FILE – Arizona Diamondbacks pitching coach Brent Strom walks to the dugout during a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco, Sunday, April 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
(File Photo of Aliquippa School Board Logo)
(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 5th, 2024 at 10:09 A.M.)
(Aliquippa, PA) The action of a resolution towards the removal of a board member was taken at Wednesday night’s Aliquippa School Board meeting. Tori Durham-Flannigan was asked to resign from her position as a school director immediately. A proper investigation concluded that Durham-Flannigan disclosed information she learned from a legally held executive session under confidentiality and the protection of executive privileges. The motion was made due to the fact that confidential matters of personnel were disclosed. The board rejects her actions, with all being both inappropriate and unacceptable, as well as a violation of board policy. The board also requested that Durham-Flannigan should be removed from all board committees and not serve on any such committees.
(File Photo of Aliquippa High School Football Coach Mike Warfield)
(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 5th, 2024 at 10:03 A.M.)
(Aliquippa, PA) The Aliquippa school board held its reorganization and regular meeting Wednesday night and announced the return of Aliquippa High School Football Coach Mike Warfield for the 2025-2026 season after Warfield took a leave of absence this season. The board voted to reinstate Warfield with his salary totaling $12,500. They voted to reinstate Football Coach Mike Warfield His salary for the season will be $12,500. The board’s next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, January 15,2025 at 6 p.m. in the Gene Karmazyn Black Box Theater.
FILE – Ronald Rowe, acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, speaks to reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, Pool, File)
By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting director of the Secret Service is promising accountability for what he called the agency’s “abject failure” to secure the rally where a gunman opened fire on Donald Trump last summer during his presidential campaign.
Ronald Rowe is set to testify Thursday in front of a bipartisan House task force investigating how the Secret Service, which protects the highest echelon of American leaders, performed during two assassination attempts against Trump in two months. A portion of Rowe’s remarks was released before the hearing.
The task force’s inquiry is one of a series of investigations and reports into the July shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, that have faulted the troubled agency for planning and communications failures. Already, the fallout has included the resignation of the agency’s previous director and changes that increased Secret Service protections for Trump before the Republican won the November election.
Trump has not yet named his pick to lead the agency.
A separate independent panel investigating that assassination attempt has said the Secret Service needs new leadership and that “another Butler can and will happen again” without major changes in how candidates are protected. Trump was wounded in the ear, one rallygoer was killed, and two others were wounded.
Rowe said the agency’s internal investigation identified failures by multiple employees. He noted that the quality of the advance work — the people who go to a location before an event and plan how the Secret Service will protect someone — did not meet agency standards.
“It is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure on July 13, 2024,” Rowe says in the prepared remarks. “Let me be clear, there will be accountability, and that accountability is occurring.”
He did not give specific information, including, for example, how many employees might be disciplined or if anyone would be fired.
This is the task force’s second public hearing and the first time that Rowe has addressed it in public. It is scheduled to release a report on its findings and recommendations by Dec. 13.
Many of the investigations have centered on why buildings near the rally with a clear line of sight to the stage were not secured in advance. The gunman, Thomas Crooks, climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire as Trump spoke.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service countersniper, and Trump was surrounded by agents and hustled offstage.
The shooting also exposed communications problems between the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement officials who routinely assist the agency in securing big events.
Another assassination attempt on Trump in Florida two months later also contributed to the agency’s troubles.
Ryan Wesley Routh is accused of lying in wait for Trump on Sept. 15 in the shrubbery of one of Trump’s Florida golf courses in West Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent saw the firearm poking through the bushes and opened fire, thwarting the potential attack. Routh never fired a shot.
The agency has defended its response as much more in line with how its defensive systems are supposed to operate. Critics have questioned how Routh was able to camp out for so long at a golf course Trump often visited while in town.
Ever since the first assassination attempt, the Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny about its ability to carry out what’s often described as a “zero failure mission.”
Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned a little over a week after the July shooting and one day after she appeared before a congressional hearing where she was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans.
Rowe was then announced as the acting director.
In his statement to the bipartisan task force, Rowe noted what he has done to bring about change.
“It has been my singular focus to bring much needed reform to the Secret Service. To be an agent of change. To challenge previous assumptions,” Rowe said.
Among the things he highlighted:
— The agency increased the staff assigned to Trump and expanded its use of drone technology to get a high-level view of venues.
— Secret Service personnel are required to be at the same location as state and local law enforcement while protecting someone to avoid some of the communications failures from the Butler rally.
— In a nod to the stresses on agents and officers protecting a growing list of people in an increasingly divisive political environment, Rowe said he was prioritizing mental health and wellness programs and had hired a chief wellness officer this week.
Mississippi State forward Cameron Matthews (4) pulls down an offensive rebound during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Starkville, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — KeShawn Murphy scored a season-high 20 points and Mississippi State led from start to finish in thumping No. 18 Pittsburgh 90-57 in the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Bulldogs opened a 35-point advantage in the second half and were never threatened. Michael Nwoko had his first double-double of the season with a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Hubbard scored 12. Jaland Lowe led Pittsburgh with 19 points and Brandin Cummings added 12 for the Panthers, who shot 31% and were outrebounded 49-27.
FILE – Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)
By DAVID BRANDT and RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writers
PHOENIX (AP) — National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes was elected to the players’ association eight-man executive subcommittee on Wednesday just six months after his big league debut as three players were dropped who had advocated for the ouster of union deputy executive director Bruce Meyer.
Jack Flaherty, Ian Happ and Lucas Giolito were dropped along with Francisco Lindor, Lance McCullers Jr. and Austin Slater.
Flaherty, Giolito and Happ were among the players who in March advocated for the ouster of Meyer, the union’s chief labor negotiator. The effort, led by former union lawyer Harry Marino, proved unsuccessful.
Union head Tony Clark vowed to keep deliberations internal this summer.
Also new to the committee are American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal of Detroit, Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt, San Diego infielder Jake Cronenworth, Tampa Bay pitcher Pete Fairbanks and Baltimore outfielder Cedric Mullins.
Texas infielder Marcus Semien and Cincinnati pitcher Brent Suter remain on the committee, with Semien the only holdover from the 2021-22 lockout.
The eight, all born in the U.S., were elected by representatives of the 30 big league teams, the Major League Baseball Players Association said. The two-year terms run through start of bargaining for a labor contract to replace the five-year deal that expires in December 2026.
The 22-year-old Skenes debuted on May 11 and went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA. The No. 1 pick in the 2023 amateur draft out of LSU started the All-Star Game about two months after his promotion.
Semien is the longest-serving member, having held a spot since December 2020. Suter was elected in 2022.
Bassitt and Semien are association representatives, Cronenworth and Skenes alternate associations representatives, Fairbanks and Suter pension committee representatives, and Mullins and Skubal alternate pension committee representatives.
Baltimore pitcher Ryan Long, New York Yankees pitcher Adam Stone and Athletics first baseman Danny Bautista Jr. were elected to fill the remaining year of two-year terms leading the representation of players with minor league contracts. They join Chicago Cubs catcher William Simoneit, who was elected to a two-year term in November 2023.
Long and Simoneit are association representatives, and Bautista and Stone alternate association representatives. Bautista’s father, Danny, was a big league outfielder from 1993-2004.
The union is having its annual series of meetings in Scottsdale this week.
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Blum reported from New York.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — Led by Juwan Maxey’s 16 points, the Youngstown State Penguins defeated the Robert Morris Colonials 72-58 on Wednesday night. The Penguins are now 4-5 with the victory and the Colonials dropped to 6-4.
(File Photo of Beaver Falls Fire Department Truck on Street)
(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 5th, 2024 at 9:26 A.M.)
(Beaver Falls, PA) A fire occurred in Beaver Falls Thursday morning. According to a report from Beaver County 911, a call came in for a structure fire at a home located at 613 16th Street at 2:30 a.m. The report also notes that assistance by several fire departments was seen, and a second alarm was called in. There were no reports of injuries and firefighters were still on scene as of 7 a.m.
(File Photo of Roberto Clemente: Source for Photo: File-Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Roberto Clemente. The Pittsburgh Pirates will honor Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente when they wear No. 21 against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. The team believes this is an important step into having Clemente’s number retired by Major League Baseball(Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP, File)/
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Washington, D.C.) On Wednesday night, according to a release from United States Congressman Chris Deluzio’s office, the House of Representatives passed the Roberto Clemente Commemorative Coin Act, which displays Pittsburgh Pirate baseball great Roberto Clemente on coins. Clemente was not only a legendary baseball player, but also was a man who tried to bring change as an activist off the field. These coins will be produced by the Department of the Treasury, while the coins being sold will be included with a payment to the Roberto Clemente Foundation. The release also stated that Deluzio was originally one of the cosponsors, along with Western Pennsylvania showing Deluzio as their representative for this bill to be official.