Ten more COVID-19 deaths were reported in Mifflin County during the past week.  According to the county coroner, the total number of COVID-related deaths in Mifflin County since November 8th has risen to 170. 

More than $2 billion in federal stimulus funds have been released to Pennsylvania’s school districts and charter schools to support food programs, technological improvements, and other education services impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The funding was provided by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER II) Fund passed by Congress in December.  The funds may be used for a wide range of activities, including food service. School districts and charter schools must apply to the Pennsylvania Department of Education to obtain allocated funds.  The funds must be used by September 2023.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) and Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) have announced the launch of HuntFishPA, the new user-friendly licensing platform for hunters, anglers, and boaters. Visitors to www.HuntFish.pa.gov will discover convenient features like personalized dashboards, autorenewal for fishing licenses, and the ability to report game and furbearer harvests as required.  Users who visit the agencies’ websites – www.pgc.pa.gov and www.fishandboat.com – will be directed to the new system.  HuntFishPA replaces the previous Pennsylvania Automatic Licensing System (PALS) platform. 

According to the latest ALICE® Report, released Tuesday (January 26th) by United Way of Pennsylvania, almost 1.4 million Commonwealth households were already one emergency away from financial ruin — a 10-year record high – before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.  ALICE, which stands for Asset, Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, is an initiative of the Pennsylvania network of United Ways to raise awareness of the challenges faced by working families.  United Way also conducted a statewide survey about the economic impacts of COVID-19 in August 2020.  The survey found ALICE households were more concerned about how to afford housing, and related costs like utilities, than they were about contracting COVID-19. ALICE households only had one month, or less, of savings to cover necessities, versus the rest of PA households who had two months or more.