The Pennsylvania Capitol building in Harrisburg.

The Pennsylvania Capitol building in Harrisburg.

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<p>Shapiro</p>

Shapiro

<p>Levine</p>

Levine

<p>Mullery</p>

Mullery

<p>Kaufer</p>

Kaufer

WILKES-BARRE — Attorney General Josh Shapiro this week said the scourge of gun violence in Pennsylvania is unacceptable, and “we’re going to keep pushing for new ways to stop crime guns from getting into our neighborhoods and prevent shootings until the violence ends.”

Shapiro released the first annual report card on the Office’s Track + Trace initiative, launched in July 2019, that is a collaborative, data-driven approach to decreasing gun trafficking and illegal transfers and ensuring illegal and crime guns are taken out of neighborhoods across Pennsylvania.

“A year after we launched, local police are able to identify a record number of crime guns, allowing investigators to go after the source and help prevent shootings,” Shapiro said. “It is my office’s responsibility to enforce the laws on the books — and that is exactly what we are doing through Track + Trace.”

In the year since the Track + Trace launch, Shapiro said his office has seen success in its efforts to combat gun trafficking in Pennsylvania.

This initiative focuses on enforcing established Pennsylvania state laws and increasing awareness surrounding gun trafficking and its implications. The core areas of Track + Trace include law enforcement logging and sharing information on gun recoveries, moving gun retailers to use eRecord of sale instead of paper records, and educating people on the dangers of engaging in straw purchases.

• The number of gun purchases being run through eRecord of sale has increased 600%.

• The number of law enforcement agencies sharing crime gun data has increased 68%.

• The number of gun trace reports shared in law enforcement between July 2019 and July 2020 has increased 824%.

Shapiro said law enforcement collaboration is crucial to getting crime guns off the streets and addressing gun trafficking in the Commonwealth.

When Track + Trace launched, 70 police departments were sharing data, now that number is 117.

Earlier this year, the data sharing and law enforcement partnerships Track + Trace has built led the AG’s office and the New Jersey Attorney General’s office to gun traffickers selling the firearm used to kill 2-year-old Nikolette Rivera in Philadelphia.

“Tracing firearms is an essential part of our ATF mission and eTrace is just one of the unique capabilities we use to accomplish this,” said acting Special Agent in Charge John Schmidt, ATF Philadelphia Field Division.

“The Track + Trace initiative is all about preventing firearms from reaching the street and being used in crimes,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele.

Shapiro said for investigators and law enforcement agencies across Pennsylvania, it is imperative when recovering a crime gun to have easy access to the information on the firearm’s original purchaser. This process is made cumbersome by gun retailers across Pennsylvania still using dated paper records of sale which need to be submitted to the Pennsylvania State Police by mail.

Track + Trace works with gun dealers to update technology and move to paperless eRecord of sale to ensure accurate and instant data. Since the launch, we have partnered with Pennsylvania’s top gun retailers to implement eRecord of sale, decreasing the backlog of paper records by 9 months.

More information about Track + Trace can be found at www.attorneygeneral.gov/gunviolence/.

Final clinical registrant for medical

marijuana research program approved

The Pennsylvania Department of Health this week approved the eighth clinical registrant, Goodblend Pennsylvania, LLC, who will be part of the state’s first-in-the-nation research program for medical marijuana.

A clinical registrant holds both a medical marijuana grower/processor and a dispensary permit and is affiliated with an approved academic clinical research center.

“We are thrilled that each of our approved academic clinical research centers now has a research contract with a clinical registrant,” said Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. “Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program continues to be a leader for the country as we conduct comprehensive research through this program. The work already being done by these partners is providing physicians with more evidence-based research to make clinical decisions for their patients. This is the cornerstone of our program and the key to our clinically-based, patient-focused program for those suffering with cancer, PTSD and other serious medical conditions.”

Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC is affiliated with University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pittsburgh and will join the seven clinical registrants previously approved. Three clinical registrants were approved in June 2019, with four additional clinical registrants approved in February of 2020.

The clinical research program, guided by the Medical Marijuana Act, or Act 43 of 2018, allows for eight clinical registrants who each must hold both a grower/processor and a dispensary permit. Clinical registrants must have a research contract with one of eight approved academic clinical research centers.

• There are close to 225,000 active certifications as part of the medical marijuana program. Nearly 378,000 patients and caregivers are registered for the program in order to obtain medical marijuana for one of 23 serious medical conditions.

• There are currently 89 operational dispensaries in the commonwealth providing medication to patients. Active cardholders are continuing to visit dispensaries an average of two times a month to get treatment for a serious medical condition. Close to 16.5 million products have been sold since the start of the program, and total sales within the program are close to $1.3 billion, which includes sales by the grower/processors to the dispensaries of more than $519 million, and sales by the dispensaries to patients and caregivers of nearly $780 million.

• To date, 25 grower/processors are currently operational in Pennsylvania, and 17 of those are actively shipping to dispensaries, and many grower/processors are expanding at their permitted location.

• Currently, 1,950 physicians have registered for the program, more than 1,400 of whom have been approved as practitioners in the program.

The medical marijuana program offers medical marijuana to patients who are residents of Pennsylvania and have been certified as having a serious medical condition as defined by the Medical Marijuana Act.

For more information about the medical marijuana program, visit www.medicalmarijuana.pa.gov or follow the Department of Health on Facebook and Twitter.

Rep. Mullery alerts public to

hearings on water rate hikes

State Rep. Gerald Mullery, D-Newport Township, this week announced that there are eight scheduled public input hearings this month on a proposed Pennsylvania American Water rate hike.

“As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, many families are still enduring financial hardships and have to choose between which bills to pay or to put food on their table,” Mullery said. “I still believe that now is not the time for a rate hike and stand by my letter urging the PUC to reject the rate hike. I urge everyone to have their voices heard at one of the upcoming hearings.”

The hearings are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day on Aug. 18, 25, 26. All hearings will be held by video conference/telephone.

Residents interested in testifying at one of the hearings must register by calling 1-800-684-6560, or online at http://www.oca.state.pa.us/pubhear/puchear.htm. Anyone who does not want to testify but still wants to listen in may also get those instructions from that website.

Rep. Kaufer: Final round of CARES

Act grants beginning on Aug. 10

Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, this week announced that the second and final round of CARES Act grants for eligible small businesses, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, will begin Monday, Aug. 10, at 9 a.m.

Pennsylvania small businesses can apply for grants to offset lost revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shutdown order.

This application will close on Friday, Aug. 28, at 11:59 p.m.

“These CARES Act funds continue to be a lifeline to our small businesses, and I encourage all eligible small businesses to apply for this program,” Kaufer said.

Eligible businesses may begin applying for the COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance program by visiting https://pabusinessgrants.com/.

This project is financed by a grant from the federal Department of U.S. Treasury, under the administration of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania CDFI Network. The PA CDFI Network is a group of 17 PA-based community development financial institutions that primarily provide financing options for small businesses.

For more information about this outreach, or any other state-related issue, contact Kaufer’s district office in Luzerne located at 161 Main St., by calling 570-283-1001. Information can also be found online at RepKaufer.com or Facebook.com/RepKaufer.

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.