Harrisburg – Committed to providing financial support to reduce underage and dangerous alcohol consumption, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today announced it will award more than $3.3 million to 86 schools, community organizations, municipalities, law enforcement organizations, nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations, and institutions of higher education through the 2024-26 Alcohol Education Grant Program.

This year, of 102 grant applications received, 86 organizations from 41 counties across Pennsylvania were awarded a total of $3,312,205 in grants. The maximum award for each two-year grant is $50,000.

Of the grants awarded:

• 23 will fund community law-enforcement efforts for targeted underage patrols, training, community outreach, and equipment.
• 23 will be used to support community and nonprofit organizations by funding initiatives such as MADD’s Power of Parents®, and Parents Who Host Lose the Most®, public service announcements, and enforcement efforts.
• Eight will go to primary and secondary schools to fund various programs aimed at reaching students, such as social norms media campaigns, guest speakers, and impaired driving simulation activities.
• 31 college and university grants will help schools develop strategies to reduce underage and dangerous alcohol use through surveys and assessments, enforcement efforts, attendance at alcohol education conferences, training for resident assistants, peer education programs, and evidence-informed programs like EVERFI AlcoholEdu® and Alcohol eCHECKUP TO GO.
• One will go to a for-profit organization aimed at peer-to-peer outreach and public service announcements.

The complete list of grant recipients and projects is available at lcb.pa.gov.

In addition to the provision of millions of dollars in alcohol education grants to communities, educational institutions, and law enforcement agencies, the PLCB works to educate the public about the dangers of underage and dangerous drinking through a variety of other avenues, including a free annual alcohol educational conference, an award-winning prevention campaign – Know When. Know How.^SM – targeted to underage drinking, the creation and distribution of a wide range of educational materials, Responsible Alcohol Management Program training and resources for licensees, and training and technical assistance for organizations working to address the issues related to irresponsible consumption.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates about 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits – totaling nearly $20.3 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.

Editor’s note: This interview first appeared in Spotlight PA’s PA Local newsletter on Sept. 9, 2022.

Pennsylvania’s fleeting pawpaw season has arrived, and for the next few weeks the commonwealth’s native tropical fruit — nicknamed the “hillbilly mango” — is ripe for the picking, assuming you can find one.

We talked to Ohio chef, culinary educator, and author Sara Bir about The Pocket Pawpaw Cookbook, which includes an introduction by forager Alexis Nikole Nelson and recipes for everything from pawpaw cornbread to pawpaw ketchup.

Our conversation — touching on the do’s and definite don’ts of the fruit and why Bir says she’s yet to meet a bad person who likes them — has been edited for clarity and length.

Spotlight PA: Can you describe the taste of a pawpaw for anyone who hasn’t tried one?

Sara Bir: I like to say that it is most like a mango and a banana and yet something completely unfamiliar laughs>. It has a lot of tropical flavors. It is in the custard apple family. It’s the most northerly member of that fruit family. Its relatives are all down in the tropics.

What about texture?

When pawpaws are ripe they are very soft. They’re like baby food.

What’s your favorite pawpaw recipe? I thought your pawpaw lassi idea was genius.

That is my favorite. I use buttermilk instead of yogurt, but you could certainly use yogurt. And I garnish it with a little nutmeg or cumin on top, which is really the only authentic part of this lassi. (Find the full recipe in Columbus Monthly.)

What can’t a pawpaw do?

They don’t do well when heated. It has a lot of volatile flavor compounds that are destroyed when you heat them, leaving a bit of a funky aftertaste.

Got it. So best served cold. What about dried pawpaw?

Oh, Colin, that’s an excellent question. It does not work. When you dehydrate a pawpaw or cook it down enough, it will concentrate a naturally occurring compound that is the same thing that is found in ipecac syrup, which is used to induce vomiting.

So pawpaw lassi for my friends and fruit leather for my enemies. On that note: You once said, “I have yet to meet a person who is drawn to pawpaws who is not a good person.” What did you mean by that?

Sure. I think anybody who even hears about pawpaws is somebody who has their feelers out for something that’s outside of their daily existence. They’re people who are open-minded.

Does the pawpaw have a type?

When I go to the Ohio Pawpaw Festival you see people with all kinds of backgrounds — religious backgrounds, political beliefs, lifestyles — but the thing they have in common is this affinity for an atypical fruit. (Editor’s note: York County, Pennsylvania has a pawpaw festival happening in September too.)

Is the pawpaw countercultural? Or is that going too far?

I don’t think it’s going too far. It’s both countercultural and very, very traditional. It’s a seasonal thing that was passed down through generations by the people who settled in these areas. I’d almost say it’s an underground thing. This whole slow-burning pawpaw phenomenon has been from the ground up, and it had to be because you can’t get them in stores.

Will that change?

There is pawpaw ice cream, gelato, and beer. But the reason you don’t see the fresh fruit in stores is because the fruits ripen at different times on the same tree. You can’t just pick them and have them ripen off the tree. If you bring a hard pawpaw home, it’s gonna stay hard.

It would take years and years of [selective] breeding, and while plant people have been working on it, nobody’s been throwing money behind it.

What’s the best way to find them fresh then?

I mean this sounds ridiculous, but once you are identified as a pawpaw-curious person, there is somebody who’s eventually going to come up to you in person or on social media and be like, ‘Oh, hey, there’s a pawpaw tree growing on blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.’

And that’s what’s so cool about the whole thing: This has happened not because some marketer thought it was a great idea. It’s not because an influencer is really into pawpaws and making smoothies that make your hair and skin beautiful. It’s just people talking to people about stuff they think is cool.

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from our friends at EasternPAFootball.com

August 23

Avon Grove 12, Warwick 3
Bedford 28, Westmont Hilltop 7
Bellefonte 18, Central (6) 7
Bellwood-Antis 51, Penns Valley 12
Bensalem 41, Lower Merion 28
Berlin-Brothersvalley 42, Claysburg-Kimmel 14
Bethel Park 50, Seneca Valley 14
Bethlehem Catholic 28, East Pennsboro 14
Bethlehem Liberty 40, Pennridge 14
Biglerville 39, Annville-Cleona 36
Bishop McCort 28, Central Cambria 27
Blackhawk 56, Beaver Falls 0
Boiling Springs 35, Littlestown 7
Bristol 19, Harriton 0
Cambria Heights 28, River Valley 12
Canton Area 42, Northwest Area 6
Cedar Cliff 50, Red Land 30
Cedar Crest 45, Lower Dauphin 16
Central Bucks South 35, Archbishop Wood 0
Central Bucks West 21, Easton Area 12
Central Columbia 41, Midd-West 0
Central York 47, Central Dauphin 0
Chambersburg 24, Gettysburg 17
Chester 19, Perkiomen Valley 14
Clearfield Area 46, Tyrone 20
Cocalico 28, Elizabethtown Area 14
Conemaugh Township 42, West Shamokin 0
Conestoga Valley 35, Penn Manor 0
Conrad Weiser 21, Abington 7
Dallastown 28, Hempfield (3) 9
Danville 45, Bloomsburg 7
Dover Area 42, Northeastern 7
Downingtown West 23, Abraham Lincoln 6
East Stroudsburg South 33, Abington Heights 14
Eastern York 42, Columbia 6
Everett 42, West Branch 0
Exeter Township 36, Daniel Boone 0
Fleetwood 48, Kutztown 12
Forest Hills 38, Greater Johnstown 26
Fort Cherry 39, Northgate 0
Freedom 7, Quaker Valley 0
Garnet Valley 34, Coatesville 19
Glendale 14, Windber 7
Governor Mifflin 35, Pleasant Valley 0
Great Valley 34, Oxford Area 22
Hampton 22, University Prep 18
Harry S. Truman 42, Kensington 0
Haverford High 42, South Philadelphia 0
Hershey 28, Milton Hershey 0
Hollidaysburg 27, Altoona Area 14
Honesdale 33, East Stroudsburg North 16
James Buchanan 15, York County School of Technology 13
Jeannette 28, Mount Pleasant Area 27
Jefferson-Morgan 35, Chartiers-Houston 6
Jersey Shore 28, Dallas 21
Kennard-Dale 38, Hanover (3) 7
Kiski Area 42, Knoch 7
Lackawanna Trail 41, Tunkhannock 7
Lake-Lehman 13, Berwick Area 7
Lakeland 40, Carbondale Area 18
Lampeter-Strasburg 35, Solanco 9
Lancaster Catholic 42, Camp Hill 41
Leechburg 19, Apollo-Ridge 14
Lewisburg 26, Line Mountain 23
Loyalsock Township 28, Mifflinburg 27
Manheim Central 24, West Philadelphia 8
Manheim Township 42, Cumberland Valley 14
Marion Center 21, Portage Area 0
Marple-Newtown 28, Hatboro-Horsham 0
Martin Luther King 26, Pottstown Area 7
Mechanicsburg 34, Carlisle 6
Methacton 7, Pottsgrove 2
Mid Valley 32, Pittston Area 0
Middletown Area 31, Donegal 24
Mifflin County 42, Central Mountain 6
Milton Area 20, Shikellamy 17
Montoursville 47, Wellsboro 7
Morrisville 28, New Hope Solebury 6
Mount Union Area 28, Tussey Mountain 14
Muhlenberg 29, Schuylkill Valley 20
Nazareth Area 42, Hazleton Area 7
Neshaminy 20, Emmaus 17
New Brighton 9, Shenango 7
New Oxford 28, Bermudian Springs 13
Norristown 28, Penn Wood 24
North Allegheny 22, St. Frances Academy Regional (MD) 20
North Penn 28, Downingtown East 25
North Pocono 46, Greater Nanticoke 7
North Star 18, Moshannon Valley 0
Northern Bedford 36, Southern Huntingdon 16
Northern Cambria 34, Purchase Line 6
Northern Lebanon 10, Pine Grove Area 0
Norwin 26, Penn-Trafford 14
Octorara Area 30, Hamburg 7
Old Forge 28, West Scranton 27
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 12, Rochester 6
Owen J. Roberts 49, Conestoga 14
Palmyra 40, Lebanon 6
Penn Cambria 22, Richland 8
Penncrest 33, Sun Valley/Northley 20
Penns Manor 52, Conemaugh Valley 0
Pequea Valley 49, Renaissance Academy Charter 0
Philipsburg-Osceola 30, Huntingdon Area 17
Phoenixville 41, Reading 16
Plymouth-Whitemarsh 49, Upper Merion 14
Radnor 26, Chichester 8
Ridley 20, Central Bucks East 7
Riverside (2) 16, Dunmore 3
Riverside (7) 38, Hopewell 25
Scranton Prep 33, Valley View 0
Selinsgrove 14, Juniata 6
Shaler Area 20, Butler 14
Shamokin 27, Pottsville Area 13
Shippensburg Area 28, Big Spring 7
South Fayette 26, Chartiers Valley 0
South Park 30, East Allegheny 16
South Western 36, York Suburban 6
South Williamsport 26, Athens 13
Southern Lehigh 31, Quakertown Community 13
Spring Grove 31, Northern York 14
Spring-Ford 31, Souderton Area 14
State College Area 49, Gateway 14
Strath Haven 49, Interboro 6
Stroudsburg 30, Wallenpaupack 10
Susquehannock 26, Delone Catholic 10
Thomas Jefferson 63, Baldwin 12
Towanda 24, Cowanesque Valley 6
Tri-Valley 36, York Catholic 16
Troy Area 84, Sayre 13
Twin Valley 42, Berks Catholic 16
United Valley 46, Homer-Center 13
Upper Dublin 38, Wissahickon 21
Upper Moreland 35, Council Rock North 7
Upper Perkiomen 31, Boyertown 21
Warrior Run 28, Muncy 21
Waynesboro 30, Greencastle-Antrim 27
Waynesburg Central 42, West Greene 7
West Chester East 20, Academy Park 0
West Chester Rustin 44, Unionville 7
West Mifflin 17, Elizabeth-Forward 16
West Perry 58, Susquenita 0
Wilkes-Barre 27, Whitehall 10
Williams Valley 21, Upper Dauphin 6
Williamsport 33, Wyoming Valley West 0
Wyalusing Area 37, North Penn-Mansfield 12
Wyoming Area 28, Crestwood 21