ALIQUIPPA, Dec. 12 – The Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation is receiving $4,000 in state funding from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Commissioner state Rep. Rob Matzie announced today.

Matzie, D-Beaver, said the funding is part of a package of nearly $2 million in Cultural and Historical Support grants awarded statewide to Pennsylvania museums and historical societies.

“Our local history has plenty of lessons to teach, but it takes time and resources to collect, preserve and display those pieces of our past,” Matzie said. “The new funding will help ensure that our own Beaver County historical society and others throughout the state have the means to continue engaging and inspiring students of all ages.”

PITTSBURGH, PA – A resident of Pittsburgh, PA, has been sentenced in federal court to a total of  10 years of imprisonment on his revocation of federal supervised release in connection with his  violent conduct occurring in July of 2022, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. 

United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy imposed the sentence on Damien Bradford, age  42. 

According to information presented to the court, Bradford was previously convicted in the  Northern District of Ohio of Interstate Stalking and Use and Carry of a Firearm during the  Commission of a Felony. Those convictions related to Bradford’s killing of Dr. Gulam Moonda in  May 2005. Bradford was initially sentenced to a 210-month term of imprisonment, followed by 5 years of federal supervised release. Upon his release from imprisonment, Bradford’s supervision  was transferred from the Northern District of Ohio to the Western District of Pennsylvania. On July  29, 2022, the Pennsylvania State Police charged Bradford with numerous offenses, to include  Attempted Homicide, Aggravated Assault – Fear of Imminent Serious Bodily Injury Designated  Individual, Assault of Law Enforcement Officer, Disarming Law Enforcement Officer, and  Possession of Firearms Prohibited. In November 2023, Bradford was convicted in the Beaver County  Court of Common Pleas and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 36 1/2 to 73 years. 

Following that sentencing proceeding, a federal supervised release violation hearing was  held. At the proceeding, the government introduced videos of Bradford’s conduct in July 2022. The  videos depicted Bradford pointing a firearm at an individual, a bystander applying a torniquet to a  Pennsylvania State Police Trooper who Bradford shot in the leg, and a bystander assisting another  Pennsylvania State Police Trooper restrain Bradford as he grabbed the Trooper’s firearm and taser.  

Bradford admitted to violating some conditions of his federal supervised release and  requested that the Court impose a sentence to be served concurrently to his sentence in Beaver  County. The government requested that the Court revoke Bradford’s supervised release, sentence  him to the maximum term of imprisonment of 10-years, and to impose that sentence consecutively  to the Beaver County sentence. 

Judge Hardy imposed a total 10-year sentence, to be served consecutively to the Beaver  County sentence. Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Hardy emphasized the seriousness of Bradford’s  conduct, Bradford’s propensity for enduring violence, and the need to impose the maximum sentence  authorized by law to protect the public from Bradford. Finally, Judge Hardy commended the bystanders who assisted the Pennsylvania State Police, as depicted in the videos introduced at the  hearing. 

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted this case on behalf of the  government. 

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Pennsylvania State Police for the  investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Bradford. 

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing slide repair work on Hoenig Road (Route 2003) in Economy Borough, Beaver County, will begin Wednesday, December 13 weather permitting.

Slide repair work on Hoenig Road between Big Sewickley Creek Road and Cooney Hollow Road will occur from 7 a.m. Monday continuously through Wednesday, January 17. Traffic will be controlled by flaggers during work hours daily from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and stop signs during now work hours as crews repair a failed wall.

Crews from JET Excavating will conduct the work.

Please use caution when traveling in this area.

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.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published December 13, 2023 10:23 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) Students from  Aliquippa Elementary School competed with 59 other teams last Saturday at Aliquippa High School for the Western PA FLL Robotics State Championship.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published December 12, 2023 8:07 P.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) The Beaver Falls City Council met Tuesday night for their last meeting of 2023. Council started the meeting by presenting a proclamation to longtime councilman Leonard Chiappetta for his years of dedicated service to the city of Beaver Falls as he retires from Council. Mayor Johns announced the proclamation and councilman Chuckie Kirkland presented it to Chiappetta. He received a standing ovation from everyone in attendance.

Council approved resolution 1725, which is the approval of a tax levy of all persons and property for 2024. It will lower the current millage from 29 mills to 6 mills. Mayor Johns commented that the tax levy is being done to offset some increases due to the recent county assessment.

The resignation of Melissa Chichy from the Civil Service Commission was approved. Council also adopted the 2024 city budget in the amount of $46,257,388.82.

It was also announced during the meeting that Christmas tree pickup will begin on December 27th.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Public school advocates in Pennsylvania are criticizing publicly funded programs that pay tuition at private and religious schools. They say many such schools discriminate by cherry-picking which students are able to attend. School funding is an unresolved area of contention as the House and Senate return to session on Monday. Democrats are pushing for billions more for public schools, while Republicans press to expand taxpayer funding for private schools. The two sides are clashing over a program that provides tax credits to defray the cost of private-school tuition.

Harvard President Claudine Gay, left, speaks as University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill listens during a hearing of the House Committee on Education on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The university presidents called before last week’s congressional hearing on antisemitism had more in common than strife on their campuses: The leaders of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and MIT were all women who were relatively new in their positions. In that sense, they represented the changing face of leadership at top-tier universities, with a record number of women leading Ivy League schools. Now Penn’s president has resigned over comments that she said did not go far enough to condemn hate against Jewish students. And Harvard’s president has faced calls to step down from donors and some lawmakers.

PITTSBURGH — Duquesne Light Holdings Inc. (DLH) has appointed Daniel Farrah to its executive leadership team as chief information officer effective Dec. 4. In this role, Farrah will be responsible for leading the Information Technology (IT) business unit in its continued transformation to enable the company’s vision of a clean energy future for all, including a central focus on technology to meet evolving customer needs.

Previously, Farrah served in several executive technology leadership roles at Optum — a technology-enabled healthcare services company owned by UnitedHealth Group — including vice president of technology strategy and innovation at Optum Health and chief information officer at MedExpress. Prior to joining Optum, Farrah served in progressive technology leadership positions at ATI.

“I’m incredibly honored to have Daniel join the DLH team,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO. “His impressive leadership experience and ability to advance the culture of high-performance teams make him the ideal candidate to lead our IT function as we modernize our region’s grid. Additionally, his ability to implement complex, multiyear projects will help us deliver exceptional results today while boldly harnessing opportunities for tomorrow.”

Farrah, who was a 1^st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1992 to 1996, received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a Master of Science in Information Technology from Carnegie Mellon University. He resides in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, with his wife Laura. They have three adult children.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is inviting the public to attend a career fair on Thursday, December 14 to learn about available maintenance positions the department offers for the winter maintenance program in Beaver County.

The event will be held at PennDOT’s Rochester Maintenance Building located at 155 Stewart Avenue Rochester, PA 15074 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 14.

Available positions in Beaver County include full-time, permanent Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Operators, seasonal CDL Operators, and full-time and seasonal Diesel Mechanics. Commercial drivers must have a valid Pennsylvania CDL Class A or B with the Air Brake Restriction (L) removed and a current medical examiner certificate.

PennDOT recruiters will be on-hand to discuss current winter maintenance openings in Beaver County. Onsite application completion, on the spot interviews, driving skills testing, and conditional job offers for select positions will occur. Applicants are asked to bring two forms of identification.