A budget proposal for the Hopewell School Board was presented for a possible vote. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has details:

Department of Health Provides Update on COVID-19, 610 Positives Bring Statewide Total to 63,666

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Health today confirmed as of 12:00 a.m., May 19, that there are 610 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 63,666. All 67 counties in Pennsylvania have cases of COVID-19.

There are 4,624 total deaths attributed to COVID-19, an increase of 119 new deaths. County-specific information and a statewide map are available here. 

“As counties move from red to yellow, we need all Pennsylvanians to continue to follow the social distancing and mitigation efforts in place,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “We must continue to protect our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, which includes our seniors, those with underlying health issues, our healthcare workers and our first responders. I am proud of the work that Pennsylvanians have done so far, but we cannot stop now, we must continue to take the necessary steps to protect ourselves from COVID-19.”

Locally in Beaver County we are at 534 positive cases of COVID-19, up 1 from yesterday. 2,809 people have tested Negative and the county is now at 70 deaths, a decrease of 13 deaths..

There are 286,034 patients who have tested negative to date. Of the patients who have tested positive to date the age breakdown is as follows:

• Nearly 1% are ages 0-4;
• Nearly 1% are ages 5-12;
• Nearly 2% are ages 13-18;
• Nearly 6% are ages 19-24; 
• Nearly 37% are ages 25-49; 
• Nearly 26% are ages 50-64; and
• Nearly 29% are ages 65 or older.

Most of the patients hospitalized are ages 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older. More data is available here.

In nursing and personal care homes, there are 13,813 resident cases of COVID-19, and 2,191 cases among employees, for a total of 16,003 at 557 distinct facilities in 44 counties. Out of our total deaths, 3,145 have occurred in residents from nursing or personal care facilities. A county breakdown can be found here.

Approximately 4,600 of our total cases are in health care workers.

The Beaver County Humane Society held a second pet food drive to help benefit the animals living and looking for homes at the Humane Society on May 19. BCHS Executive Director Susan Salyards spoke with Matt Drzik on A.M. Beaver County about the event and the good it does for the community of animals in Beaver County.

To listen to the full interview, click on the player below!

The Center Township Supervisors have set in motion plans for a new municipal building, Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has details:

FBI: Shooter at Pensacola base coordinated with al-Qaida
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they have proven a link between the gunman in the deadly December attack at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and al-Qaida. The officials say the gunman, a Saudi Air Force officer, was meticulous in his planning and had been radicalized overseas for at least five years. The gunman killed three U.S. sailors before he was killed by a sheriff’s deputy during the rampage at a classroom building where he had been undergoing flight training. The FBI learned of the contacts between Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani and operatives of al-Qaida after breaking the encryption on cellphones that had previously been locked and that the shooter had tried to destroy.

2017 video shows Georgia officer tried to tase Ahmaud Arbery
By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A video released Monday shows police in Georgia attempting to search Ahmaud Arbery’s parked car in 2017, and when he refuses to let them and begins to walk back to the vehicle an officer tries to use a stun gun on him. The video, first obtained by The Guardian, shows Arbery refusing Glynn County police when they ask to search his Toyota and as he walks toward his vehicle he is told “keep your hands out your pockets.” The officer then pulls the Taser and attempts to use it but it malfunctions. Arbery was killed Feb. 23 after a pursuit by a white father and son who armed themselves and gave chase after seeing the 25-year-old black man running in their subdivision.

AAA: Pennsylvania Gas Prices Jump Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend
The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is 16 cents higher this week at $2.265 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

On the week, Pennsylvania (+8 cents) saw the largest increase among Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states and saw the second biggest jump of all states in the country. Otherwise states in the region saw mostly increases of a few pennies, but no more than a nickel. State averages range between $1.71 in North Carolina to $2.17 in Washington, D.C. In addition to Washington, D.C., New York ($2.15) and Pennsylvania ($2.14) carry the most expensive averages in the region and land among the top 10 highest in the country.

While gasoline stocks saw a slight increase, to push total inventory to nearly 71 million barrels, regional refinery rates dropped just below 50%. As more states in the region move towards opening, which is likely to increase gasoline demand, motorists can expect gas prices to increase, but still remain cheap compared to typical May pump prices.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $2.265
Average price during the week of May 11, 2020                                         $2.106
Average price during the week of May 20, 2019                                         $3.068

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$2.258      Altoona
$2.264      Beaver
$2.264      Bradford
$2.248      Brookville
$2.263      Butler
$2.211      Clarion
$2.224      Du Bois
$2.265      Erie
$2.261      Greensburg
$2.284      Indiana
$2.258      Jeannette
$2.273      Kittanning
$2.259      Latrobe
$2.281      Meadville
$2.296      Mercer
$2.180      New Castle
$2.279      New Kensington
$2.299      Oil City
$2.270      Pittsburgh
$2.299      Sharon
$2.278      Uniontown
$2.295      Warren
$2.295      Washington

On the National Front
Pump prices continue to increase across the country with nearly every state’s average pushing more expensive on the week, on average by four cents. At the start of the Memorial Day work week, the national gas price average is $1.87.

The last time the national gas price average leading into the holiday was under $2/gallon was 17 years ago in 2003. That year motorists paid, on average, $1.50 to fill-up. Gas prices this year won’t be as cheap as 2003, but today’s national average is a dollar cheaper than one year ago. While Memorial Day gas prices are likely to remain this cheap, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer is not going to drive the typical millions of Americans to travel as the country continues to practice social distancing.

Americans can expect gas prices to continue to push more expensive, possibly hitting $2/gallon in the next few weeks. This is mostly due to demand increasing as states re-open. This week will also bring the Environmental Protection Agency’s waiver on the sale of winter-blend gasoline to an end. Stations will switch over to summer-blend gasoline, which is more expensive to produce. Typically, the switchover to summer-blend can cause gas prices to spike during the summer driving season, but that will likely not be the case this year due to the impact of COVID-19 on demand and crude oil prices.

At the end of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $1.87 cents to settle at $29.43 per barrel. Crude prices increased last week amid growing market optimism that crude demand continues to rebound as more states re-open and demand for gasoline has grown in recent weeks.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 78 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members.  News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com.  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.