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COVID-19 danger continues to drive joblessness in US

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to 860,000, a historically high number of people that illustrates the broad economic damage still taking place nine months after the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. The Labor Department said Thursday that U.S. jobless claims fell by 33,000 from the previous week and that 12.6 million are collecting traditional unemployment benefits, compared with just 1.7 million a year ago. The pandemic has delivered a colossal shock to the economy. Until the pandemic upended the operations of ...

Alumni donors establish George Floyd Scholarship

LOCK HAVEN — The Lock Haven University Foundation has announced the establishment of the George Floyd Scholarship, the result of a five-figure donation from an alumni couple who wish to remain anonymous. The George Floyd Scholarship will award $2,500 annually to an African-American student who demonstrates leadership for racial and social justice, and has completed their first year at LHU in good academic standing. “We hope this gift awakens our fellow alumni to the importance of supporting social justice in America,” one of the donors said. “We hope our fellow alumni will ...

No engine, no oil: Firm pitches battery-powered trains

PITTSBURGH — From the outside, the locomotive whirring along Wabtec’s test tract in Erie looks almost like any other. The operator cab is pretty standard, too. It’s in the guts that things take a turn. There’s no engine. No oil. No steel levers or red valve handles. Instead, ...

SEDA-COG welcomes new employees

SEDA-Council of Governments welcomed employees in August. Jamie Shrawder returned to SEDA-COG’s community development program as project coordinator on Aug. 17. She previously worked for SEDA-COG’s Joint Rail Authority in 2004 and transferred to SEDA-COG’s community development program in 2008 where she worked until 2016 as senior program analyst. Shrawder has 15 years of experience, working in administration, financial management, contracting, marketing, and communications. Her experience includes administrator of governmental affairs for Danville Borough, township manager for ...

Lepley, Engelman, Yaw & Wilk welcomes Brandon Schemery to family law section

Brandon R. Schemery, Esquire has joined the family law section of Lepley, Engelman, Yaw, & Will LLC. He will concentrate in the areas of family law including divorce, child custody, spousal support, property settlement, prenuptial agreements, and protection from abuse. Along with Schemery, the firm’s family Law department, headed by attorney Janice Ramin Yaw, includes attorneys Jason Lepley and Taylor Mullholand as well as four Domestic Relations paralegals and a legal secretary. Schemery graduated from Ursinus College with a bachelor in politics and minors in international ...

Business owners tap into savings to withstand pandemic

NEW YORK — When the coronavirus outbreak forced cruise lines to cancel trips to Alaska, it wiped out Midgi Moore’s tour business, leaving her with thousands of dollars in deposits to refund. Moore’s company, Juneau Food Tours, didn’t have enough cash on hand. So, she withdrew $30,000 ...