Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Why we chose to highlight this story: A Penn State study involving 2,169 first-time mothers in Pennsylvania with private insurance revealed that 8.3% had their childbirth bills sent to collections. The study also found that these women were less likely to have a second child within the next two years compared to those without debt in collections.
Read more about the impact medical debt relief could have on families in this article by Spotlight PA.
Why we chose to highlight this story: The Pennsylvania School Boards Association received responses from 276 school districts — that's a 56% response rate — and discovered that two-thirds (66%) of school districts identified student mental health needs as one of their primary challenges. Also, on average, school leaders estimated that nearly half of students (46.4%) had some mental health need.
Read more in the report here. Check out the "At a Glance" graphic below.
Why we chose to highlight this story: March Madness is about to begin, and just over the Beaver County border, Robert Morris University students are eager to be a part of this year's tournament.
Read more via TribLive here.
STOP THE VIOLENCE! is an anti-violence initiative created by Aliquippa residents. Learn more about STOP THE VIOLENCE! on their Facebook page here.
Click the image above to watch a video by The Bridge on our YouTube channel here.
AirSense is a Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) project, designed to provide real-time air quality data and a comprehensive health risk assessment, to inform and empower community members.
Learn more about the real-time air monitoring on BCMAC's website here.
Reforest Our Future recently installed the Forest Exploration Center & Native Tree Nursery sign in preparation for their grand opening in April.
Activities to celebrate the grand opening will take place April 22–26, including a ribbon cutting ceremony, guided hikes, a tree potting workshop, and a Forest Fiesta.
Watch the video above on ROF's Facebook page to learn more.
Our disagreements aren’t causing the divisions in our country; it’s what we do when we disagree. Do we treat the other side with dignity, or do we treat them with contempt? The first brings us together; the second drives us apart, according to The Dignity Index.
The Dignity Index scores distinct phrases on an eight-point scale from contempt (1) to dignity (8). With the goal of "focusing on the speech and not the speaker, The Dignity Index is designed to draw our attention away from the biases of partisan politics and toward the power we each have to heal our country and each other," according to The Dignity Index's webpage.
Learn more about The Dignity Index and what it means to take the "Dignity Pledge" here.
Learn more about a major flood that happened on Saint Patrick's Day 89 years ago. Visit AmbridgeMemories.blogspot.com here to read more or click the image below to watch a "History in a Minute" video on YouTube from the Beaver County Times.
The Bridge is a project of
The Bridge is a prototype for what RiverWise envisions as a growing center for relevant community news + resources for Beaver County residents.
Owen Rossi-Keen
Owen Rossi-Keen is the Founder and Principal Software Engineer at Iliad.dev, LLC, a web development agency focused on delivering enterprise-grade customization without the enterprise price-tag.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania