The LuLac Edition #4, 871, December 22nd, 2022

 

PARLOR BEVERAGES  PRESENTS CHECK

 (from left): Founders Josh Balz, Kristopher Jones and John Phillips, CSC President and CEO Mike Hopkins, Founder Mat Giordano, Parlor Endowment Director Colleen Logan, and Founder Aaron Bruch.

 Parlor Beverages recently donated money to the Children's Service Center. Here's what was said at the cgeck presentation.

"One of our goals as a company is to make sure we put our best foot forward with Community Involvement and giving back. Today Parlor Beverages was proud to present the Children's Service Center with a donation from our endowment fund administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation.

While Christmas is a time for giving, every day should be a day to give back.

We are grateful for all of the support and we will continue to give back to make our area a better place for everyone. Thank you to CSC, Colleen Logan, and our founder Mat especially for his hard work for making sure we always put our focus on our community.

Happy holidays. Drink more Root Beer."        (4) Parlor Beverages | Facebook

 

REP. CARTWRIGHT ANNOUNCES $250,000 FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN LACKAWANNA COUNTY

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) announced that $250,000 in federal funds have been awarded to Lackawanna County from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The funds will support the De-escalation and Crisis Intervention Collaboration Project, a cooperative effort between Lackawanna County and the Advocacy Alliance.

The Project aims to train a total of 600 police officers and related professionals over a five-year period in de-escalating mental health and addiction-related crises in the field. The trainings will provide strategies and tactics to law enforcement professionals to reduce the use of deadly force as well as provide them with resources and skills to manage their own mental health and the emotional demands of the job.

“I am grateful Lackawanna County sees the value in using crisis intervention and de-escalation to treat people at their lowest moments. By teaming up with Advocacy Alliance to provide these essential trainings, officers in Lackawanna County will have the support and resources they need to respond safely when they’re called to help someone in crisis,” said Rep. Cartwright. “I am proud to fight for funding for law enforcement to have the tools, training and resources they need to keep our communities as safe as possible.”

“This is great news for our Health & Human Services Department. I want to thank Congressman Cartwright for his assistance in securing this valuable award. Substance abuse and mental health illness are impacting people across the nation Our community is no different. This funding will enable our officers to handle these situations without excessive force. It will have an overall positive impact on our communities,” said Lackawanna County Commissioner Jerry Notarianni.  

“This grant is tremendous for Lackawanna County and the Advocacy Alliance is honored to provide services to individuals who have mental illness and/or addiction issues.  I want to thank Congressman Cartwright for his work in securing this award that will bring Crisis Intervention Team and Mental Health First Aid Trainings to police when they encounter individuals impacted by a mental illness, mental health crisis, and/or addiction issues” said Alex J. Hazzouri, President and CEO of the Advocacy Alliance and Friendship House.   

Awarded by the Center for Mental Health Services within HHS’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, this grant program provides essential funding for substance abuse treatment, prevention and mental health needs. Projects and community-based organizations funded by this program improve access, reduce barriers, and promote high quality, effective treatment and recovery services.

 

 

CASEY, SCOTT HOLD HEARING, INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO COMBAT HUNGER AMONG OLDER ADULTS

Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)

MORE THAN 5 MILLION ADULTS AGED 60 AND OLDER EXPERIENCED FOOD INSECURITY IN 2020

COMMITTEE HEARING HIGHLIGHTS BIPARTISAN REPORT DOCUMENTING 50 YEARS OF THE OLDER AMERICANS ACT NUTRITION PROGRAM

IN PA, OVER 95,000 OLDER ADULTS CURRENTLY RECEIVE MEALS THROUGH THE OAA NUTRITION PROGRAM

U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Bob Casey (D-PA) and Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) held a hearing entitled, “Setting the Table: Promoting Healthy and Affordable Food for Older Americans,” which examined efforts to ensure more older adults are able to consistently access nutritious food to improve health outcomes and lower health care costs. Chairman Casey and Ranking Member Scott introduced the Senior Nutrition Task Force Act, which establishes an interagency task force to identify tools to combat hunger and malnutrition among older adults and adults with disabilities. Chairman Casey also introduced the Tools for Ensuring Access to Meals (TEAM) Act, which would provide dedicated funding to implement the recommendations of the interagency task force.

The hearing also featured the Aging Committee’s bipartisan report recognizing the impact of 50 years of the Older Americans Act (OAA) Nutrition Program on older adult hunger. The OAA Nutrition Program ensures that older adults have affordable and nutritious meals, promotes socialization, and reduces food insecurity. In 2020, Chairman Casey led the reauthorization of the OAA, including a 7 percent funding increase in the initial year, followed by a 6 percent increase annually through fiscal year 2024.

“With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August, Democrats made great strides in lowering the sky-high cost of prescription drugs for seniors. Still, there is more to do. Congress must continue to support programs like the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program, SNAP, the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and Senior Food Boxes. And we must continue work to reduce barriers to access. No senior should have to choose between putting food on the table or taking a needed medication,” said Chairman Casey.

“For the past 50 years, the Older Americans Act Nutrition Program has saved millions from food insecurity. I’m proud of our bipartisan report documenting its impact on seniors’ lives,” said Ranking Member Scott. “Today, with historic highs in food prices, our continued focus should be on combating inflation so that seniors have an easier time at the grocery store.”

In Pennsylvania alone, over 95,000 older adults currently receive meals through the program. Food insecure and malnourished older adults often have an overall lower diet quality, which puts them at higher risk for developing chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, depression, and hypertension. Additionally, adults with disabilities are over two times more likely to be food insecure than their nondisabled counterparts.

Chairman Casey invited Elayne Masters, a nutrition advocate with persistent concussive symptoms from Allegheny County, PA, to testify. “…I have enough to eat because of programs sponsored by the Older Americans Act or Farm Bill. Often people and organizations do not realize how desperately individuals in my position need assistance. And please don’t assume that a person doesn’t need help—whether it’s filling out a SNAP application or meeting deadlines—based on outward appearances. Many federal nutrition programs have cumbersome application processes that can be difficult to navigate, and we would benefit from an extra hand or support,” she said. “All of the programs I’ve mentioned provide invaluable benefits to older Americans. I believe that the key to improving them is to offer more flexibility, more access to healthy foods, and more efforts to reduce barriers to access, like transportation, delivery options, and easier/simplified applications.”

Ranking Member Scott invited Tom Gilroy, a volunteer with the East Cooper Community Outreach group in Mount Pleasant, SC, to testify. “…The best part of volunteering is the people you meet and get to know as real folks. Such as – I will call her Ms. Harrison – a 72 year old who was in desperate need. She lives on a fixed income and although the pandemic was financially challenging, she remained healthy and made ends meet. Now she faces a new challenge after her 3 teenage grandchildren came to live with her, after being removed from their parents’ home. They now depend on her for care - for food, for clothing, for help. And inflation isn’t making it any easier for her each day…”

GOVERNOR WOLF ANNOUNCES $5.5 MILLION IN GRANTS TO STRENGTHEN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN PENNSYLVANIA

Governor Tom Wolf (Photo: LuLac archives)

Governor Tom Wolf today announced $5.5 million in Industry Partnership Grant funding to support workforce development projects designed to meet local and regional workforce needs across Pennsylvania.

Industry Partnership (IPs) support businesses partnering to build a stronger, more competitive job market through training, networking, recruitment, and collaboration within targeted industries and offer Pennsylvanians opportunities for career pathways into jobs with family-sustaining wages. The grant program is administered through the Department of Labor & Industry (L&I).

“With Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate holding steady at a record low, it is our collective responsibility to make decisions that are responsive to the needs of both Pennsylvania workers and employers in sectors where talent pipelines are tapped,” Gov. Wolf said. “By investing in workforce development projects, and specifically industry partnerships, we can connect hardworking Pennsylvanians with opportunities to advance their skillsets and obtain family-sustaining jobs in booming industries.”

Through Governor Wolf’s PAsmart initiative, the commonwealth has invested more than $40 million since 2018 to enhance opportunities for Pennsylvania workers through apprenticeship programs and industry partnerships. In this new round of funding, 25 Industry Partnerships received grants to increase awareness and implement workforce development strategies in the healthcare, manufacturing, construction, information technology, agriculture, education, hospitality and energy industries.

“Industry Partnership programs address critical shortages in specific industries, assist in retention efforts and offer a robust resource network to ensure individuals have access to meaningful careers,” L&I Secretary Jennifer Berrier said. “At L&I, we strategically use resources to connect Pennsylvania employers with a highly skilled and talented workforce who can do the jobs of tomorrow. We continue to do that, first and foremost, by investing in people and their families.”

NORTHEAST REGION

Northeast Healthcare Industry Partnership (Bradford, Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne, Wyoming – $143,289)

The program will use its funding to convene partners and promote career pathways in healthcare for youth and adults by creating educational videos that can be used in the classroom to highlight the necessary skills, knowledge and training needed to have a career in the industry. Additionally, the partnership will host a regional healthcare career week that will expand awareness through career and recruitment events, social media campaigns and promotion of work-based learning opportunities such as job shadowing and internships along with non-traditional training models such as apprenticeships.

STATEWIDE

Opportunity for All Pennsylvania Construction Industry Partnership (Statewide – $250,000)

The partnership will use its funds to hire a project manager that will research and develop education materials on best practices around apprenticeship readiness, diverse pipelines, and local hire/community benefit agreements. They will also hold a statewide convening to highlight best practices within the industry and push to establish “Intro to the Trades” programs to diversify the pipeline to unionized construction jobs.

 

MEDIA MATTERS 

 

WALN TV ON CHANNEL 137

 

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM 

You'll hear the program Sunday at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400 am The Mothership and 7:30 am on 105 The River.

 

 

BOBBY V’S DO WOP SUNDAY NIGHT SOCK HOP

 

1975

Our 1975 logo

 Nicholas Shadrin, formerly Soviet Navy Lt. Commander Nikolai Artamonov, disappeared in Austria after leaving his Vienna hotel to meet with Soviet KGB agents. In 1959, as Artamonov, he had defected to Sweden and then to the United States, where he provided intelligence information to the CIA and been given the new identity of Shadrin, and in 1966, he became a double agent, passing disinformation to the Soviet KGB while spying for the United States. The KGB learned in 1972 about Shadrin's control by the CIA, and set up a plan to kidnap him and take him back to the USSR via Czechoslovakia. Shadrin/Artamanov died from either a heart attack or from an excessive dose of sedatives during the kidnapping…William Lundigan died at the age of 61 His more than 125 films  include Dodge City (1939), The Fighting 69th (1940), The Sea Hawk (1940), Santa Fe Trail (1940), Dishonored Lady (1947), Pinky (1949), Love Nest (1951) with Marilyn Monroe, The House on Telegraph Hill (1951), I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951) and Inferno (1953)…… In one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the 1975-76 U.S. television season, Joey Stivic was born on All in the Family, which finished No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings that week with the episode, which attracted 60 percent share of the Monday night viewing audience……The standard "reserve clause" in Major League Baseball contracts was voided in a decision rendered in arbitration proceedings for two players from different teams. Andy Messersmith of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dave McNally of the Montreal Expos had been prevented from signing with other teams because of the clause that allowed their employers to keep renewing their contracts for one more year. Peter Seitz, who would say later, "I'm not a new Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves," had been the deciding vote in a 2-1 decision, with union executive director Marvin Miller voting in favor, and the owners' agent, John Gaherin, voting against. Challenges of the ruling would be upheld in court action, and the precedent would allow players in all professional sports to sell their services to the highest bidder after completing their initial contracts……The U.S. Metric Conversion Act of 1975 was signed into law by President Ford, to guide the gradual replacement of the English system of measurements with the metric system. "To say this legislation is historic is an understatement", Ford told reporters. However, the metric system has never caught on in the United States…….Richard S. Welch, a 46-year-old attaché at the United States Embassy in Athens, was murdered outside his suburban home in Psychiko after returning with his family from a Christmas party. On November 25, Welch had been identified as an American CIA agent by the English-language daily paper The Athens News. Credit for the killing was taken by the Greek Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Epanastatiki Organosi dekaefta Noemvri…………The British band Iron Maiden was formed by bass guitarist Steve Harris in Leyton, East London, who teamed up with vocalist Paul Day, drummer Ron Matthews, and guitarists Terry Rance and Dave Sullivan…..and this week in 1975 the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Convention.