In this Email Update:

• St. Luke’s Hospital Miners Campus Universal Care Suite grand opening
• Medical marijuana legalized in Pennsylvania
• Telephone Town Hall registration and events
• Temporary open burning ban
• Tamaqua Community Art Center Big Benefit Concert reminder
• Mauch Chunk Trust Company shredding event

St. Luke’s Hospital Miners Campus Universal Care Suite grand opening

On Monday I had the honor to join with the medical professionals, staff and administration at St. Luke’s Hospital Miners Campus for their grand opening of the Universal Care Suite. This new suite will allow the employees at St. Luke’s to continue to deliver quality health care to patients in a much-improved, comfortable and safe environment.

Photo of a new patient room at the facility.

Several years ago, Representative Knowles, Representative Heffley, and I began to work with St. Luke’s to bring a $1.5 million state grant to this project. St. Luke’s matched this grant with $6.5 million in their own funding to bring this important project to completion. In terms of quality health care and providing important local jobs, this is a very important project for Schuylkill and Carbon Counties.

Congratulations to St. Luke’s and I look forward to continuing to see its expansion and growth in the future!

Medical marijuana legalized in Pennsylvania

This past Sunday, the governor signed Senate Bill 3 into law to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes in Pennsylvania.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 42-7 and in the House by a vote of 149-46.  Under this bill, individuals suffering from a number of critical medical conditions such as cancer, epilepsy and autism will be able to receive medical marijuana with a prescription from their physician.

Pennsylvania will now be the 24th state that has legalized the use of marijuana to treat medical conditions.

For more comprehensive information about the use of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, please click here.

Telephone Town Hall registration and events 

Every couple of months I like to provide residents in Berks and Schuylkill counties with the opportunity to voice their concerns and ask questions about a number of state-related issues through my telephone town hall events.  It is important that I receive residents’ feedback in order to best represent their interests and grasp a better understanding about what issues are most salient to them.  Till this day, the burdensome school property tax remains the #1 issue I hear about most! 

In order to make it easier for residents to participate in my telephone town halls or listen to what is going on in the comfort of their own homes, my website now provides residents with the ability to register for the events or listen in by simply visiting: http://www.senatorargall.com/tele-town-hall.

Temporary open burning ban 

In order to keep an increasing number of uncontrolled fires in Schuylkill County at bay, the Schuylkill County Commissioners have placed a burn ban for the county which will take place starting at noon on April 22 until noon on May 22.

Some of the items that are prohibited from outdoor/on open ground burning during the ban include: 

• Garbage
• Leaves
• Grass
• Litter
• Paper
• Cardboard 

Residents who wish to use gas or charcoal grills for the purpose of making food are permitted to do so.  Businesses may also seek an exemption to the ban under the review and consideration of the Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency. 

Failure to comply with the burn ban can result in $100 for the first offense; $200 for the second offense; and $300 for each additional offense.  Cost of extinguishment of any wildland fire that may occur from the infraction will also be covered by the violator, which could cost thousands of dollars. 

For any questions about the burn ban, please contact the Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency at: 570-621-9966 or email BurnBan@scema.org.

Tamaqua Community Art Center Big Benefit Concert reminder 

Just a friendly reminder that the Tamaqua Community Art Center will be holding its Big Benefit Concert tonight.  I hope to see you there, as I attempt to play my tenor saxophone in concert for the first time in 40 years!

For more information about the event, click here.

Mauch Chunk Trust Company shredding event

In an effort to provide residents with the opportunity to safely discard their personal and sensitive information documents and communications, the Mauch Chunk Trust Company will be holding free shredding events in Tamaqua next month.

Residents interested in participating in these events may bring no more than five banker’s boxes worth of stuff to be safely disposed.

The events will be held on the following days and at the following locations:

May 7 – MCT Hometown Branch Office located at 226 Claremont Ave. from 9 a.m. – noon.
May 14 – MCT West Penn Branch Office located at 1331 Clamtown Rd. from 9 a.m. – noon. 

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