How can we recruit more firefighters?
Thank you to the more than 75 volunteer firefighters and school administrators who joined Rep. Tim Twardzik, @repwatropa, and me at our seminar about new strategies to recruit volunteer firefighters at the Columbia Hose Company last night.
Many of our local volunteer companies are facing severe shortages of firefighters. According to the United State Fire Administration, the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped from 60,000 to less than 38,000.
We heard from Eric Frantz, a volunteer firefighter who has successfully developed a high-school firefighting club, and Tracie Young-Brungard, the Administrator of Recruitment & Retention for the Office of State Fire Commissioner, who shared the variety of services the agency can offer the companies.
If you were not able to attend last night and would like to learn more about the strategies we discussed, please do not hesitate to contact my Mahanoy City office at 570-773-0891.
How can we recruit more firefighters?
Thank you to the more than 75 volunteer firefighters and school administrators who joined Rep. Tim Twardzik, @repwatropa, and me at our seminar about new strategies to recruit volunteer firefighters at the Columbia Hose Company last night.
Many of our local volunteer companies are facing severe shortages of firefighters. According to the United State Fire Administration, the number of volunteer firefighters has dropped from 60,000 to less than 38,000.
We heard from Eric Frantz, a volunteer firefighter who has successfully developed a high-school firefighting club, and Tracie Young-Brungard, the Administrator of Recruitment & Retention for the Office of State Fire Commissioner, who shared the variety of services the agency can offer the companies.
If you were not able to attend last night and would like to learn more about the strategies we discussed, please do not hesitate to contact my Mahanoy City office at 570-773-0891.
I visited the northernmost township of the 29th district yesterday for a legislative lunch with parents and teachers at Bear Creek Community Charter School. Thanks to all who attended our bipartisan discussion about the most critical issues facing public schools across Pennsylvania.
This school, established in 2004, now includes a new academic wing, opened in 2024, serving 606 students in Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Monroe Counties.
The key to their success, to quote from their presentation: “Parents, along with staff, are important stakeholders in the success of our students and the future of our school. Parents of Bear Creek Community Charter School are expected to actively participate.”
Joining me from Luzerne County: Rep. Jamie Walsh, @reppashinski, and @repryncavage, as well as Rep. Bryan Cutler, the Republican Chair of the House Education Committee from Lancaster County.
I visited the northernmost township of the 29th district yesterday for a legislative lunch with parents and teachers at Bear Creek Community Charter School. Thanks to all who attended our bipartisan discussion about the most critical issues facing public schools across Pennsylvania.
This school, established in 2004, now includes a new academic wing, opened in 2024, serving 606 students in Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Monroe Counties.
The key to their success, to quote from their presentation: “Parents, along with staff, are important stakeholders in the success of our students and the future of our school. Parents of Bear Creek Community Charter School are expected to actively participate.”
Joining me from Luzerne County: Rep. Jamie Walsh, @reppashinski, and @repryncavage, as well as Rep. Bryan Cutler, the Republican Chair of the House Education Committee from Lancaster County.
93 years ago this week, my great-grandfather, Roger Howells, lost his job as a “fire boss” when the mine he worked in the New Philadelphia area closed during the Great Depression.
I display the pink skip – note that it’s really pink!! – he received in my capitol office, as a reminder of the backbreaking and dangerous labor that our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents performed to feed our families. So many of our ancestors faced and overcame significant hardships here in Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties during the decline of the anthracite coal industry.
93 years ago this week, my great-grandfather, Roger Howells, lost his job as a “fire boss” when the mine he worked in the New Philadelphia area closed during the Great Depression.
I display the pink skip – note that it’s really pink!! – he received in my capitol office, as a reminder of the backbreaking and dangerous labor that our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents performed to feed our families. So many of our ancestors faced and overcame significant hardships here in Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties during the decline of the anthracite coal industry.
I visited The Farm Store yesterday – downtown Pottsville’s newest farm-to-table grocery store.
Founded by Angela and Josiah Meck, this new grocery store is now open, providing the community with fresh food sourced from local farms from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Angela and Josiah won the first ever IGNITE Schuylkill competition, an event created by the @schuylkillchamber to give local entrepreneurs the chance to grow their business and compete for funding. It’s exciting to see the ideas presented during this competition become reality! Joining me was Savas Logothetides from the Pottsville Area Development Corporation.
I visited The Farm Store yesterday – downtown Pottsville’s newest farm-to-table grocery store.
Founded by Angela and Josiah Meck, this new grocery store is now open, providing the community with fresh food sourced from local farms from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Angela and Josiah won the first ever IGNITE Schuylkill competition, an event created by the @schuylkillchamber to give local entrepreneurs the chance to grow their business and compete for funding. It’s exciting to see the ideas presented during this competition become reality! Joining me was Savas Logothetides from the Pottsville Area Development Corporation.
Last night, almost 6000 people from Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties joined me for a telephone town hall.
I asked everyone on the call to weigh in on whether they support legislation by @senatorlisabaker, Senator Judy Ward, and me to strip former President Biden’s name from a Scranton-area highway. Our bill will restore its name to the Central Scranton Expressway. 69% percent of those voting supported renaming the President Biden Expressway.
Many people throughout our region were outraged after the former president commuted the sentence of a key figure in the “Kids for Cash” scandal during his final days in office. For the families affected by these crimes, President Biden’s decision was VERY painful. I hope to see quick action on this important legislation for northeast Pennsylvania.
Last night’s meeting was the first of eight town halls I’ll sponsor in the next few months—both via telephone and in person, designed to review the good, the bad, and the really ugly of how our state government operates. Stay tuned for more details!
Last night, almost 6000 people from Carbon, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties joined me for a telephone town hall.
I asked everyone on the call to weigh in on whether they support legislation by @senatorlisabaker, Senator Judy Ward, and me to strip former President Biden’s name from a Scranton-area highway. Our bill will restore its name to the Central Scranton Expressway. 69% percent of those voting supported renaming the President Biden Expressway.
Many people throughout our region were outraged after the former president commuted the sentence of a key figure in the “Kids for Cash” scandal during his final days in office. For the families affected by these crimes, President Biden’s decision was VERY painful. I hope to see quick action on this important legislation for northeast Pennsylvania.
Last night’s meeting was the first of eight town halls I’ll sponsor in the next few months—both via telephone and in person, designed to review the good, the bad, and the really ugly of how our state government operates. Stay tuned for more details!
Investing in pre-school teachers is a bipartisan win for everyone.
Today, I joined Governor Josh Shapiro, Rep. Tim Twardzik, and Bob Carl of the @schuylkillchamber at a Pottsville press conference about the workforce crisis facing childcare centers. In his budget proposal, the governor included $55 million to recruit and retain childcare teachers.
We heard from Michelle Dallago of The Perception Training Center, Inc. – Perception Early Learning, Montessori in Pottsville about her challenges with keeping teachers at her center. Meredith Driscoll drove home the importance of childcare to working families by sharing that she drives from Tamaqua to Pottsville every single weekday so that Perception can help to care for and educate her young children.
The governor’s proposed investment in childcare teachers is a win for our kids, working families, employers, pre-school teachers, and our communities. In my comments, I pointed to my Grandfather Argall’s 1930 Middleport elementary school teaching contract. We support our teachers better now than we did then – he only made $990 a year – but we still don’t assist our pre-school teachers as much as we should, despite the passion they bring to their important work. To borrow our governor’s favorite quote – let’s get this stuff done.
Investing in pre-school teachers is a bipartisan win for everyone.
Today, I joined Governor Josh Shapiro, Rep. Tim Twardzik, and Bob Carl of the @schuylkillchamber at a Pottsville press conference about the workforce crisis facing childcare centers. In his budget proposal, the governor included $55 million to recruit and retain childcare teachers.
We heard from Michelle Dallago of The Perception Training Center, Inc. – Perception Early Learning, Montessori in Pottsville about her challenges with keeping teachers at her center. Meredith Driscoll drove home the importance of childcare to working families by sharing that she drives from Tamaqua to Pottsville every single weekday so that Perception can help to care for and educate her young children.
The governor’s proposed investment in childcare teachers is a win for our kids, working families, employers, pre-school teachers, and our communities. In my comments, I pointed to my Grandfather Argall’s 1930 Middleport elementary school teaching contract. We support our teachers better now than we did then – he only made $990 a year – but we still don’t assist our pre-school teachers as much as we should, despite the passion they bring to their important work. To borrow our governor’s favorite quote – let’s get this stuff done.
@repwatropa and I met with Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat this morning to discuss many of the ongoing projects we’re working on together to improve the city. We’ve had a lot to celebrate lately, including the opening of the Mericle Family Center at the formerly vacant and blighted Hazleton YMCA building and tenants now moving into the new, market-rate apartments at the Altamont Hotel.
Now, we’re working to bring even more new housing to the area at other vacant buildings and advance other initiatives to breathe new life into Hazleton.
@repwatropa and I met with Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat this morning to discuss many of the ongoing projects we’re working on together to improve the city. We’ve had a lot to celebrate lately, including the opening of the Mericle Family Center at the formerly vacant and blighted Hazleton YMCA building and tenants now moving into the new, market-rate apartments at the Altamont Hotel.
Now, we’re working to bring even more new housing to the area at other vacant buildings and advance other initiatives to breathe new life into Hazleton.
The first tenants have now moved into the new apartments at the historic 1924 Altamont Hotel, a few blocks away from my office in downtown Hazleton. The building now features 68 market-rate apartments, after being closed in 2012. The developers have done an excellent job at returning the building to productive use, while preserving its history.
There’s no issue I hear about more from employers and employees than the need for more housing in Schuylkill, Carbon, and Luzerne counties. Transforming old, unused buildings into quality apartments is a strategy that has proven very successful in other local communities. Similar efforts are now underway at multiple locations in Orwigsburg, at the Schwab School in Weatherly, the Schuylkill Trust Company building in Pottsville, and what many of us remember as either Scheid’s or Tire Pros in Tamaqua.
The first tenants have now moved into the new apartments at the historic 1924 Altamont Hotel, a few blocks away from my office in downtown Hazleton. The building now features 68 market-rate apartments, after being closed in 2012. The developers have done an excellent job at returning the building to productive use, while preserving its history.
There’s no issue I hear about more from employers and employees than the need for more housing in Schuylkill, Carbon, and Luzerne counties. Transforming old, unused buildings into quality apartments is a strategy that has proven very successful in other local communities. Similar efforts are now underway at multiple locations in Orwigsburg, at the Schwab School in Weatherly, the Schuylkill Trust Company building in Pottsville, and what many of us remember as either Scheid’s or Tire Pros in Tamaqua.