State News-Friday, Sept. 8th

WASHINGTON (AP) - Welfare officials in Pennsylvania, California,Michigan have their work cut out for them when new rules take effect next month. They'll have to find jobs for tens of thousands of people on welfare or risk losing millions in federal money. The three states are among about two dozen identified by the federal government as lagging in efforts to get welfare recipients to work. The rules require states to place into job training, community services or other work activities 50 percent of households that get welfare aid and 90 percent of two-parent households receiving assistance. Pennsylvania will have to add nearly 23-thousand recipients to the work rolls, which -- according to federal estimates obtained by The Associated Press -- amounts to a 220 percent increase in work participation.

BALTIMORE (AP) - A mushroom grower is recalling about ten-thousand cases of fresh sliced white and baby bella mushroomsdistributed from a plant in Berks County. Monterey Mushrooms of Watsonville, California, says the mushrooms were distributed from its plant in Temple, (Pennsylvania), to Pennsylvania and six other Eastern states. The product was sold in four ounce, six ounce, eight ounce, and 16 ounce foam containers and 10 ounce plastic bags with code dates 237 through 247. The recall is because a random sampling found Listeria on some of the mushrooms. Listeria can cause serious, sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. The company says no illnesses have been reported.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Preparation is under way for a tribute to Pennsylvania National Guard members this weekend at the Penn State University campus. "Operation Salute," is to be held Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center. It will honor National Guard members who served in Iraq or have taken on other roles since the September 11th, 2001 attacks.Guard members deployed to Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina last year will also be recognized. The highlight Sunday will be a ceremony at the Jordan Center followed by a concert featuring the Beach Boys and country music artist Craig Morgan. Outdoor music stages and a tailgate party were also planned. The tailgate and concert will be limited only to troops and their guests.

HAZLETON, Pa. (AP) - The Hazleton City Council meets this afternoon to consider substantial revisions to a law intended to drive illegal immigrants out of town. The revised law would still impose thousand-dollar-a-day fines on anyone who employs someone not authorized to work in the United States. But the new version exempts employers who make a good-faith effort to check documentation and are supplied with forged documents. Also, lawful workers who are laid off becaue their employers 'business permits were revoked for hiring illegal workers would be allowed to sue for lost wages. Opponents are expected to challenge the revised ordinance in court, contending that only the federal government has the right to regulate immigration.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has famously called high schools "obsolete" and warned about their effect on U-S competitiveness. Now, his company has a chance to prove that it can help fix the woes of public education. After three years of planning, the Microsoft-designed "School of the Future" opened its doors today in a working-class West Philadelphia neighborhood. About 170 teens, nearly all black and mainly low-income, were chosen by lottery to make up the freshman class. The school eventually plans to enroll up to 750 students. Students at this school aren't just encouraged to apply to college -- they're required to in order to get a diploma. The Philadelphia School District paid the 63 million dollarsto build the school, but Microsoft shared its personnel and management skills.