PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mason Rudolph’s dynamic play against Cincinnati helped keep the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season alive. The longtime backup quarterback could get a chance to do it again when the Steelers visit Seattle on New Year’s Eve.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Rudolph will “have the ball” to begin the week and will get the nod against the Seahawks if starter Kenny Pickett’s surgically repaired right ankle is not ready in time.
Rudolph threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-11 blowout win over Cincinnati, Pittsburgh’s biggest offensive outburst in a win in more than three years as the Steelers (8-7) snapped a three-game losing streak. Rudolph looked comfortable while throwing the ball deep to George Pickens, who had 195 yards receiving and two scores.
“I thought he did a really good job of being comfortable being himself, communicating with people regardless of the moments,” Tomlin said. “I thought that showed the confidence that he has in himself and I also thought that he remained aggressive throughout.”
Pickett hasn’t played since injuring his right ankle against Arizona on Dec. 3. He underwent “tightrope” surgery a couple of days later and returned to practice in a limited capacity last week. Tomlin declined to get into hypotheticals in terms of what boxes Pickett would have to check to get back on the field and is taking an approach similar to last week, meaning Rudolph will practice with the starters while Pickett works through his rehab.
“We’ll see what (Pickett’s) performance looks like (Wednesday),” Tomlin said. “Mason Rudolph has the ball as we stand here today.”
The Steelers have a narrow path to the playoffs that starts with wins on the road against Seattle (8-7) and Baltimore (12-3) along with a little help elsewhere. A loss to the Bengals would have all but eliminated them. Instead, Rudolph gave one of the NFL’s worst offenses a needed jolt by hitting Pickens for an 86-yard catch-and-run touchdown on Pittsburgh’s second snap and the Steelers cruised from there.
While Tomlin stressed he was confident Rudolph — one of the longest-tenured players on the team who has been third on the depth chart the past two seasons — could shake off rust quickly, “we feel better having tangible evidence of performance this week.”
Pittsburgh’s 34 points were its most in a victory since putting up 36 against Cincinnati in 2020. The 23-point margin of victory was also the largest since the Steelers beat Jacksonville by 24 that same season. Cincinnati’s lone sack was the only reason Pittsburgh finished with 397 yards instead of topping 400 for just the second time since 2020.
Rudolph said after his first win as a starter since 2019 that he hoped he’d get another shot but that it wasn’t his call. Maybe, but Tomlin’s more muted approach to Pickett’s availability compared to even a week ago offered a strong hint that barring Pickett making a massive leap over the next few days, Rudolph be on the field as Pittsburgh tries to win in Seattle for just the second time in franchise history.
The Steelers will be without inside linebacker Elandon Roberts, who sustained a pectoral muscle against Cincinnati. Tomlin is more optimistic about safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who could practice this week after injuring his knee in a loss to Indianapolis on Dec. 16.
Gift cards make great stocking stuffers — just as long as you don’t stuff them in a drawer and forget about them after the holidays.
Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third of those sales.
Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says around 70% of gift cards are used within six months.
But many cards — tens of billions of dollars’ worth — wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary by state.
Here’s what to know about the gift cards you’re giving — or getting:
LOVED, BUT LOST
After clothing, gift cards will be the most popular present this holiday season. Nearly half of Americans plan to give them, according to the National Retail Federation.
But many will remain unspent.
Gift cards get lost or forgotten, or recipients hang on to them for a special occasion. In a July survey, the consumer finance company Bankrate found that 47% of U.S. adults had at least one unspent gift card or voucher. The average value of unused gift cards is $187 per person, a total of $23 billion.
THE GIFT OF TIME
Under a federal law that went into effect in 2010, a gift card can’t expire for five years from the time it was purchased or from the last time someone added money to it. Some state laws require an even longer period. In New York, for instance, any gift card purchased after Dec. 10, 2022, can’t expire for nine years.
Differing state laws are one reason many stores have stopped using expiration dates altogether, says Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.
USE IT OR LOSE IT
While it may take gift cards years to expire, experts say it’s still wise to spend them quickly. Some cards — especially generic cash cards from Visa or MasterCard — will start accruing inactivity fees if they’re not used for a year, which eats away at their value. Inflation also makes cards less valuable over time. And if a retail store closes or goes bankrupt, a gift card could be worthless.
Perhaps consider clearing out your stash on National Use Your Gift Card Day, a five-year-old holiday created by a public relations executive and now backed by multiple retailers. The next one is Jan. 20, 2024.
OR SELL IT
If you have a gift card you don’t want, one option is to sell it on a site like CardCash or Raise. Rossman says resale sites won’t give you face value for your cards, but they will typically give 70 to 80 cents per dollar.
THE MONEY TRAIL
What happens to the money when a gift card goes unused? It depends on the state where the retailer is incorporated.
When you buy a gift card, a retailer can use that money right away. But it also becomes a liability; the retailer has to plan for the possibility that the gift card will be redeemed.
Every year, big companies calculate “breakage,” which is the amount of gift card liability they believe won’t be redeemed based on historical averages. For some companies, like Seattle-based Starbucks, breakage is a huge profit-driver. Starbucks reported $212 million in revenue from breakage in 2022.
But in at least 19 states — including Delaware, where many big companies are incorporated — retailers must work with state unclaimed property programs to return money from unspent gift cards to consumers. Money that isn’t recovered by individual consumers is spent on public service initiatives; in the states’ view, it shouldn’t go to companies because they haven’t provided a service to earn it.
CLAIM IT
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have unclaimed property programs. Combined, they return around $3 billion to consumers annually, says Misha Werschkul, the executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center.
Werschkul says it can be tricky to find the holders of unspent gift cards, but the growing number of digital cards that name the recipient helps. State unclaimed property offices jointly run the website MissingMoney.com, where consumers can search by name for any unclaimed property they’re owed, including cash from gift cards.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
(Photo Curtis Walsh/BCR Archives)
Wastewater management operations at the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment back in February are being reduced this week due to the Christmas holiday.
In a press release, the EPA states that limited on-site staff will be working along Taggart Road in East Palestine this week, and that the Norfolk Southern Family Assistance Center will be closed through New Year’s Day. The facility will reopen on January 2nd.
As of last Thursday, the EPA has tallied nearly 41 million gallons of wastewater and over 175,000 tons of solid waste shipped out of the derailment site.
If you are seeing bright orange lights emanating from the sky this morning after Christmas, there’s a reason for that.
Late Sunday night, the Shell Polymers Monaca Facebook page posted a message to its page warning of a potential of increased reflection of light from their enclosed ground flares due to low cloud cover. The post goes on to say “The ground flares are an essential component of our plant’s safety system and function in a similar manner to a burner on a gas stove. They are typically always active, with higher flows present during plant startups and shutdowns.”
Shell says these light reflections may last for several nights.
You can email bcr@beavercountyradio.com to add a listing or to let Diane Brosius know if your item has sold. You can also list items on the Website (Beavercountyradio.com) by clicking on the Yankee Trader logo. Snail mail can be sent to WBVP/WMBA 4301 Dutch Ridge Rd. Beaver, PA 15009
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12-23-23 LISTINGS
Val 724-513-9390
Panasonic Landline Cordless telephones. 5 handsets, 2 dial pads. Includes answering machine, redial, speakerphone & caller ID. PRICE: $89.00
Big selection of jewelry. Some 14-ct. gold, lots of costume jewelry.
PRICE: Make reasonable offer.
Many religious items. 18 different beautiful rosary beads. 13” tall Virgin Mary statue (for indoor use). Variety of medals.
PRICE: Make reasonable offer.
Lenox Fine bone china. 11 5-piece place settings. Eclipse pattern. In perfect condition. PRICE: $79 per setting
Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Photos and Video by Keith Walsh. Published December 22, 2023 6:18 P.M.
(Daugherty Township, Pa) Emergency responders were called to a fully involved structure fire at Route 68 and Inman Drive in Daugherty Township around 2:15pm. One person was reportedly treated for smoke inhalation. We have no additional details at this time. Raw Video:
A special holiday tradition at Beaver County Radio is back for another year. 95.7 and 99.3 FM along with 1230 WBVP, 1460 WMBA, and beavercountyradio.com will play continuous Christmas Music featuring local church, school, artists and civic choirs from 12:00 PM Sunday, December 24th through 6:00 AM, Monday, December 26th. The program schedule is listed below.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM- The Genevans kick off the 42 hours of non-stop Christmas music with their performance of Isaiah’s Promised Child, recorded at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Falls on December 1 and 2, 2023.
1:00 PM to 1:30 PM- The Beaver Valley Choral Society leads all in classic Christmas Carols recorded live at the 6th Annual Rochester Light Up Night on December 3, 2023.
Beaver Valley Choral Society
1:30 PM to 2:00 PM- Highlighted by their performance of Handel’s holiday masterpiece Messiah, the Beaver Valley Choral Society performs sacred songs as part of their centennial concert “A Celebration of 100 Years of Song” recorded on October 23, 2023 at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Hopewell.
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM- Local Christian music artist and New Brighton Graduate David DeMarco sings Christmas songs from his 2019 Christmas CD Believe.
3:00 PM to 3:20 PM- Jackie Evancho sings selections from her 2010 Christmas EP O Holy Night.
3:20 PM to 4:00 PM- A Harp Noel, as performed by the Northwest PA Chapter of the American Harp Society.
Vanessa Campagna
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM- Grammy-Award winning singer and Beaver County native Vanessa Campagna sings a collection of classic Christmas tunes.
5:00 PM to 6:00 PM- The late, great B.E. Taylor puts his spin on the Christmas classics that made his voice a staple of the holiday season in Beaver County and Western Pennsylvania.
Scott Paulsen
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM– The 5th Annual Beaver County Radio Live Christmas Party will be replayed, featuring Christmas tunes courtesy of The Hoot Owls, Morgan Gruber, Better Think Twice, JD Merkel, Dawn Savage, and the Beaver Valley Choral Society!
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM– Host Scott Paulsen gets into the Christmas Spirit with his latest edition of Radio Stella entitled “A Baby Cheez-Wiz Christmas”.
9:00 PM to Midnight– Local Light-Up Night returns once again to our Christmas playlist, featuring local artists playing all of your favorite holiday tunes in their rockin’ style!
9:00 pm: Valentina & Mickey Cherico 9:20 pm: Better Think Twice 9:40 pm: Frank Piscopo 10:00 pm: James Tobin 10:10 pm: Rudy Zetz and Voices 10:30 pm: The Vaccuum Tubes 10:35 pm: The Sidewinder Band 11:00 pm: The “Speed Round”, featuring an hour of singles from a variety of singers and bands such as The Forty-Nineteens, Morgan Gruber, Xenia Potter, Chip & The Charge-Ups, Ashley Marina, Yasmine Vine, and more!
Monday, December 25, 2022
Midnight to 1:00 AM-“In A Manger Lowly” – A treasured recording from 1963 by of The Sisters of St. Joseph Chorus in Baden. It’s a yearly tradition on “Christmas Music Around the Clock”!
1:00 AM to 2:00 AM– A throwback performance of the New Brighton Area School District’s 2014 Christmas concert, featuring the Elementary Chorus, Jazz Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and High School Choir.
2:00 AM to 7:00 AM– Christmas Potpourri— A variety of holiday classics, local contributions, and other oddities from the BCR archives.
7:00 AM to 8:00 AM– The Genevans’ performance of Isaiah’s Promised Child, recorded at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Falls on December 1 and 2, 2023.
9:00 AM to 10:00 AM- A 2015 recording of Christmas songs from the St. Cecilia Chorus.
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM- The Big Beaver Falls Area School District present their choral Christmas concert featuring selections performed by the Middle School and High School choirs.
11:00 AM to Noon – The Beaver County Symphonic Wind Ensemble performs Christmas classics recorded live on December 14, 2011 at Penn State Beaver.
Noon to 12:30 PM- The Beaver Valley Choral Society leads all in classic Christmas Carols recorded live at the 6th Annual Rochester Light Up Night on December 3, 2023.
12:30 PM to 1:00 PM- Highlighted by their performance of Handel’s holiday masterpiece Messiah, the Beaver Valley Choral Society performs sacred songs as part of their centennial concert “A Celebration of 100 Years of Song” recorded on October 23, 2023 at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Hopewell.
1:00 PM to 1:25 PM -The annual appearance of The Border Brass with Tijuana Christmas.
1:25 PM to 1:40 PM- Jackie Evancho sings selections from her 2010 Christmas EP O Holy Night.
1:40 PM to 2:00 PM – The Eight Bells, a select men’s a cappella ensemble from Geneva College. These recordings originally aired on December 9, 2021 as part of “The Best of Beaver County” on WBVP, WMBA & 99.3 F.M.
The Eight Bells from Geneva College performing live in the Beaver County Radio Sound Stage.
2:00 PM to 3:00 PM- Local Christian music artist and New Brighton Graduate David DeMarco sings Christmas songs from his 2019 Christmas CD Believe.
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM– The Big Beaver Falls Area School District present their choral Christmas concert featuring selections performed by the Middle School and High School choirs.
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM- Grammy-Award winning singer and Beaver County native Vanessa Campagna sings a collection of classic Christmas tunes.
5:00 PM to 5:30 PM- The Beaver Valley Choral Society leads all in classic Christmas Carols recorded live at the 6th Annual Rochester Light Up Night on December 3, 2023.
5:30 PM to 6:00 PM- Highlighted by their performance of Handel’s holiday masterpiece Messiah, the Beaver Valley Choral Society performs sacred songs as part of their centennial concert “A Celebration of 100 Years of Song” recorded on October 23, 2023 at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Hopewell.
6:00 PM to 7:00 PM– The 5th Annual Beaver County Radio Live Christmas Party will be replayed, featuring Christmas tunes courtesy of The Hoot Owls, Morgan Gruber, Better Think Twice, JD Merkel, Dawn Savage, and the Beaver Valley Choral Society!
7:00 PM to 10:00 PM– Local Light-Up Night returns once again to our Christmas playlist, featuring local artists playing all of your favorite holiday tunes in their rockin’ style!
7:00 pm: Valentina & Mickey Cherico 7:20 pm: Better Think Twice 7:40 pm: Frank Piscopo 8:00 pm: James Tobin 8:10 pm: Rudy Zetz and Voices 8:30 pm: The Vaccuum Tubes 8:35 pm: The Sidewinder Band 9:00 pm: The “Speed Round”, featuring an hour of singles from a variety of singers and bands such as The Forty-Nineteens, Morgan Gruber, Xenia Potter, Chip & The Charge-Ups, Ashley Marina, Yasmine Vine, and more!
10:00 PM to 11:00 PM: The late, great B.E. Taylor puts his spin on the Christmas classics that made his voice a staple of the holiday season in Beaver County and Western Pennsylvania.
11:00 PM to Midnight– An hour worth of classic pieces of past concerts by The Genevans.
Tuesday, December 26, 2022
12:00 AM to 6:00 AM– Christmas Potpourri— A variety of holiday classics, local contributions, and other oddities from the BCR archives.
The Beaver County Commissioners rounded out their 2023 by voting to pass the County’s budget for 2024 yesterday at their public meeting at the Beaver County Courthouse.
The final budget was set at $264,118,465 for the upcoming year, and had faced no changes from the Commissioners, row offices or the public when it was announced at the end of November.
The work session scheduled for December 27 has been canceled, and the Commissioners will reconvene with a reorganization meeting on January 2nd.
The city of Aliquippa finalized and approved its 2024 budget of $6,825,637 at their council meeting on Wednesday night.
Within the new budget, land millage has been set at 14.88 mills while building millage is set at 3.18 mills, and the earned income tax rate is set at 1.2%.
At the same meeting, the council approved the retirement of longtime fire captain Dave Childs, who will officially retire effective January 2nd. Childs had served as a firefighter for Aliquippa for 20 years since he started in September of 2003.
Mayor Dwan B. Walker, City Manager Sam Gill and Councilman Donald Walker thanked everyone for their cooperation in 2023, including their recent removal of the Act 47 designation for distressed communities.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden believes “serious scrutiny” is warranted for the planned acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, the White House said Thursday after days of silence on a transaction that has drawn alarm from the steelworkers union.
Lael Brainard, the director of the National Economic Council, indicated the deal would be reviewed by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which she participates in and includes economic and national security agency representatives to investigate national security risks from foreign investments in American firms.
She said in a statement that Biden “believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign entity — even one from a close ally — appears to deserve serious scrutiny in terms of its potential impact on national security and supply chain reliability.”
“This looks like the type of transaction that the interagency Committee on Foreign Investment Congress empowered and the Biden administration strengthened is set up to carefully investigate,” she said. “This administration will be ready to look carefully at the findings of any such investigation and to act if appropriate.”
Under the terms of the approximately $14.1 billion all-cash deal announced Monday, U.S. Steel will keep its name and its headquarters in Pittsburgh, where it was founded in 1901 by J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie. It will become a subsidiary of Nippon. The combined company will be among the top three steel-producing companies in the world, according to 2022 figures from the World Steel Association.
Chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the CFIUS screens business deals between U.S. firms and foreign investors and can block sales or force parties to change the terms of an agreement for the purpose of protecting national security.
The committee’s powers were significantly expanded in 2018 through an act of Congress called the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, known as FIRRMA. In September, President Biden issued an executive order that expands the factors that the committee should consider when reviewing deals — such as how the deal impacts the U.S. supply chain or risks to Americans’ sensitive personal data. It has on some occasions forced foreign companies to divest their ownership in American firms.
In 2020 Beijing Kunlun, a Chinese mobile video game company, agreed to sell gay dating app Grindr after it received an order from CFIUS.
United Steelworkers International, which endorsed Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, swiftly opposed the new transaction.
The union “remained open throughout this process to working with U.S. Steel to keep this iconic American company domestically owned and operated, but instead it chose to push aside the concerns of its dedicated workforce and sell to a foreign-owned company,” said David McCall, president of United Steelworkers, in a statement after the transaction was announced, adding that the union wasn’t consulted in advance of the announcement.
“We also will strongly urge government regulators to carefully scrutinize this acquisition and determine if the proposed transaction serves the national security interests of the United States and benefits workers,” he added.
Political allies of Biden in Pennsylvania — a presidential battleground state that is critical to his reelection campaign — also objected to the sale this week, and released statements pressing Nippon to make commitments to keep U.S. Steel’s workers, plants and headquarters in the state.
Some also described it as the latest example of profit-hungry executives selling out American workers to a foreign company.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said it appeared to be a “bad deal” for the state and workers, while Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman — who lives across the street from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thompson plant just outside Pittsburgh — said he will attempt to prevent the sale based on national security issues.
“It’s absolutely outrageous that U.S. Steel has agreed to sell themselves to a foreign company,” Fetterman said.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the committee, a Treasury spokesperson said: “CFIUS is committed to taking all necessary actions within its authority to safeguard U.S. national security. Consistent with law and practice, CFIUS does not publicly comment on transactions that it may or may not be reviewing.”
