During his Wednesday afternoon visit to Mack Trucks' facility in Lower Macungie Township, President Biden announced plans to tighten up rules in place to call your product "Made In America." "I'm directing the Budget Office to issue a rule to raise the amount of domestic content required to be considered "Made In America" from 55-percent to 75-percent," the President said. The President says this will make for more unions in the future through more job opportunities. Between 100-150 people attended the President's visit.
One person has died in a crash in Northampton County. It happened just before midnight last night in the 1700 block of Route 512, in Upper Mount Bethel Township. A pickup truck left the road and ran into a pole before hitting a house. The driver was the only person involved in the crash.
An investigation is being launched after a worker died from an injury at a Northampton County cement plant. Officials with the Hercules Cement plant in Stockertown say the worker suffered an injury Monday afternoon. They didn't say what exactly happened, but the worker was taken to a nearby hospital where he died. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration will be investigating the incident along with the state and the company.
Restaurants across the state are still having a hard time getting back on their feet. Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association officials say establishments are struggling to hire workers, suffering from debt incurred during the crisis and facing rising food prices and shortages. They added that operators have expressed to them that the current workforce challenge is ten times worse than it was before the pandemic. Many have attributed the shortage to people being lazy or taking advantage of unemployment benefits, but some lawmakers say it's due to low wages, lack of benefits, transportation shortages and childcare shortages.
Pennsylvania state officials are warning residents of a new unemployment scam that's been going around. The scam involves people using stolen Social Security numbers, addresses and names to try to fake unemployment compensation claims. Those who may have been a victim of these scams are being asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police or their local police department.