A South Beaver Township police officer is recovering after being attacked by a dog this week. It happened Wednesday afternoon as the officer was responding to a call on Cordak Drive. Officer Hannah Shepler had extensive wounds and was severely bitten, according to South Beaver Township’s chief of police speaking with the Beaver County Times. Another officer shot and killed the dog while it was on top of Shepler.

REPORTS OF SOME TEENAGERS CAUSING PROBLEMS AT THE BRADY’S RUN ICE ARENA IN BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP HAVE INSPIRED TALK OF POLICY CHANGES AT THE RINK. OVER THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS, PUBLIC SKATES AT THE ICE RINK HAVE SEEN SOME LOITERING AND URULY BEHAVIOR BY TEENS. IT SEEMS THE PROBLEM IS THAT PARENTS ARE DROPPING OFF TEENAGERS FOR PUBLIC SKATE SESSIONS…BUT THE TEENS AREN’T SKATING; THEY’RE JUST HANGING OUT.  BEAVER COUNTY COMMISSIONER SANDIE EGLEY SAYS SHE HERSELF HAS WITNESSED DISRUPTIVE CHILDREN AT THE ARENA. COUNTY RECREATION DIRECTOR TIM ISHMAN SAYS THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO RE-EVALUATE HOW IT WILL HANDLE LOITERING AT THE ARENA THIS FALL – BEFORE PUBLIC SKATES BEGIN AGAIN.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state lawmaker protesting a gas pipeline project in her neighborhood is apologizing for saying “Nazis were just doing their jobs too” in response to complaints that demonstrators were preventing workers from doing their jobs. Democratic Rep. Danielle Friel Otten said Thursday on Twitter that her language was insensitive and that she sincerely apologized. She earlier had accused oil-and-gas industry consultants of stirring up outrage and said the fight wasn’t with the workers.

Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says there are 245 backlogged rape kits in Pennsylvania that have not been tested. DePasquale says he’s working to get that count down to zero. The Auditor General says the goal for testing should be 15 days, but some of these kits are more than a year old. Since focusing on the issue three years ago, DePasquale says the issue has decreased by 90-percent.

Health officials are confirming four more cases of the measles in Allegheny County. The latest cases all come from the same family, with two kids and one adult visiting from overseas while the fourth person lives in Allegheny County. Representatives with the Allegheny County Health Department believe one of the patients visited an Enterprise Rental Car on the 22-hundred block of Babcock Boulevard Wednesday afternoon. The other public exposure could have been at Pittsburgh International Airport on the morning of Tuesday April 16th.

There are now only two people running on from prothonotary on the democratic side of the ticket in Beaver County. Ashley Trautman suspended her campaign Wednesday, according to the Beaver County Democratic Party. Because of the timing of the announcement, Trautman’s name will remain on the primary ballot, along with Michael Rossi and Sherri Zibaila.

New Castle police have arrested a suspect involved in the armed robbery of the Last Minute Mart on Wilmington Road earlier this week. According to the department’s Facebook page, 19-year-old Kevin Gardner of New Castle was arrested in a parking lot at an establishment on Croton Avenue.  A 16-year-old suspect was also arrested in connection with the robbery earlier this week. Gardner was arraigned and placed in the Lawrence County Jail on bond.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR FRIDAY, MAY 3RD, 2019

TODAY – SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH – 71.

TONIGHT – OVERCAST. LOW – 53.

SATURDAY – CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS. OCCASIONAL
RAIN SHOWERS IN THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH – 65.

SUNDAY – SOME MORNING CLOUDS FOLLOWED BY
SUNSHINE IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGH – 66.

Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca in the ‘Star Wars’ films, dies at 74
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” films, has died.
Mayhew’s family said in a statement Thursday that he died at his home in Texas on Tuesday. He was 74. No cause was given.
The 7-foot-3 Mayhew played the shaggy, towering Chewbacca, sidekick to Han Solo and co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon, in the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
He went on to appear in 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith” and shared the part in 2015’s “The Force Awakens” with actor Joonas Suotamo, who later took over the role.
Born and raised in England, Mayhew had appeared in just one film and was working as a hospital orderly in London when George Lucas found him and cast him in 1977’s “Star Wars.”