The Mehaffie Message 11/22/24 - Emailed Newsletter
11/22/2024
 
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Mehaffie Message
#Listrak\DateStampLong# The latest news from the State Capitol

In this Edition:
  •   Honoring Gold Star Families
  •   Attorney General Warns of Phishing Scammers Claiming ‘Fraudulent Activity’
  •   PennDOT Seeking Workers for Winter Maintenance Program
  •   Supporting Apprentices, Small Businesses
  •   Hunters Can Share Their Harvest
  •   Ensuring the Fallen are Honored
 
 
Honoring Gold Star Families


An initiative to create a new memorial on the Pennsylvania Capitol grounds has been signed into law.  

Act 145 of 2024, which was introduced by Rep. Joe Kerwin from northern Dauphin County, will create a memorial for Gold Star families, who are the ones left behind when a service member dies. I had the privilege of meeting several Gold Star families from the region at an event in May 2023.

The memorial will provide grieving families a place to gather, reflect, pray and share in fellowship with one another.

The monument, formed with four granite slabs, will be placed east of the Irvis Office Building and north of Walnut Street. It will be erected by the Woody Williams Foundation and MI Charitable Foundation at no cost to taxpayers.
 
 
Attorney General Warns of Phishing Scammers Claiming ‘Fraudulent Activity’

The Office of Attorney General is alerting Pennsylvanians about a phishing scam involving claims of fraudulent activity on a person’s bank account in order to access personal data and information.

Oftentimes, the scammers will provide a telephone number for the target to call or instruct the target to reply to an email or text message.

The scammers then request login credentials to financial accounts, account numbers and other personal identifiable information, such as your Social Security number and date of birth.

Financial institutions will never call you asking for your account information or login credentials through a telephone call, text message or email.

If you receive such a call, email or text, do not respond. Instead, you should contact the number on the back of your debit or credit card or contact your financial institution’s local branch office and verify if they made the contact.

If you are a victim of a phishing scam, please inform the Office of Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection here or by emailing scams@attorneygeneral.gov or calling 1-800-441-2555.
 
 
PennDOT Seeking Workers for Winter Maintenance Program

 
With winter just around the corner, PennDOT is looking for people to staff its winter maintenance program.

Positions available may include CDL equipment operators, mechanics, dispatchers, tradesman helpers and semi-skilled laborers. The positions pay between $17 per hour to $27.75 per hour. The winter maintenance program runs through April.

For additional information or to apply, click here.
 
 
Supporting Small Businesses

We are in the midst of National Apprenticeship Week, which continues through Nov. 23. Some of the best apprentices in Pennsylvania are those with military experience, so I’d encourage veterans to download the Department of Labor Apprenticeship for Veterans guide here or contact the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Apprenticeship and Training Office at 717-836-3050.

Additionally, consider showing some love to the small businesses in our community throughout the holiday season but especially on Small Business Saturday, which is coming up on Saturday, Nov. 30.

Launched by American Express in 2010, this day is celebrated each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to support the small businesses that help drive the economies of our communities. 

Learn more about Small Business Saturday here.
 
 
Hunters Can Share Their Harvest


The state Department of Agriculture and Pennsylvania Game Commission are again encouraging hunters to consider sharing their deer harvest to provide thousands of pounds of venison to people in need.

Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) is Pennsylvania’s venison donation program for hunters who share their extra venison via a statewide network of participating meat processors to food pantries and community assistance centers across the Commonwealth. One deer provides about 200 servings of high-protein, low-fat venison.

HSH has distributed 2.5 million pounds of donated venison since 1991. More information about the program and how to participate is available at www.sharedeer.org.
 
 
Ensuring the Fallen are Honored



On Saturday, I joined dozens of other volunteers in lowering the flags along lanes at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. The flags will be checked for damaged and lifted back into place in the spring.