very stressful situation out there in our public schools.”

The substitute-teacher eligibility allowed in the bill will be a pilot program for the remainder of this school year and the next. The bill also will allow teachers whose certifications have lapsed to substitute for 180 days, up from a 90-day cut-off.

Kerry Mulvihill, a seventh grade science teacher in the Conestoga Valley School District in Lancaster County, has been an educator for more than two decades. She said the last two years have been the most difficult, and with teachers out more frequently, other staff members are expected to cover their class during prep periods, the only time during the day without students.

Mulvihill is thankful to the Legislature for passing the bill, but worries it’s not enough.

“So I’m kind of hopeful that we can get more retirees with the bill and more pre-service teachers,” Mulvihill remarked. “But I wish we could do more to really promote the importance of education to our community and the importance of supporting our substitutes as well as our in-house teachers.”

Mulvihill added she would also like to see an increased wage for teachers in Pennsylvania. The average starting salary for Pennsylvania educators during the 2019-2020 school year was $41,000 a year.

HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania will no longer impose state income taxes on public sector workers and nurses who receive student loan forgiveness from two major programs. The Wolf administration made the change on Friday. It impacts the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which provides debt relief to teachers, social workers, military members and other public servants. It also affects borrowers in the Pennsylvania Student Loan Relief for Nurses Program, a recent pandemic-era initiative to forgive up to $7,500 in student loan debt incurred by state-licensed nurses.