HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Premiums for health insurers’ individual policies in Pennsylvania for 2020 will reflect an aggregate statewide increase of 4%, with an increase of 10% in the small group market. The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance said Thursday that the new plans will be available when open enrollment starts Nov. 1. Premiums for individual health insurance policies dropped in the current year, after increases the two years before that averaged over 30% in Pennsylvania.

There is a new direct flight coming to Pittsburgh that will land in a warmer climate. Spirit Airlines has announced it will begin a nonstop flight to Cancun, Mexico from Pittsburgh International Airport. Spirit officials say the direct flights will start February 13th and will fly on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sundays. Two years ago, Southwest announced it would fly from Pittsburgh to Cancun one day per week seasonally.

Beaver County’s Agricultural Land Preservation Board is taking applications for their easement purchase program. Any landowner who has 50 or more acres in the county can apply up until December 31st of this year. Since 1995, the program has purchased more than three-thousand acres of farm land on 28 farms.

WEATHER FORECASTD FOR FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 2019

TODAY – PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH – 56.

TONIGHT – MOSTLY CLEAR. LOW – 35.

SATURDAY – MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGH – 64.

SUNDAY – SUNNY. HIGH NEAR 70.

NNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of a U.S. House committee that investigated President Donald Trump, and was a formidable orator who passionately advocated for the poor in his district that encompassed a large portion of Baltimore. Cummings hadn’t returned to work after having a medical procedure that he said would only keep him away for about a week.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local): Vice President Mike Pence says that Turkey has agreed to a cease-fire in Syria. Pence spoke after a high-level delegation of U.S. officials met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (REH’-jehp TY’-ihp UR’-doh-wahn) in Ankara, Turkey. Pence says there will “a pause in military operations for 120 hours” to allow the U.S.-allied Syrian Kurds to withdraw. The vice president says the U.S. and Turkey have “mutually committed to peaceful resolution and future for the safe zone.”

Freedom United Federal Credit Union is celebrating its 80th anniversary today, which also just happens to be International Credit Union Day. Zelda Smith is the president treasurer of the Rochester location. She says several special activities are taking place today…and one of them is the delivery of a complimentary birthday cake:

She says there’s also a scavenger hunt for members…

She says there’s also a contest where you can guess the weight of the pumpkins on display…

She says there’s also free refreshments being offered at all the locations today…

Smith talked about how the two celebrations fall on the same day this year…

Smith says there’s no fee to participate in any of the special activities today. However, you do need to be a credit union member…

Smith says they’ll be giving out cookies and special gifts throughout the day at all three locations.

More motorists are stranded by dead batteries in winter than in any other season. So says AAA, as we hear in this report from Beaver County Radio News intern Alex D’itri. Click on ‘play’ to hear Alex’ report…

Officials in Daugherty Township are starting their leaf collection next week.  Crews will pick-up on a planned route from Monday through Thursday running through November 29th.  Leaf piles containing garbage, grass clippings, or brush and tree branches won’t be collected.