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News You Can Use September 29, 2006 Operation Safe Surf to Launch in October Operation Safe Surf launches on October 11, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. with a live web cast and available satellite downlink to teach middle and high school students about the importance of staying safe online. The program developed by the PA Attorney General is intended to teach children how to protect themselves from the tricks of predators lurking online. The live broadcast will originate from Harrisburg High School and is expected to last 40-45 minutes. The cyber safety program may be used for individual classrooms or during an assembly. Go to the web cast on the morning of the event. The information and coordinates for a live satellite downlink are:
Native American Heritage Conference Pennsylvania's rich Native American history will be the focus of a one day event set for Saturday, October 14, 2006 at the State Museum in Harrisburg. Historians, archaeologists and educators will discuss such varied subjects as caring for Native American collections, Native American origins and more. Daniel K. Richter, the director of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies and professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania will serve as keynote speaker. His focus is Native American history before 1800. Other speakers hail from Mercyhurst College, the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution, and Gettysburg College, among others. Registration is $25 for adults and $15 for students. Free activities at The State Museum that day include exhibitions and children's activities such as a Native American tool manufacturing demonstration. Conference registrants are invited to attend a reception and the first 150 people to register will receive a copy of Richter's recently published book, Native Americans' Pennsylvania. For more information contact Janet Macgregor at (717) 909-3995. Indian Paths of Pennsylvania Check out the PA Historical & Museum Commission's (PH&MC) featured publication, "Indian Paths of Pennsylvania" written by Paul A. W. Wallace. Pennsylvania's early Indians crafted their footpaths to suit their mode of travel, lacking horses or other draft animals. However, the difference between Indian paths of three or four hundred years ago and European roads of the same period would not be great. In "Indian Paths of Pennsylvania", Dr. Wallace provides a 14-page introduction to the subject, followed by a brief essay, directions for motorists to follow, and a map showing the locations of 131 paths, including the Cumberland Path, Great Shamokin Path, Nemacolin's Path, and Tuscarora Path, to name but a few. Insurance Reminder for College Students College students living in rented apartments, houses and condominiums are the target of a PA Insurance Department effort reminding them a landlord's insurance will NOT cover a student's personal property as a result of fire, theft, or unexpected circumstances. Off-campus living may allow for more storage space, translating into thousands of dollars worth of uninsured personal items, such as computers, stereos and bicycles placed at risk. Purchasing renter's insurance to cover a potential loss also affords protection to the policy holder in the event that someone is injured on the premises. Renters are urged to review their current insurance or contact an insurance professional for assistance in determining the type of coverage to best meet their needs. Before purchasing any insurance policy, consumers should "stop, call and confirm" that they are dealing with a legitimate company by contacting the Insurance Department's toll-free number at 1-877-881-6388. Visit the PA Department of Insurance and check out the "Resources for Consumers": Fall into Autumn with PA's Leaf Cams Chase the colors with online fall foliage cams already capturing the charm of autumn in PA. Log on to catch a glimpse of visually calming sights of PA's great outdoors. While you are there, look for something to do in your neighborhood or perhaps plan a road trip to see those great colors up close and personal. VisitPA.com has tools galore to make fall 2006 one to remember. Check out "Fall into Pennsylvania's Festivals" courtesy VisitPA.com. Explore With PA Leaf Cams The Horseshoe Curve webcam delivers 24-hour coverage of this engineering marvel. Dozens of trains round the curve every day, so no matter when you watch; you'll probably see at least one. Bushkill Falls is a series of eight waterfalls, the tallest of which cascades a graceful 100 feet. The falls are hidden deep within the fall splendor of the Pocono Mountains and accessible by a network of hiking trails - and now, on the web! The Youghiogheny attracts sportspeople from all over the East, including many whitewater boaters who enter the river just below Ohiopyle Falls. George Washington once explored these waters in 1754, in search of a water supply route to capture Fort Duquesne, now Pittsburgh. Elk and Cameron counties are where you can get to know PA's free-roaming elk. The herd generally keeps to 225 square miles of Elk and Cameron counties, in a trapezoid-shaped area that runs from Saint Marys in the east to Emporium in the north, south to Driftwood, west through Benezette to Weedville, and north back to Saint Marys. Elk Cam An interactive camera is located atop The Cathedral of Learning, an historic landmark and the second-tallest education building in the world at 42 stories and 535 feet tall. It is also the geographic and traditional heart of the University of Pittsburgh campus. The views from this cam include Schenley Park, downtown Pittsburgh and the training facilities for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh's football team, the Panthers, across the Monongahela River on Pittsburgh's South Side. Oak Grove of Indiana University of Pennsylvania is considered the heart of the campus by generations of alumni and students. Part of the Allegheny Arboretum, Oak Grove includes a memorial to the victims of September 11. Also nearby is John Sutton Hall, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and which houses the University Museum. Indiana University of PA. See for yourself how the Seer of Seers spends his days off! As the world-famous and much-lauded Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Phil works only one day a year. He spends his long vacation lounging about the luxurious Punxsutawney Zoo, in the Punxsutawney Memorial Library. Phil and his family have graciously agreed to allow us to present their daily lives for their adoring public. Watch as they sleep, eat, and sleep some more! E. Coli Update for PA PA's Department of Health identified the strain of E. coli in a sample of fresh bagged spinach purchased on or around Sept. 8 in Indiana County as matching the strain linked to the ongoing multi-state outbreak. To date, 8 people in 7 PA counties reportedly contracted E. coli in connection with the national outbreak. There have been no reported deaths in Pennsylvania. Pa counties with confirmed cases:
The source of the spinach implicated in the outbreak was grown in three counties in California: Monterey, San Benito and Santa Clara. Spinach grown in the rest of the U.S. has not been implicated in the current E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. The public can be confident that spinach grown in the non-implicated areas can be consumed, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Processed spinach which includes frozen and canned spinach is not implicated in this outbreak. Meanwhile, the spinach industry is working to get product from areas not implicated in the current E. coli O157:H7 outbreak back on the market. Separating fact from fiction and keeping up to date on the status of the spinach-related E. coli outbreak are enhanced by the PA Department of Health (DOH) website. See "Press Releases" and "What's Hot?" for regular E. coli updates and a fact sheet on preventing the spread of the bacterium. Diagnosis, treatment, and the long-term consequences of contracting E. coli are discussed in the state's DOH Communicable Diseases Fact Sheets on Escherichia coli O157:H7. National Hunting and Fishing Day in PA Hunting and fishing in PA offers recreation, supports wildlife conservation, and stimulates the economy. The PA Game Commission references a 1998 Center for Rural Pennsylvania study revealing that hunting, trapping and fishing have a $9.6 billion annual economic impact on the state and support some 88,000 jobs. In early 1972, Congress unanimously passed legislation authorizing a National Hunting and Fishing Day. On May 2, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed the first proclamation of National Hunting and Fishing Day and soon after, all 50 governors and more than 600 mayors had joined in by proclaiming state and local versions of National Hunting and Fishing Day. PA continues that tradition of recognizing the positive contributions of hunting and fishing with its own day of recognition. Visit the PA Game Commission and the PA Fish & Boat Commission
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