Investigation launched after Greater Johnstown kindergarten pupil brings 'Jell-O shots' to school; 3 children treated for alcohol consumption, officials say
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Three Greater Johnstown Elementary School students are recovering after being hospitalized Wednesday due to consuming gelatin cups containing alcohol, school officials said.
District Superintendent Amy Arcurio said at least two of the students had been treated and released by the afternoon, and each of the students was doing well.
The hospitalizations reportedly stemmed from a kindergarten student bringing alcohol-infused gelatin – commonly known as "Jell-O shots" – to school and giving them to three others.
'As soon as school staff were made aware of the situation, immediate action was taken,' Arcurio said in a statement. 'The affected students were quickly taken to the nurse's office for evaluation.'
Out of an abundance of caution, school staffers said they contacted emergency medical services, and the students were transported to a local hospital for medical care.
Parents were notified and met EMS at the medical center, Arcurio said.
An investigation has been launched, and Greater Johnstown is cooperating with local authorities to determine how the student came to possess the alcohol, Arcurio said.
'We want to assure our families that the health and well-being of our students is our top priority,' Arcurio said. 'Counselors and support staff will be available for any students who may need assistance processing today's events.'
She said that additional details cannot be shared due to privacy laws, but praised the 'swift response' of staff, administrators, school nurses and school police during the incident.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
In this rural Idaho county, paramedics are being trained to help with mental health crises
Just an hour after taking her first call as part of a new community paramedic program, Ashley Lynn reflects on the gaps it can fill in rural Washington County. (Kyle Pfannenstiel/Idaho Capital Sun) WEISER — In late May, Ashley Lynn responded to her first call. She drove over to the local sheriff's office, helped a man call 988 — the Idaho crisis and suicide hotline — and stayed with him until more help arrived. A paramedic for 20 years, Lynn is leading a new program in rural Washington County that's meant to help steer people experiencing mental health issues or searching for help for others toward the best resources. And, hopefully, free up resources for ambulances and law enforcement. 'The two worst places for someone in crisis to go is the hospital and jail,' Lynn said, repeating what she'd heard in crisis intervention training. 'Currently, that's our only option.' Southwest District Health launched the Washington County community paramedic program this year — calling it the first of its kind. While it's in its early stages and might evolve, some other rural Idaho counties are already wondering how they can do something similar. 'My vision for this program is to be able to bypass those destinations' — jail and the hospital — and 'get someone right into whatever service is going to best serve their needs,' Lynn told the Idaho Capital Sun in an interview. So, 'they're not accruing emergency room or ambulance bills. They're not occupying a seat unnecessarily in the jail, and they're actually getting help and maybe changing the trajectory to where they can get better.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Idaho has a shortage of emergency medical services, or EMS, which is a largely volunteer workforce and isn't required to be funded by the state, Idaho Reports reported. For the past two decades, Weiser Ambulance District has worked with the same operational budget, Lynn said. Only one ambulance there is staffed with a paramedic daily. There is a backup crew, she said, but 'we don't have extra resources to go out and sit with someone who's experiencing a crisis.' 'Washington County has a really small, although very professional and amazing, team of EMS folks,' said Wendy Young, who manages the federal grant funding the community paramedic program as a project coordinator at Southwest District Health. 'So when somebody is out on one call, that means the next person that's calling, the next person that's in crisis — whether it's a health care or a behavioral health crisis — they might not get the response time that they would appreciate,' she added. If you, or someone you care about, need help with thoughts about suicide or self harm, or emotional distress, mental health or substance abuse issues, trauma or abuse, you can contact the Idaho Crisis and Suicide Hotline at 988. The 988 number is available by text and call — 24/7, every day of the year. Online chats are also available at The hotline can also dispatch a mobile response team of behavioral health professionals for in-person support. Teams are available from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mountain time, but will be expanded to 24/7 service on July 1, the Idaho Crisis and Suicide Hotline's website says. For now, the Washington County program is referral-based. Lynn's first call came from a local domestic violence-focused group. But as a paramedic, Lynn can pivot to people's needs on calls. She started by doing a basic medical screening and making sure the person was safe, she said. Then she called the crisis hotline, 988, and stayed until the mobile crisis team arrived. For calls, Lynn uses an unmarked, 'everyday looking' old county vehicle — not a full ambulance. 'Not every situation ends in transport or needing to go somewhere. But if we're able to stay with that person, deescalate the situation and hopefully resolve what's going on to some degree, and keep them where they're comfortable and safe,' she said. But paramedics on the behavioral health program crew aren't bound by the same time constraints as typical paramedics, who might need to head to another emergency call, she said. 'If we need to sit with someone for an hour, that's what we're able to do,' Lynn said. In EMS, burnout is high. But Lynn also hopes the program can show paramedics other career paths. 'My hope is that I can show that paramedics can do more than just cruise around in an ambulance and show up to bad calls and do paramedic things — that we have a lot to offer the health community,' she said. The program is funded by a five-year grant from the federal government agency called the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said Young, with Southwest District Health. The grant funds 'need to be used to divert people away from 911 or higher levels of care such as emergency rooms when such diversion is appropriate,' she said. The grant is in its second year, with the first year largely spent on administrative tasks to set up the program. In other areas with community paramedic programs, local organizations, law enforcement and even hospitals sometimes pitch in funds. About an hour away in Ada County, the community paramedic program helps law enforcement, EMS and firefighters with calls. Last year, the program responded to nearly 1,200 calls for mental health crises, substance use or other needs, Ada County Paramedics Public Information Officer Ryan Larrondo told the Sun in an email. That work included steering people toward the community crisis center, inpatient psychiatric facilities and referrals to other resources. CONTACT US But the program also helps with patients' non-emergency needs, receiving nearly 200 referrals from local first responders last year for people who need health resources that aren't mental health related, he added. In Nampa, the police department is starting a program to send a social worker out to calls with a police officer — similar to programs in local law enforcement agencies in Ada County, like at the Boise Police Department. The hope is to reduce mental health holds and avoid arrests, said Nampa Police Department Deputy Chief Curt Shankel. 'Becuase that's really a no-win, right? They're not getting the help they need there long term,' he told the Sun in a phone interview. 'So we want to be able to divert that. And hopefully be in a place where we aren't getting law enforcement called as much to the same individuals, or getting to the point where we end up having to make an arrest.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
The most depressing jobs in the country revealed in new study
Job seekers may want to consider the toll that specific careers can have on their mental health. A huge new study published on Friday examined the relationship between careers and depression rates. The study analyzed survey data from 536,279 workers across 37 states from 2015 to 2019. Out of half a million U.S. workers, 80,319 of them admitted to being diagnosed with depression at some point during their lives, with women being diagnosed twice as often as men. Separating the results by industry, the study saw that people who worked in community and social services had the highest rate of lifelong diagnosed depression at 20.5 percent. The second highest on the list was food prep and serving jobs at 20.1 percent. Other industries with high lifetime diagnosed depression rates are: arts, entertainment, sports, and media at 18.6 percent; accommodation and food services at 18.4 percent; health and social assistance at 18.2 percent; retail trade at 17.7 percent; and legal, education, and library jobs tied at 16.1 percent. Industries with lower lifetime diagnosed depression rates included mining jobs at 6.7 percent, construction at 8.9 percent, and agriculture and engineering jobs at nine percent. Although mining and construction may have lower depression rates, those industries also have the highest suicide rates among U.S. workers. The researchers suggest that the gap may be explained because blue-collar men are less likely to seek mental services due to a preexisting stigma or limited access in rural areas. Despite the results of the study, there are some jobs out there that are almost stress-free and also come with a large paycheck. Back in December 2024, Resume Genius released its list of the highest-paying jobs that also reported low levels of stress. Their study described 'low-stress jobs' as ones that typically require fewer demands, more predictable work hours, supportive environments, and manageable workloads. All of the jobs on the list required the person to have at least a Bachelor's degree. The list was compiled using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the career site O*NET Online. The high-stress jobs were filtered out using O*NET and then cross-referenced against the BLS's Occupational Outlook Handbook, with the national median salary set at $48,060 and viewing jobs that showed 'faster-than-average growth.' The best jobs included: water source specialist, astronomer, actuary, environmental economist, mathematician, and geographer.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
KLOTHO NEUROSCIENCE, INC. ANNOUNCES AN APPROACH TO INCREASE LONGEVITY AND HEALTHY LIFE SPAN - REPLACE A SILENCED GENE CALLED ALPHA-KLOTHO ("α-KLOTHO")
Recent clinical and pre-clinical studies and analysis indicates the potential to increase lifespan and reduce age-associated degeneration in multiple organ systems has be realized with a focus on the human gene called Klotho. NEW YORK, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Klotho Neurosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: KLTO), a U.S.-based biogenetics company announced the findings of pre-clinical studies indicating the potential of elevating Klotho gene expression to simultaneously reduce the age-associated degeneration in multiple organs, increasing both life and health span. Pioneering discoveries by Professor Makoto Kuro-O in 1997 showed that Klotho concentrations in the blood were directly associated with lifespan of mammals – the lower the Klotho blood levels the shorter the lifespan. Kuro-O's laboratory then published the first evidence that genetic over expression of the full-length form of Klotho in mice, increased in lifespan of mice of up to 30%-40% longer compared to the normal mouse lifespan. Since then, the Klotho protein has gained much attention because of its ability to influence key biological pathways involved in metabolism, inflammation and tissue repair, which are closely linked to the aging process. A series of experiments led by Joan Roig-Soriano and colleagues, published in the February 2025 edition of Molecular Therapy, highlights the promising role of the naturally occurring secreted form of the Klotho protein ("s-KL") and its effects on healthy aging mice and mice with a rapidly aging phenotype. Key observations were that, while aging is a major risk factor for many pathologies, including cognitive decline, neuroinflammation, sarcopenia, and osteoporosis, the secreted protein s-KL has emerged as a potentially promising therapeutic anti-aging molecule due to its many biological effects involving multiple pathways related to cell injury, stress, and inflammation. The s-KL was administered using an adeno-associated virus serotype 9 delivery vector (AAV9) that expressed the secreted KL protein isoform and efficiently increased the concentration of s-KL in serum, resulting in a 20% increase in lifespan. Dr. Joseph Sinkule, the CEO of Klotho Neurosciences (KLTO) commented that "KLTO has secured an exclusive worldwide license for s-Kl from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) in Spain. As a result, we have the exclusive use of patents issued in the USA, Europe, and China covering a secreted splice variant of mammalian Klotho referred to as s-KL, as a treatment for neurodegenerative and age -related disorders. Professor Makoto Kuro-O is also a scientific advisor to KLTO. This recently published paper provides further credence to our development of s-KL as a treatment to reduce age-associated degeneration where, as a company, KLTO has a particular focus on neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The results disclosed in the paper show the potential of elevating s-KL protein expression, resulting in the reduction of age-associated degeneration in multiple organs, increasing both life and health span". About Klotho Neurosciences, Inc. Klotho Neurosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: KLTO), is a biogenetics company focused on the development of innovative, disease-modifying cell and gene therapies using a protein derived from a patented form of the "anti-aging" human Klotho gene (s-KL), and it's novel delivery systems to transform and improve the treatment of neurodegenerative and age-related disorders such as ALS, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. The company's current portfolio consists of its proprietary cell and gene therapy programs using DNA and RNA as therapeutics and genomics-based diagnostic assays. The company is managed by a team of individuals and advisors who are highly experienced in biopharmaceutical product development and commercialization. For more information, contact:Investor Contact and Corporate Communications - Jeffrey LeBlanc, CFOjeff@ Website: Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," "will be," "will continue," "will likely result," and similar expressions. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the forward-looking statements in this press release include descriptions of the Company's future commercial operations. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, such as the Company's inability to implement its business plans, identify and realize additional opportunities, or meet or exceed its financial projections and changes in the regulatory or competitive environment in which the Company operates. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the documents filed or to be filed by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") from time to time, which could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Copies of these documents are available on the SEC's website, All information provided herein is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Klotho Neurosciences, Inc.
