126125914_web1_Andrew-Chew---The-Institute

Stimulus checks had big impact locally

UK homeowner delays sale of home after Banksy mural appears

After a years-long fight, criminals who prey on and stalk children will face longer jail sentences.
				Led by U.S. Senators Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, and Bob Casey, D-Scranton, in the Senate, and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, PA-1, in the House, the Combat Online Predators Act is heading to the president&rsquo;s desk for his signature.
				The legislation enhances federal criminal penalties for stalkers by up to five years if the victim is a minor, and calls for the U.S. Department of Justice to evaluate federal, state, and local efforts to enforce stalking laws and identify enforcement best practices.
				The bill passed the Senate last October and was approved by the House this week.
				&ldquo;House passage of the Combat Online Predators Act speaks to the remarkable dedication of the entire Zezzo family for keeping children safe and ensuring there are strong penalties for monsters who stalk and cyber-stalk children,&rdquo; Toomey said. &ldquo;Madison and her parents, Erin and Tony, deserve our gratitude for helping get this legislation through Congress, and I look forward to the president signing it into law.&rdquo;
				The Combat Online Predators Act was inspired by the story of the Zezzo family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, whose teenaged daughter was cyber-stalked by a friend&rsquo;s father on social media.
				Despite the stalking being sexual in nature, the then-51-year-old stalker pleaded guilty only to a misdemeanor stalking charge and was sentenced to probation and counseling.
				Three years later, in 2016, the same stalker began making contact again. This time, he was arrested in a sting by local police and sentenced to between 18 months and seven years in a state prison.
				Sen. Casey added, &ldquo;Today is an important day in our nation&rsquo;s endless fight to better protect our children and curtail predatory behavior. I am pleased that the House passed the Combat Online Predators Act today and I am grateful to the Zezzo family for their tireless advocacy of this important legislation. This bipartisan bill will give judges additional tools to ensure that perpetrators who stalk or cyber-stalk children are held accountable with serious penalties. I urge the President to sign Combat Online Predators swiftly into law so that we can continue the fight to keep our children safe from predatory behavior.&rdquo;
				Fitzpatrick said, &ldquo;We have no higher responsibility than to protect our children. Cyber-stalking is a serious crime that needs to be met with stricter penalties and more cooperation among law enforcement agencies. Sitting with the Zezzo family, I saw the pain in their eyes. After hearing of the disturbing story of cyberstalking endured by this young girl and her family for years, I knew something needed to be done. The Combat Online Predators Act is the first step in making the internet a safer environment for all users, especially the most vulnerable among us.&rdquo;
				Erin and Tony Zezzo said their family is glad the Combat Online Predators Act has made it through Congress.
				&ldquo;As families have navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic, children are spending more time online and in front of a web cam,&rdquo; Zezzo said. &ldquo;Individuals who stalk and cyber-stalk our children are taking advantage of these new tools and opportunities to exploit children. This legislation has never been more critical than it is today. Our hope is that this legislation is the first of more changes to our cyberstalking laws that will help prevent such heinous crimes.&rdquo;
				U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida coauthored the Combat Online Predators Act in the House.
				Pennsylvanians asked to
				help keep each other
				safe during holidays
				Gov. Tom Wolf and religious leaders from across the commonwealth this week asked Pennsylvanians to take COVID-19 precautions and help one another stay safe during the upcoming holiday season.
				&ldquo;After a difficult year like this one, I know that we all want to take comfort in our family and religious traditions during the holidays,&rdquo; Wolf said. &ldquo;But the truth is that COVID-19 is still as dangerous as ever right now, and the best thing we can do to protect our loved ones is to worship and celebrate at home this year.
				&ldquo;With the announcement of several vaccines undergoing FDA review, we can see some light at the end of the tunnel. But we aren&rsquo;t there yet, and we need Pennsylvanians to help each other stay safe until an approved vaccine is widely available. The choices each and every one of us make help to protect our religious communities, our families and our friends.&rdquo;
				Wolf released a video message encouraging religious leaders and worshippers to keep one another safe from COVID-19 over the holidays.
				Pennsylvania religious leaders joined the governor in urging fellow leaders to help their congregations stay safe and embrace alternate forms of worship.
				AG Shapiro seeking to end
				Facebook&rsquo;s &lsquo;illegal monopoly&rsquo;
				Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, with a bipartisan coalition of 48 attorneys general, announced this week that he is filing a lawsuit against Facebook Inc., alleging that the company has, and continues today, to illegally stifle competition to protect its monopoly power.
				The lawsuit alleges that, over the last decade, the social networking giant illegally acquired competitors in a predatory manner and cut services to smaller firms, changing the media landscape and depriving users and small businesses from the benefits of competition while reducing privacy protections and services along the way &mdash; all in an effort to boost its bottom line through increased advertising revenue.
				&ldquo;This lawsuit is straightforward,&rdquo; Shapiro said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re alleging that Facebook built a monopoly that, as we speak, is doing all it can to stifle competition, including local media, prey on smaller companies, and punish anyone it can&rsquo;t buy through cutting off access to services and information. This is not how normal businesses operate; it is how illegal monopolies operate. They are breaking the law and we&rsquo;re going to stop them in court.&rdquo;
				Since 2004, Shapiro said Facebook has operated as a personal social networking service that facilitates sharing content online without charging users a monetary fee, but, instead, provides these services in exchange for a user&rsquo;s time, attention, and personal data. Facebook then monetizes its business by selling advertising to firms that attach immense value to the user engagement and highly targeted advertising that Facebook can deliver due to the vast trove of data it collects on users, their friends, and their interests.
				In an effort to maintain its market dominance in social networking, Shapiro said Facebook employs a variety of methods to impede competing services and &mdash; as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and controlling shareholder Mark Zuckerberg has stated &mdash; to &ldquo;build a competitive moat&rdquo; around the company.
				Shapiro added that the two most utilized strategies have been to acquire smaller rivals and potential rivals before they could threaten Facebook&rsquo;s dominance and to suffocate and squash third-party developers that Facebook invited to utilize its platform &mdash; allowing Facebook to maintain its monopoly over the social networking market and make billions from advertising. As one market participant noted, if an application (app) encroached on Facebook&rsquo;s turf or didn&rsquo;t consider selling, Zuckerberg would go into &ldquo;destroy mode,&rdquo; subjecting small businesses to the &ldquo;wrath of Mark.&rdquo;
				State: 327,000 Pennsylvanians
				will gain high-speed internet
				Gov. Tom Wolf this week announced that more than 327,000 Pennsylvanians will gain access to high-speed Internet service through the Federal Communications Commission&rsquo;s (FCC) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction.
				Some 13 providers in Pennsylvania successfully bid in the auction and will provide high-speed Internet access in locations across the state that are under-served or do not have access to broadband that meets current federal standard. The FCC will allocate $368.7 million to these providers over the next 10 years. Virtually every Pennsylvania county will benefit from the broadband build out supported by this funding.
				The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is an effort by the FCC to ensure high-speed Internet access in under-served communities. In total, the FCC will allocate $9.2 billion to 180 bidders, who will deploy high-speed broadband to more than 5.2 million unserved homes and businesses across the country.
				Nearly a million Pennsylvanians lack access to reliable high-speed internet access, according to the FCC. Ensuring that all Pennsylvanians have access to high-speed Internet access is a top priority of the Wolf Administration. The governor&rsquo;s Restore Pennsylvania plan, a $4.5 billion bipartisan proposal funded through a commonsense severance tax, would provide funding to completely bridge the digital divide in every community in Pennsylvania. Funding would be available to support installation of infrastructure to bring high speed internet to every corner of the commonwealth.
				Similarly, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has also strongly advocated for universal access to broadband and a presence in the federal auction process.

Bill to combat stalking of children clears U.S. House; goes to president