Breaking News

Vape sellers face $5K fines under new House bill

The Pennsylvania state House on Monday approved a pair of bills creating stiffer penalties for shops caught selling electronic cigarettes to minors and banning the sale of synthetic kratom. House Bill 1434 would hike the fine for a first offense for selling nicotine vapes to underage customers to $5,000 from $100-$500. Under existing law, the fine increases for each subsequent offense, with retailers facing a penalty of $5,000 only after they’ve been caught three times illegally selling vapes to underage consumers. The legislation is “about accountability,” Rep. Amen Brown, ...

Education funding prominent issue in governor race

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will spend nearly 40% of its $50.8 billion budget on education this year. The size of that obligation, and its impact on children, teenagers, and college students across the commonwealth, make it an enormous part of annual spending talks. Unsurprisingly, it’s a prominent issue in the 2026 race for governor. Incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro has spent his governorship threading a needle on education. He has backed big spending increases, particularly for the commonwealth’s most inadequately funded public school districts. At the same time, he’s supported ...

FFA spotlight: Emma Walizer

Age and school: 16, Bellefonte Area High School Family: Parents: Cliff Walizer, Sarah Walizer and Rachael Kerstetter; siblings: Maverick, Seth, James and Lilymae FFA chapter: Bellefonte FFA Years involved with FFA: Two years Amount of time spent on FFA: Two years FFA projects: Two Market ...

Agriculture briefs: 4 Seasons bull named champion

TYRONE 4 Seasons Red Moose of 4 Seasons Farm LLC, Tyrone, owned by Bob VanKirk, was named the National Grand Champion Red Devon bull at the show in Remington, Va. Moose is a 2200 premiere herd sire at the farm and is well known for his characteristics that fit perfectly into grass-finished beef operations. “This bull is the biggest, stoutest, deep bodied, most masculine bull here today, not much in comparison. We just think he’s a really good example of what a mature bull should be,” said judge Will Clark. “This bull is a good way to end the day because I don’t care what ...

Touching up

David Gildea paints the front porch steps of his North Juniata Street home in Hollidaysburg on Thursday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski