Gov. Tom Wolf created the need-based Nellie Bly Scholarship Program for students at the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools, including Slippery Rock University.

The program offers scholarships to full-time undergraduate students at the 14 universities who have a household income of less than $104,800.

For the most economically disadvantaged students, the scholarship covers the tuition and fees gap not covered by a student's Pell and Pennsylvania state grants.

Students who receive scholarships must agree to stay in Pennsylvania after graduation for the same number of years for which they receive the benefit or until the scholarship becomes a low-interest loan.

The program also creates an Emergency Grant Fund to meet recipients' emergency expenses, including books, paying final account balances or other nominal costs that often prohibit students from registering for classes or obtaining transcripts.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on Thursday accepted the Foertsch Farm, a 102-acre crop and livestock operation in Jefferson Township, into the state Farmland Preservation Program.For the program, the state and county purchase permanent conservation easements, ensuring the land remains in farm use in the future.The Foertsch Farm is among 30 farms in 16 counties that were accepted into the program. The easement was purchased with investments of $341,544 from the state and $100,000 from the county. Since the program began in 1988, easements covering 594,457 acres on 5,843 farms in 59 counties have been purchased.

The American Red Cross is conducting blood drives in March at three locations in the county.Blood drives will be conducted at Grace Church of Harmony, 538 Main St., on March 8 from 1 to 6 p.m.; Cranberry Elks Lodge, 20720 Route 19, Cranberry Township, on March 9 from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m.; and Days Inn by Wyndham Butler Conference Center, 139 Pittsburgh Road, Butler, on March 12 from noon to 5:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania American Water said it invested $400 million to upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure in the state in 2020.The spending included about $130 million to replace more than 126 miles of aging water and sewer pipelines, and more than $3 million in automated leak detection equipment that found 369 non-surfacing leaks that were repaired.More than $46 million was invested in water and wastewater treatment facilities across the state, including the water treatment facility in Butler.More than 1,600 fire hydrants and 1,300 valves were replaced at a cost of about $9.5 million, and 16,000 service lines were replaced at a cost of $20 million.About $6 million was spent to rehabilitate five water tanks and one treatment center, and to inspect more than 75 tanks.

The Anti-Racist Focus Group of the Butler Clergy Network will offer the webinar conversation, “Listen: Stories on Race Police Reform,” at 7 p.m. Feb. 22, on Facebook.To join the webinar, featuring the Rev. John Welch, search for the group on Facebook.