Latest news with #Muth
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Front plates in Pennsylvania? State Senator's bill would require them
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania is one of only 21 states that doesn't require a front license plate on vehicles. A state senator wants to change that. Senator Katie Muth (D-Berks/Chester/Montgomery) this week published a cosponsorship memorandum, saying she plans to introduce a bill to require front plates. Historically, Pennsylvania has only issued front plates for two types — Official Use and Press Photographer. Official Use plates are used for state-owned vehicles and PennDOT no longer issues front plates for that type. RIDING THE RAILS: A unique way to see central Pennsylvania Though, Pennsylvania vehicles stand out in neighboring New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, where front plates are required. 'Far too often there are hit-and-run accidents, traffic incidents, or crimes committed where only the front of a vehicle is captured by cameras or witnesses,' Muth said in the memo. 'Requiring a license plate on the front of a car will improve vehicle identification and enhance public safety by helping law enforcement officers, witnesses, or cameras more easily and quickly identify a vehicle.' She also said the addition of a front plate could also improve toll collection. Muth says 29 states require front plates, and legislation is pending in Florida to add the requirement there. Download the abc27 News+ app on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV devices Ohio ended the requirement in 2020, according to Nexstar's WCMH. The bill has yet to be introduced in the Senate. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas foster care agency chief to step down this summer
Stephanie Muth, who took the reins of the Texas foster care agency two years ago, announced late Monday she is stepping down at the end of July. 'Commissioner Muth has led with unwavering dedication and service to the children and families of Texas,' Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. 'Under her guidance, the Department of Family and Protective Services made meaningful progress to improve care for our state's most vulnerable children. Her commitment to expand innovative community-based solutions will leave a lasting impact on the state of Texas.' Muth, once the director of the state's Medicaid program, returned to government service from consulting work after Abbott tapped her to replace then DFPS commissioner Jaime Masters in 2023. Masters' three-year tenure as head of one of the largest state foster care agencies in the nation was rocked by caseworker turnover and a dramatic rise in the number of foster care children who were living in hotel rooms because there were no foster care placement beds available. In August 2020, there were 50 children classified as 'CWOP' or children without a placement. That number soared to 400 in August. 2021. Other problems included an investigation over allegations that an employee at a residential treatment center for children who were trafficking victims had solicited and sold nude photos of those children who lived there. Two years later, the number of children without a placement has dropped, according to the agency. At a presentation before the House Human Services Committee in March, Muth told lawmakers that the number of CWOP children was 20. Also under Muth's tenure, the judge in the ongoing federal lawsuit against the state's foster care system was removed. Plaintiffs lawyers, representing Texas foster care children, have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that overturned a contempt order against the state and removed the U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, who had overseen the case to this point. During Muth's tenure she continued the decade-long rollout of the 'community-based' care model, in which children in foster care receive services and are placed into care near their own home and relatives instead of being moved across the state to the first available placement. Eight of the state agency's 11 districts now have a private community-based contractor. 'I have the highest regard for the agency's leadership and staff and am enormously proud of the work we've done together,' Muth said in a statement. ' I've accomplished many of the goals the Governor set for my time at DFPS and I am confident that the agency will continue to make progress.' Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas foster care agency chief to step down this summer
Stephanie Muth, who took the reins of the Texas foster care agency two years ago, announced late Monday she is stepping down at the end of July. 'Commissioner Muth has led with unwavering dedication and service to the children and families of Texas,' Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement. 'Under her guidance, the Department of Family and Protective Services made meaningful progress to improve care for our state's most vulnerable children. Her commitment to expand innovative community-based solutions will leave a lasting impact on the state of Texas.' Muth, once the director of the state's Medicaid program, returned to government service from consulting work after Abbott tapped her to replace then DFPS commissioner Jaime Masters in 2023. Masters' three-year tenure as head of one of the largest state foster care agencies in the nation was rocked by caseworker turnover and a dramatic rise in the number of foster care children who were living in hotel rooms because there were no foster care placement beds available. In August 2020, there were 50 children classified as 'CWOP' or children without a placement. That number soared to 400 in August. 2021. Other problems included an investigation over allegations that an employee at a residential treatment center for children who were trafficking victims had solicited and sold nude photos of those children who lived there. Two years later, the number of children without a placement has dropped, according to the agency. At a presentation before the House Human Services Committee in March, Muth told lawmakers that the number of CWOP children was 20. Also under Muth's tenure, the judge in the ongoing federal lawsuit against the state's foster care system was removed. Plaintiffs lawyers, representing Texas foster care children, have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that overturned a contempt order against the state and removed the U.S. District Judge Janis Jack, who had overseen the case to this point. During Muth's tenure she continued the decade-long rollout of the 'community-based' care model, in which children in foster care receive services and are placed into care near their own home and relatives instead of being moved across the state to the first available placement. Eight of the state agency's 11 districts now have a private community-based contractor. 'I have the highest regard for the agency's leadership and staff and am enormously proud of the work we've done together,' Muth said in a statement. ' I've accomplished many of the goals the Governor set for my time at DFPS and I am confident that the agency will continue to make progress.' Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Canada Post avoids crippling strike but not damage to parcel business
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers on Friday implemented a nationwide stoppage on overtime work, averting a full-blown strike that would have shut down mail and package delivery across Canada, after the union received a late contract offer from Canada Post. But the threat of a strike has already done damage to Canada Post's parcel business, and the postal operator said customers may experience delays even with the continuation of operations. In a statement Thursday night, Canada Post said it has already experienced a sharp drop in mail and parcel volumes as customers, fresh from experiencing a five-week strike that ended with government intervention in December, seek alternative carriers or cancel mailings to ensure items don't get stranded in the postal system. The union said it decided to proceed with the overtime ban to minimize disruption to the public and lost pay to members. It is unclear how long the refusal to work overtime will last or if the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) will escalate strike actions. The union earlier this week said it would call a strike Friday without a contract resolution. Canada Post earlier Thursday rejected a CUPW request for a two-week truce so its negotiators could review Wednesday's proposal in detail without a labor disruption, saying union negotiators didn't provide a serious response to its offer during a 30-minute meeting.U.S. and Canadian parcel logistics providers, which consolidate packages heading to the same destination in a single container shipment for efficiency and easier customs clearance, have spent the past couple weeks switching customers from Canada Post to other last-mile carriers in Canada, according to industry professionals. And many shippers have already turned off the U.S. Postal Service pipeline out of worry that packages will get stranded in Canada Post facilities, as happened last year, said Kate Muth, executive director of the International Mailers' Advisory Group. In fact, she added, shipments were trapped beyond the strike period because it took Canada Post a long time to deliver the backlog of mail and packages, leading the U.S. Postal Service to temporarily suspend service to Canada during the holidays. 'It's really going to be very damaging for Canada Post if there is a strike because no one wants to run the risk of this [disruption] happening again. Once stuff moves out of the Canada Post system, people are reluctant to go back,' Muth said in a phone interview. Many small businesses never went back to Canada Post after shifting last-mile carriers in December, unless they absolutely had to to reach very rural areas or post office boxes, echoed Alison Layfield, director of product development at ePost Global, which provides international parcel shipping services for U.S. e-tailers.'We've been extremely busy the last couple of weeks putting into action contingency plans for many of our customers' and reminding them to provide a physical street address rather than a post office box so parcels don't get stuck in the Canada Post network in the event of a strike, she explained. Mail carriers as of Friday will work to the rule, meaning they won't work more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week. 'Letter Carriers are to return to the depot and drop off their mail after eight hours' work, regardless of whether they have completed their routes,' the CUPW said in a notice posted online. Mail carriers in Canada have been working without a new collective bargaining agreement for nearly 18 months as the sides remain far apart on key issues, despite extensive mediation by the federal government. Canada Post said it went further than before on wages, while also making changes to its delivery model aimed at improving efficiency and repairing finances. But it also withdrew some items from its last offer, including a new health benefits plan, changes to employees' post-retirement benefits or enrollment of future employees in the defined contribution pension. Instead it said benefits – such as the defined benefit pension, job security rules, health and retirement benefits and vacation (up to seven weeks) – would stay the same. 'The comprehensive offers we put forward provided increased wages, removed key sticking points and included changes needed to compete in the parcel delivery business. They also reflect the corporation's financial and operational realities,' Canada Post said in a statement. Canada Post has not turned a profit in seven years and last year accepted a $716 million loan from the Canadian government to sustain operations. A big problem is that mail volume has fallen by more than half in the past 20 years. The CUPW made clear its disappointment with the latest offer, saying on its website Wednesday that a wage increase of 13% over four years falls short of the union demand for a 19% increase in base wages to keep pace with the rising cost of living and that a 13.59% cost-of-living allowance is so high that it would never trigger a wage adjustment. It also criticized proposals for part-time workers, route efficiency tools and benefit Post proposed increasing by 20% the number of part-time positions to support parcel delivery in urban areas seven days a week, as provided by other couriers. Currently, about 10% of the parcel delivery workforce is part time. Part-time positions will receive health and pension benefits and guaranteed hours (15 to 40 hours per week). The creation of part-time jobs increases the company's delivery flexibility, especially on weekends, while ensuring that letter carriers aren't required to work weekend shifts, the postal operator said. The union favors full-time jobs. The union objects to Canada Post's plan to make work schedules more flexible, meaning mail carriers might not have the same route every day. The mail provider, for example, also wants to introduce dynamic routing in a limited number of locations, which would allow it to plan and optimize delivery routes daily based on real-time volumes, resulting in more consistent, predictable service for customers. Dynamic routing is commonly used by large, last-mile carriers. The union says rules governing such a system are needed and that Canada Post doesn't have the software or technical ability to apply its route measuring system, which involves measuring mail volume, the time it takes to deliver and other factors to determine the appropriate workload for each route based on logbook entries from carriers. Canada Post also seeks to introduce load leveling, whereby supervisors each morning could transfer mail volumes between workers during scheduled hours without additional compensation. And it wants to delay new hires from receiving health and pension benefits until they complete six consecutive months of regular employment. Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch. Small businesses at risk as Canada Post workers prepare to strike The post Canada Post avoids crippling strike but not damage to parcel business appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
High School Senior Dies in Crash Just Days Before Graduation: 'Only 2 Miles from Her House', Family Says
Davis High School student Averiee Osmundson, 18, died in a traffic collision near U.S. Highway 77 in Oklahoma, almost a week before her graduation In a statement, her cousin said that she was planning to attend Oklahoma State University on a scholarship 'She could always just put a smile on everybody's face,' said Osmundson's auntA high school student who was about to graduate in a few days was killed in a single-vehicle collision in Oklahoma last weekend. In an incident report obtained by PEOPLE, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) stated that the crash occurred on Saturday, May 10, on Foothill Road about 0.4 miles west of U.S. Highway 77, which is approximately 3 miles north of Springer. The OHP report said that a 2005 Lexus RX330 driven by Averiee Osmundson, 18, was traveling eastbound on Foothill Road. The vehicle departed the roadway to the left when it 'overcorrected reentering the roadway before overturning an unknown amount of times.' The Lexus was ejected 'approximately 78 feet from where the vehicle came to rest,' continued the report. Osmundson, who hailed from Springer, was pronounced dead at the scene following injuries sustained in the crash, according to authorities. Her body was taken to the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office. The OHP report also noted that a seatbelt was not in use at the time. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Kegan Muth, Osmundson's cousin, paid tribute to her in a statement shared with KOKH. 'She was more than an 18-year-old graduating high school; she was a beautiful, young, talented girl,' Muth's statement read in part. 'She knew just the right words to say and when to say them. She had a scholarship to attend Oklahoma State University, which she couldn't wait to attend, even if her bubs said to rethink it.' 'She wanted to be a pediatrician,' the statement continued. 'All she ever wanted was to help the ones who needed the help. She always made everyone smile and happy. She didn't see life like everyone else. She saw the bright light in the pitch black dark.' Osmundson was a senior at Davis High School and was scheduled to graduate on Friday, May 16, per CBS affiliate KOTV. Davis Public Schools acknowledged Osmundson's death in a letter shared on Facebook Sunday, May 11. 'This devastating loss will be deeply felt throughout our entire school community, especially among the Senior Class of 2025,' read the letter in part. 'Our deepest sympathy goes out to Averiee's family, friends, and our entire school community,' the letter added. 'Please continue to keep her loved ones in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time.' Cassie Muth, Osmundson's aunt, told KOTV that the family has been shattered by what happened. 'She was only two miles from her house," said Muth. Muth remembered her niece for having an amazing heart. 'She could always just put a smile on everybody's face. She was very adventurous, very outgoing,' Muth said. 'Honestly, I'm still in disbelief that she's been taken from us at such a young age with so much potential and a lot still ahead of her,' she said, per KOTV. Read the original article on People
