Reopening updates: Here’s what to know in Centre County on Sept. 13

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Pa. ends Sunday COVID-19 updates

The state Department of Health will no longer provide a COVD-19 case update on Sundays. The Sunday numbers will be released on Monday, along with Monday’s numbers.

Cases have been trending upward in Centre County, particularly in the State College area. From Sept. 6 through Saturday, 483 cases were reported in Centre County. During that time, the county had the four highest daily increases in cases since the first one was reported March 20. During the week of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, the county reported 190 cases. Overall, there have been 1,135 COVID-19 cases (1,083 confirmed and 52 probable) and 11 deaths in the county.

Across Pennsylvania, there have been 143,805 cases and 7,862 deaths.

- by Matt Hymowitz

Amid record unemployment, Pa. anti-hunger advocates anticipate prolonged community need

From empty shelves in stores to long lines at food banks, hunger and poverty have become increasingly visible since March.

As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout Pennsylvania, anti-hunger advocates say uncertainty has been the biggest obstacle to their efforts. However, by operating under an “always say yes” motto, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and its partners have continued to feed those in need.

But community need is not going away anytime soon.

- by Marley Parish

A reimagined Centre County Farm Tour hopes to connect even more producers and consumers

Each year, the Centre County Farm Tour allows families around the area to tour approximately a dozen local farms over a day or weekend, meeting the farm families and learning more about local food systems. However, COVID-19 pandemic concerns around crowds and social distancing arose as the Centre County Farmland Trust began planning this year’s event — resulting in a new event format that can provide a larger sustainable agriculture and local foods-based experience to more people than ever before.

“We wanted to definitely keep our farm families safe and keep our tour participants safe, too,” the trust’s board president, Jennifer Shuey, said. “We started brainstorming: How can we change this up a bit? How can we not only react to the situation, but how can we maybe take this opportunity, really to reach out to even more people and share with them the message? For us, it gets back to preserving the farmland and to do that we need to connect our local eaters and community with our local producers.”

- by Holly Riddle, for the CDT

Wasson Farm Market’s Fall Fest is still on, but with a few changes in store this year

Summertime celebrations, from graduations to Independence Day, looked a little different this year, and similar changes will continue on into the fall season for many families. Orchards, farms and pumpkin patches around Centre County will be making some adjustments to how they accommodate families looking for fall festivities in the coming months, in an effort to limit COVID-19 risks while still retaining the fun that many find quintessential to their autumn experience.

For the past two decades, Wasson Farm Market in State College has offered a popular Fall Fest and, while the business still plans to offer its fall activities, Candy Wasson says changes to the event format are necessary.

- by Holly Riddle, for the CDT

Campus check-in

• Big Ten university presidents will meet Sunday to hear a presentation about playing a fall football season after all – maybe as soon as mid-October – amid pressure to kick off from parents, players, coaches and even the president.

Community outreach

Business updates

Things to do

This story was originally published September 13, 2020 at 11:31 AM.