(Photo Provide by Keystone News Exchange)

Monday, January, 10, 2022 at 5:47 AM

Keystone State News Connection

January 10, 2022

Emily Scott

A devastating fire in a Philadelphia public-housing rowhome last week killed 12 people, eight of them children.

In the aftermath, advocates say government leaders need to address the city’s affordable-housing crisis to ensure the tragedy doesn’t happen again.

According to officials, 26 people were living in the duplex apartment at the time of the fire. The Philadelphia Housing Authority does not limit the number of people who can live in a single unit.

Jenna Collins, staff attorney for Community Legal Services, pointed out there are very few large affordable-housing units for multigenerational families. She said it is a symptom of inadequate funding for subsidized housing.

“If you look at the HUD budget for public housing today adjusted for inflation, it has gone down significantly since 30 years ago,” Collins observed. “As families do grow, there’s nowhere to transfer them and allow them to keep that subsidy that is often the difference between them affording rent and becoming homeless.”

An investigation by Philadelphia Fire, the city’s police department and federal support from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is under way. The property, which is owned and operated by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, last received an inspection last April and May.

The Philadelphia Housing Authority said the cost of repairs to its buildings exceeds one billion dollars. It could receive some increased funding if Congress passes the Build Back Better Act. Collins said PHA struggles to keep up with repairs that do not appear immediately life-threatening.

“The housing authority is trying to respond to things that feel emergent in the moment like three inches of sewer water in a basement,” Collins explained. “So they do not have the funds to update the really old housing stock, so we really are seeing the result of that lack of funds to improve infrastructure.”

Some solutions PHA could implement to make older units safer include hard-wiring smoke detectors, which new public housing units in Philadelphia already have. All six smoke alarms in the building were inoperable at the time of the fire, officials said.

Story, photos and Video by Mark Peterson. Published 4:00 P.M. January 8, 2022

Featured photo- The new 2 bay F.M. Antenna mounted atop the WMBA broadcast tower in Bell Acres, PA.
(Ambridge, PA)  January was already the birthday of a very famous entity in the entertainment industry, that being Elvis Presley.  Today, one can only wonder how pleased “The King” would have been looking down from Rock ‘N Roll Heaven on his 87th birthday and witnessing the birth of what will most likely become another entertainment legend, in Beaver County, PA.  That’s because on a 19 degree Saturday morning, Beaver County Radio and St. Barnabas Broadcasting engineers, Jim Roush and Greg Resh braved the elements and officially turned on a new F.M. radio station, 95.7 F.M.

The new station is an additional license  grant to bolster the coverage of existing Ambridge A.M. radio station, 1460 WMBA.  The construction of the new station, W239CR-95.7 F.M. was completed in December, and final approval to turn on the bright, new F.M. signal was just received on Friday.  Shortly after firing up the transmitter, e mails and texts began coming in from other station staffers in Brighton Township and New Brighton reporting that 95.7 was coming in great. One company official even chimed in that the “Signal was strong in Gibsonia!”

Video of the historic moment when 95.7 F.M. went on the air:

95.7 F.M. will be the fourth radio station in the Beaver County Radio cluster of stations operated by St. Barnabas Broadcasting Inc.  The new station joins 1230 WBVP and 99.3 F.M. in Beaver Falls and 1460 WMBA in Ambridge.  95.7 F.M. will be another simulcast outlet for the popular mix of local news, talk and sports programming already being aired on the other radio stations .  Listeners will most likely notice a larger coverage area that will add a significant geographic footprint farther south and east to the current robust Beaver County Radio market area. St. Barnabas Broadcasting, Inc. also owns and operates conservative talk juggernaut, 1320 WJAS and it’s F.M. counterpart, 99.1 F.M. in Pittsburgh.

WMBA originally went on the air via the same tower and transmitter site still in use in Bell Acres, PA on September 19, 1957.  The addition of an F.M. radio station to the broadcast site marks a very significant improvement and upgrade to the class B A.M. station that was founded by a group of  businessmen from Pottsville, PA sixty-five years ago.

While it’s only conjecture, it’s pretty safe to assume that in 1957, the station was entertaining the masses by playing an Elvis tune or two, just as it is today in honor of his birthday.

Live deer found in car’s hatchback during traffic stop
NEWBERRYTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Police who pulled over a suspected drunken or drugged driver in Pennsylvania discovered a live deer that had apparently been hit and then placed in the hatchback area of her car. The animal was freed after the stop Thursday by police in Newberry Township. Police say the car’s occupants told officers they had realized the deer was still alive but kept driving. Police told a passenger to release the deer. It was seen in a video posted by police struggling as it was carried across the road. Police say the 19-year-old driver is being investigated for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

(Story by Matt Drzik/Photo by Mark Peterson)

“I do believe that Beaver County will be the fastest-growing county in the Commonwealth.”

That statement, said (twice, in fact) by Commissioners Chairman Dan Camp, summed up the optimistic attitude of the Board of Commissioners at the 2022 State Of The County breakfast event. The event was presented by the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce, who acknowledged their 50-year anniversary coming up in July of 2022, with BCCoC president Helen Kissick as the master of ceremonies.

Camp spoke along with fellow Commissioner Jack Manning at Geneva College’s Alexander Hall about many of the different concerns and issues involving Beaver County citizens, with Tracy Lawless of K&L Gates mediating the ceremony. Commissioner Tony Amadio was absent from the ceremony due to personal reasons.

Major topics of optimism were the ongoing push towards broadband connection for households in Beaver County, the beginning of many infrastructure creations and renovations for the county with the $17 million ARPA grant money the commissioners are allotting, and the continued success in areas such as the development of the Shell Ethane cracker plant and the ongoing success of the AHN Cancer Center and the St. Barnabas Health System.

“We’ve really tried to work hard to diversify the economy as much as we can,” Manning said. “And a lot of the expenditures that we’re doing with the money coming in through the CARES Act and now with the American Rescue Plan Act is to build the infrastructure and foundation for greater growth and development…residential growth and  development as well as business and industry.”

On the other side though, were the challenges and roadblocks that lie ahead in 2022 for Beaver County; chief among them being the continuance of the reassessment process for county buildings and residences. “At the end of the day we have to follow what the law says, and the law says we have to reassess,” Camp said. “It’s costing the county up to $10 million…it might have been something that was long overdue, but we’re going to fight through it.”

Other roadblocks mentioned were the ongoing struggles to cooperate with CSX–whose reluctance is delaying the final inspection of the Ambridge-Aliquippa bridge and (if funded) the creation of the Blacks Run Bridge–and the continuance of the coronavirus pandemic as it enters its third calendar year.

Still, the overwhelming aura at the State of The County was that of optimism, and both Commissioners stated that the motivation for them to see Beaver County succeed hasn’t abated. “I’ve found that my niche in life,” Manning stated, “has been to be able to listen and relate to people, muster resources, solve problems, bring people together, and make things better. And the best avenue for me to continue to impact folks is at the commissioner level.”

The full replay of the 2022 State of the County address by the Commissioner will be on Beaver County Radio following Noonday at 12:35 on Monday, January 10.

Oscar winner and groundbreaking star Sidney Poitier dies
By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Sidney Poitier, the groundbreaking actor and enduring inspiration who transformed how Black people were portrayed on screen, became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for best lead performance and the first to be a top box-office draw, has died. He was 94. Few movie stars had such an influence both on and off the screen. Before Poitier, the son of Bahaman tomato farmers, no Black actor had a sustained career as a lead performer or could get a film produced based on his own star power. Before Poitier, few Black actors were permitted a break from the stereotypes of bug-eyed servants and grinning entertainers.

HARRISBURG (Jan. 6, 2022) – Sen. Elder Vogel, R-47, chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, today applauded the fact that the Pennsylvania Farm Show, starting on Saturday, Jan. 8, is back as an in-person event.

“While COVID-19 forced the show to be virtual last year, the 2022 agricultural expo will draw plenty of visitors to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg between Jan. 8 and Jan. 15, and that’s a good thing for Pennsylvania and the state’s agricultural industry,” said Sen. Vogel, a fourth generation dairy farmer who operates his family’s farm in New Sewickley Township, Beaver County.

The annual celebration of the diversity and quality of Pennsylvania agriculture is the largest such event in the nation, featuring nearly 6,000 animals, 12,000 competitive events and exhibits, plus 300 commercial exhibits and hundreds of educational and entertaining events. The state’s agricultural industry supports 593,000 Pennsylvania jobs and annually contributes $132.5 billion to the state’s economy.

Each year, the show has a theme, and the theme for the 106^th Pennsylvania Farm Show is “Harvesting More,” with the event to showcase a harvested bounty of innovative projects, sustainable practices, empowered agricultural leaders across the career spectrum, engaged youth and inspiring stories of Pennsylvania’s bounty.

All the things we’ve come to love at the Farm Show will be back, including the many animal and food competitions, tractor square dancing, the sheep to shawl competition, the butter sculpture, and those tasty milkshakes and the rest of the Food Court smorgasbord.

There will also be new offerings during the 8-day event, including a demonstration of canine smarts, speed and agility; ducklings in the Waterfowl Habitat live in the Farm Show’s Poultry Hall (this was a live-streamed favorite last year during the virtual Farm Show); educational scavenger hunts; new virtual reality exhibits; a Cowboy Church (on Sunday, Jan. 9); urban gardening; the Frontier Finals Rodeo; a truck and tractor pull demonstration; a cornhole tournament; and a country line dance-along.

The show runs from Jan. 8 through Jan. 15, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, except on Sunday, Jan. 9, when it runs 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 15, when it opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. For those who love the food of the Farm Show, the Food Court in the Expo Hall will also be open from noon until 9 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 7.

Visitors will not be required to wear a mask, but the Department of Agriculture is encouraging people to wear masks and practice social distancing at the event. Masks will be made available to those that want them, and hand sanitizer stations are located throughout the complex. The state has invested $21 million in maintenance and improvements to the Farm Show complex, including updates to the HVAC system which are intended to improve the air quality inside the buildings.

Entrance to the show is free, but parking costs $15 per car at all Farm Show complex lots.

How do I know if I have a cold, the flu or COVID-19?
By VICTORIA MILKO AP Science Writer
Symptoms of common colds, the flu and COVID-19 can overlap, so experts say testing is the best way to determine what you have. The flu and COVID-19 can share symptoms including cough, fever and tiredness. Symptoms unique to COVID-19 include the loss of taste or smell. Colds tend to be milder with symptoms including a stuffy nose and sore throat. It is also possible to be infected with the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. With many similar symptoms caused by the three different viruses, testing remains the best option to determine which one you might have.