(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
(Photos courtesy BBFASD Facebook page)

The Big Beaver Falls Area School District is celebrating a road victory of national proportions.

The BBFASD Gifted Program returns Tuesday from a trip to the National AGLOA (Academic Games League of America) Tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee and placed several students in the Top Ten in the World Events game (with Theme & Current Events categories), including one champion.

8th grader Sam Haas finished first out of 122 participants from around the nation in the Middle Division in World Events: Current Events. He was joined by freshmen Nathan Chen and Joseph DeJeu, who were members of the first-place team in the Current Events category for the Junior Division. Gifted Program director Jon Sheffield was happy about the historic moment, telling Beaver County Radio: “Under the 18 years at BF and 17 as Gifted coordinator, this is the first student I’ve ever had win outright at the national level.”

Chen also did well individually, placing fourth overall out of 62 participants in World Events in the Theme category, and was a member of the third-place team in the Junior Division along with sophomore Travis Cunning. In the Senior Division of the Theme category, senior Danielle Gibson finished 7th out of 80 national participants in World Events. Fellow senior Mikia Lawrence finished 15th in the Senior Division of Theme and 14th in the Senior Division for Current Events.

Senior Lydia Chen finished 12th out of 123 students in the Senior Division of the game Propaganda, and Cunning finished 25th out 93 in the Junior Division of the game Presidents. Overall, Sheffield praised the students for competing at such a high level and representing the school successfully at Knoxville.

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Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News

(Hopewell Twp., Beaver County, Pa.) Carla Buxton was appointed by the school board to replace Jeff Winkle who resigned recently. She will serve a year term.

(File Photo)

Story by Frank Sparks, Beaver County Radio News

(New Castle, PA.) The Pennsylvania State Police in New Castle have announced that they will be conducting Sobriety Checkpoints and DUI Enforcement throughout Lawrence County this weekend 4/29 to 05/01/22.
Troopers said in the release that the checkpoints and the DUI enforcement will be conducted on roadways that are determined to be problematic with DUI offenses in order to safeguard motorists traveling through Lawrence County.

(File Photo)

(SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — A suspended western Pennsylvania prosecutor facing charges in a sexual assault case has now been charged in an unrelated assault almost a year ago. Thirty-six-year-old Jeffrey Thomas, Somerset County’s elected district attorney, was jailed Monday on simple assault and reckless endangerment charges. Police allege that he was seen on a video call punching a woman in May 2021. Thomas was accused earlier of having attacked a woman in her Windber home in September. He faces sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, unlawful restraint and strangulation charges in that case. His attorney has said he maintains that he is innocent of all charges.

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The older you are, the less you fret about aging in place. That’s a key insight from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, which found that people 65 or older feel much better prepared to age in their own homes than those 50-64. Among those 65 or older, nearly 8 in 10 said they’re extremely or very prepared to stay in their current home as long as possible. But among those 50-64, it’s noticeably smaller: about 6 in 10. The poll also found greater insecurity around aging in place among Black and Latino Americans, likely tied to a deep-rooted wealth gap that favors white people.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires. The Falcon rocket blasted off before dawn Wednesday from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The crew includes the first Black woman making a long-term spaceflight, NASA’s Jessica Watkins. Also on board: the European Space Agency’s lone female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy. It’s the first time NASA has sent up a crew comprised equally of men and women. They should reach the space station Wednesday night.

(AP File Photo)
By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House says. It’s a sharp new reminder of the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to revert to pre-pandemic normalcy. Neither President Joe Biden nor first lady Jill Biden was considered a “close contact” of Harris in recent days. The White House says Harris “has exhibited no symptoms.” After consulting with her physicians, Harris is taking Paxlovid, the Pfizer antiviral pill. Harris will isolate at her residence but continue to work remotely, and will only return to the White House once she tests negative for the virus.

(File Photo/Official Photo of Josh Kail) 

Story by Frank Sparks, Beaver County Radio News
(Harrisburg, Pa.) The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed major economic ignition legislation to lower the Corporate Net Income Tax and provide additional tax relief to job creators as House Republicans continue their work to make Pennsylvania the economic Envy of the East.

House Bill 1960, penned by 15th District Rep. Josh Kail, would lower the Corporate Net Income Tax by one percentage point to 8.99 percent starting Jan. 1, 2023, with additional triggers to further lower the tax rate in future years.
The legislation would also provide additional tax simplification and fairness for Pennsylvania’s job creators by increasing the cap for net operating loss carry forwards.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 195 to 8 and now moves onto the Senate for approval.