(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – A data center owned by Amazon Web Services, front right, is under construction next to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa., on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, file)

(Reported by Danielle Smith, Keystone News Service)

(Columbia Borough, PA) As data center projects continue expanding into rural communities, some Pennsylvania residents are coming together to safeguard their communities. In Columbia Borough, council members unanimously rejected a 6-point-4-million-dollar bid from Saadia Holdings to build a data center on the former McGinness Airport property. Pennsylvania Stands Up organizer Taylor Enterline says over 500 residents attended the council meeting. The turnout was fueled by outreach efforts that included door-to-door canvassing and sharing personal stories. She notes residents question the lack of transparency and potential environmental and quality-of-life impacts. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro recently announced Responsible Infrastructure Development standards for data center development, requiring stricter rules on energy use, transparency, and community input.

(File Photo of State Representative Rob Matzie Speaking)

Noah Haswell, beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania House unanimously approved a resolution in Harrisburg yesterday directing the state to study the costs and benefits of remaining a member of PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization that manages Pennsylvania’s electric grid.

House Resolution 361, sponsored by Representative Rob Matzie, calls for the Joint State Government Commission to examine the financial risks and benefits associated with PJM membership and its impact on residential, commercial and industrial electricity customers.

The resolution comes amid concerns about rising electricity prices in parts of Pennsylvania and growing calls from some lawmakers and state officials for reforms to the regional power system.

Matzie said the study will provide policymakers with information needed to evaluate whether continued participation in PJM serves the state’s long-term interests.

PJM Interconnection manages the electric transmission grid in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia.

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Findlay Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported that a driver was involved in a single-vehicle crash in Findlay Township yesterday. 

According to police, the driver was traveling on Interstate 376 westbound at about 4:23 a.m. when the vehicle struck a deer. 

No injuries were reported, and the vehicle was able to be driven from the scene. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Kimberly Fabrizio)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ambridge, PA) Timothy Todd Welsh, a native of Ambridge, was recently promoted to the rank of captain in the United States Navy. 

Welsh began his military career in the United States Army before transferring to the Navy, where he continued his service and advanced through the ranks. 

The promotion was recognized during a pinning ceremony attended by family, friends and colleagues. 

As a Navy captain, Welsh will serve in a senior leadership role within the service. The promotion marks one of the highest milestones in a military career and reflects years of service and professional achievement. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Luigi Mangione appears at a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — A hearing in Luigi Mangione ’s state murder case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was held in secret Wednesday after the judge shut out the press and public without explanation.

New York Judge Gregory Carro said he sealed the virtual proceeding at the request of the defense but provided no other details, raising questions about transparency in the closely watched case.

Court hearings in the U.S. are presumptively open to the public, but judges are permitted to close them in certain circumstances, such as to protect sensitive or confidential information.

Carro held the hearing in his chambers at the Manhattan courthouse where Mangione is set to go to trial on Sept. 8. Mangione, his lawyers and prosecutors all appeared via video conference. A lawyer representing news organizations sent a letter to Carro asking his reasons for sealing the hearing but was ignored by the judge and rebuffed by his staff.

When the lawyer, Jeremy Chase, called Carro’s chambers Wednesday morning, he said the judge’s clerk told him: “We don’t read emails or letters at night. We go home.” She then hung up on him, he said in an email to news organizations obtained by The Associated Press.

After Wednesday’s hearing, Carro returned to the courtroom and announced it’s “sealed at the moment.” He scheduled an in-person hearing for June 16. That one, he said, will be open to the public.

Spokespeople for Mangione’s defense team and for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment. A message seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for New York’s state court system.

Laura Italiano, a veteran New York City courts reporter who was in Carro’s courtroom on Wednesday, said this is the third time in six months that the judge and court staff have silenced or ignored journalists seeking access to evidence or proceedings in Mangione’s case.

At a pretrial hearing in December, court officers ejected a reporter from the courtroom after she tried objecting to Carro’s decision to seal certain evidence. In February, Carro held a 27-minute, off-the-record bench conference during an otherwise public hearing. Reporters emailed the judge to no avail and asked a court officer to relay a note to him, but the officer refused.

“We’re seeing serious transparency problems and the trial hasn’t even begun,” Italiano said. “There’s huge public interest in this case and the judge is carrying on as if that were not the case.”

Carro scheduled Wednesday’s hearing at the end of Mangione’s last court appearance on May 18.

After meeting briefly with prosecutors and Mangione’s lawyers at the bench at that prior proceeding, Carro said he’d hold a virtual hearing to discuss scheduling and jury selection issues. He gave no indication that it would be sealed, nor has anyone said how, why or when Mangione’s lawyers asked for it to be.

Typically when virtual hearings are scheduled in New York courts, the press and public are able to follow along by watching on TV monitors in the judge’s courtroom. When a party requests that a proceeding be sealed, a judge will often solicit input from the other side and allow third parties, such as the public and news media, to also provide input.

An AP reporter emailed Carro directly on Tuesday, asking him to share, even broadly, his reasoning for sealing Wednesday’s hearing, and whether a transcript or recording would be provided. The judge didn’t respond and, instead, forwarded the email to the court’s press office.

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on Oct. 13. He could spend his life in prison if convicted in either case.

Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan. At the May 18 hearing, Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.

The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., joined by GOP leaders, prepares to talk to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House for the first time Wednesday approved a war powers resolution that would halt the U.S. military action against Iran, defying President Donald Trump as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to end the three-month-long conflict that has reordered politics at home and abroad.

House Speaker Mike Johnson had tried to prevent an outcome that would show the mounting opposition to the war, abruptly shutting down floor action two weeks ago when the resolution was on the verge of approval. But displeasure has only grown as the conflict drags on and as Trump struggles to negotiate a plan for peace.

“Enough is enough,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who led the effort.

“It is time for the president to do the right thing,” he said. “The people are tired of suffering because of his war of choice — suffering at the gas pump, suffering at the supermarkets.”

The roll call Wednesday was 215-208, but next steps are uncertain. Trump would likely reject any measure from Congress to limit his commander-in-chief authority. Still, the tally, with four Republicans joining Democrats, was a rebuke of the president’s war strategy, and cheers erupted in the House chamber.

Opposition to war grows

It’s the fourth time the House has tried to curb the U.S. war against Iran. The Senate advanced its own war powers resolution last month when a handful of GOP senators broke ranks with the Republican president in a rare show of political pushback from his party.

Each time Democrats have pushed forward the war powers resolution, the vote tallies have inched higher as political unease with the U.S. war swells. Trump had campaigned for the White House on a promise to end U.S. entanglements abroad and focus more on domestic issues, but the war has shifted attention back to the Middle East.

Johnson insisted Trump is “laser focused” on the domestic front, particularly ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

The speaker said he spent three hours at the White House with the president this week and Trump is calling on allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume the flow of commerce.

Since the U.S. joined Israel in launching the Feb. 28 strikes on Iran, Americans have seen gas prices spike at the pumps, adding to inflationary pressure on consumer spending.

Iran has been able to interrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital channel for a large segment of the world’s oil, natural gas and related products such as fertilizer.

“We’re working on that final piece,” said Johnson, R-La. “The entire world has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz being reopen for commerce. That what he’s working on.”

While a ceasefire in the conflict was declared in April, it remains uneasy and uncertain. Talks for a more durable end to the fighting have dragged, increasingly complicated by Israel’s broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Meanwhile, military strikes between the U.S and Iran continue to flare.

Congress exerts its war powers authority

The war powers resolution from the House would not immediately stop the war, but it would provide a symbolic — if not legal — step against further military action.

The resolution next goes to the Senate, where four Republican senators last month joined Democrats in advancing a similar measure to curtail the U.S. campaign against Iran. The Senate has yet to take a final vote to approve or reject its own war powers resolution.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that the Iranians would think that the administration’s “hands are going to be tied” if Congress approved a war powers resolution. He said they would think “we won’t be able to do anything to them, so why make a deal?:

It’s not the only action Congress is taking in the national security arena as Democrats, in the minority, work to peel off Republican support for measures beyond the war against Iran.

The House also voted Wednesday on another Democratic-led effort, a procedural step toward a measure that would authorize U.S. support for Ukraine’s military operations as it battles Russia and would help reconstruct the war-torn country. That vote is expected later this week. The House also expected to consider a war powers resolution to block U.S. action in Lebanon.

While Congress has the authority under the Constitution to declare war, the president also has power as the commander in chief to engage in military action, creating a legal dispute over which branch of government has ultimate say in matters of war and peace. If Senate joins the House to approve the resolution, it could set the stage for a fresh legal test of war powers.

Under the war powers act, the White House has a 60-day window to seek approval from Congress for military action. The administration, however, has indicated that because a ceasefire has been declared in the current conflict in Iran, the hostilities have ceased.

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Badge)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) Aliquippa Police Chief John Lane released a statement responding to questions from residents about an increased Pennsylvania State Police presence in the city. 

According to the Aliquippa Police Department, local officials have worked with state police in recent months and requested additional assistance in addressing violent crime and other serious offenses. 

Police said the increased patrols are intended to provide additional law enforcement visibility, traffic enforcement and emergency response capabilities throughout the city. 

The department handles more than 1,400 calls for service each month. Officials said assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police allows for greater patrol coverage while local officers respond to calls, conduct investigations and focus on areas experiencing higher levels of criminal activity. 

The Pennsylvania State Police have statewide jurisdiction and are authorized to patrol and enforce laws in municipalities across the Commonwealth. 

Aliquippa police officials said the partnership is intended to enhance public safety and improve service to residents. 

(File Photo of Police Siren Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a report of shots fired which occurred in Aliquippa on Tuesday. 

According to the Aliquippa Police Department, officers received multiple reports of gunfire in the 1200 block of Wade Street at about 11:50 p.m. 

Police said the Pennsylvania State Police have assumed control of the investigation due to the nature of the incident. 

No injuries were reported. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pennsylvania State Police Beaver Barracks at 724-773-7400.