Author: Beaver County Radio

Brush fire occurs in Chippewa Township

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Gavin Thunberg)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Chippewa Township, PA) Chippewa Township Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched around 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon to an address on Park Road because of a brush fire that occurred behind the home. While they were enroute, another report came in that the fire had possibly started behind another home on Winterburn Road and spread to the original dispatched location. Law Enforcement arrived and they reported a fire the size of a football field in the woods. A large fire was found and was also reported to be endangering a structure. Crews got the fire under control very quickly.  

Cruz homers twice, O’Hearn and Reynolds also go deep as Pirates beat Reds 8-3

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Pirates’ Ryan O’Hearn follows through after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

CINCINNATI (AP) — Oneil Cruz homered twice and Ryan O’Hearn hit a three-run shot as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 on Tuesday night.

O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds went back-to-back in the second inning. Cruz finished with three hits and three RBIs. He also scored three times.

The Reds were held hitless until Jose Trevino singled off reliever Hunter Barco with one out in the seventh. Pirates rookie starter Bubba Chandler tossed 4 1/3 innings with six strikeouts, but also walked six.

Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz hit consecutive homers off Barco to trim the Pirates’ lead to 6-3 in the eighth.

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly was ejected in the eighth for arguing with plate umpire Jordan Baker.

Cruz hit a solo homer in the fourth off left-hander Brandon Williamson, then provided insurance for Pittsburgh with a two-run homer off Pierce Johnson in the ninth.

Williamson made his first major league appearance since Sept. 1, 2024. He missed last season following left elbow surgery.

Williamson (0-1) allowed consecutive homers in the second to O’Hearn and Reynolds that made it 5-0.

It was the 139th career homer for Reynolds, tying Jason Bay for ninth on the franchise list.

Chandler issued three walks in the third but allowed only one run, helped when TJ Friedl popped into a double play attempting to bunt.

The Reds’ first run scored when Reynolds and Cruz allowed Ke’Bryan Hayes’ flyball to drop between them in left-center. It was initially ruled a single but later changed to an error on Reynolds in left, keeping the no-hit bid intact for a while.

Cincinnati had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth but Yohan Ramírez (1-0) struck out Matt McLain and De La Cruz to end the inning.

Up next

Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (0-1) looks to rebound from a rough opener Wednesday.

Reds: LHP Andrew Abbott (0-0) tossed six shutout innings last Thursday.

Malkin collects career point 1,399 in return from injury, Penguins race by reeling Red Wings 5-1

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin waits for play to resume in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche Monday, March 16, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Egor Chinakov had a goal and an assist, Evgeni Malkin added an assist in his return to the lineup and the Pittsburgh Penguins raced past the sagging Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Tuesday night.

A night after blowing out the New York Islanders on the road, Pittsburgh followed it up with another impressive performance against one of the teams it is trying to fend off for a playoff spot.

Chinakov, Rickard Rakell, and Anthony Mantha scored first-period goals to give the Penguins a massive early cushion that the Red Wings never really threatened to overcome. Justin Brazeau ended a 12-game goal drought, and Stuart Skinner stopped 22 shots for Pittsburgh, which remained in second place in the Metropolitan Division with seven games left in the regular season despite missing veteran forward Bryan Rust, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury.

Detroit, which was in first place in the Atlantic Division at the season’s midway point, has dropped four of five and remains on the outside of the chase for one of the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots. Dylan Larkin scored to reach the 30-goal plateau for the fifth straight season, but John Gibson, a Pittsburgh native, struggled early and was pulled after the first period while falling to 6-10-1 all-time against his hometown team.

Rakell pushed his point streak to six games when he ripped a shot from the slot that beat Gibson just 4:10 into the first. Rakell has seven goals during his late-season hot streak.

Malkin, who hadn’t played since March 22 due to an upper-body injury, provided a jolt in his return to the lineup. The Russian star was part of a scrum at the Detroit net and somehow helped the puck end up on Mantha’s stick.

Mantha, an 11-year veteran having the finest season of his career, pumped in the rebound 8:34 into the first to make it 2-0. The assist pushed Malkin’s career point total to 1,399.

Chinakov made it 3-0 late in the first when his shot from just outside the left circle slipped by Gibson, and the Penguins cruised from there. The 25-year-old has 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) in 36 games with Pittsburgh after being acquired from Columbus in December.

Up next

Red Wings: At Philadelphia on Thursday.

Penguins: At Tampa Bay on Thursday.

 

New initiative aims to help people avoid criminal charges and receive treatment in Beaver County

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published March 31, 2026 4:19 P.M.

(Beaver, Pa) Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday made a stop to the Beaver Courthouse Tuesday to announce a new program for Beaver County that aims to help those with substance abuse or mental health challenges.

The LETI Program, which stands for Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative, is a program used by PA counties to avoid giving criminal charges to individuals who may simply just need help.  The program allows for the police to recommend LETI for individuals facing charges. Upon successful completion those charges are dismissed.

“The LETI program empowers law enforcement officers to be proactive in their communities by identifying those individuals who get trapped in the criminal system due to mental health and substance abuse issues,” Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible said. “Nobody knows and understands the members of their communities better than those who police them.”

Multiple local police Chiefs were in attendance to show support for the announcement.

Beaver County Behavioral Health Administrator Lisa McCoy stated “Beaver County Behavioral Health is dedicated to connecting community members experiencing mental health and/or substance use disorders to treatment and various support services,” By introducing a LETI program in the county, we can improve law enforcement’s ability to connect our behavioral health consumers to treatment, in addition to reducing consumer engagement with the criminal justice system.”

When the program is up and running, individuals will also be able to walk into the police station, probation office, sheriff’s department, or the local drug and alcohol authority and ask to be connected to drug and alcohol or behavioral health services.

Attorney General Sunday said “Beaver County is making an important breakthrough by launching LETI and backing it with behavioral health support from the get-go, we’ve seen what this strategy can accomplish: it supports families, breaks cycles, and increases community safety.”

The program is currently operating in numerous other counties throughout the state.

Plaques for the customizable “Bucco Bricks” return in time for Pirates’ 2026 home opener at PNC Park

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of WTAE TV Pittsburgh, Posted on Facebook on March 30th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The “Bucco Bricks,” which are personalized bricks that Pittsburgh Pirates fans can purchase and customize to honor someone with a message, returned to PNC Park this week just in time for the team’s home opener on Friday. The plaques are located on the north part of the park on West General Robinson Street, between Federal Street and Bill Mazeroski Way. The Pirates announced following the 2024 season that they would replace the bricks over the winter for the third time as they had deteriorated because of years of exposure to the elements and wear and tear from fans walking over them. Upset fans found them gone with paved cement over them at PNC Park in April of last year, and they were recycled to be destroyed. Pirates team president Travis Williams and owner Bob Nutting apologized for this incident and also gave fans a chance to get a free commemorative replica of their “Bucco Bricks.” The Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County would release their own investigation into this matter, and it showed that after excavating all the bricks, the Pirates wrapped them up on wooden pallets to give back to fans. It also found out that the team then sent those pallets out to be destroyed, instead of giving the bricks back to the fans if they wanted them.

Sources: Pitt sophomore guard and former Lincoln Park standout Brandin Cummings plans to enter the college basketball transfer portal

(Caption for Photo: Pitt’s Brandin Cummings plays against Hofstra on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Andrew Leon | Pitt Athletics)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) According to Joe Tipton of On3 Sports, sophomore guard and former Lincoln Park boys high school basketball standout Brandin Cummings plans to enter the college basketball transfer portal after two seasons at Pitt. Cummings averaged 12.5 points per game this season in nineteen games. He started in nine of those games. The Midland native suffered a season-ending ankle injury halfway through this season. Cummings was one of the top-ranked recruits in Pennsylvania in high school and he was ranked among the state’s top-five players. Brandin also joined his brother, Nelly Cummings as a 2,000 point scorer during his career at Lincoln Park. Nelly Cummings also played college basketball for Pitt.

Aliquippa man arrested at a GetGo in Penn Hills after being found with suspected drugs, a gun, and approximately $7,000

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, Posted on Facebook on March 31st, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Penn Hills, PA) A man from Aliquippa was apprehended yesterday at a GetGo in Penn Hills after he was found with a large amount of money, a gun and suspected drugs. Allegheny County Sheriff Kevin M. Kraus announced today that thirty-four-year-old Fidell Eberhart is facing a charge of resisting arrest as well as firearms charges and drug charges. This incident occurred at the GetGo on Frankstown Road just after 4 p.m. Three task force members were conducting operations in Penn Hills on the day of the incident. One of them was a detective from the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office who is also a member of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force. The other two were task force members from the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and the Allegheny County Police Department. They found Eberhart in the GetGo with what appeared to be a handgun, which was inside of the front pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. Eberhart then went into the restroom. After he exited it, he was ordered by the task force members to put his hands behind his back. He tried to escape them and reached for the weapon a few times before one of the task force members handcuffed him and another retrieved the gun. It was a Glock Model 22 and it was found to have a round in the chamber and a fully loaded magazine. A subsequent search of Eberhart revealed a baggie containing forty-five stamp bags of suspected narcotics and approximately $7,000 before he was transported to the Allegheny County Jail.

Ross Township artist Kenneth Hall will have a solo art show in Cranberry Township during the month of April

(File Photo of the Cranberry Township Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) Kenneth Hall will have a solo art show at the Cranberry Artists Network Art Gallery during the month of April. This will be at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center, which is open Mondays-Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Fridays from 7:30 a.m.to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hall, a resident of Ross Township, has been an active artist for more than 50 years having started out as an illustrator. He taught Visual Arts for the Pittsburgh Public Schools for 27 years, until 2016, when he had to take a Medical Retirement. After a fifteen-year hiatus from art, he was encouraged to start doing art as therapy. He studied and practiced Art Therapy techniques to help himself heal. His new art forms are no longer illustrations as a result, but are more diverse using personal history and social commentary. Realistic representation changed to emotion and emotional subjects, colors and forms that dominate his work as a tool of self-expression. He earned a Bachelors degree from West Virginian University and a Master’s Degree from Penn State University in Art Education. He has won awards for his work in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, mainly in University gallery settings. This show is his fourth one-man exhibit, having previously shown at the Chambers and Paul Robeson Cultural Center galleries at Penn State, and the Huston Gallery. Hall is also a father of five boys.

Holly A. (McGaffick) Gantz (Passed on March 30th, 2026)

Holly A. (McGaffick) Gantz, 72, of Center Township, a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt and friend passed away on March 30th, 2026, at Heritage Valley, Beaver. She was born in New Brighton, a daughter of the late Robert D. McGaffick and Olive Grace (Boyd) Moore. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her son, Wayne T. Eder, her brother, Robert James McGaffick, and her former fiancé, Raymond Maylone. She is survived by her daughters: Elizabeth (John) Hovan, Theresa Eder and Chris Maderia, and Amanda (Jeremy) Rodgers; as well as eight grandchildren: Elecia McGrantham (Dante), Jake and Joshua Hovan, Jeremy “JD” Rodgers, Jr., Roland Rodgers, Rylee and June Eder, and Carrie (Matt) Stumpf; along with three great-grandchildren, Decklan and Laiten Hawkins and Haven Stumpf. She is also survived by her former husband, Harry “Ted” Eder, her sisters, Linda Hall, Debbie Glass and Carol Armendariz and a brother, David McGaffick, along with many nieces, nephews, her “adopted” children such as her children’s stepsister, Ashley Lewandowski (Tim) and many special friends who will forever hold her close in their hearts.

Holly was raised in Beaver County, where she learned the values of hard work, kindness, and loyalty and was known for her smiling face and always having a positive personality. She worked for a few years at the former Geriatric Center before moving to Tucson, Arizona in 1994. There, she began a new chapter in her life and started her career as a phlebotomist. After returning home, she continued her professional life with the American Red Cross, where she served with care and commitment. Above all, she was a mother to everyone. She welcomed people into her life with open arms and a loving heart, and she was known for having many “adopted” children who found comfort, guidance, and encouragement in her presence.

Family and friends will be received on Thursday, April 2nd from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. at SIMPSON FUNERAL & CREMATION SERVICES, 1119 Washington Avenue, Monaca, who was in charge of her arrangements, and where services will be held on Friday, April 3rd at 11 a.m. with her nephew, LeRoy McGee, officiating.

A special thank you is extended for the care and dedication that was received from Heritage Valley, Beaver’s nurses Craig and Doug and the hospital staff from time she entered the ER to the CCU that saw her through to the end.

The family has suggested memorial contributions be made, if desired in Holly’s name to Suicide Prevention or the Beaver County Heart and Cancer Association, 3582 Brodhead Road #201, Monaca, PA 15061.

I-376 Parkway West Sweeping Operations This Week in Allegheny County

(File Photo of Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that daylight and overnight lane and shoulder restrictions on I-376 (Parkway West) between Findlay Township and the City of Pittsburgh will begin tonight, weather permitting, so PennDOT crews can conduct sweeping operations. A mobile single-lane and shoulder restriction will occur as needed on I-376, according to the following schedule:

·       Tuesday through Thursday nightly from 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM each night – I-376 in each direction between the Fort Pitt Tunnel and the Erie/Washington/I-79 (Exit 64A) interchange

·       Wednesday through Friday from 4:00 AM to noon each day – I-376 in the westbound (outbound) direction between the Erie/Washington/I-79 (Exit 64A) interchange and the Beaver County line

·       Wednesday through Friday from noon to 8:00 PM each day – I-376 in the eastbound (inbound) direction between the Beaver County line and Erie/Washington/I-79 (Exit 64A) interchange.