Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published November 27, 2023 10:05 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) Aliquippa Mayor Dwan B. Walker says an Iranian-backed Cyber group caused the hack that occurred on Saturday at one of the water booster stations located outside the city that monitors and regulates pressure for Raccoon and Potter Townships. He said there’s no risk to the water supply. According to information released by Water Authority chairman Matt Mottes, the machine that was hacked uses a system called Unitronics, which has software and components that are Israel-owned. The system has been disabled. State Police were called in to begin a criminal investigation on the hack. CyberAv3Av3ngers have taken responsibility for several attacks, including 10 water treatment stations in Israel. Mayor Walker said that President Joe Biden has been made aware of the incident.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The sights and sounds of the Christmas season were flowing through the cold winds of Third Street in Beaver, as the 2023 edition of Light Up Night drew a crowd of hundreds to celebrate the arrival of the “most wonderful time of the year”.

Live music was presented at the main stage located at the intersection of Third Street and College Avenue, with the Troubled Saints, Christian Beck, and Casanova & The Divas providing seasonal serenades. The parade made its way down the main drag during sunset, keeping things bright, merry, festive, and loud for those in attendance. All of the Christmas cheer was organized on behalf of the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce.

Beaver County Radio made its way out to Beaver Light Up Night to take part in this year’s festivities, with Mike Romigh and Matt Drzik presenting live updates during the broadcast of this year’s WPIAL championships.

Coverage of Light Up Night on Beaver County Radio was presented by D&G Rent-Alls, CCBC, and Moon Township Ford. Click below for additional pictures of the night:

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The Butcher and The Baker LLC in Darlington has announced that they are permanently closing its doors on December 16, 2023.

In a statement posted to the company’s Facebook page, owners JC and Jill Summers stated the following:

“It has been a pleasure to serve you for the last 8 and a half years. It is unfortunate we must close our doors, but we want you to know how much we appreciated your business and support over the years.”

The announcement also mentioned that there will be an online auction for equipment and supplies to be announced at a later date.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Former federal prosecutor Katayoun “Kat” Copeland will run for attorney general of Pennsylvania in 2024, she said this week.

Copeland, a Republican, recently left her job in the U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia ahead of announcing her candidacy for attorney general, the state’s top law enforcement official.

The office has an annual budget of about $140 million and plays a prominent role in arresting drug traffickers, fighting gun trafficking, defending state laws in court and protecting consumers from predatory practices.

It played a key role in defending Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the battleground state, fighting repeated attempts to overturn it in state and federal courts by Donald Trump’s campaign and Republican allies.

Copeland, 56, also was a prosecutor for Delaware County in suburban Philadelphia and served for two years as the court-appointed district attorney there. She ran for a full four-year term in 2019 but lost to Democrat Jack Stollsteimer.

Between her work for the district attorney’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office, Copeland has spent three decades as a prosecutor. In the U.S. attorney’s office, she rose to become chief of the criminal division and serve in the national security and cybercrimes unit.

Copeland has competition for the Republican nomination. York County’s district attorney, Dave Sunday, has announced his candidacy and is endorsed by the Republican Attorneys General Association. Craig Williams, a state House member from Delaware County, also has said he plans to run.

Four Democrats have also announced their candidacies: state Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, former state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, former federal prosecutor Joe Kahn and Keir Bradford-Grey, the former head of Philadelphia’s and Montgomery County’s public defense lawyers.

Candidates must file paperwork by Feb. 13 to appear on the April 23 primary ballot.

Current Attorney General Michelle Henry, who was appointed to serve out the remainder of Josh Shapiro’s term as when he became governor, has said she does not plan to run for a full term.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A woman has been sentenced to decades in prison after pleading guilty to driving under the influence and then striking and killing two state troopers and a pedestrian on an interstate in Philadelphia last year.

Jayana Webb, 23, of Eagleville pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Philadelphia courtroom to three counts each of third-degree murder and homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence in the early morning crash in March 2022. She was sentenced to 27 1/2 to 60 years in prison.

District Attorney Larry Krasner called it “a just resolution of one of the most shocking incidents of vehicular violence in recent memory.”

Police said Troopers Martin Mack III and Branden Sisca were trying to get a pedestrian to safety from the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 near south Philadelphia’s sports stadiums when a vehicle “traveling at a high rate of speed” struck all three. The troopers and the pedestrian, identified as 28-year-old Reyes Rivera Oliveras of Allentown, died at the scene.

Defense attorney Michael Walker told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Webb, who is seven months’ pregnant, will be allowed to remain out of custody until she gives birth in February and will be allowed some time after that to bond with the child before she reports to prison.

Walker said his client expressed deep “sorrow” and apologized to the families of the victims in court.

“She had hoped that at some point in their lives they would be able to forgive her,” he said. “She will never forgive herself. She suffers greatly because of what she did and recognizes that she is punished and has ruined a large portion of her life,” Walker said.

Earlier court hearings focused on Webb’s blood alcohol content and her activity on social media, including a post earlier in the morning that said she had been stopped “doing 110 in a 50″ mph zone. Authorities said the troopers who stopped her were abruptly redirected south to help Oliveras, who was apparently trying to cross the highway. As they tried to get him off the road, Webb tried to pass the parked state police SUV at high speed, hitting all three, authorities said.

Her blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and the active components of marijuana were also found, prosecutors said.

Mack, 33, enlisted in November 2014 and had been assigned to the Philadelphia barracks since 2015. Sisca, 29, enlisted in February of last year and graduated in August. Col. Robert Evanchick, the state police commissioner, said both “had bright careers ahead of them” before “their lives were senselessly cut short.”

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Published November 23, 2023 1:17 P.M.

(Rochester, Pa) The Marathon Gas Station on Virginia Avenue in Rochester was robbed around 5pm Monday afternoon. The robber, who was identified as Michael Miller, got away with roughly $100. Beaver Valley Regional Police were able to identify Miller using surveillance footage and managed to locate and arrest him.
Miller was charged with felonies of robbery and terroristic threats, in addition to misdemeanor theft by unlawful taking, and simple assault.
He is being held at the Beaver County Jail with a $100,000 bail.