Elderly Man Killed, Wife Injured in Washington County House Fire

PETERS, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say an elderly man was killed in a fire at his Washington County home that left his wife injured. The fire in Peters was reported around 5:30 p.m. Monday. The wife had escaped the home shortly before firefighters arrived, but her husband was trapped inside. Heavy smoke and fire initially blocked their rescue efforts, but the man was soon brought out and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. The woman was being treated for undisclosed injuries.

FREE Clothing, Small Household & Toys 12/21/19

CLC Ministry……FREE clothing (all sizes), Small Household and Toys (While supplies last) at Church of the Living Christ  699 Riverside Dr., Bridgewater

Saturday December 21, 2019  from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

No events in January or February

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.     Isaiah 9:6

Beaver County Memories – Discount and Department Stores Part 1.

‘Tis the season to shop, and in this edition of beaver county memories, we will take a stroll down some of the aisles of the stores of Christmas past, the department and discount stores that once dotted the landscape in beaver county, part one.  Beaver County memories is presented by St. Barnabas and heard every day on WBVP, WMBA and 99.3 F.M.

One of the most prominent shopping destinations around for the holiday season, and all year round for that matter, was Kaufmann’s in Rochester. Kaufmann’s was built around the time of the big renovation of the town and highway system in the nineteen sixties. This was the same time that also saw Ohio River Boulevard cut away through the same  neighborhood. Kaufmann’s was a giant shopping mecca long before big stores that we have today of similar size. It had undercover double level parking in one portion of its lot and took up both floors of the building that now has Giant Eagle in the lower floor, and up until a few years ago,the former Rochester K Mart occupied the upstairs portion.  A mammoth, lighted capital “K” with a gold circle around it was mounted on the outside of the building. It could be seen from many parts of the Beaver Valley back then and was a very familiar brand identifier. There was even a restaurant called the Tic Tock and a small meeting/banquet room in the store. Kaufmann’s moved to the Beaver Valley Mall in 1987 and occupied a space left vacant when Gimbels moved out. In 2005, The store’s parent company, May Department Stores, was acquired by Federated Department Stores and then another corporate merger led to the Store becoming a Macy’s in 2006. It remained that way until it closed in twenty seventeen.

Discount shopping in Beaver County meant a visit to Baden and a popular large discount store called Zayre’s, which opened in 1966 in the plaza located along Route 65 behind Pizza Hut.   Zayre’s was a traditional discount retailer where one could buy clothing, toys, sporting goods, records, books, health and beauty products, and much more.  It was a popular new model of shopping that had gained momentum all over the nation at that point in time. This new model was one that featured larger stores that, many times, were located in shopping plazas out in suburbia.  This new style of shopping also brought larger selections, a wider variety of product brands, and lower prices. This was in dramtic comparison to Zayre’s predecessors. These were stores who mainly were smaller independent merchants that carried just a few lines of any given product. Limited space typically that meant more exclusive and more expensive merchandise.  Obviously, the arrival of the larger stores with lower prices was welcomed with great enthusiasm. Establishments like Zayre’s took off like wild fire. They were a popular shopping alternative and did well for the next couple of decades. Zayre’s was purchased by a competitor in the low priced discount retailing arena, Ames Department Stores in 1988, and the Baden store was closed.  For a brief period of time, a few years later, Gabriel’s operated a store in that location. Later on in the mid nineties, there were a couple of Ames stores in Beaver County after they took over and opened up where two former Hills Department Stores had welcomed shoppers for years. The Ames Department Stores were located in The Green Garden Plaza and The Northern Lights Shopping Center..  

Zayre’s was part of a cool, little niche of retail stores that had their heyday from the late fifties up until the much larger shopping malls started becoming popular in the seventies. Even after the malls were open, these discount retail stores continued to survive for a while.  By comparison, a downtown merchant storefront might occupy ten thousand square feet of space, and have no off street parking. These new buildings that were sprouting up everywhere were usually around fifty to sixty thousand square feet and had their own parking lots. As we said earlier, It was an amazing new shopping trend and became very popular.  However, eventually, structures of that size became antiquated because they were hard to manage and inefficient. They were too big to specialize in any one thing, but too small to effectively compete with the super huge Big Box Stores that started appearing in Beaver County around 1990. On average, the super stores we have today are about three to four times the size of those first retailers that we are reminiscing about here. The Big Box mega centers had larger selections, lower pricing, longer hours, and bigger parking lots, among other things. The smaller smaller shopping destinations that did so well in the sixties and seventies couldn’t compete anymore. Ironically, tiny, specialty stores with a main street storefront could still offer an advantage and turn a profit against the new monster operations. The same was not true for the Zayre’s, Ames and other classic plaza style discount centers that were all the rage back when. Most shuddered their doors not long after stadium sized stores with equally big parking lots began to appear. 

Another one of the stores that embodied the newfangled discount retailer model like Zayre’s back in the day, was Jamesway.  Beaver County had a Jamesway store located in Big Beaver in the plaza that was famously destroyed by a tornado in May of 1985. Jamesway was founded in 1961 in Jamestown, NY and at one point in time operated over a hundred stores throughout the Northeast United States. Jamesway, and other places like it, offered discounted, lower priced merchandise from different brands than the typical lines of goods found at the more upscale, traditional department stores of that era like Sears or J.C. Penneys.  Consumers loved the options of the new department stores. They were big in comparison to their inner city predecessors, but small and quaint compared to what exists today. Thus, even the size of these stores set them apart.

Fisher’s Big Wheel was yet another popular discount retailer that was based in New Castle. At one point in time, Fisher’s Big Wheel operated dozens of stores throughout the Tri State Area primarily in the nineteen seventies and eighties. One of which was located along Junction Stretch between New Brighton and Rochester.  Again, it was another amazingly popular venue where people could buy everything from clothing, large appliances, bedding, furniture, jewelry, electronics, housewares and more in a store that was about the size of  the modern day chain drug store.

Oh my, I think I just heard the store manager announce a fifteen minute special on fishing rods over in the sporting goods section. While that’s another great example of the unique shopping ambiance created by some of the stores that we have reminisced about today, it is also true.  I’ve got to get out of here and wrap this up and hit the check out line for today’s Beaver County Memory. 

Don’t worry, there will be more stories about great shopping retailers in Beaver County like Hills, Murphy’s, Gee Bees, Woolworths and others in future installments of Beaver County Memories. Tune in every day for another edition of Beaver County memories presented by St. Barnabas on Beaver County Radio, WBVP, WMBA and 99.3 F.M.

Governor warns of harm from changes to minor league baseball

Governor warns of harm from changes to minor league baseball
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s governor wants Major League Baseball to rethink a restructuring plan that would affect three minor league teams in his state.
Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday wrote to baseball commissioner Robert Manfred to express concern about the impact on the Erie SeaWolves, the Williamsport Crosscutters and the State College Spikes.
The Professional Baseball Agreement between Major League Baseball and the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues expires after the 2020 season. The restructuring proposal would lead to 42 minor league teams being dropped from circuits.
Major league teams say they spend nearly $500 million annually in salary to support the minor leagues but get back only $18 million.
Wolf says the current proposal will put players and employees out of jobs and be economically harmful to host communities.

Penguins sign F Noesen to 1-year deal

Penguins sign F Noesen to 1-year deal
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed former New Jersey and Anaheim forward Stefan Noesen to a two-way contract.
Noesen previously agreed to a minor league deal with the Penguins but earned a promotion to the NHL after collecting 14 goals and eight assists in 22 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. The one-year deal has a prorated annual average value of $700,000.
The 26-year-old Noesen played 159 games combined for New Jersey and Anaheim from 2015-19, scoring 24 goals and dishing out 21 assists.
The Penguins announced the signing shortly after forward Patric Hornqvist left practice on Monday with what coach Mike Sullivan described as a lower-body injury. Pittsburgh is off until Wednesday, when it hosts the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues.
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More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP_Sports

One-two wintry punch hits eastern US

The Latest: One-two wintry punch hits eastern US
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on a wintry storm in the U.S. East (all times local):
2:55 p.m.
Round two of a one-two wintry punch could leave a foot of snow in some parts of southern New England, just a day after the first round of the storm dropped 12 inches or more in some areas.
The National Weather Service predicted that the Boston area could get 7 inches of snow Monday with lower amounts to the south and into Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Communities north of Boston, including Newburyport, could see a foot in the storm expected to reach its peak Tuesday morning, snarling the morning commute.
Elevated areas of western Massachusetts and western Connecticut could also see higher snowfall totals.
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1:35 p.m.
The National Park Service says parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and U.S. 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park have been closed due to heavy snow predictions.
The Charlotte Observer reports the agency announced the closures Monday citing hazardous traveling conditions and strong wind gusts that could knock down branches and powerlines.
The agency says most of the parkway is forecast to receive anywhere from a dusting to more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow Monday through Tuesday morning.
The paper says snowfall started sticking along the North Carolina-Tennessee border about 7 a.m. Monday.
A winter storm warning and wind advisory were issued for western North Carolina through 7 a.m. Tuesday, with temperatures expected to fall to 28 degrees (-2 Celsius) Monday night.
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1 p.m.
More than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of new snow has fallen in the Sierra, where more than 6 feet (2 meters) has been recorded the past seven days at the top of some Lake Tahoe-area ski resorts.
Chain controls are in effect on most mountain passes, including U.S. Interstate 80 from Truckee to Kingvale, California.
The National Weather Service says 29 inches (74 centimeters) of snow fell at Northstar California ski resort near Truckee over the past 24 hours for a total of 73 inches (2 meters) in a week.
About a foot (30 cm) of new snow was reported at the south end of lake and at the Mount Rose ski resort near Reno.
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11:40 a.m.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency for seven counties in the state.
He says he also deployed 300 National Guard members to assist with snow removal Monday in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains in eastern New York.
New York State Police have responded to more than 740 storm-related crashes statewide and assisted more than 550 disabled vehicles.
Snowfall totals in New York since Sunday ranged from a few inches in western counties to more than a foot in the Albany area.
The nor’easter is expected to drop 10 to 20 inches of snow by Tuesday morning from Pennsylvania to Maine.
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10:25 a.m.
The threat of heavy snow is closing schools from West Virginia to northern New England.
Parts of West Virginia are expecting 2 inches to a foot. Four counties there closed schools as of midmorning Monday.
Hundreds of schools in New Hampshire closed after the storm’s first wave dumped more than half a foot on parts of the state. More snow was on its way Monday night into Tuesday morning.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says that “it’s going to be a long, difficult storm.”
The nor’easter is expected to drop 10 to 20 inches of snow by Tuesday morning from Pennsylvania to Maine.
Flightaware.com reports that more than 280 flights into or out of the U.S. are canceled and more than 1,200 delayed. Many canceled flights were at New York and Boston-area airports.
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8:30 a.m.
A snowy nor’easter bearing down on the East Coast is snarling travel and causing school districts and colleges to cancel classes.
Flightaware.com reports that more than 200 flights into or out of the U.S. are canceled as of Monday morning. Many canceled flights were at New York and Boston-area airports.
Dozens of school districts in upstate New York were closed Monday, along with several State University of New York campuses and other colleges.
New York told state workers in some government offices to stay home Monday, and New Jersey planned to close offices for nonessential employees at noon.
Many buses from New York City to Pennsylvania and upstate destinations such as Ithaca and Binghamton were canceled.
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7:20 a.m.
State government offices in New Jersey will close early as a wintry storm bears down on the East Coast.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday decided to shut government offices for nonessential employees at noon.
Commercial vehicles were banned and lower speed limits put in place on stretches of some Pennsylvania interstate highways.
A nor’easter is expected to drop 10 to 20 inches of snow by Tuesday morning from Pennsylvania to Maine.
Flightaware.com reports that more than 180 flights into or out of the United States are canceled as of Monday morning.
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5:45 a.m.
A wintry storm that made Thanksgiving travel miserable in the central and eastern United States has moved into the Northeast at the beginning of the workweek.
Heavy snow, rain or a mix of both is greeting commuters Monday morning along the Eastern Seaboard.
The nor’easter is expected to drop 10 to 20 inches of snow by Tuesday morning from Pennsylvania to Maine. Schools are closed across the region.
Flightaware.com reports that several flights are canceled or delayed at airports in the New York and Boston areas.
The weather is looking brighter across the West and Midwest as the storm moves on. Duluth, Minnesota, is cleaning up more than 21 inches of snow.

Don’t Forget Cyber Monday

For those of you that didn’t fulfil all of your shopping needs over the weekend, it’s Cyber Monday today. U. S. consumers are expected to spend just under 10 billion dollars today, which is a 17 percent increase from 2018. The bulk of sales on Cyber Monday comes from the electronics department, including TV’s and laptops, which see an average of a 17 % discount today.

EPA Study Stalled

According to sources, a multimillion dollar study on toxic chemicals in drinking water is facing delays due to a dispute within the Trump administration. The implications could affect a half dozen communities, where drinking water has been heavily contaminated with polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemical is used in non-stick cookware, water-resistant clothing, food packaging, carpets and military firefighting foams. Scientists say delaying the study could limit the effectivness of the study.

Missing Girl Located

NANTICOKE, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania State Police have found a 15-year-old girl who was reported abducted by a man who stole a police vehicle. Police say Samara Derwin was reported missing Sunday and believed to be abducted by 20-year-old Jordan Oliver. A police spokesman at the Wyoming barracks said just before midnight that she was found safe and no arrests have been made. An Amber Alert was canceled. Further details haven’t been released.