(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Aliquippa, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that forty-three-year-old Antani Macon of Ambridge was arrested for possessing drugs in Aliquippa on August 15th, 2025. Macon was stopped by police during a traffic stop on the 400 block of Franklin Avenue. According to police, Macon was arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana and his charges are pending.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: An Israeli soldier stands on the top of a tank parked on an area near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military said Wednesday it will call up 60,000 reservists ahead of an expanded military operation in Gaza City. Many residents have chosen to stay despite the danger, fearing nowhere is safe in a territory facing shortages of food, water and other necessities.
Calling up extra military reservists is part a plan Defense Minister Israel Katz approved to begin a new phase of operations in some of Gaza’s most densely populated areas, the military said. The plan, which is expected to receive the chief of staff’s final approval in the coming days, also includes extending the service of 20,000 additional reservists who are already on active duty.
In a country of fewer than 10 million people, the call-up of reservists is the largest in months and carries economic and political weight. It comes days after hundreds of thousands of Israelis rallied for a ceasefire, as negotiators scramble to get Israel and Hamas to agree to end their 22 months of fighting, and as rights groups warn that an expanded assault could deepen the crisis in the Gaza Strip, where most of the roughly 2 million inhabitants have been displaced, many areas have been reduced to rubble, and the population faces the threat of famine.
An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with military regulations, said troops will operate in parts of Gaza City where they haven’t been deployed yet and where Israel believes Hamas is still active. Israeli troops in the the city’s Zeitoun neighborhood and in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, are already preparing the groundwork for the expanded operation, which could begin within days.
Though the timeline wasn’t clear, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday that Netanyahu “has directed that the timetables … be shortened” for launching the offensive.
Gaza City is Hamas’ military and governing stronghold, and one of the last places of refuge in the northern Strip, where hundreds of thousands are sheltering. Israeli troops will be targeting Hamas’ vast underground tunnel network there, the official added.
Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of Hamas are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said.
Netanyahu has said the war’s objectives are to secure the release of remaining hostages and ensure that Hamas and other militants can never again threaten Israel.
The planned offensive, announced earlier this month, comes amid heightened international condemnation of Israel’s restrictions on food and medicine reaching Gaza and fears that many Palestinians will be forced to flee.
“It’s pretty obvious that it will just create another mass displacement of people who have been displaced repeatedly since this phase of the conflict started,” United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
Associated Press journalists saw small groups heading south from the city this week, but it’s unclear how many others will voluntarily flee. Some said they would wait to see how events unfold, with many insisting that nowhere is safe from airstrikes.
“What we’re seeing in Gaza is nothing short of apocalyptic reality for children, for their families, and for this generation,” Ahmed Alhendawi, regional director of Save the Children, said in an interview. “The plight and the struggle of this generation of Gaza is beyond being described in words.”
The call-up comes amid a growing campaign by exhausted reservists who accuse the Israeli government of perpetuating the war for political reasons and failing to bring home the 50 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
The hostages’ families and former army and intelligence chiefs have also expressed opposition to the expanded operation in Gaza City. Most of the families want an immediate ceasefire and worry that an expanded assault could imperil the surviving hostages.
Guy Poran, a retired air force pilot who has organized veterans campaigning to end the war, said many reservists are spent after repeated tours lasting hundreds of days and resent those who haven’t been called up.
“Even those that are not ideologically against the current war or the government’s new plans don’t want to go because of fatigue or their families or their businesses,” he said.
Hamas-led militants started the war when they attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals. Hamas says it will only free the rest in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.
Arab mediators and Hamas said this week that the militant group’s leaders had agreed to the terms of a proposed 60-day ceasefire, though similar announcements have been made in the past that didn’t lead to a lasting truce.
Egypt and Qatar have said they are waiting for Israel’s response.
Egypt’s foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, spoke by phone Wednesday with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss the proposed ceasefire in the hopes of winning Israel’s acceptance, the Egyptian foreign ministry said. During the call, Abdelatty urged Israel to “put an end to this unjust war” by negotiating a comprehensive deal and “to lay the foundations for a just settlement of the Palestinian cause,” according to the Egyptian government.
An Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media said Israel is in constant contact with the mediators in an effort to secure the hostages’ release.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said he will oppose a deal that doesn’t include the “complete defeat of Hamas.”
Also Wednesday, Israel gave final approval to a controversial settlement project east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. The development in what’s called E1 would effectively cut the territory in two. Palestinians and rights groups say it could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.
At least 27 Palestinians were killed and more than 100 were wounded Wednesday at the Zikim crossing in northwestern Gaza as a crowd rushed toward a U.N. convoy transporting humanitarian aid, according to health officials.
“The majority of casualties were killed by gunshots fired by the Israeli troops,” said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service in northern Gaza. “The rush toward the trucks and the stampede killed and injured others.”
The dead included people seeking aid and Palestinians guarding the convoy, Awad told the AP. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More than 62,122 people have been killed during Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Monday. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The ministry does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants, but it said women and children make up around half of them.
In addition, 154 adults have died from malnutrition-related causes since late June, when the ministry began counting such deaths, and 112 children have died from malnutrition-related causes since the war began.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: Ukrainian servicemen of the 44th artillery brigade fire a 2s22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks of the year on Ukraine, firing 574 drones and 40 ballistic and cruise missiles overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said Thursday, while a recent diplomatic push to stop the three-year war is trying to gain momentum.
The attack mostly targeted western regions of the country, the air force said, where much of the military aid provided by Ukraine’s Western allies is believed to be delivered and stored. The strikes killed at least one person and injured 15 others, according to officials.
It was Russia’s third-largest aerial attack this year in terms of the number of drones fired and the eighth-largest in terms of missiles, according to official figures. Most such Russian attacks have hit civilian areas.
The strikes occurred during a renewed U.S.-led effort to reach a peace settlement following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor. U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, and at the start of this week hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders at the White House.
Russia has fired nearly 1,000 long-range drones and missiles at Ukraine since the White House talks.
Ukraine and European leaders have accused Putin of stalling in ongoing peace efforts, including Ukraine’s proposal of a ceasefire and Zelenskyy’s offer to sit down with the Russian leader. The Kremlin has reacted coolly to those possibilities.
Zelenskyy condemned the overnight attack, saying it was carried out “as if nothing were changing at all.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted “enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.” It claimed the attack hit drone factories, storage depots and missile launch sites, as well as areas where Ukrainian troops were gathered. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilian areas of Ukraine.
Moscow has shown no signs of pursuing meaningful negotiations to end the war, Zelenskyy said. He urged the international community to respond with stronger pressure on Moscow, including tougher sanctions and tariffs.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has kept up its attacks with domestically produced long-range drones on infrastructure inside Russia that supports Moscow’s war effort. Among other targets, it has hit oil refineries, and Russian wholesale gasoline prices have reached record highs in recent days.
Almost all the overnight missiles were fired from inside Russia. They reached deep into western Ukraine, near the border with Hungary.
Western parts of Ukraine are far from the battlefield’s front line in the east and south of the country, where a grinding war of attrition has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
In the western city of Lviv, one person was killed and three were injured as the attack damaged 26 residential buildings, a kindergarten and administrative buildings, regional head Maksym Kozytskyi wrote on Telegram.
The Regional Prosecutor’s Office said three Russian cruise missiles with cluster munitions struck the city.
A U.S. electronics plant near the Hungarian border was also struck, according to Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. The Flex factory is one of the biggest American investments in Ukraine, Hunder told The Associated Press by phone.
At the moment of impact, 600 nightshift workers were on the premises, and six of them were injured, Hunder said. Russian attacks on Ukraine since it launched its invasion have damaged property belonging to more than half of the chamber’s approximately 600 members, he added
“The message is clear: Russia is not looking for peace. Russia is attacking American business in Ukraine, humiliating American business,” Hunder said.
In comments Wednesday that were embargoed until Thursday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine will hold intensive meetings to understand what kind of security guarantees its allies are willing to provide.
The details are being hammered out by national security advisers and military officials. The plans will become clearer by the end of next week, Zelenskyy said. He then expects to be ready to hold direct talks with Putin for the first time since the full-scale invasion.
The talks could also be conducted in a trilateral format alongside Trump, Zelenskyy said.
A venue for the meeting is being discussed, and Switzerland, Austria and Turkey are possibilities, Zelenskyy added.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday that working on security arrangements in Ukraine without Moscow’s involvement was not feasible, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
Zelenskyy said that in his meeting with Trump in the Oval Office on Monday he sought to convince the American president that the battlefield situation was not as bad for Ukraine as Putin portrayed.
Zelenskyy pointed to errors in the U.S. map of the front line that he said showed Russia holding more territory than it actually does.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler delivers in the third inning of a spring training baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Fla., Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have decided to promote 22-year-old right-hander Bubba Chandler — baseball’s top pitching prospect — ahead of their game Friday against the Colorado Rockies.
Pirates manager Don Kelly said he’s excited to add Chandler to a staff that already includes 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.
“He’s going to have an opportunity to earn starts like all of our guys have,” Kelly said following a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. “Just excited to add him and his stuff. He’s going to add a lot to the ballclub.”
Chandler is expected to initially work in a bulk bullpen role. He got off to a hot start in Triple-A this year, but has stumbled lately and is currently 5-6 with a 4.05 ERA in 100 innings pitched this year for Indianapolis.
Braxton Ashcraft, a 25-year-old rookie right-hander, was used in a similar fashion after being promoted May 26. He is 3-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 19 games (three starts).
“Just getting him up here in the big leagues and getting him in that role,” Kelly said. “You saw Ashcraft really thrive in it. He got his feet wet in the bullpen, had some really big outings. … He’s bounced around, done some different things, starting and being in the pen. To have (Chandler) in a situation like that, can go out in the pen and work on things at the big league level and be here to learn from the guys up here, and learn from the staff, the players and get feedback from major league meetings. It’s really, really important for him and for us.”
Chandler, like Ashcraft, will land in the starting rotation at some point. Ashcraft has started in his last two appearances, allowing two runs and six hits in a combined 8 1/3 innings.
“For me, I think it made me a better pitcher,” Ashcraft said. “And will continue to make me a better pitcher because it’s different. You grow up doing one thing your entire life and the game kind of falls into some sort of, like, just monotony. And having something like that where you come in, you’re forced to be in a different role, something that’s unfamiliar, you respond one of two ways — you compete your tail off or you don’t.
“Knowing Bubba, knowing the person that he is, like, he’s an unbelievable competitor. I have no doubt in my mind that it’ll be good for him.”
The Pirates have been careful with Chandler’s workload since he moved to pitching full-time ahead of the 2023 season after being projected as a two-way player when he was drafted in 2021. Chandler saw time at shortstop and as a designated hitter early in his minor league career but struggled at the plate, hitting just .184 with Class-A Greensboro in 2022.
Asked in February if he missed hitting, Chandler joked he learned in the minors that for a position player, he’s a pretty good pitcher.
And potentially a very good one. Yet Pittsburgh has been cautious in bringing Chandler along. He pitched 106 innings in 2023 and 119 innings last season.
Chandler got off to a scorching start at Triple-A this spring, posting a 1.33 ERA in April and a 2.54 ERA in May. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, however, had been hesitant to promote Chandler, citing his relative inexperience as opposed to Skenes, who had a standout career at LSU before the Pirates called him up in May 2024.
Chandler’s effectiveness has waned of late. He went 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA in three starts this month for Indianapolis.
Yet with Pittsburgh heading for a last-place finish in the NL Central, Chandler will get an extended audition in the majors as the club points toward 2026.
“He’s an extreme competitor,” Ashcraft said. “He did the same type of stuff that I grew up doing — playing football and baseball, and any other sport you can get your hands on. What that boils down to is just enjoying to compete and he’ll excel in any opportunity he has to do that.”
The top of the Pirates’ rotation for next year appears to be set with Skenes and Mitch Keller. The other three spots are a question mark at the moment, with Jared Jones (who has missed all season after having Tommy John surgery), Mike Burrows, Ashcraft and Johan Oviedo (who made his second start on Wednesday after having Tommy John surgery of his own in late 2023), all in the mix.
Chandler can join them with a solid showing, with the club likely looking for chances to put him in low-leverage situations. In that way, having him available for a weekend series against MLB-worst Colorado makes sense.
“It’s fun to see everybody kind of get here to the big leagues, for the most part, excluding a few guys, for now,” Ashcraft said. “But yeah, like, it’s a cool thing to be able to step into a clubhouse knowing you’re going to be with guys that have helped you get to this point, directly. Just excited to see what next year and the following years after that have to bring to us and to Pittsburgh.”
Michelle S. (Lindsey) Wallace, 63, of Darlington, passed away on August 19th, 2025 at her residence.
She was born in North Creek, New York on May 29th, 1962, a daughter of the late George and Gloria (VanDerwarker) Lindsey. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Kathy Lindsey. She is survived by her husband of 36 years, Gregory A. Wallace, her children: Brian (Erica) Wallace, Zach Wallace, Ashley (Jim) Zito, and Paige Wallace; as well as her grandchildren, Gibson, Ava and Greyson, along with numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.
Michelle was a graduate of Johnsburg Central Highschool in North Creek, New York. She found joy in raising her four children, crafting, and listening to her favorite band, Aerosmith, while glamping with her friends and loving husband.
Friends will be received on Tuesday, August 26th from 2-4 P.M. and 6-8 P.M. in the GABAUER-LUTTON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, Inc., 117 Blackhawk Road, Beaver Falls, who was in charge of her arrangements.
Alice Lillian Phillips, 94, formerly of New Sewickley Township, passed away on August 19th, 2025 in St. Barnabas, Beaver Meadows of Beaver. She was born on November 20th, 1930, a daughter of the late John and Alice Phillips. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two brothers, James and Harry Phillips and a sister whom she was very close with, Mary Phillips. She is survived by her niece, Carol (Roland) McClinton, two great nephews: Roland (Colleen) McClinton Jr. and Randy McClinton, a great niece, Denise (Thomas) McKenzie, five great great nieces and nephews: Brooke McClinton, Tyler McKenzie, Morgan Brody, Lauren McClinton, and Austin McClinton; as well as two great great great nephews: Cormic and Sylus. Alice was a retired phone operator working for Bell Telephone and then Verizon for many years. She was a devout Catholic. She attended Our Lady of the Valley Parish with St. Felix Church in Freedom and Divine Redeemer Parish with St. James Church in Sewickley. She loved being active in her church. She was constantly a caretaker who would happily help any of her family, friends and church members.
Friends will be received on Monday, August 25th from 10 a.m. until the time of a Blessing Service at Noon in the Huntsman Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Rochester. 502 Adams Street, Rochester, who was in charge of her arrangements.
Private interment will take place in Calvary Cemetery of Freedom, Pennsylvania.
Deborah Lewandowski Dzikowski, 69, of Ambridge, passed away on August 18th, 2025, at Heritage Valley Sewickley.
She was born in Sewickley on May 7th, 1956, a daughter of the late Henry and Mary (Volosh) Lewandowski. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Walter Dzikowski, a brother-in-law, James Ridjaneck and a sister-in-law, Deborah Lewandowski. She is survived by her siblings, David Lewandowski and Cheryl Ridjaneck, her nieces and nephews, Nicole (Chris) Starkey, David J. Lewandowski and Katelyn (Jacob Anderson) Ridjaneck and several great-nieces and great-nephews. Deborah was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Ambridge who liked to read in her free time.
A memorial service for Deborah will be held at a later date.
GABAUER FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATION SERVICES, INC., 1133 Penn Avenue, New Brighton was honored to care for Deborah’s family during this difficult time.
The family would like to thank LIFE Beaver for the support and care they provided to Deborah.
Rebecca Raye Finch, 71, of Rochester, passed away on August 14th, 2025, at UPMC Montifiore Hospital of Pittsburgh.
She was born in Rochester on November 8th, 1954, a daughter of the late Donald and Beatrice (Persaul) Finch. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her partner, Gary Van Winkle and her sisters, Lorraine Mahany and Jayne Berrisford.
She is survived by her brother, Donald Finch, her sister, Vivian Finch, along with her nieces, nephews and friends.
Rebecca had worked at Diamond Cargo Company for many years and was very artistic. She enjoyed painting and spending time with her cat, Quigley.
In accordance with Rebecca’s wishes, she will be cremated and no services will be held.
The GABAUER-LUTTON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, INC., 117 Blackhawk Road, Beaver Falls, was honored to care for Rebecca and her family during this time.
(File Photo of the PennDOT logo)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that tomorrow night through Monday morning, weather permitting, the closure of the 62nd Street Bridge (Route 8) in the southbound direction in Etna Borough and the City of Pittsburgh will occur. From 9 p.m. tomorrow night continuously through 5 a.m. Monday morning, a full closure of the 62nd Street Bridge in the southbound direction will occur to let crews perform concrete repairs, mast arm foundation installation, and overhead sign repair work. Traffic going southbound will be detoured, and according to a release from PennDOT District 11, here are the detour routes as well as more information about this work:
Posted Detour
Northbound traffic will not be affected during the weekend of this work this weekend.
On the weekend of September 5th-8th, 2025 another weekend closure of the 62nd Street Bridge in the direction going southbound is tentatively scheduled. In advance of the work, additional details will be provided. On the weekend of September 12th-15th, 2025 is the schedule for the first closure northbound of the 62nd Street bridge.
(FIle Photo of the Beaver County Courthouse)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Beaver, PA) Assessment appeals were briefly discussed at the Beaver County Commissioners’ work session this morning in Beaver. During the Department Head Report of the session, Beaver County Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp addressed Beaver County Chief County Assessor Joshua Eckelberger and Eckelberger claimed that there are value appeals totaling 210 and status appeals totaling 107. There are two weeks left for applications of these appeals and meetings that are informal regarding these appeals will begin next Monday. Eckelberger also mentioned policies that are related to both taxable and exemption. In other business, Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning encouraged everyone to attend the Hookstown Fair that began last night in Hookstown and Manning also got back this morning from Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland welcoming their students back to school for the 2025-2026 school year, which was also the 20th anniversary of the opening of Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School.