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Pennsylvania House panel OKs tax credit bill to boost deer donations

Legislation creating a state tax credit to boost charitable donations of deer from hunters cleared a House committee Tuesday. The Finance Committee voted unanimously in favor of House Bill 2193 creating the Deer Processors Tax Credit. The goal of the tax credit is to encourage hunters to donate more pounds of venison to charities, said Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne, the bill sponsor. Hunters take a slain deer to a licensed processor who can butcher and prepare the meat for distribution. That can be costly and discourage donations, said Pashinski. HB2193 proposes to defray ...

Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling sets up debate on taxing skill games

A new Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that essentially found the estimated 70,000 unregulated and untaxed “skill games” in the state to be slot machines — taxable by law at 52% — had the attention of many lawmakers on Tuesday. The long-awaited opinion covered appeals in two separate cases and arrived about two weeks before the June 30 deadline for a state budget. It is certain to be a factor in closed-door budget negotiations between Republican and Democratic leaders. The state takes in roughly $5 billion less than it spends on an annual basis, and Democratic Gov. Josh ...

State House passes bill to boost SNAP security

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted Tuesday to advance a bipartisan bill aimed at strengthening protections against Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit theft. House Bill 2540, sponsored by state Rep. Dan Williams, D-Chester, the majority chairman of the Human Services Committee, would require Pennsylvania to implement chip-enabled Electronic Benefit Transfer cards by January 2028. The security measure is intended to combat SNAP benefit theft caused by skimming devices that capture card data from magnetic stripes at point-of-sale terminals. More than $15 ...

Celebrate community

Block party marks Juneteenth The Juneteenth Community Block Party will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 19, at Prospect Park, 112 S. 15th St., Altoona. Symphony has free concert at Curve stadium The Altoona Symphony Orchestra will perform a Star Spangled Symphony concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at PNG Field. Gates will open at 6:30 for pre-concert entertainment. Admission is free. Photography exhibition honors America250 ArtsAltoona will host the “America 250 Photography Exhibition” from 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at the ArtsAltoona Center, 2212 Sixth Ave., ...

East Broad Top Railroad salutes Big Boy

ROCKHILL FURNACE — The historic East Broad Top Railroad will celebrate Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy No. 4014 as the world’s largest operating steam locomotive passes through Huntingdon County on July 8 as part of its America250 tour. As Big Boy travels across Pennsylvania, thousands of railroad enthusiasts are expected to gather along the Norfolk Southern main line to witness this rare event. East Broad Top staff and volunteers will be near historic Hunt Tower in Huntingdon to welcome visitors, share in the excitement and offer hot dogs, light refreshments and railroad ...

Blair Township hosts block party

To kick off the America250 celebration in Blair Township, supervisors and staff joined together on Flag Day to raise the 13-star “Betsy Ross Flag” over the municipal building. Pictured (from left) are Eric Calhoun, police officer; Kami Bilek, secretary/treasurer; Paul Amigh, supervisor; ...