REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS INITIATIVE

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-23) said the Department of Environmental Protection must address skyrocketing clearing prices set during recent Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) auctions. Yaw, as chairman of Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, in a letter sent Thursday, encouraged DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell to reconsider his invitation to testify at the panel’s Jan. 18 hearing to discuss the issue. Yaw and 161 other state lawmakers oppose RGGI because it will spike electricity rates, force plant closures, cost thousands of jobs, threaten the power grid’s reliability and derail future economic investment.

NO TAX INCREASE PICTURE

They are working towards a no-tax-hike budget for next year in the Keystone Central School District. The school board’s voting session meeting with the bulk of the session focusing on budget-related matters. In fact, the “5-Year Financial Picture  has a NO TAX INCREASE” with an $82 million budget for the current school year and a comparably sized budget ($82,670, 408) for 2022-23. According to therecordonline.com, the new budget will be unveiled in May with a final vote in June.

SUNBURY STABBING

An early morning stabbing in Memorial Acres sent one person to the hospital in serious condition. According to Sunbury Police, one person is in custody following the domestic disturbance call at 2 am.  As reported by the Daily Item, a male was found on the ground when police arrived. Police are not releasing any further information at this time.

COVID CASES FOR SATURDAY

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Saturday reported new COVID-19 cases. Clinton County reported 33 new cases. In Centre County 196. Lycoming County added 167.  Northumberland County registered 179 new cases. Union County added 92 cases, while Snyder added 61 and Montour 29.

BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW

Governor Tom Wolf today stood alongside U.S. Transportation Secretary to launch the largest bridge formula program in American history, made possible by the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Pennsylvania is set to receive $1.6 billion to fix more than 3,000 bridges across the commonwealth. The program represents the largest investment ever made in fixing bridges – dedicating $26.5 billion to states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico over the five years of the law and $825 million for Tribal transportation facilities. The amount that will be available to states in Fiscal Year 2022 is $5.3 billion along with the $165 million for tribes. Today, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) also published initial guidance on the program.

COMPLEX STORM APPROACHING COMMONWEALTH

Governor Tom Wolf today reminded Pennsylvanians to monitor their local forecasts for details on a complex winter storm expected to bring a mix of snow, sleet and rain to much of the state starting Sunday. According to the National Weather Service, most areas will see snow as the storm system enters the state Sunday afternoon. The heaviest snow will fall in the western half of the state, with snow totals decreasing to the east where more sleet and rain are expected. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency will increase staffing at 3 p.m. on Sunday with support from PA Turnpike Commission, PennDOT, PA State Police and PA National Guard. PEMA personnel will work with county emergency management partners to monitor the storm and any unmet needs and provide state resources as needed.

QUESTION OF QUARANTING  STUDENTS

‘The quarantining of students at the Loyalsock Township School District is getting a second look by the school board. According to Superintendent Gerald McLaughlin, the time may have come to take a serious look at not quarantining those asymptomatic individuals, even if they have come into contact with COVID infected people.  It is being done in similar situations in other school districts. According to SUN Gazette, the school district is doing the best it can at monitoring the COVID infections, however many believe it will get worse this winter.  There was no further discussion or action on this conversation.

DESTRUCTION OF PAPER RECORDS

The approval to destroy paper records for both the Old Lycoming Township and Old Lycoming Township Police was approved at the most recent meeting of the Old Lycoming Township Supervisors. The files in question includes those paper records from pre-2014 and that have been deemed legally permissible to destroy based on the provisions of Title 46 of the PA Code. Digital copies will remain on file and part of the active record system, just not in a paper form.  Old Lycoming Township will next meet Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Old Lycoming Township municipal building.

PARKING CHANGES IN LOYALSOCK TOWNSHIP

Snow events require parking changes in Loyalsock Township in the form of an ordinance that temporarily regulates parking on township streets during snow events. Residents who live on township streets are not to park any motor vehicle on the public street following an accumulation of two inches or greater depth of snow on the road surface until the township plow trucks have cleared the full width of the roadway, according to the ordinance. According to SUN Gazette, if properties do not have a driveway, an exception of the ordinance will be granted but residents are still required to follow the odd/even parking schedule for snow events.  

This would require a vehicle to be parked on the odd house numbered side of the street on odd calendar days and the even house numbered side of the street on even calendar days.

AN OVERDOSE WAS THE CAUSE

It was deemed a multi-drug overdose of what some say were anti-depressants that caused the death of a Lock Haven woman who was charged in the death of her son upwards of a year ago. Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse and County Coroner Zach Hanna ruled the death as accidental, according to therecordonline.com. However,  the death of Jamie Lynn Jackson remains under investigation by state police. It was November when she experienced a medical emergency and was transported from the Clinton County Correctional Facility. Her trial was scheduled for the spring for the murder of 9-year-old Anson Stover.

COVID CASES FOR FRIDAY

The Pennsylvania Department of Health on Friday reported new COVID-19 cases.  Clinton County reported 89 new cases. In Centre County 332 new cases were recorded. Lycoming County added 300. Northumberland County registered 200 new cases. Union County reported 94 new cases — buoyed by 65 new cases at USP-Lewisburg — while Snyder County added 63 and Montour County 42.

BODY FOUND IN CREEK IN SNYDER COUNTY

A man’s body was found along the bank of Penns Creek. State police at Selinsgrove are investigating the appearance of the white male’s body near the Green Bridge at Selinsgrove at Routes 11-15 and 522 on Friday at approximately 12 noon.  Snyder County Coroner William Pheasant said he pronounced the man dead at 1:03 p.m. Friday. The man, who Pheasant described as being in his mid-20s and from out of state, was laying in shallow water in the creek. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday morning, he said. State police confirm an investigation is ongoing.

EARLY MORNING STABBING SENDS SUNBURY WOMAN TO JAIL

Following an early morning stabbing in Memorial Acres in Sunbury, that sent a male to the hospital in serious condition, an 18-year-old Sunbury woman is in jail. Samantha Barge is jailed on $200,000 bail after appearing before Sunbury District Judge Mike Toomey Friday morning on charges of felony aggravated assault, according to the Daily Item.  Barge will appear before Toomey for a preliminary hearing at a later date.