CDC Report: PA and NJ Up To 149 Lung Injuries Linked to Vaping

The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The number of lung injury hospitalization cases linked to vaping in Pennsylvania now numbers as high as 149 as of Feb. 25,

according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Nationally, the number of cases involving hospitalizations due to e-cigarette use continues to decline after peaking in September of last year, the CDC reports. Patient reports show that black-market vaping products containing THC – the psychoactive component of cannabis – have played a major role in the outbreak.

Among the 100 to 149 cases reported in Pennsylvania, two deaths have been reported, according to the CDC.

Vitamin E acetate, which commonly does no harm when taken as a supplement, has also been linked to the lung injuries, the agency’s data shows. Medical research indicates it can disrupt lung functioning when inhaled.

In total, there have been 68 deaths associated with the vaping incidents in 29 states as well as the District of Columbia, the CDC reports. In addition, the total number of hospitalizations from such vaping activities is now 2,807, the report says.

—

Hospitalizations Related to Vaping, State by State

State

Frequency

(# of Cases)

Deaths Reported

Alabama

10-49

Alaska

1-9

Arizona

10-49

Arkansas

10-49

California

150-199

Colorado

1-9

Connecticut

50-99

Delaware

10-49

Florida

100-149

Georgia

10-49

Hawaii

1-9

Idaho

10-49

Illinois

200-249

Indiana

100-149

Iowa

50-99

Kansas

10-49

Kentucky

10-49

Louisiana

10-49

Maine

1-9

Maryland

50-99

Massachusetts

100-149

Michigan

50-99

Minnesota

100-149

Mississippi

10-49

Missouri

10-49

Montana

1-9

Nebraska

10-49

Nevada

1-9

New Hampshire

1-9

New Jersey

100-149

New Mexico

10-49

New York

150-199

North Carolina

50-99

North Dakota

1-9

Ohio

10-49

Oklahoma

1-9

Oregon

10-49

Pennsylvania

100-149

Rhode Island

1-9

South Carolina

10-49

South Dakota

10-49

Tennessee

50-99

Texas

200-249

Utah

100-149

Vermont

1-9

Virginia

50-99

Washington

10-49

Washington, D.C.

1-9

West Virginia

10-49

Wisconsin

50-99

Wyoming

1-9

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

published here with permission of

The Center Square

$30.1 million in FY2020 Freight Impact Grants for Improvements to Heavy Truck Routes

(Trenton) –

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) today announced $30.1 million in grants as part of the Local Freight Impact Fund program that help counties and municipalities provide for the safe movement of large truck traffic.

“These Local Freight Impact Fund grants allow counties and municipalities to make critical improvements to truck routes that are essential to keeping our regional economy thriving,” NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti said. “New Jersey roads and bridges carry a tremendous amount of commercial truck traffic every day and we are using funds generated through the gas tax to make sure our infrastructure can handle the load.”

The Local Freight Impact Fund (LFIF) is a competitive $30.1 million program, which was created as part of Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) reauthorization in October 2016. This is the third year that grants have been made under this program.

NJDOT received 45 applications requesting more than $73.3 million for the FY2020 LFIF Program. Of the applications received, there are 17 grants being awarded. Those grants are being distributed to 10 municipalities and 6 counties, with one county receiving two grants. Of the 17 projects, there are two Truck Safety and Mobility projects, two New Construction projects and 13 Pavement Preservation projects. Click here for a

full list of project awards

The program helps New Jersey’s municipalities fund projects that emphasize and enhance the safe movement of large truck traffic, renew aging structures that carry large truck traffic, promote economic development, and support new transportation opportunities.

Under the program, projects that fall into four categories are eligible for funding: bridge preservation, new construction, pavement preservation, and truck safety and mobility. The grants are administered by the NJDOT Division of Local Aid and Economic Development. NJDOT staff evaluate projects using a variety of criteria including: existing conditions, overall traffic volume, percentage of large truck traffic, crash frequency, connectivity to freight nodes, among others.

For NJDOT news follow us on Twitter

@NJDOT_info

and on the

NJDOT Facebook page

March 18 Maryland Fishing Report : Despite the Chinese Virus You Can Still Go Fishing

By Keith Lockwood

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

“No life is so happy and so pleasant as the life of the well-govern’d angler.“–Izaak Walton

Michael Novak Jr. caught this beautiful crappie recently while fishing with his dad. Photo by Michael Novak

We face extraordinary times and everyone must make decisions regarding the safety of ourselves and those we love. Given Maryland’s current State of Emergency, the

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

has made adjustments as well.

After careful consideration, the department decided to suspend spring trout stocking to protect the health and safety of our state employees and also the public and angling community. We need to avoid a situation that encourages anglers to gather near stocked locations. The department may also cancel or postpone fishing-related events this spring, including youth fishing rodeos and fishing tournaments due to the Executive Order prohibiting gatherings of 50 people or more.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t go fishing. In fact, the department has already stocked 82,700 brown, golden, and rainbow trout across the state. While it is unknown at this time when trout stocking will resume, we do encourage anglers to safely take advantage of incredible fishing opportunities Maryland has to offer.

For those looking for ways to occupy children stuck at home, consider a peaceful fishing adventure — obviously taking care to keep your proper social distance from others and avoid unnecessary exposure.

Please keep an eye on the department’s website and social media for updates, and we will resume regular operations once we are safely able.

Be safe, be responsible, be kind to each other, and we will get through these trying times together.

Forecast Summary: March 18-24:

Friday is the first day of Spring and signs are everywhere. Blooming daffodils, forsythia bushes and pear trees are all indicators that Chesapeake Bay water temperatures are on the rise.

Bay mainstem surface waters

and rivers have risen to the upper 40s and will continue to rise through the next week. Warmest waters continue to be found in the bottom quarter of the water column near the Virginia state line. However, smaller, dark-bottom streams and downwind areas on a sunny day will warm faster, often holding water temperatures in the low to mid-50s.

These typical March conditions will continue to warm Maryland waters for gamefish such as white perch preparing to spawn in the next several weeks. They will spawn in the lower salinity waters — up to 4 ppt — when water temperatures are between 50 degrees and 60 degrees. In addition, shad will continue to make their way up the bay towards their spawning areas in many of the larger rivers. The first hickory shad are now present on the Potomac River at Fletcher’s Boathouse in D.C., with water temperatures now at 55 degrees. In addition

, in the main bay, there are still slightly warmer bottom waters

so anglers may want to scan these areas for other gamefish.

The Maryland portion of the bay continues to have

suitable oxygen conditions

from surface to bottom.

Bay surface salinities are normal for this time of year.

Expect reduced water clarity in the upper bay from the Aberdeen and Sassafras rivers to Swan Point, and on the Potomac River downstream to near the Route 301 Bridge.

Expect normal flows to the rivers and streams entering Maryland’s portion of the Bay.

There will be above average

tidal currents

conditions from Friday through Tuesday as a result of the new moon March 24.

For more detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area of the bay, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay’s

Click Before You Cast.

Get regular updates on Maryland’s waters sent to your inbox with our Eyes on the Bay newsletter.

Upper Chesapeake Bay

Photo courtesy of Zeljko Koretic

There is plenty of fun fishing action at the Conowingo Dam pool for a mix of large flathead and blue catfish. The releases from the dam have been minimal recently due to the lack of rainfall in the Susquehanna watershed. Anglers are wearing waders to get closer to the dam pool and casting cut bait and heavy swimshads with stout spinning tackle. Early in the morning, there has also been some catch-and-release action with striped bass on topwater lures.

A little farther downriver there is a mix of small to medium-sized flathead catfish, along with channel catfish and blue catfish. Most anglers fishing for them are using fresh cut bait on a bottom rig in some of the deeper holes between the I-95 Bridge and the Railroad Bridge.

Yellow perch are still being caught near the Perryville area and the Northeast River. The action has subsided quite a bit but there are still pre-spawn and post-spawn yellow perch being caught. The most popular way to fish for them has been using live minnows fished near the bottom in the more open waters. White perch will be arriving on the scene soon, as water temperatures are about 47 degrees and rising. When the water temperatures climb to the mid-50s, the white perch will move into the area.

There is still some yellow perch action in the upper Bush and Magothy rivers on the western side of the bay, but it is falling off quickly. Those who are fishing with pieces of bloodworm and grass shrimp are catching the first white perch entering the river systems. The upper Chester River is seeing the same situation with post-spawn yellow perch leaving and pre-spawn white perch arriving.

Water temperatures in the upper bay are holding around the mid-40s, still a little chilly for school-sized striped bass. There has been a little catch-and-release action with striped bass near the Bay Bridge and Scott Key Bridge piers. Most are jigging near the pier bases. Striped bass regulations for the Spring Trophy Season can be viewed

online

Middle Bay

Scott Green holds up a big Blue Catfish he caught recently in the Nanticoke River on cut white perch. Photo courtesy of Scott Green

The upper Choptank and Tuckahoe rivers have been receiving a lot of attention from anglers pursuing yellow perch. Those spawning runs are just about over now, but there are opportunities to catch yellow perch as they descend the rivers headed away from the spawning areas. Small minnows lip-hooked to a small shad dart or on a simple bottom rig work very well for these fish as they move through the channels.

Fish with grass shrimp on a shad dart or bottom rig and you very well may catch some white perch and enjoy a little catch-and-release action with river herring and hickory shad. They are moving up the Choptank and Tuckahoe and can be found above Denton to the Greensboro area, and may reach the Red Bridges area by the weekend as the weather forecast calls for some very warm temperatures. A bottom rig baited with pieces of bloodworm is a popular way to fish for them, when taking it easy with a good seat and forked stick along a riverbank or leisurely fishing out of a small boat.

Fishing for northern snakeheads is shifting into high gear this week as balmy and sunny days warm up area waters, enticing them to be more active. Casting white or other color swimbaits is a proven tactic this time of the year, and chatterbaits are working well also. Fishing a large minnow trailing behind a popping cork or bobber is perhaps the most tried-and-true method before grass beds appear and the northern snakeheads are in more open water.

The tidal waters in lower Dorchester County are one of the best places in Maryland to fish for northern snakeheads. The populations are exploding, offering anglers plenty of opportunities to catch a mess of them and also participate in conservation methods to try and control their numbers. They make excellent eating and freeze well. My favorite way to prepare them is to cut the fillets in 3-inch strips, dip them in egg batter, dredge in panko and let them sit in the refrigerator for about 3 hours before frying them in hot oil. If you wish to skip the oil, you can brown them in butter and finish cooking them in a toaster oven.

For blue catfish, the Nanticoke River in the Sharptown area to the mouth of the Marshyhope Creek is the best spot on the Eastern Shore. Anglers there are catching coolers full of them, with most in the 4- to eight 8-pound size range, perfect for eating. Fresh cut bait, often gizzard shad, is the most popular. White perch are moving through the area, and they also make good fresh cut bait.

There is some catch-and-release jigging action at the Calvert Cliffs Power Plant warm water discharge this week, mostly for smaller striped bass. Surface water temperatures in the middle bay region are running about 47 degrees, still a bit chilly for striped bass. The striped bass are moving up the bay and entering the spawning rivers, getting ready for the spawn in late March and early April. There has been some trolling action for larger striped bass but it has been described as a very slow pick with only one or two fish caught and released in a day’s outing.

Lower Bay

Photo courtesy of Caz Kenny

Fishing for blue catfish is taking center stage this week for those fishing the tidal waters of the Potomac, Patuxent, and Nanticoke rivers. Blue catfish populations have been increasing dramatically in recent years. A recent report about a commercial haul seining operation in the tidal Potomac said it’s not unusual for them to catch 20,000 pounds of blue catfish in a single haul, and taking two days to unload it. Recently they caught about 250,000 pounds in a single haul, which took four days to transport the fish to market. Anglers need not worry — there are still plenty of blue catfish to catch, so give it a try and help control this invasive catfish.

Fresh cut bait on a simple bottom rig is the standard way to fish for blue catfish that are under 8 pounds, which often make for the best eating. The fillets are mild tasting and they freeze well. Those looking for trophy sized blue cats usually use live bait and fish the deepest channel areas. On the Potomac, Fort Washington Marina offers a good boat ramp at a nominal cost.

White perch are moving into the upper regions of the tidal rivers and are providing fun and exciting fishing. They are now moving into the shallower and more confined areas of the tidal rivers and creeks, providing for fun light tackle fishing. Small shad darts with a piece of minnow or grass shrimp on it is perhaps the most popular way to fish, casting slightly upstream and bouncing the shad dart as it swings in the current. The white perch tend to move in waves of various sizes; often you’ll be catching small perch one after another, then large ones for a minute or two, then small ones again.

Northern snakeheads are providing some fun fishing in the tidal rivers and creeks of the lower Eastern Shore and the tidal Potomac. Casting chatterbaits and light-color swimshads are a good way to cover water when looking for these fish. Large minnows fished under a bobber or trailing a popping cork is another good way to catch them this time of the year.

A few anglers are trying their hand at catch-and-release fishing for the large, pre-spawn striped bass moving up the bay. The best success seems to be coming from lures trolled behind planer boards, since the fish tend to be up on top in the warmer water. Some light-tackle anglers are finding school-sized striped bass holding along channel edges and taking jigs.

Freshwater Fishing

As mentioned previously, the department decided to suspend spring trout stocking to protect the health and safety of our state employees and also the public and angling community. We need to avoid a situation that encourages anglers to gather near stocked locations.

Mike Tarud holds up a beautiful 7-pound, 12-ounce largemouth bass he caught and released recently in the tidal portion of the Gunpowder River. Photo by Rob Hennlein

There is still plenty of enjoyable trout fish to be had. To date, the department has stocked 82,700 brown, golden and rainbow across the state. There are still trout to be found in the many put-and-take areas which are 0 Closure. The Closure 1 areas remained closed until 5:30 a.m. on March 28. The catch-and release trout management areas are open and hold generous numbers of trout to entertain any fisherman. The fly-fishing-only trout management waters hold special promise for enjoyment. Fishing with nymphs or streamers this time of year is often a good bet.

All waters in the state are running very low due to the lack of rain and snow. The upper Potomac River is no exception; flow rates are down and there are a lot of exposed boulders in some areas. When fishing for smallmouth bass, casting small crankbaits near emerging grass and ledges is a good idea in shallower areas; use tubes, grubs, and jigs in the deeper portions of the river.Fishing minnows can also be a great option when fishing these deeper waters, which is where walleye tend to be holding.

Largemouth bass are responding to warmer water temperatures by becoming more active and moving into shallower waters. During the morning hours, the largemouth bass tend to hold in deeper waters often near structure. Silver buddies, grubs and various soft plastics are a good choice when fishing these deeper waters.

As the day progresses and the sun begins to warm surface waters, shallow-running crankbaits such as Rat-L-Traps are a great idea in the transition zones between drop-offs and shallower waters. The slightly shallower areas are good places to work spinnerbaits and cover a lot of water. Any emerging grass is an excellent place to work for largemouth bass holding nearby. When fishing tidal waters, always be ready for northern snakeheads that are holding in the same areas.

Spring is a wonderful time of the year to fish for crappie as they school up in about 5-6 feet of water near any kind of structure they can find. They can be found in many of our tidal waters, small farm ponds, and reservoirs throughout Maryland. Using small minnows or marabou jigs under a slip bobber are two of the best ways to catch them. In tidal waters, marina piers, bridge piers, fallen treetops, and submerged rubble are good places to look for them. Fallen treetops and sunken structure are places to target in nontidal waters.

Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays

Darcia Ward holds up her personal best tautog for the camera that she tagged and released back into the ocean. Photo by Monty Hawkins

Fishing for tautog still dominates the fishing scene in the Ocean City area, and there has been enough tautog activity around the Ocean City Inlet to entertain anglers wishing to enjoy the balmy weather. The charter and party boats heading to the offshore wreck and reef sites continue to enjoy excellent fishing for large tautog. Due to these extraordinary times that encourage social distancing, make sure to contact boat captains to see if they are still taking anglers out and of course use your best judgment to protect your health.

Maryland Fishing Report

is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood,

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

fisheries biologist.

Click Before You Cast is written by Tidewater Ecosystem Assessment Director Tom Parham.

This report is now available on your Amazon Echo device — just ask Alexa to “open Maryland Fishing Report.”

Anti-Hunger Advocates Call for U.S. Senate to Immediately Pass House COVID-19 Relief Bill

“Massive Increase in Pre-Existing Hunger Crisis Demands Massive, Highly-Coordinated Response by the Federal, State, and the City Governments, and Corporations, Nonprofit Groups, and Philanthropies”

Hunger-Relief Provisions of the House Bill Detailed Below

In 2018, when the economy was still strong, 37 million Americans, including 11 million U.S. children, lived in food insecure households, unable to afford an adequate supply of food.

In the last few days, tens of millions of low-income students have lost access to school lunches, breakfasts, and after-school snacks and suppers due to school closures. Large numbers of older Americans have lost meals due to senior center shutdowns. In addition, millions of Americans who previously worked for modest wages and/or depended on tips to survive have suddenly lost jobs and/or have suffered from dramatic reductions in incomes.

The economic relief bill pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which passed the House of Representatives early Saturday morning, would significantly lessen the hunger crisis, not only providing more funds to make it easier for schools, senior programs, and food charities to provide alternative meals, but, most significantly, creating a vast new, federally-funded program to give extra food purchasing dollars to all families with children in closed schools on ATM-like cards. The bill also includes paid sick leave and expanded unemployment compensation funding, which will more broadly aid struggling working families, maintaining some of their food purchasing power.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump strongly endorsed the bill. Yet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to schedule a Senate vote on the bill, reportedly because some conservative senators object to the paid sick leave provisions.

Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America, a nationwide direct service and advocacy organization, released this statement in response:

“The instantaneous loss of tens of millions of school meals and tens of thousands of senior meals each day – combined with the rapid reduction in income for numerous low-income workers – has greatly worsened the country’s pre-existing hunger crisis. This is the first time in modern U.S. history that we have seen a nationwide natural disaster combined with an economic collapse, so we can’t even begin to imagine the long-term devastation for the nation, particularly for the vast number of people struggling.

It is distressing, to say the least, that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to schedule a Senate vote on the bill, reportedly because some conservative senators object to the paid sick leave provisions.

The Senate should immediately pass, and the President should immediately sign, this emergency bill into law.

This massive increase in the pre-existing hunger crisis demands a massive, highly-coordinated response by federal, state, and city government agencies, as well as corporations, nonprofit groups, and philanthropies. If the House bill is passed by the Senate and becomes law, one top priority for such joint efforts should be helping eligible families up enroll in the new government food benefits available. The other key priority should be dramatically ramping-up the home delivery of meals to older Americans, children, and families who lost income; this should be done using a combination of government and nonprofit staff, National Guard members, AmeriCorps national service participants, U.S. Census workers, and community volunteers (all of whom should be given adequate safety training and equipment). The time is now for all hands on deck to jointly combat this grave threat to the city and nation. Hunger Free America stands ready to help any way we can.

Crises such as Katrina, Sandy, and the coronavirus pandemic rip the bandages off society’s most gaping wounds, forcing the nation to confront the reality of how each crisis greatly worsened the pre-existing maladies of hunger, poverty, and inequality. I hope that, after the immediate pandemic subsides, this prompts the nation to launch broader efforts to solve these long-term crises.”

DETAILS OF ANTI-HUNGER PROVISIONS OF HOUSE ECONOMIC RELIEF BILL

The bill states: “The supplemental appropriations provided by the bill are designated as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limit.” What that means is that – unlike normal bills, which require other programs to be cut or taxes to be raised to pay for any new spending under so-called PAYGO provisions — this bill is not subject to PAYGO and therefore does not require spending reduction or tax increases to pay for it. Rather, the spending for this bill increased the federal budget deficit, as do tax cuts for which offsets are not found.

All funding through the bill is supposed to expire at the end of this federal fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2020, and is supposed to be used for emergency purposes only related to COVID-19.

Nutrition Assistance Grants for U.S. Territories

The bill provides $100 million to the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa for nutrition assistance. This is particularly important since Puerto Rico’s main federal food aid program, the Nutrition Assistance Program, was chronically under-funded even before Hurricane Maria. Since the hurricane, Puerto Rico has faced a serious food crisis. Puerto Rico now has such a high poverty rate that, as of November 2019, 1,298,518 (41 percent) island residents received food aid through the Nutrition Assistance Program.

Because the combined population of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa are about 110,000 people (about 1/29

of the population of Puerto Rico), if 95 percent of the $100 million in this new funding went to Puerto Rico, that would equal $95 million, which would equal only an extra $73 dollars between now and September for each of the participants in Puerto Rico’s Nutrition Assistance Program.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

The federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, provides nutritional supplements to pregnant women and children under five. This bill provides an additional $500 million to the program. The bill also authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to waive administrative requirements for WIC participation, including the requirement for a participant to have a physical presence in a WIC clinic to assess their nutritional risk.

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)

The bill provides an addition $400 million (of which up to $100 million can be used for distribution costs) to increase the availability of commodities (mostly canned and boxed foods) given out by food banks, soup kitchens, and food pantries nationwide.

Food Programs for Older Americans

The bill appropriates $160 million for home-delivered nutrition programs such as Meals on Wheels and $10 million for nutrition services for Native Americans. The bill also allots $80 million for congregate nutrition services, meaning meals delivered to older Americans at senior centers, religious institutions, schools, and other community spaces serving meals through the congregate meals program established by the federal Older Americans Act.

The bill also provides states with more flexibility on how they can enable their older residents to access such meals.

School Meals Programs

Under pre-existing federal law, all school lunches and breakfasts must be served in the school buildings, and variation in the way any meals are served by school districts must not cost the federal government any additional money. The bill allows states and school districts to temporarily use alternative methods of food distribution (such as giving children meals to take home from school distribution sites) and allows states and school districts to spend more federal funds to do so.

The bill also allows additional flexibility in the federally-funded Child And Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), which funds meals at eligible afterschool programs, child care centers, homeless shelters, day care homes, and adult day care centers.

Hunger Free America points out both the benefits and drawbacks of schools allowing students to show up at schools and/or other mass distributions to bring meals home. While it it makes sense that many schools that have closed due to the Coronavirus are allowing children to show up at school to obtain food to take home, this approach is problematic for a number of reasons:

• If schools and workplaces are closed specifically to prevent people from congregating, then giving out food to large numbers of children congregating together could be counter-productive.

• If their parents are still working during the day, it may be more difficult/dangerous for the kids to get meals.

• Some schools have limited such pick-ups to families with cars; many of the lowest-income families don’t own cars or the parents in such families must use their car to get to work.

• Many children live long distances from their schools, and travelling to food pick-up locations could expose them to more disease risks, as well as cost them additional money for travel.

• To date, USDA has only given waiver approval to this alternative meal delivery method to schools in which 50% or more of their students are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. Yet there are still many low-income children in schools – particularly in suburban and rural areas – that do not qualify for this waiver. If such schools are closed, the low-income students in these schools would miss out on school meals entirely.

While we have not seen data yet on the effectiveness of such alternative food distribution efforts by schools, it is highly likely that they will serve far fewer children than normal school meals programs on regular school days.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – Formerly Known as the Food Stamp Program

The most impactful part of the bill in terms of reducing hunger is the creation of a vast new, federally-funded program to give extra food purchasing dollars to all families with children in closed schools on ATM-like cards. Some are calling this a Pandemic EBT program.

To be precise, the bill authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to approve state agency plans to provide Pandemic EBT benefits to households with children who would receive free or reduced-price school lunches if not for the closure of their schools due to the pandemic emergency.

Under the bill, the Secretary of Agriculture may approve state plans to provide Pandemic EBT benefits to eligible households with children who may or may not already be participating in SNAP. Eligible children must be receiving free or reduced-price school meals and be enrolled at a school that is closed for no less than 5 consecutive days due to the pandemic emergency based on an outbreak of Coronavirus. Benefits provided to approved households can be no less than the value of school meals at the federal free rate over the course of five school days for each eligible child in the household.

The bill also temporary waives the requirement that would ordinarily remove abled-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) who are unemployed from the SNAP program if they are unable to find work.

While the bill does not explicitly address the pre-existing USDA Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP), which gives food assistance to low-income households with food loss or damage caused by a natural disaster, we believe — now that the President has declared a national emergency — USDA can use this authority to make SNAP more widely available in areas particularly hard hit by the pandemic and/or job losses.

Other Economic Aid

The House bill also includes paid sick leave and expanded unemployment compensation funding, which will more broadly aid struggling working families, maintaining some of their food purchasing power.

Specifically, the bill established a federal emergency paid leave benefits program to provide payments to employees taking unpaid leave due to the coronavirus outbreak.

It expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to require businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid leave for all employees (employed for 30 days) for a qualifying need related to a public health emergency related to the Coronavirus declared by a federal, state, or local authority.

The employee must be compensated for this leave at a level that is at least two-thirds of an employee’s regular rate of pay. The first 14 days for which an employee takes FMLA leave under Division C may consist of unpaid leave. However, an employee may elect to substitute any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave provided by the employer in lieu of unpaid leave.

The bill outlines specific levels of reimbursement to covered employers and certain individuals in the form of payroll credits and tax credits for the leave payments required by the legislation. The bill also expands unemployment benefits and provides grants to states for processing and paying claims.

What Every CEO Needs to Know About Cybersecurity

Companies often push cybersecurity aside, but CEOs are responsible for helping teams create and implement effective cybersecurity and risk management plans.

olive-wolverine-471793.hostingersite.com-(March 19, 2020)–As companies continue to expand their information technology resources, cybersecurity measures can often get left behind. CEOs are forced to focus on the more pressing matters of business as usual, and IT departments are floundering to provide the most effective solutions possible without the support of executives. Instead, an effective approach to cybersecurity begins with the CEO. Your involvement in creating and implementing cybersecurity measures in your organization has a profound impact on how well those security measures work. Unsure of where to begin?

Krystal Triumph with

Atlantic-IT.net

in New Jersey shares what every CEO should know about implementing cybersecurity measures for your organization.

Start with a Risk Assessment

It is difficult to make a plan and take action if you aren\’t aware of the risk your company faces. Work with a managed service provider or your IT team to perform a risk assessment and determine which aspects of your company are most exposed. Are there areas of your company that aren\’t up to current compliance standards? Is lack of knowledge among executives and workers putting your data or finances at risk?

Establishing an effective security protocol in your organization starts with you. Many of the risks organizations face when it comes to cybersecurity are a byproduct of human involvement (phishing emails and social engineering, for example) or lack of communication between your IT team and key decision-makers. Both issues can be resolved through your involvement in establishing a risk management protocol and emphasizing the importance of training both executives and employees in cybersecurity measures.

Train Your Team

Now that you have a better understanding of the threats, or potential threats, your business faces, it is important to pass this knowledge on to your executive team and your employees. Teach your team about the risks of cyber threats and how they could impact your business. It is especially valuable to teach the entire organization how to recognize and avoid phishing emails and other social engineering schemes. According to the most recent data, one in 25 branded emails is a phishing scheme. That means those in your organization who receive far more emails than 25 per day are putting themselves and your company at risk if they lack awareness of phishing tactics.

Develop a Plan

Part of your risk assessment and training process should be working with your IT team or service provider to develop a plan for

IT risk management

and disaster recovery. Should the worst occur, what actions will be taken—and by whom—to either mitigate the risk or recover any lost or damaged data?

By building a plan of action, you provide peace of mind for yourself and for your team knowing that you are in control of how your data is used, where the risks are currently and where they could be in the future, and how to efficiently manage those risks. In order to better navigate the potential for employee-related risk—at least 78% of cyber espionage attacks start with phishing—make continual employee training a part of your risk management plan. Onboarding new employees should involve training, as well as regular updates for both employees and executives.

Create Clear Communication Pathways

In order for your risk management plan to be most effective, you will want to establish who on your team is responsible for each level of communication or risk. Which risks can be dealt with by your cybersecurity team and which risks require executive-level involvement? Assign roles that allow your team to understand exactly what their responsibility is in the face of cybersecurity risk.

With a plan in place and responsibilities clearly delegated, your team will have the tools they need to play their part in managing and mitigating any potential cyber-threats your company faces. Be sure to regularly review your plan and communication pathway, or partner with a managed service provider to delegate the task of consistent monitoring and management of your cybersecurity plan.

Villanova Professor: Atlantic City casino business will be hit hard by COVID-19 (video)

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Rhonda Schaffler

, Correspondent

March 19, 2020,

New Jersey’s hospitality industry could suffer long-term impacts from COVID-19 even after

the pandemic ends, according to Dr. David Fiorenza, an assistant professor of economics at Villanova University. He says the casino industry in Atlantic City will have to rethink its business model, and he doesn’t rule out the potential closure of a casino. He believes there are other actions the state can take to help the economy, including eliminating the state sales tax.

Rhonda Schaffler

Correspondent

Rhonda Schaffler is NJTV\’s business correspondent, providing a daily report on New Jersey\’s top business and financial stories. Prior to working at NJTV, she worked as a journalist for Reuters, where she traveled extensively to cover financial stories including to Nigeria, Ghana and Chile. Along the way, she interviewed numerous government officials and CEOs. She also worked at CNN as a business anchor and reporter for several programs, covering the stock market and economy.

Read Full Bio

Jacqueline Mary Dimmerman, age 71, Lifelong member/shop steward for Local 54

Surrounded by her daughters, on March 18, 2020, at age 71. (nee Kaluhiokalani) Formerly of Gloucester City and Williamstown. Beloved mother of Thelma Fagan, Sherry Walker Fuss (late James) and John Walker, III. Cherished grandmother of Glenn VanLeer, Jr. and Thomas Fuss and great grandmother of Leah VanLeer. Beloved sister of Joseph Kaluhiokalani (Tina) and the late David Kaluhiokalani (surviving Lynn). Also survived by her former husband, Joseph Dimmerman and her pups, Bella and Raffy.

Jackie will be remembered as a loving, dedicated and compassionate mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister and cousin. Her family always came first, no matter what! She enjoyed the 25+ years she worked as a server at various location throughout South Jersey and Atlantic City, including Tropicana, Claridge and Bally’s. She was a lifelong member and shop steward for Local 54 in Atlantic City and a dedicated and active member of Alcoholics Anonymous for over 10 years. She will be forever remembered for her talent in the kitchen, cooking the traditional family recipes only from memory.

At her request, cremation will be private.

In lieu of flowers to the family, donations may be made in Jackie’s memory to the American Cancer Society, 1851 Old Cuthbert Rd, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. Please memo, Jacqueline M. Dimmerman.

Condolences and Memories may be shared at

www.mccannhealey.com

under the obituary of Jacqueline M. Dimmerman. Funeral Arrangements and Inquiries through: McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME, Gloucester City. Ph:856-456-1142