Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing nightly lane restrictions on southbound Interstate 79 in Robinson and Kennedy townships, Allegheny County will begin Sunday night, April 11 weather permitting.

A slow rolling single-lane closure on southbound I-79 will occur nightly from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. through Friday morning, April 16 between the Neville Island Bridge and the Moon Run (Exit 60B) interchange.  Crews will conduct concrete testing operations.

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.

Keystone State News Connection

April 12, 2021

Andrea Sears

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Farmers and conservationists are praising a bill introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate that would bring funding to stop agricultural runoff from polluting rivers and streams.

Senate Bill 465, called the Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program, would provide targeted funding for conservation projects on local farms through their county conservation districts.

The Keystone State has more than 25,000 miles of impaired waterways, and farm runoff is a major contributor of sediment and nutrient pollution.

Bill Chain, senior agriculture program manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Pennsylvania, said farmers want to make sustainability and conservation improvements on their land, but in an economy devastated by COVID-19, many lack the capital they need to make those investments.

“I’ve never met a farmer that didn’t want to leave the farm better than when they found it,” Chain asserted. “That’s their legacy. Increasingly, farmers want conservation to be part of that legacy.”

He added reducing farm runoff is critical to meeting Pennsylvania’s obligations under the Chesapeake Bay Clean Water Blueprint.

Almost one third of Pennsylvania streams don’t meet standards for drinking, fishing or recreation, and Chain noted agricultural pollution affects stream biology all the way up to the top of the food chain.

“They would be our prize trout and bass, and we see reductions in that,” Chain reported. “We take this to the Susquehanna River and take it further down to the Chesapeake Bay it has disastrous results there as well.”

Nutrient and sediment pollution flowing into Chesapeake Bay affects the growth of underwater grasses, impacts habitat for aquatic species and causes harmful algal blooms.

The program would send resources to counties based on criteria including the number of acres in production, livestock density and miles of impaired streams.

Chain pointed out it puts decision-making at the local level.

“County conservation districts are governed by local boards of directors and that board is diverse, usually including a county commissioner and many farmers,” Chain explained.

Senate Bill 465 has been referred to the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

2-week deer season approved, rifles banned from turkey hunts
HARRIBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Game Commission has approved concurrent hunting for antlered and antlerless deer through the duration of the 2021-22 firearms deer season. Last year, 10 of the 23 wildlife management units in the state had two weeks of concurrent buck and doe hunting, while the other 13 had one week of buck-only hunting, followed by a week of concurrent hunting. Commissioners also made what they called a “difficult” vote to ban use of rifles for fall turkey hunting, citing a declining turkey population. Commissioners approved the use of digital licenses in place of standard paper licenses.

4 freight train cars derail in Altoona; no injuries reported
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say several cars of a freight train derailed in a Pennsylvania city, but no injuries were reported. A security officer for Station Medical Center told WJAC-TV that four cars came off the track in downtown Altoona at about 10:30 p.m. Friday. The officer said the Norfolk Southern train was hauling coal, and the track needed repairs. The president of Altoona firefighters local 299, Patrick Miller, told WTAJ-TV that there were no concerns about hazardous material.

4 girls, 12 and 14 years old, accused of setting house fire
FERNDALE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say four teenage girls ranging in age from 12 to 14 are accused of setting a fire that destroyed an unoccupied western Pennsylvania house earlier this month, sending a police officer and a firefighter to the hospital. Police in the suburban Johnstown borough of Ferndale say a 12-year-old from and three 14-year-olds face multiple charges of felony arson as well as causing catastrophe, trespassing and endangering another person. Chief John Blake says they told police that they set the fire because “they were bored.” The girls were released to their parents’ custody and their case will be heard in juvenile court.