Harrisburg, PA – With Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of the summer travel season, less than a week away, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), and Highway Safety Network (HSN) are urging motorists to drive safe. The agencies are working with municipal police departments and other safety partners across the commonwealth to participate in the National “Click It or Ticket” (CIOT) Enforcement Mobilization running through June 5.

“Seat belts save lives,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “Through continued enforcement and education, we hope to see more people buckling up and fewer fatal crashes on Pennsylvania’s roads.”

In 2021 there were 12,672 crashes in Pennsylvania where at least one occupant was not wearing a seat belt, resulting in 378 fatalities.

In 2020, it is estimated that 94% of unbelted occupants, or 305 people, who were killed in crashes while traveling in passenger vehicles, including cars, small trucks, vans, and SUVs, could have survived if they had been buckled up.

PSP data from 2021 indicated during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, troopers investigated 844 crashes that resulted in eight fatalities and 183 injuries. State Police also cited 1,025 individuals for not wearing seat belts and issued 144 tickets for not securing children in safety seats.

As part of the enforcement mobilization, state and local police, along with law enforcement across the United States, participated in a Border-to-Border initiative on May 23 to provide increased seat belt enforcement at state borders, reinforcing the states’ focus on safety.

Pennsylvania law requires any occupant younger than 18 to buckle up when riding in a vehicle, as well as drivers and front-seat passengers. Children under the age of 2 must be secured in a rear-facing car seat, and children under the age of 4 must be restrained in an approved child safety seat. Children must ride in a booster seat until their eighth birthday.

In addition to adopting a zero-tolerance approach toward violators, troopers certified as child passenger safety technicians will offer car seat fittings and inspections throughout Pennsylvania, helping ensure that car seats are in good working condition, installed properly, and free from recalls.

“State police child passenger safety technicians undergo thorough training and are available to assist you,” said Major Jeremy Richard, acting PSP deputy commissioner of operations. “We encourage everyone to take advantage of this free resource to help keep their youngest passengers safe while traveling.”

A complete list of child passenger seat fitting stations is available at psp.pa.gov.

Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Liaisons (LEL), a grant-funded program administered by the Highway Safety Network (HSN), are a vital link between PennDOT and local police agencies across the state. More than 400 municipal agencies are participating in the CIOT enforcement and education initiative to help reduce unbelted injuries and deaths on all Pennsylvania roadways.

“Once again, we are coordinating with our law enforcement agencies and highway safety partners during the national “Click It or Ticket” enforcement campaign to educate people on the importance of wearing seat belts,” said HSN Executive Director Bob Schaeffer. “Law enforcement plays a critical role in increasing seat belt use by combining public awareness activities with targeted seat belt enforcement. Seat belts save lives. The single, most important thing you can do to protect yourself in a vehicle is to buckle up every time.”

The CIOT enforcement is part of Pennsylvania’s Highway Safety Program and is funded by part of PennDOT’s investment of federal funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

PennDOT encourages motorists to visit 511PA’s Historic Holiday Traffic page to plan optimal travel times on major roadways across the state this Memorial Day weekend. The holiday travel tool allows the public to see how traffic speeds on the Friday before and on Memorial Day in 2019 and 2021 compare to traffic conditions during a typical, non-holiday week. Users can choose their region and view an hour-by-hour, color-coded representation of traffic speeds to help determine the best times to travel during the holiday.

While PennDOT will remove lane restrictions and suspend construction projects wherever possible, the Historic Holiday Traffic page also allows the public to view interstate restrictions that will be in place during the holiday travel period.

The public can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles in Pennsylvania by visiting www.511PA.com. The service, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional Twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

For more information on seat belt safety visit, www.PennDOT.pa.gov/Safety.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is releasing the statement below ahead of the expected announcement this afternoon by the White House on executive orders being issued to address police reform in the United States.

“Today marks two years since the murder of George Floyd under the knee of a now-convicted former police officer in the streets of Minneapolis. I am encouraged by the Administration’s steps to further the national effort on police reforms, as law enforcement and community leaders did hand-in-hand here in Pennsylvania in the wake of Mr. Floyd’s murder. The bipartisan Pennsylvania police misconduct database was signed into law two years ago, after I worked to bring community advocates, labor leaders, and law enforcement together to support this initiative. Our Pennsylvania effort was a clear building block that showed a path for this national effort. Additionally, my office has implemented similar reforms to our use of force policies including chokeholds and no knock warrants. Now we need to redouble our efforts to ensure our local police departments are fully staffed with those dedicated to this noble profession. And as I have said before, officers who engage in misconduct or use excessive force erode trust in law enforcement and make it harder for our communities to be and feel safe.”

(Hopewell Township, PA) Hopewell Commissioners met Monday night and approved  8 bids for road materials for its  road program at Monday night’s meeting.  Terry Rosinsky’s bid  of $10,050 for replacement of roofs on Pavilions 2 and 4 at the township park was approved.

HARRISBURG – May 25, 2022 – Today, Pennsylvania Senate Democrats wrote a following letter to Republican leaders in response to rampant gun violence and mass shootings that have become too common in the United States. Just this year, 215 mass shootings have taken place in the country, with the devastating shooting that occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022, being the 215^th.

In the letter, the caucus calls on the Republican majority to act on “reasonable and responsible legislation and appropriations” that does not infringe on Second Amendment rights but will help keep guns away from bad actors and support gun violence prevention. Senate Democrats list seven bills that have been introduced to mitigate gun violence but have sat in committee with no discussion or votes. They also highlight how American Rescue Plan dollars and Pennsylvania’s current budget surplus can be used to help communities prevent horrific violence.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio

(Hopewell Township, PA)  The annual Memorial Day observance  begins with a parade led by the Hopewell Vikings band proceeding from the high school on Longvue Avenue to  Laird Drive and onto Brodhead Road at 10:30 a.m. Monday.  The annual observance, sponsored by VFW Post 8805 will begin at approximately 11 a.m. at the memorial located at the junior high school.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has announced more steps to make the antiviral treatment Paxlovid more accessible across the U.S. as it projects COVID-19 infections will continue to spread over the summer travel season. The nation’s first federally backed test-to-treat site is opening Thursday in Rhode Island. The site will provide patients with immediate access to the drug once they test positive. More federally supported sites are set to open in the coming weeks in Massachusetts and New York City, both hit by a marked rise in infections. Next week, the U.S. will send authorized federal prescribers to several Minnesota-run testing sites, turning them into test-to-treat locations.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s top election official says the margin between the top two candidates in last week’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate is tight enough to trigger a recount. The state’s acting secretary of state, Leigh Chapman, said the vote totals for celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick fall within the recount margin in state law. Oz, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, led McCormick by 902 votes out of more than 1.3 million ballots counted as of Wednesday. The separation between the candidates is well within the the recount law’s 0.5% margin. A recount could take until June 8.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An effort by Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania to ban owning, selling or making high-capacity, semi-automatic firearms isn’t going to be taken up by state lawmakers. Pennsylvania House Republicans on Wednesday again displayed their firm opposition to gun restriction proposals. The House voted 111 to 87 against the effort to take up the bill. Republican floor leader Kerry Benninghoff argued it should have to go through a committee first. The bill has spent more than a year in the Judiciary Committee, where the Republican chairman has bottled up most proposals to regulate or restrict firearms. Just one Republican and one Democrat crossed party lines in the vote against considering the bill.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 26, 2022 7:58 A.M.

(Aliquippa, PA) The city planning commission approved a recommendation by the city planning commission for the proposed tin mill site submitted by Betters Real Estate Holdings, L.P. for their property on Woodlawn Road.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 26, 2022 7:55 A.M. 

(Aliquippa, PA)  ALIQUIPPA POLICE CHIEF JOHN LANE ASKED COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE PROMOTION OF OFFICER JOSH GONZALEZ TO SERGEANT. GONZALEZ WAS HIRED BY COUNCIL  AUGUST 2, 2018.  GONZALEZ, WAS PROMOTED WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE CITY’S WORK SESSION.