Fire companies get state aid boost

August 31, 2026

State financial aid for fire companies gets a modest boost under the new budget while legislation to ramp up support is still in the hopper. The caps for loans under the state Fire and Emergency Medical Services Loan Program increase by various amounts depending on the spending category. For example, the two percent loans to help companies buy new apparatus, facilities and equipment are now capped at $750,000 versus $636,000 before. The loan caps for new aerial apparatus are $750,000 versus $494,000 before. The loan terms are extended to 30 years from 20 years. The Fiscal Year ...

Cresson native to perform song at Flight 93 Memorial

August 31, 2026

Josh Gallagher will be performing his new original song, “Never Forget,” at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville on Friday, Sept. 11. “It’s the biggest honor of my career so far,” Gallagher said. Currently available for presave across streaming platforms, “Never ...

Medicaid likely to shed patients under new rules

August 31, 2026

As Pennsylvania braces for stricter Medicaid rules to go into effect, one health system wants to help patients keep their insurance coverage. Guthrie, a nonprofit with facilities in Pennsylvania and New York, is expanding its volunteer program to help patients who may need to meet the new 80-hour monthly community engagement requirement, which can be fulfilled through school, work, training, or volunteering. The new Medicaid requirements, which take effect in January, were approved as part of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill in July 2025. The community ...

Lawmakers seek to expand employer childcare tax credit

August 31, 2026

The 2024-25 state budget included a provision allowing employers to claim a tax credit if they contribute toward the cost of daycare for their employees. Despite skyrocketing childcare costs and concerns about worker shortages, the response from the business community was less than thunderous. Just one company claimed the tax credit in 2025. While state officials had estimated that the tax credit would cost the state $8 million a year in lost revenue in its first year, the price tag was just $619. Now lawmakers are going back to the drawing board to try to make the tax credit more ...

Students look to expansion of Pell grants for job training

August 31, 2026

Sydney Webb scrimped and saved to pay for an eight-week certified nursing assistant program at a North Carolina community college. On top of the $255 registration fee, the 26-year-old bartender also had to pay for a background check, scrubs, a stethoscope, special shoes and a state ...

Downtown decor

August 30, 2026

City Mayor Matt Pacifico sits outside The Clay Cup and Wildfire Boutique Tuesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Colette Costlow