Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Photos by Curtis Walsh, Gary Miller, and Frank Sparks. Published December 8, 2023 10:16 A.M.

(New Brighton, Pa) Al’s Pizza in New Brighton celebrated the grand opening of their brick and mortar store yesterday. Beaver County Radio’s Curtis Walsh and Eddy Crow were broadcasting there as customers came to get pizza from the brand new shop in New Brighton.
The business offered a promotion of 2 free slices of Sicilian pizza for all who walked through the door Thursday, and many locals took advantage of the opportunity.
Beaver County Radio also brought out the infamous personality prize wheel to give out prizes to lucky winners. Before opening the shop, Al’s Pizza was growing a tastebud following by operating their food truck at places and events all over the county.
Al’s Pizza is located at 400 9th Street in New Brighton, in the building where the old Foodland was.
Photos from the event:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) and Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) celebrated the announcement of a $143,629,028 federal grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) for expansion of Amtrak passenger rail service on the Keystone West Corridor. This funding is from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and will allow for a second daily round-trip between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

Additionally, the congressmembers announced a $500,000 grant from the Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) program to plan and develop how to expand both Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian and Keystone services along the entire Pittsburgh to Philadelphia corridor. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will match 20 percent of the project’s total cost.

“I am thrilled to announce this massive $143.6 million federal investment in Western Pennsylvania’s long neglected passenger rail service,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio. “Our region deserves the best infrastructure—and that includes better rail service that gets people where they need to go.”

“For Pennsylvanians and communities across the eastern corridor, passenger rail has helped connect our communities and ensure people can visit their families, access jobs, and explore all that our Commonwealth has to offer. But for far too long, passenger rail in Pittsburgh has remained woefully inadequate and left our communities and economy disconnected” said Rep. Summer Lee. “After pushing the Department of Transportation for infrastructure investment to connect our communities within my district and across the region, I am so excited to help deliver this $143 million grant to immediately begin building a passenger rail to finally ensure there’s frequent and reliable service connecting Pittsburgh with Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Chicago by rail. This service will go a long way to ensure Pittsburgh is connected to the rest of Pennsylvania and the entire eastern corridor–bringing new life to our cities and creating hundreds of good-paying, union jobs along the way.”

More specifically, this investment will fund the project’s land acquisition, design, and construction efforts to improve signaling and safety improvements along Norfolk Southern Railway’s main line between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. This project will improve system and service performance of the Amtrak Pennsylvanian service with additional capacity and other upgrades, including the additional, second daily round trip.

(Beaver County, Pa) The following statement has been issued to county residents:

Area residents should have recently received a mailing from the Beaver County Emergency Services Center. In addition to emergency preparedness information and instructions to sign up for Beaver County emergency alerts, the booklet also includes important special needs response cards. Anyone that requires special assistance due to a hearing, mobility, or visual impairment is encouraged to complete and return the response card. All information provided is kept confidential by emergency officials. The response cards are vital in assisting a special needs resident should an emergency occur. The Beaver County Emergency Services Center updates their special needs information database annually. Accordingly, a new response card should be submitted every year, as long as special assistance is required.  If the mailing was not received or mistakenly discarded, both the booklet and the special needs response card is available online at https://www.newbrightonpa.org/public-safety.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing slide repair work on Tuscarawas Road (Route 4028) in Ohioville Borough, Beaver County, will begin Monday, December 11 weather permitting.

Slide repair work on Tuscarawas Road between Pleasantview Drive and Ridgemont Drive will occur from 7 a.m. Monday continuously through Friday, January 5. Traffic will be controlled by stop signs as crews repair a failed wall.

Crews from Liberoni Contractors 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.

(Beaver, Pa) District Attorney David J. Lozier released the following statement on the death of a Rochester resident in May:

Rochester resident Jason Fioravanti, DOB 8/29/1974, died on May 7, 2023, of complications related to traumatic brain injury. The Allegheny County Coroner ruled the cause of death to be homicide.

Background: On Monday March 7, 2022, Beaver County 911 received a series of calls about a male causing a disturbance on a BCTA Bus that was proceeding along its regular route on Brodhead Road through Center Township towards the Rochester BCTA Terminal. Upon the bus arriving at the terminal, Rochester Borough Police Department were asked to respond for an intoxicated male who was bothering other passengers, specifically a young black male. While enroute the Rochester Police were advised that the call was now for an assault requiring an ambulance. Arriving officers observed an unconscious male lying on the ground who was later identified as Jason Fioravanti. Fioravanti was transported to Allegheny General Hospital for medical treatment related to a head injury suffered in the assault. Fioravanti was diagnosed as suffering traumatic brain injury and died on May 7, 2023, from injuries sustained during the assault.

Investigation established that Fioravanti was highly intoxicated during this incident and had spent a substantial portion of the bus ride harassing a black male. Fioravanti used racial slurs and threatened the individual. Fioravanti was the apparent sole instigator of these exchanges. The bus driver reported the evolving events to 911. Both males disembarked when the bus arrived in Rochester. Fioravanti continued the harassment and appeared to strike the black male who then struck Fioravanti who fell to the ground. The black male walked away and has never been identified. Local Media assisted in efforts to identify the individual by showing a police photo on news programs. No leads ever materialized. The male who struck Fioravanti has not been located or interviewed.

Based upon the current state of the investigation the District Attorney has determined that no charges will be filed in this case at this time. Based upon the facts as we know them, Jason Fioravanti was the likely aggressor in this confrontation and the individual who struck him may have been acting in self- defense. Furthermore, despite a nearly two-year effort law enforcement has been unable to identify the individual involved.

Beaver County Crime Solvers has offered a reward for anyone providing information in this case. Anyone with information on the identity of the unknown individual is asked to contact the Rochester Borough Police Department, 724-774-7278, the Beaver County Detective Bureau, 724-773-8550, or Crime Solvers, 724-774-2000.

FILE – In this Feb. 5, 2019, file photo, the dome caps the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG – Attorney General Michelle Henry announced charges against an Allegheny County man for his role in forging signatures on nomination petitions to get his client on the ballot for the 2022 Democratic primary race in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, which includes the City of Pittsburgh and much of Allegheny County, and portions of Westmoreland County.

 

Kirk Rice, 64, was hired by a congressional candidate to help acquire the necessary signatures to get the candidate on the ballot. Of the 437 signatures that Rice obtained, many appeared to be forged or falsified. Ultimately, the candidate for whom Rice worked was not successful in their bid for office.

 

Rice was charged with 33 counts of identity theft, 33 counts of forgery, one count of theft by deception, two counts of unsworn falsification, two counts of perjury, two counts of nomination petition, and two counts of false signatures.

 

“At the foundation of our democracy are free and fair elections, and this defendant is charged with undermining that essential process,” Attorney General Henry said. “Instead of working to obtain legal signatures, the defendant allegedly took the easy way out and falsified much of the information that secured a ballot spot for the candidate he represented. This case is a reminder that interfering with Pennsylvania’s election process is a very serious matter and will always be treated that way by this office.”

 

An investigation by the Office of Attorney General found that Rice allegedly forged names, addresses, and signatures of dozens of individuals on the nomination petitions. Many of the people who had signatures appear on the petitions told investigators they did not sign, and several lived out of state. In some instances, names were duplicated or rearranged on separate pages.

 

This matter is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Alexander Cashman. All charges discussed are accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

(Monaca, Pa) You may have heard an alarm coming from the Shell Polymers Plant in Monaca yesterday. Shell announced, as part of their safety plan, they will conduct a monthly test of their site-wide alarm at noon on the first Wednesday of each month. The test may be audible outside of the site, but community members do not need to take any action. In the event of a real emergency that has any impact beyond the site, Shell will inform the public, and local emergency response officials may also provide updates depending on the nature of the event.