An Eastern Pennsylvania man says his emotional support alligator helps him deal with his depression. Sixty-five-year-old Joie Henney, of York Haven, says his registered emotional support animal named Wally likes to snuggle and give hugs, despite being a 5-foot-long alligator. Philly.com reports Henney says he received approval from his doctor to use Wally as his emotional support animal after not wanting to go on medication for depression.

A Beaver County airman killed last year in Afghanistan has finally been laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan Elchin – a Hopewell graduate and Hookstown resident – was buried Thursday with full military honors. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports more than 300 people attended a short service before the burial. Elchin was eulogized by his commander as an airman who willingly accepted tough assignments, adding that he loved the military and died fighting for freedom and security for his country.

The Wolf administration wants to open a “conversation” about legalizing marijuana in Pennsylvania and announced Thursday that the lieutenant governor will hold a series of town hall-style sessions on the subject…

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, himself an advocate of legalizing recreational use of the drug, said he will hold a listening session in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties in the coming months and otherwise accept comments submitted online or through other means…

No word yet on when the listening tour will arrive in Beaver County.

FIRSTENERGY SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY IT LIKELY WILL NOT SELL ITS TWO BEAVER COUNTY POWER PLANTS. A DEAL HAS BEEN REACHED WITH CREDITORS THAT COULD LIFT THE COMPANY FROM CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY LATER THIS YEAR. THAT MEANS FIRSTENERGY WILL CONTINUE OPERATING THE BRUCE MANSFIELD POWER PLANT AND THE BEAVER VALLEY NUCLEAR POWER STATION UNTIL PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED DEACTIVATION DATES IN 2021.

A FORMER FREEDOM AREA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH COULD MAKE A PLEA IN HIS CHILD PORN CASE. 59-YEAR-OLD RUSSELL BARLEY OF CHIPPEWA TOWNSHIP IS ACCUSED OF POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. HE WAIVED HIS RIGHT TO A PRELIMINARY HEARING THURSDAY. BARLEY WAS ARRESTED IN OCTOBER AFTER A STATE POLICE INVESTIGATION SHOWED HE HAD CHILD PORN ON HIS HOME COMPUTER. BARLEY ADMITTED TO INVESTIGATORS THAT HE’D BECOME CURIOUS ABOUT CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND DOWNLOADED IT ONTO HIS COMPUTER. AFTER HE WAS CHARGED, BARLEY IMMEDIATELY RESIGNED FROM HIS POSITION AS FREEDOM’S FOOTBALL COACH AND HIS TEACHING JOB AT NESHANNOCK TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT IN LAWRENCE COUNTY. A PLEA COURT HEARING IN THE CASE IS SCHEDULED FOR FEBRUARY 13TH.

AN ALIQUIPPA MAN HAS BEEN RE-SENTENCED FOR HIS PARENTS’ MURDER. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS DETAILS. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

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Authorities say a gunman opened fire at a hotel bar in central Pennsylvania, killing a man and wounding two other people, then broke into a home where he fatally shot another man before killing himself. The initial shooting happened Thursday night at a bar near Penn State’s main campus. Authorities say Jordan Witmer shot and killed an Ohio man at the bar. Witmer then drove away from the bar and later broke into a home, where he fatally shot another man before turning the gun on himself.