(Photos courtesy of Mike Romigh)
Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Koppel, Pa.) Santa Claus took a break from getting ready for Christmas at the North Pole and stopped by Al’s Corner in Koppel on Thursday night. Beaver County Radio’s Mike Romigh just happened to be lucky enough to be there to see Santa. Mike talked with Rachel McGreal from Al’s about their annual Christmas party and asked Rachel why she does this every year and McGreal said that it is her way of giving back to the community and supporting the people who support Al’s Corner. She told Mike that this is the third year that Al’s has had a Christmas Party and 150 kids signed up to participate which Rachel said was the most ever. Each child received a gift with their name on it and there was pizza, cookies and hot chocolate and the kids could register for prizes.  You can see a couple photos of the fun below.

(File Photo)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio n
(Pittsburgh, Pa.) On Thursday afternoon DLC and IBEW Local 29  the first-of-its kind apprenticeship. The flagship program will give the DLC  overhead line workers  an opportunity  to become accredited “journey-level workers” a  ,according to Ashley Mycik, external communications representative. This indicates that an individual  has completed  a registered apprenticeship that provides  extensive hands-on and classroom training. The program is the first to be offered in the electric utility industry  to encourage new, diverse workers to enter the field.

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Brighton Twp., Pa,) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they were dispatched to the scene of a one vehicle accident on Interstate 376 in Brighton Twp. around 9:25 PM on Monday night.
Troopers reported via release that 22-year-old Dylan Brown of Beaver Falls was driving a 2014 Toyota Corolla west bound on I-376 when he became sick and lost control of the vehicle. Brown’s car drifted from the left lane and struck guardrail then ricocheted off of the guardrail across both lanes of traffic and came to a final rest entangled in the guard wire. Brown was not injured it the accident and his vehicle had to be towed from the scene.

FILE – Pennsylvania House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, speaks in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 7, 2022. Democrats in the Pennsylvania House are moving to control the chamber after they barely won back enough seats in November but one of their incumbents died and two others won higher office. Shortly after McClinton was sworn in on the House floor on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 she scheduled special elections for Feb. 7 for all three seats. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania House’s Republican leader is seeking to wait until the May primary before holding special elections in two vacant districts. The filing of election paperwork Thursday by Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County is the latest move in a power struggle over control of the nearly evenly divided chamber. Democrats won barely enough seats in November to reclaim the majority. But one of their successful candidates died of cancer in October and two others have just resigned after being elected to Congress and as lieutenant governor. Cutler has sued over Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton’s decision to file separate paperwork seeking to hold all three contests on Feb. 7.

(Photo provided with release)

Keystone State News Connection

Danielle Smith

New rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency would require regular inspections of all methane-emitting oil and gas production sites throughout the country. In Pennsylvania, groups that support the rules say they’ll open the door for more jobs in the natural-gas industry.

Isaac Brown, executive director of the Center for Methane Emission Solutions, noted there is a market now for technologies and companies to help energy producers address emissions, which means they’ll need more workers.

“Jobs can be created to help companies comply with these rules,” he said, “but because these rules will result in more product being saved that can be brought to market, producers can also actually see their profits increase.”

The new rules are meant to supplement the comprehensive rules to capture more methane from leaks and flaring at well sites that the Biden administration released last year.

John Walliser, senior vice president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, explained that methane has more than 80 times the global-warming power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere – so curbing emissions is a way to slow climate change. He said that’s important for Pennsylvania in several ways, because of the high number of wells in the state.

“The first is that the rule ensures that consistent leak detection and repair standards are applied at well sites,” he said, “particularly for those that have equipment known to malfunction and cause fugitive emissions.”

He said the rule will also require that operators monitor and report on low-producing or abandoned well sites until they are properly plugged and closed.

Walliser added that the EPA rules will mean other harmful pollutants are curbed as well as methane because of the more sophisticated technologies that will be used. He said that will also ensure methane can be captured and sold instead of escaping into the air.

“When you prevent fugitive emissions, you’re preventing the waste of these resources, and that leads to cost savings, both for the oil and gas operators themselves as well as energy consumers,” he said. “The other benefit we see for Pennsylvania is that it’s going to help drive new technologies and the growth of businesses here in the state, in the methane-mitigation space.”

He said several service and manufacturing firms already are located in Pennsylvania, and many are small businesses that can take advantage of these new opportunities.

(Photo Provided with release)

Keystone State News Connection

Danielle Smith

A Pennsylvania policy analysis group is adding its voice to the calls for Congress to bring back the expanded child tax credit for families in place during the pandemic. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center said it could be included in the end-of-year spending package.

When the expanded Child Tax Credit was in effect, it helped boost millions of families above the federal poverty level, with a few hundred dollars a month per child.

Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, said the Child Tax Credit reduced poverty for 5.3 million people. He argued policymakers have the power to help address childhood poverty again and thinks Congress should not pass corporate tax breaks unless it also expands tax credits for families.

“We’re telling Congress people that they ought to make a deal,” Stier stated. “We’re not crazy about some of those corporate tax cuts. Well, if we’re going to give tax cuts to billionaires, we ought to be giving help to the poorest kids in our country, and that’s a deal we can live with. And it’s a deal they should include in the budget negotiations this month.”

When it was in effect, the expanded Child Tax Credit provided monthly payments of $250 to $300 per child to families, depending on the child’s age. Without the expanded program, an estimated 627,000 kids in Pennsylvania missed out on the full credit. Opponents in Congress argued the credit contributes to inflation.

Stier noted since Congress allowed the child tax credit expansion to lapse, child poverty in the Keystone State has risen by 40% and the number of people who do not always have enough to eat increased by 25%. He said families are struggling to pay their bills without the expansion of the credit.

“We’re hearing from parents who are having trouble heating their homes, having trouble paying for food, having trouble paying for child care, so they can actually go out into the workforce,” Stier observed. “A little extra money a month, which we give to upper middle-class families making $400,000 a year, we certainly can give that to low-income families as well.”

Congress has until Friday to enact the final spending measure and pass another continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded, or risk a partial government shutdown.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Despite the mostly empty seats at the December 15 meeting, the New Brighton Borough Council moved ahead with the passing of several measures regarding the maintenance of finances heading into the new year.

Following a payment of the bills totaling $634,121.23 (including a $374,521.02 reimbursement), the Council approved the adoption of a 2023 balanced budget along with a $29 million tax millage–an amount that will mean no tax increase for the borough. Salaries for non-union employees were approved for a 1% raise for 2023, and the benefits were amended to include paid time off for regular part-time employees. “After three years of employment, they would be entitled to one week paid vacation,” stated borough manager Tom Albanese, “plus they could accrue an additional 1.5 days off for every 500 hours of work.”

The council also approved a year-end capital fund transfer that would transfer the remaining general fund to the 2023 pool, before approving a tax exoneration for the purchase of a property at 414 3rd Avenue by Jessica Wilson. The resolution drew concern from Council Vice President John Ramer and council member Jay Glover, but solicitor Ken Fawcett notified the council that there was no power that they could wield in this decision, leading to a reluctantly unanimous approval.

Twelve roads were approved for submission to be re-paved beginning in 2023, most of which are alleys and small stretches of road throughout the main borough “because they are in poor condition,” per Albanese. He also stated that several of the roads will be paved with “flex base” pavement, which will have to be re-sealed following a two-year period. The proposal for the road maintenance will be sent to Widmer Engineering.

The regular meeting closed with an executive session that the public would have been excluded from–if any members of the public were in attendance.

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff

(Potter Twp., Beaver county, Pa.) The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation to Shell for emissions exceedances at the Cracker Plant in Potter Twp.
DEP said in a release that during the initial startup of the facility in September and October, the cracker plant’s emissions of volatile organic compounds exceeded the limit set in its approved air quality plan. Emissions data from Shell in November also showed increases but not exceedances of other air contaminants like carbon monoxide and hazardous air pollutants
As part of its investigation, the DEP requested Shell submit a root cause analysis and description of efforts to minimize flaring and an emissions exceedance report and mitigation plan that evaluates the commissioning process from the facility.
The DEP said the notice of violation is just an initial step and it’s actively investigating and getting additional information, data and reporting from Shell.