Good morning, State College.

DSCID announced Tuesday that 16 downtown businesses will receive facade improvement grants for exterior upgrades from an $80,000 state program (with each project eligible for up to $5,000 in matching funds).

DSCID plans to offer another competitive grant opportunity next year.

The fifth annual ACRES Amazing Race returns to Tussey Mountain on Sept.

20 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event features team challenges, live music, and food to raise funds for ACRES (which supports autistic and neurodivergent adults).

The exhibit Black Geographies in Circulation is on display at Pattee Library on the University Park campus through Friday, Feb.

26, 2027, featuring archival stamps and postcards that trace African diasporic experiences. A curator-led tour will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at (2 p.m.) for further insight.

Assistant professor Roshan Eapen at Penn State earned NASA’s Early Career Faculty Award with $677,267 in funding over three years to support his machine learning project for spacecraft guidance.

He joins six other national recipients who will test his approach to making maneuvers more reliable.

Penn State's research team received a $1.5M NSF grant to develop a real-world dataset that will help K-12 students tackle industrial math problems in seven rural school districts with telemetry software + expert analysis tracking student progress over three years.

Penn State’s Teaching and Learning with Technology Dreamery Speaker Series will host Mitch Colver on Oct.

12-13 at University Park as he leads three sessions on human potential in an AI-driven world; attendees can join in person (or virtually) and network after the first session.

Penn State freshman CB Josiah Zayas started his first collegiate game on Saturday against Marshall, making two tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry despite a large crowd.

Coaches praised his mature play and said he earned the right to compete with seasoned veterans.

Penn State women’s volleyball has asked fans to wear white at its game against Stanford at The Palestra (marking the team’s first play there in 41 years) as the arena celebrates 100 years.

The team is 4-1 on the season and expects a boost in play with the White Out conditions.

Penn State men’s basketball will play two exhibition games ahead of the 2026-27 season.

They will face St. Bonaventure on Oct. 17 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo and Drexel on Oct. 26 at Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia (their regular season opener is on Nov. 2 at Bryce Jordan Center).

Happy Valley will host Ironman 70.3, a 73.3-mile triathlon under a new three-year contract that runs through 2029.

Competitors will race on May 23, 2027 and registration opens Sept. 15 for priority entries & Sept. 17 for general sign-up.

Coach Matt Campbell praised Alex Tatsch for his comeback from injury and flexibility ahead of the Temple game Saturday at Penn State.

He discussed travel and practice plans during a Wednesday news conference at the Lasch Building (University Park).

Penn State field hockey goalkeeper Aby Deverka was named NFHCA Defensive Player of the Week after saving 13 shots during wins over Delaware and Villanova — she is the first in program history to earn this honor and will face Princeton on Sunday, Sept.

13.

Penn State senior Aaron Klein leads four student sections (including Nittanyville and Legion of Blue) and connects fans with athletes at game-day chants on campus.

He balances his busy role with academics while attending key bowl events and inspiring fellow students.