Pennsylvania’s mask order will be lifted by June 28th.  The Department of Health made the announcement yesterday.  To date, 52.7 percent of the Commonwealth’s 18 and older population are fully vaccinated. According to the CDC, 97.7 percent of Pennsylvanians over 65 have received at least one dose of vaccine. All Pennsylvanians age 12 and older are eligible to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine. People can find vaccination locations near them using Vaccines.gov, also known as Vaccine Finder.

Pennsylvanians were supposed to have the opportunity last week to vote on a constitutional amendment to provide a path for victims of childhood sexual abuse to take civil action.  However, the Pennsylvania Department of State failed to meet standard publication requirements for the amendment process, and a clerical error within the department led to the removal of the question from the ballot.  As a result, the PA House recently ordered an investigation by establishing a select committee to determine what happened within the Department of State.  As established by House Resolution 91, the bipartisan committee will examine, investigate, and make a complete study of the publication of the constitutional amendment process.

 The U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2019 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data.  Data released this week shows Pennsylvania falling further behind in meeting the needs of Commonwealth students. The data tracks, among other things, revenue sources for local school systems and spending on items like support services and overall pupil expenditures.  Pennsylvania dropped from 44th to 45th in the share of district revenue that comes from the state. As far as the overall percentage of revenue coming from the state to local school districts, Pennsylvania has dropped to 37.9%. The national average is 47%.

 Monday’s refuse schedule in the Borough of Lewistown will change for the observance of Memorial Day.  Monday’s route will be picked up on Tuesday (June 1st).  All other days remain the same.  Monday’s customers should hold recycling materials until the next scheduled day on June 14th.