Author: Beaver County Radio

VIDEO: Beaver Valley Choral Society Introduces Choral Conductor Scholar Program; Miah Sirianni Is First Recipient

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“First and foremost, you have to be a fine musician. But there’s so many other skills you have to learn, and we’re helping her learn those. That’s our goal.”

In 2022, the Beaver County Choral Society launched their inaugural Choral Conducting Scholar program, designed to give collegiate students the experience to not only conduct the singers and orchestra, but ultimately to plan, organize, polish, and execute a full performance piece from start to finish.

Miah Sirianni, inaugural Choral Conducting Scholar for the Beaver Valley Choral Society [Image courtesy BVCS]
Miah Sirianni, a native of Buffalo, New York and current student at Duquesne University, became the first recipient of the Choral Conducting Scholar position, where she has already “dipped her toes” into working and conducting with the BVCS and Treble Youth Chorale. She was joined by Artistic Director Sharon Burchill and Vice President Pat Stagno on the November 14 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about her journey to learning and working with the Beaver Valley Choral Society.

“I came to Duquesne to pursue my Bachelor’s in Music Education,” Sirianni stated, “and through that I really found out that conducting was another one of my callings, if you will.” Sirianni found out about the BVCS through one of her professors at Duquesne who knew Mrs. Burchill, and that led to her obtaining this position: “I’m so fortunate and so grateful to the BVCS for all the opportunities they’ve given me.”

“We are having a ball with Miah,” Stagno added. “We’re really proud of her, and we’re really pleased to support young conductors and musicians, and one of the missions of the Beaver Valley Choral Society is to encourage and support young people…that’s the next generation of musicians, and we need to be behind them.”

Sirianni joined the BVCS as Choral Conducting Scholar for the Christmas concert season, but the plan–according to Burchill–is to have her become more heavily involved in the spring/Easter concerts. “For the spring, she will have a piece that she will introduce to the choir, teach the choir, conduct from beginning to end, the whole process,” Burchill said. “She’s going to be able to walk through, with mentorship, how to do that whole process, and she’ll conduct them at all the concerts.”

To watch the full conversation with Sharon, Pat, and Miah–click on the Facebook feeds below!

Part 2:

Police: Man Dies After Exchange of Gunfire With Officers

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a man was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire with police in a Pittsburgh suburb over the weekend. Allegheny County police say officers in Forest Hills were dispatched shortly before 10:30 a.m. Sunday to investigate a report of a man yelling at people and lifting his shirt to display a firearm. Officers say they found the man and tried to talk to him but he fired at them and they returned fire, hitting him multiple times. He was pronounced dead at a hospital; his name wasn’t immediately released. Conty police say they were asked by local police to investigate.

Review panel probes lack of police at funeral before shots

Pittsburgh Police gather outside the Destiny of Faith Church in Pittsburgh, Friday Oct. 28, 2022, where a shooting while a funeral was being held, left several people wounded. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — An independent review panel has opened an investigation into the lack of a police presence despite a request for it at a Pittsburgh funeral where a shooting left six people injured last month. Two shooters opened fire outside the Destiny of Faith Church on Oct. 28 during a funeral for a man slain two weeks earlier. Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizens Police Review Board, said officers should have been there because police knew about intergroup tensions that could pose a risk. She asked whether supervision, communication or insubordination problems were to blame for that and similar incidents and said that’s why the review board opened its inquiry.

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Teen in Kennywood Shooting

A Kennywood Park security guard stands at the main entrance to the amusement park in West Mifflin, Pa., early Sunday, Sept 25, 2022. Pennsylvania police and first responders have descended on the amusement park southeast of Pittsburgh following reports of shots fired inside the attraction, which was kicking off a Halloween-themed festival. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — A judge has dismissed all charges against a teenager wounded in a shooting at a western Pennsylvania amusement park that also sent another teen and an adult to the hospital. An Allegheny County district court judge dismissed aggravated assault, reckless endangering and firearms charges against the 15-year-old defendant in the Sept. 24 gunfire at Kennywood Park on the opening night of the park’s Phantom Fall Fest. Defense attorney Kenneth Haber called the case presented by prosecutors “smoke and mirrors.” A 39-year-old man and a 15-year-old were taken to hospitals with leg wounds and the youth eventually arrested had a graze wound.

Pa State Police Looking For Help Identifying Hit and Run Vehicle on I-376 in Beaver County

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Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Beaver County, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they received a report last Tuesday November 8, 2022 at 7:30 PM from 32-year-old Sharon Graves of East Palestine, Ohio that she was involved in a hit and run accident on I-376 between the Monaca and Center Exits.
Graves was driving a 2017 Subaru eastbound when she says that a newer Jeep Grand Cherokee side swiped her vehicle and continued driving at a high rate of speed towards Pittsburgh. The Jeep was described as having dark tint and was a dark grey or blue color. Troopers say the vehicle should have damage to the driver side near the front wheel or bumper. The vehicle is believed to have a Pennsylvania license plate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Pa State Police in Bever at 724-773-7400

I-79 Lane Restrictions This Week in Allegheny County

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Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing lane restrictions on I-79 in Allegheny County, will occur this week, Monday through Friday, November 14-18 weather permitting.

Starting Monday, single-lane restrictions will occur on I-79 between the bridges over Glenfield Road and Red Mud Hollow Road daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday as crews conduct milling and paving operations. Additional milling and paving working will occur on the northbound I-79 ramp from Glenfield Road, requiring a closure of the ramp as needed during the same time. Traffic will be detoured.

Posted Detour
Southbound on Glenfield Road

  • Continue on southbound to Kilbuck Street
  • Turn right onto Deer Run Road
  • Turn left onto the ramp to southbound I-79
  • Take the ramp to Neville Island (Exit 65)
  • Turn right on Grand Avenue
  • Turn right onto the ramp to northbound I-79
  • End detour

The work is part of the $26.49 million I-79 improvement project. Improvements include four bridge deck replacements, one bridge preservation, milling and resurfacing, preservation work on seven sign structures, installation of five new ITS signs, guide rail improvements, signage updates, and pavement marking installation. Crossovers will occur on I-79 in 2022 and 2023 for bridge deck replacement work. The majority of the project will conclude in the fall of 2023.

The prime contractor is the Joseph B. Fay Company. Work on this project will be coordinated with other projects in the area.

To help keep motorists informed as work progresses, PennDOT has created an email distribution list for the I-79 Neville Island Bridge rehabilitation including traffic advisories and construction updates. Enroll by sending email addresses to stcowan@pa.gov. Please write “Subscribe – I-79” in the subject line.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, 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.

PennDOT Sued Over ditch at Issue in Fatal Motorcycle Wreck

This undated selfie provided by her family shows Leslie Gingrich, who died in a motorcycle crash on Route 895 near Auburn, Pa, in Schuylkill County, on June 4, 2022. Pennsylvania’s transportation agency dug a ditch and didn’t tell anyone, and it cost a motorcyclist her life, the victim’s family says in a new civil lawsuit. Gingrich, a mother of three who was training to get her commercial driver’s license, was riding her Harley to class along a narrow, twisty state highway when she hit a ditch that had been left by a PennDOT crew weeks earlier. She had no warning and no chance to avoid it, her family says. (Leslie Gingrich via AP)

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press
The family of a woman who died in a motorcycle crash is suing the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, saying the agency’s negligence caused the fatal wreck. Leslie Gingrich was riding her Harley in Schuylkill County on June 4 when she hit a ditch spanning both lanes of a narrow, twisty road. A wrongful death lawsuit says PennDOT created the hazardous condition while working on the road, then failed to place signage warning approaching motorists of the danger. The woman’s family says residents complained to PennDOT but their complaints about the road were ignored. The family is seeking unspecified money damages.

Three Accidents Involving Ten Cars Occurred Friday Morning on Pa Turnpike in Beaver County

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Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(North Sewickley Twp., Pa.)  All lanes of the Pennsylvania Turnpike westbound were blocked Friday morning due to multiple crashes between Beaver Valley and Cranberry exits. In all there were three crashes involving ten vehicles on the stretch of roadway.
The Accidents occurred around 10 AM and eleven people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries according to authorities.
There is no word on what caused the accidents and the scenes were cleared and all lanes were reopened by 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Mastriano Officially Concedes To Shapiro in Governor’s Race

FILE – Pennsylvania Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano speaks to supporters during an election night campaign event at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, Pa., Nov. 8, 2022. Election deniers who backed Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election failed in some of their highest-profile races. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

(Harrisburg, Pa.) Doug Mastriano released a statement last night officially conceding to Josh Shapiro in the race for Pennsylvania governor.
Mastriano said in a release that as “Difficult to accept as the results are, there is no right course but to concede, which I do, and I look to the challenges ahead. Josh Shapiro will be our next Governor, and I ask everyone to give him an opportunity to lead and pray that he leads well.”
Mastriano conceded five days after Josh Shapiro’s victory was announced.

Wampum Man Killed in Clinton Twp. Motorcycle Accident

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Story by Bever County radio Staff
(Clinton Twp., Butler County, Pa.) Pa State Police are reporting that 36-year-old Roy Herr Jr., of Wampum was killed while riding his motorcycle around 4:19 PM on November 10, 2022.
According to Troopers, Herr crashed after losing control and exiting the roadway and striking a guide rail on Glade Mill Road just west of Kennedy Lane in Clinton Township.
There is no word on what caused him to lose control as Troopers continue to investigate.