STATE POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION, ROAD RAGE
State police are investigating a road rage incident involving a male allegedly assaulted by three unidentified black males at 10 am on August 10th in the area of Wildwood Rd and State Route 104 in Union County. According to northcentralpa.com, anyone with information is urged to contact the State Police in Milton.
STATE POLICE ARE LOOKING FOR INFORMATION, THEFT
State Police at Montoursville are investigating the theft of tools and miscellaneous tractor parts from a residence in Penn Township, Lycoming County, where upwards of 100 pounds of steel scrap metal, a tractor oil tank, jigsaw and a pipe threader were taken sometime between June 7 and June 22 from a location on Beaver Lake Road. According to police, the total value of items missing is $695. According to northcentralpa.com, anyone with information may contact State Police in Montoursville.
EMERGENCY DECLARATION TO BENEFIT LYCOMING COUNTY
Gov. Tom Wolf recently sent a letter urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to lower the federal damage assessment thresholds required for flooding events to qualify for federal aid. Based on the results of a damage survey, the damage in Lycoming County met the criteria for financial aid through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). According to a media outlet, Wolf requested and successfully obtained an Small Business Administration emergency declaration to benefit the affected citizens.
DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AND SALUTE TO FIRST RESPONDERS
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and the BU Student Veterans Association (BUSVA) will hold a Day of Remembrance and Salute to First Responders to mark the 20th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The event will be held on Friday, Sept. 10 starting at 9 a.m. on the steps of the Warren Student Service Center on the Academic Quad. The event is open to the public. In addition, BU President Bashar Hanna will offer remarks with Jared Stump, a BU student, veteran of the U.S. Army, and president of BUSVA serving as master of ceremonies. According to a media outlet, music will be provided by the Concert Choir; the Women’s Choral Ensemble; and Bloomsburg University Husky Marching Band.
FIREFLY SUPERNOVA: ART WORKSHOP AND EXPERIENCE INVITES A MEMBER OF THE UN
A member of the United Nations will be visiting the Valley next week. UN Arts Ambassador Ibiyinka Alao will be visiting the Lewisburg Children’s Museum next Friday from 4-5 p.m. Organizers say he’ll be hosting an event called, ‘Firefly Supernova: Art Workshop and Experience.’ The workshop is in collaboration with Bucknell University scientists Sarah Lower and Douglas Collins. The organizers say workshop is recommended for children 4 and up and their families and will take place outside in the courtyard, weather permitting. According to a media source, this experience is supported in part by the National Science Foundation and is free to participants. RSVP is required and a waitlist is available. www.lewisburgchildrensmuseum.org.
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT MASKING PROTOCOLS
New mask protocols are now in place in the Southern Columbia Area School District, but will be revisited in mid-September. At Southern Columbia, the district says a mask mandate is in effect starting yesterday, the first day of school, for all staff, students and visitors. As reported by SUN Gazette, the district will be revisiting the mandate during a special school board meeting scheduled for September 13 at 7 p.m. in either the high school library or auditorium.
DANVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT MASKING PROTOCOLS
New mask protocols are now in place in the Danville School District, but will be revisited in mid-September. At Danville, the district is implementing partial mask mandates starting today. All students grades must wear masks in classrooms but may remove them in hallways and outdoors. Danville’s vaccinated faculty and staff are not mandated to wear masks, but must provide vaccine verification to the school nurse by tomorrow. As reported by SUN Gazette, the school board will revisit the necessity of mandated masking at its September 14 board meeting.
UNEMPLOYMENT UNCERTAINTY
Hundreds of thousands of claimants in Pennsylvania still don’t know when, or if, they’ll receive unemployment compensation as the Sept. 4 expiration for the enhanced $300 federal benefit nears. According to a media source, Secretary of Labor Jennifer Berrier said the new unemployment system implemented in June helped staff reduce the number of claimants waiting for benefits down from 325,000 in late July to around 190,000 as of Monday.
PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH COVID-19 DASHBOARD
Pa Dept of Health reported the latest COVID-19 Dashboard for our area Clinton County registered five new cases of COVID-19,Lycoming with an additional 39 cases Centre County with 20 new cases, 26 cases in Northumberland County, five new cases in Union County, three in Snyder and two in Montour County on Monday, according to a media outlet.
USDA STUDY IN CONJUNCTION WITH PENNSYLVANIA GAME COMMISSION
A recent USDA study, which at this point has not been peer-reviewed, found that 31 percent of tested white-tailed deer in Pennsylvania (out of 199 tested) show signs of being exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. “The finding that wild white-tailed deer have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 is not unexpected given that white-tailed deer are susceptible to the virus, are abundant in the United States, often come into close contact with people, and that more than 114 million Americans are estimated to have been infected with COVID-19, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced in a summary of the study. According to the USDA and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there is no evidence that deer can spread the virus to humans or that humans are at risk of contracting the virus from consuming venison.
