COVID-19

The “Butter Up!” contest offers winners gift cards from select Pennsylvania grocers. It’ll replace the event’s hallmark butter sculpture – a 1,000-pound creation that serves as the pièce de résistance of the week-long convention.

This new time calls for a reset on everything. The dawning of a new year offers just such and opportunity. The 253 members of the General Assembly should not squander it. 

The question for the future will be whether the people who died of COVID-19, and the families who suffered, will be written off as a tragic consequence of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, or whether their sacrifice can lead to a better system.

The Treasury introduced prepaid debit cards during the last round of coronavirus stimulus payments authorized under the CARES Act. The cards came with fees.

The Senate is not expected to approve the expanded payments that President Donald Trump demanded.

Residents and staff at more than 120 Pennsylvania nursing homes are on track to receive on-site COVID-19 vaccinations starting this week, kicking off a federal pharmacy partnership that officials hope will speed vaccine distribution statewide. 

African-Americans were at the center of issues that dominated local and national headlines during the past 12 months. Here is a look at the top local stories of the year.

As a physician there have been times when I felt it necessary to take a scalpel and cut into someone. However, there exists a moral presumption against such action, even if I believe it is justified. In such a situation the burden is not on the patient to convince me to refrain. Rather, the burden is on me to convince the patient that I should proceed. This is true despite my credentials in the field. 

“I am confident that we will get through this – as a nation, as a commonwealth,” said Dr. Levine. “But we need to stand together.” 

Some of the items they provide are computers and closed circuit televisions, which have a magnifier with different magnification levels that can show those who have low vision what they can’t normally see.