Possible expansion of pickleball courts at Brady’s Run Ice Arena among topics discussed at most recent Commissioners’ work session

(File Photo of the Beaver County Courthouse)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver, PA) Several topics were discussed at the Beaver County Commissioners’ work session Wednesday at the County Courthouse. The main one was when audience member Peggy Greene spoke to the Commissioners about possibly expanding the number of pickleball courts at the Brady’s Run Ice Arena. Greene spoke about the county’s indoor facility for both pickleball and tennis. She described several issues about the pickleball courts, which included them being two feet too wide for regulation play. Greene also noted that the potential is present for the sport of pickleball, but she wanted to ask the possibility of adding more to accomodate with playing with the tennis players. Beaver County Recreation and Tourism Director Tony Caltury explained that “resurfacing of the entire area” needs to be accomplished before exploring all options to add the other lines with the appropriate regulation court size. Caltury also noted that because of a failure of a cooling tower pump, all ice activities like figure skating, public sessions and birthday parties at the Brady’s Run Ice Arena will be shut down at this time for “at best two weeks.” Beaver County Solicitor Garen Fedeles also mentioned that a report confirms that the county ranks first in the state of Pennsylvania in percentage of ballots returned. Beaver County has had over 60% of its mail-in ballots returned as the 2026 primary election in Pennsylvania will take place on May 19th. Fedeles expressed that “a total of 6,401 have been returned out of 10,332.” The public was also informed by Fedeles that the parking garage at the County Courthouse will be shut down for 4-6 weeks starting on Monday due to finalizing its repairs.

New plaza entrance opens at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Sova, Posted on Facebook on May 4th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A new plaza entrance opened Wednesday at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.

The updated entrance features new landscaping with native Pennsylvania plants, additional restrooms and a wind tree sculpture designed to generate renewable energy by capturing wind and solar power, zoo officials said.

Other upgrades include enhanced security features, an access control system, an emergency generator for the front gates, elevators and escalators, and new perimeter fencing.

Zoo officials said admissions will begin at the new entrance gate by the end of May.

The project marks the first completed phase of the zoo’s 20-year master plan. Funding was provided by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, Allegheny County Regional Asset District, Colcom Foundation and The Charity Randall Foundation.

Sale price for new Wegmans store in Cranberry worth just over $14 million

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of KDKA-TV Pittsburgh, Posted on Facebook on May 1st, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) Wegmans Food Markets Inc. has completed a key step toward opening its first store in the Pittsburgh area.

Property records show the Rochester, New York-based grocer has purchased land at the Cranberry Springs development in Cranberry Township.

The site, part of a 100-acre mixed-use project along Route 228 near Interstate 79, was sold by Sippel Enterprises LP and its principal, Gary Sippel, to an entity linked to Wegmans.

According to public records, the property sold for just over $14.1 million. The grocer has been approved to build a 115,000-square-foot store on the roughly 13-acre site.

Demolition of house occurs in Rochester to make way for patients of Dr. George Zambelli’s office amid closure of Adams Street

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Dr. George Zambelli)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Rochester, PA) A demolition project in Rochester is improving access to a local medical office affected by the closure of Adams Street.

George Zambelli said a house was removed Tuesday to create a new route for patients to reach his office parking lot.

Speaking on Beaver County Radio’s “Driving in the Fast Lane,” Zambelli said the road closure had made it difficult for patients to access the property.

He said he worked with borough officials, including demolition expert Matt Cook, to clear the neighboring property and establish new access points.

The plan includes adding an entrance and exit connecting the lot to an alley behind the office between New York Avenue and Ohio Street.

Patients will still need to walk a short distance, but parking will be available along Jefferson Avenue, New York Avenue and Ohio Street.

CNN founder Ted Turner, a brash and outspoken television pioneer, has died at age 87

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Ted Turner speaks during the CNN World Report Contributors banquet in Atlanta on May 4, 1995. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Ted Turner, the brash and outspoken television pioneer who created a media empire and transformed the news business by creating CNN and introducing the 24-hour cable news cycle, died Wednesday. He was 87.

He died surrounded by his family, according to Turner Enterprises, the company that oversees his vast business interests and investments.

Turner’s empire expanded far beyond media — owning professional sports teams in Atlanta and huge chunks of the American West. He raced yachts too, defending the America’s Cup in 1977.

He donated a stunning $1 billion to United Nations charities and fueled conservation efforts through habitat restoration and endangered species work on his sprawling ranches in the West. Turner married three women — most famously actor Jane Fonda — and earned the nicknames “Captain Outrageous” and “The Mouth of the South.”

He once bragged: “If only I had a little humility, I’d be perfect.”

He was slowed in later years by Lewy body dementia. Long since out of the television business, he concentrated on philanthropy and his more than 2 million acres of property, including the nation’s largest bison herd.

His garrulous personality sometimes overshadowed a driven, risk-taking business acumen. By the time he sold his Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner Inc. in a 1996 media megadeal, Turner had turned his late father’s billboard company into a global conglomerate that included seven major cable networks, three professional sports teams and a pair of hit movie studios.

President Donald Trump, reacting to Turner’s death, called him “one of the Greats of All Time.”

“Whenever I needed him, he was there, always willing to fight for a good cause!” Trump posted on social media.

The creation of CNN

Turner’s signature achievement was creating CNN, the first 24-hour, all-news television network in 1980. At a time when news is instantly available, it’s hard to recall that the idea of letting consumers decide when they choose to learn what’s going on in the world was once revolutionary.

In part, Turner’s own frustration with television news was the instigator. He often worked late after the network newscasts had gone off the air, and was in bed by the time his local stations did their own news.

He took a chance by starting the operation sometimes derided as the “chicken noodle network” in the early days of cable television, living in an apartment above its Atlanta office.

“I was going to have to hit hard and move incredibly fast and that’s what we did — move so fast that the (broadcast) networks wouldn’t have the time to respond, because they should have done this, not me,” Turner recalled in a 2016 interview with the Academy of Achievement. “But they didn’t have the imagination.”

CNN’s breakthrough moment came during the Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. Most television journalists had fled Baghdad. CNN stayed, capturing arresting images of a war’s outbreak, with anti-aircraft tracers streaking across the sky and correspondents flinching from the concussion of bombs.

Turner was promised a continued role in CNN after his company’s sale to Time Warner for $7.3 billion in stock, but was gradually pushed out, much to his regret.

“I made a mistake,” he later said. “The mistake I made was losing control of the company.”

That same year — 1996 — saw the birth of Fox News Channel and arrival of a new dominant mogul in cable news, Rupert Murdoch.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav called Turner a visionary and a trailblazer Wednesday.

“Ted’s entrepreneurial spirit, creative ambition and willingness to take risks changed the media industry forever,” Zaslav said in a note to employees.

Building TBS SuperStation

Robert Edward Turner III was born Nov. 19, 1938, in Cincinnati. When he was 9, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia. After being expelled from Brown University for sneaking a female student into his room, Turner came to Atlanta to work for his father’s billboard company.

After his father’s 1963 suicide, Turner took over the company. In 1970, he bought an independent UHF station with a weak signal that didn’t even cover Atlanta.

On Dec. 17, 1976, he began transmitting the station to cable systems across the country via satellite. It became the TBS SuperStation. “It was the start of something bigger than we ever imagined,” Turner said in 1996.

TBS’ collection of old movies and “The Andy Griffith Show” reruns was augmented by Turner’s acquisition of baseball’s Atlanta Braves. Perennial doormats, the Braves slowly attracted fans across the nation and in the 1980s began declaring themselves “America’s team.”

In the 1980s, Turner went deeply into debt to buy MGM, a move again greeted with skepticism.

But the acquisition gave his company a huge library of vintage movies that eventually were parlayed into the TNT and Turner Classic Movies networks. His devotion to older movies earned Turner a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. He was also criticized for adding color to classic movies like “Casablanca,” which he said he did to appeal to a younger audience.

TBS also acquired the Hanna-Barbera animation library, which led to the launch of the Cartoon Network.

“He sees the obvious before most people do,” Bob Wright, former president and CEO of NBC, told The New Yorker in 2001. “We all look at the same picture, but Ted sees what you don’t see. And after he sees it, it becomes obvious to everybody.”

He revealed his ambitions as a younger man: “I used to tell people I wanted to become the world’s greatest sailor, businessman and lover all at the same time.”

Asked to share the secret to his success, he said: “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”

Acquiring sports teams and land

For much of his life a partying roustabout who wooed beautiful women with a roguish charm, the lean, mustachioed sportsman married three times. He was married to Fonda from 1991 to 2001. She quit acting while married to Turner, but tired of his philandering and divorced him, although they remained friends.

“He was sexy. He was brilliant. He had 2 million acres by the time I left. It would have been easy to stay,” Fonda once said of her relationship with Turner.

Turner had an unexpected friendship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, bonding over hunting and arguments about politics over rum and cigars. A once bitter rival who compared Fox’s Murdoch to Adolf Hitler, they later reconciled over their concern for the environment.

Turner built a sports empire, at one point owning professional baseball, basketball and hockey teams in Atlanta. He was best remembered at the helm of the Atlanta Braves, turning the team into champions in the 1990s. Their former stadium, built for the 1996 Olympics, was named Ted Turner Field.

Perhaps Turner’s greatest love was for the land. He acquired millions of acres in ranches complete with roaming buffalo and was Nebraska’s largest private landholder. He spoke often of reviving the West’s bison herds, and in 2002 started a restaurant chain serving bison burgers, Ted’s Montana Grill.

He had a net worth of $2.5 billion in 2023 but had dropped off Forbes magazine’s ranking of the 400 richest Americans in 2021. During a stock market bust, Turner’s net worth went from nearly $10 billion to about $2 billion in two-and-a-half years.

He had enough time, and money, to devote to such lofty goals as promoting world peace and protecting the environment.

“See, my life is more an adventure than a quest to make money. Adventure is going out and doing something for the pure hell of it,” Turner once said. “You just want to see if you can do it, period. There’s no thought of gain other than your own satisfaction.”

‘The Mouth of the South’

Through the years, Turner’s antics occasionally overshadowed his business activities.

Fresh from skippering his boat “Courageous” to the 1977 America’s Cup title, a very inebriated Turner was captured by TV cameras stretched out on the floor at the victory celebration.

Turner managed to insult many with his shoot-from-the-lip style. An atheist since his only sister died of lupus at age 17, he called Christians “losers” and “Jesus freaks,” later apologizing.

He once suggested in a speech that unemployed Black people be used to haul mobile missiles with ropes “like the Egyptians building the pyramids.” After civil rights leaders demanded an apology, he said he was just joking.

Other times, his humor saved him from potentially awkward situations, like when he talked to an audience in Berlin in 1999. “You know, you Germans had a bad century,” Turner said, according to The New Yorker. “You were on the wrong side of two wars. You were the losers. I know what that’s like. When I bought the Atlanta Braves, we couldn’t win, either. You guys can turn it around. You can start making the right choices. If the Atlanta Braves could do it, then Germany can do it.”

Dedication to various causes

Turner, a father of five children, grabbed a leadership role in American philanthropy with his 1997 pledge to give $1 billion, or $100 million a year for 10 years, to United Nations charities. Even as Turner’s fortune shrank after the AOL Time Warner merger, he continued giving money to the U.N., calling it the best hope for peace.

He promoted a range of humanitarian causes. Turner joined former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn to start the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing the threat of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

“If I had to predict, the way things are going, I’d say the chances are about 50-50 that humanity will be extinct in 50 years,” Turner said in 2003. “Weapons of mass destruction, disease, I mean this global warming is scaring the living daylights out of me.”

As he poured millions into nonprofits, Turner was also fond of spreading his wealth in small ways. He once gave $500 to a volunteer fire department that helped extinguish a blaze on one of his ranches. Another time he lent personal paintings for an exhibit at a Bozeman, Montana, museum.

Quaker Valley High School boys track and field wins third straight team WPIAL 2A Championship; North Catholic High School girls win 2026 WPIAL 2A team track and field title

(File Photo of Quaker Valley High School)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(McMurray, PA) The Quaker Valley High School track and field boys team won its third consecutive title at the WPIAL Class 2A Championships in McMurray on Tuesday.

Quaker Valley defeated Riverview 116-34, North Catholic 112-42 and Greensburg Central Catholic 98-52 to secure the championship.

The Quaker Valley girls team, however, saw its four-year run as WPIAL champion come to an end.

Trailing 73-72 entering the 4×400 relay — the final event — North Catholic won the race to clinch a 77-72 victory over Quaker Valley.

Pennsylvania extends two coal plants amid rising energy demand

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – In this file photo from June 10, 2021, a flume of emissions flow from a stack at the Cheswick Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, in Springdale, Pa. Pennsylvania cannot enforce a regulation to make power plant owners pay for their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, a state court ruled Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, dealing another setback to the centerpiece of former Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to fight global warming. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service

(Harrisburg, PA) Two major coal-fired power plants in Pennsylvania that were set to close in 2028 will now stay open through 2032 under a proposed agreement with state regulators. The consent decree requires the Keystone and Conemaugh plants to upgrade their wastewater treatment systems and meet stricter federal standards. Thomas Shuster with the Sierra Club says the decision from Governor Josh Shapiro reflects a surge in energy demand from data centers that could drive up costs statewide. The Shapiro administration says the Keystone and Conemaugh Generating Stations each generate about 17-hundred megawatts of electricity, enough to supply power to hundreds of thousands of homes.

Brett Stephen Parker (1983-2026)

Brett Stephen Parker, 42, of Industry, passed away unexpectedly on May 2nd, 2026. He was born in East Liverpool, Ohio on November 2nd, 1983, the son of Robin (Nichol) Parker and the late Gary Stephen Parker. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his son, Cayden Stephen Parker, his sister, Nina Kristine (Steve) Hronas, his niece and nephew, Emma and Nathan Hronas, his grandmother, Iona Parker, his aunts and uncles: Bonnie Watkins, Connie (Milt) James, Tom Parker, and Phil (Daria) Parker; as well as numerous cousins. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by the mother of his child, Brittany Smith.

Brett was a 2002 graduate of Western Beaver High School. He was a car enthuasist who enjoyed hiking, amusement parks and swimming. He also enjoyed traveling and embraced opportunities to experience new places. He will be remembered for the love and loyalty he felt for his family.

Family and friends will be received for a memorial visitation on Saturday, May 9th, from 11 A.M. until the time of memorial service at 1 P.M. with Pastor Gary Hilton officiating, at the J&J Spratt Funeral Home Inc., 1612 3rd Avenue, New Brighton, who was in charge of his arrangements.

Brett will later be laid to rest at the Beaver Cemetery, Buffalo Street, Beaver.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a trust fund for his son, Cayden, which will be set up in the near future.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Brett Stephen Parker, please visit the flower store of the J&J Spratt Funeral Home, Inc. by clicking here.

Antoinette “Toni” M. Haller (Passed on May 3rd, 2026)

Antoinette “Toni” M. Haller, 86, of Monaca passed away on May 3rd, 2026.

She was born in Rochester, a daughter of the late John and Rose (Guantonio) Pizzuti.  In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her siblings Rosemarie (Jack) Patterson, Terri Burnett, and Tom Pizzuti.She is survived by her husband, George C. Haller; her children, Chris (Dana) Haller and Sara Ball; her grandchildren, Leah Ball, Allison Ball and her fiancé Michael, and Dylan Haller. She is also survived by her brother, John (Denise) Pizzuti, her sister-in-law Michele Pizzuti, and numerous nieces and nephews who will remember her with great affection.

Antoinette was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt. She was a graduate of Monaca High School with its Class of 1958. She carried the values of hard work, loyalty, and devotion throughout her life. She married the love of her life, George C. Haller, on July 11, 1959, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Monaca. The couple met while attending school, and their shared journey grew into a lifelong partnership built on love, respect, and commitment.She was a kind, supportive, faith-filled woman whose life was centered on her family, her friendships, and the many everyday ways she showed love and support to those around her. She retired from working at CCBC, where she worked in various departments and concluded her career in the student records department. Her work ethic and attention to detail reflected the same care and dedication she brought to every part of her life. Family was everything to her, and she was known to many as Mimi, a name that spoke to the love and closeness she shared with those around her. She was deeply involved in the lives of her children and grandchildren, never missing their activities and took great joy in being present for the moments that mattered most. She looked forward to meeting her former high school classmates for lunch once a month, and shopping for her grandchildren. She also enjoyed visiting the casinos and sharing time with those she loved. These interests brought her happiness, but it was her presence and her caring spirit that made her unforgettable.

Friends will be received on Thursday May 7th from 4-8 p.m. at SIMPSON FUNERAL & CREMATON SERVICES, 1119 Washington Avenue, Monaca, who was in charge of her arrangements, and where prayers will be offered on Friday, May 8th at 9:30 a.m. followed by a mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, 1409 Pennsylvania Avenue, Monaca. Entombment will be at Beaver Cemetery Mausoleum, Buffalo Street, Beaver.

Memorial contributions in Toni’s memory may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.

To share online condolences, please visit www.simpsonfuneralhome.com.

Jo Ann (Sinclair) Nichol (1942-2026)

Jo Ann (Sinclair) Nichol, 84, a lifelong resident of Monaca, passed away peacefully on May 4th, 2026 surrounded by her family at AHN Wexford.

She was born in Rochester on March 26th, 1942, a daughter of the late Thomas Sinclair and Virginia (Unrue) Sinclair. She was also preceded in death by her parents, David G. Nichol and Agnes Nichol, her son, Ronald T. Nichol, her brother, Timothy Sinclair, an infant son, Randall Lee Nichol and her in law, Bob (Whitey) Whitehouse.

She is survived by her husband of 67 years, Ronald A. Nichol, two sons, Richard D. (Liz) Nichol of Los Angeles, California and Michael K. Nichol and his partner, Martires of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, one sister, Sue (Ed) Phillips, one brother-in-law, Sonny (Louise) Nichol and numerous great and great great nieces, nephews, and cousins, especially: Colleen (Bruce) Soloman, and Kay (Larry) Allingham, Chuck McCoy, Tammy (Skilly) Skiles, Nancy (Tom) Burger, Jodi (Brent) Haller, Carrie (Rob) Gamache, and Gini (Bob) Baustert, Danny Kross, Tom Kross, Robert Nichol, Sean Nichol, Sherri Nichol, David Nichol, and Ross Nichol.

Jo Ann was a graduate of Monaca High School with its class of 1960, where she excelled in academics, cheerleading, and student counseling. She later graduated from the Community College of Beaver County with a degree in Medical Technology in 1976. She then was employed by Sewickley Valley Hospital and the Medical Center of Beaver County for over 30 years. Her interests included volunteering at the Senior Center at the Beaver Valley Mall, chair volleyball, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers. She was an avid fan of her son’s and husband’s sports and activities and was a member at St. John the Baptist Church in Monaca.

Friends will be received Wednesday, May 6th from 2 p.m. until the time of a blessing service at 5 p.m. at SIMPSON FUNERAL & CREMATION SERVICES, 1119 Washington Avenue, Monaca, who was in charge of her arrangements. The family extends an invitation to join them at 6 p.m. for a funeral repast at the Beaver Valley Sportsman’s Club, 1001 Grant Street, Monaca following the blessing service. Private burial will take place on Thursday at St. John the Baptist Cemetery, 1270 Chapel Road, Monaca.

The Family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the staff at AHN Wexford Hospital and AGH Hospital in Pittsburgh.

In Lieu of flowers the family requests memorial contributions to be made to the National Kidney Foundation in Jo Ann’s honor.