The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board announced $73,075 in fines yesterday to three companies for various offenses throughout the state. 

The biggest debtor from yesterday’s fines is Stadium Casino Westmoreland RE, LLC, who operates Live Casino Pittsburgh located in Greensburg. Stadium Casino is being fined $30,000 on two separate violations; $10,000 for allowing an individual under the age of 21 to access the casino floor and play slot machines, and an additional $20,000 for two instances in which individuals who were on the Board’s Casino Self-Exclusion List were permitted to gain entrance onto the gaming floor and gamble.

The largest collective fine was levied to Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Inc, who was fined $25,000 for not providing the Gaming Control Board with ownership structure changes involving its five VGT Truck Stop Establishment locations throughout the commonwealth.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed another bill to give an earlier date for its 2024 presidential primary, an effort that has become drawn out and politically charged in a battleground state still weathering former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about a stolen 2020 election.

The bill would move up the date by one week, from April 23 to April 16, and passed with a slim margin of 104-99. However, it faces an uncertain future.

The state Senate’s Republican majority has insisted that the date be moved up by five weeks to March 19, and Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, reiterated that Wednesday, calling the House bill “too little, too late.”

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration this week recommended that lawmakers move it to April 9 as the date that “presents the fewest conflicts among potential primary dates.”

Meanwhile, counties have warned for two weeks that they don’t have enough time to handle the tasks associated with moving next year’s primary election. Further, they said that moving the primary election date at this point puts undue pressure on election staff and raises the risk of challenges if the election isn’t run perfectly.

Initially, lawmakers were motivated to change the date to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Senate Republicans then proposed moving it to March 19, saying that would also make the late primary state more competitive in 2024’s presidential primaries.

However, critics say a five-week shift makes it difficult for counties to change plans and harder for primary challengers to campaign in 2024’s election contests. Plus, critics say, presidential nominees will be all but settled by March 19, anyway.

The House earlier this month countered with a proposal to move the date to April 2, two days after Easter. But Senate Republicans echoed the concerns of county election officials who say the nexus with Easter will make it difficult to get voting machines and election materials into churches that also serve as polling places.

The average price of gas is down this week, dropping to a price of $3.84 for an unleaded gallon across Western Pennsylvania. The average is down six cents from $3.90 a week ago, and fifteen cents below the average of $3.99 one year ago.

However, Beaver County’s average of $3.94 per gallon is ten cents higher than the Western PA average, and it is the highest regional total throughout AAA East Central’s coverage area. It is one of only two regions above $3.90, with the Mercer area clocking in at $3.91 this week. Furthermore, Butler’s average of $3.87 and the average of $3.86 in the Pittsburgh region are both higher than the overall average of $3.84.

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.797      Altoona
$3.941      Beaver
$3.761      Bradford
$3.811      Brookville
$3.874      Butler
$3.872      Clarion
$3.862      DuBois
$3.841      Erie
$3.831      Greensburg
$3.852      Indiana
$3.871      Jeannette
$3.879      Kittanning
$3.850      Latrobe
$3.753      Meadville
$3.912      Mercer
$3.685      New Castle
$3.882      New Kensington
$3.863      Oil City
$3.860      Pittsburgh
$3.853      Sharon
$3.865      Uniontown
$3.881      Warren
$3.840      Washington

Trend Analysis:

Domestic pump prices maintained their daily decline despite the uncertainty in the oil market in the days since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel. Oil prices have risen a few dollars per barrel this week, but that is far from the roughly $40 per barrel temporary spike following last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.  The critical difference is that Russia is a significant oil producer, while Israel and the Palestinian territories are not. The national average for a gallon of gas has fallen 10 cents since last week to $3.64. Today’s national average is 27 cents less than a month ago and 28 cents less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.01 to 8.58 million barrels per day last week. On the other hand, total domestic gasoline stocks fell by 1.3 million barrels to 225.7 million barrels. Tepid demand, alongside descending oil prices, has pushed pump prices lower.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — At least a month before a convicted murderer escaped from a southeastern Pennsylvania prison, eluding a massive manhunt for two weeks before he was recaptured, a prison guard had warned that he was planning an escape, according to an email exchange made public this week.

Hours after the Aug. 31 escape of Danilo Cavalcante from the Chester County Prison, a prison sergeant said in an email that Corrections Officer Hernandez “noted back in July that this inmate was planning an escape.” Sgt. Beavers said he was sending the email because he didn’t want “this to come back on us or Hernandez in any way.”

That email was sent to Capt. Griswold, who forwarded it shortly afterward to the prison’s acting warden, Howard Holland, with a note saying, “This was sent to me this afternoon and I have not forwarded it to anyone else. I am not sure how you want to move forward with this information internally.” Officials withheld the first names of those mentioned.

County spokesperson Rebecca Brain said in a statement that the three people mentioned in the emails, which were first reported by ABC News, “wanted to ensure Acting Warden Holland knew that information about an escape was previously noted.”

Before the escape, Brain said, security measures for an inmate identified as an “escape risk” were only “enacted and heightened” when the inmate was being taken off prison property. Cavalcante was “initially identified as an escape risk” when he was captured in Virginia and taken to the prison in 2021, and around the time of his trial, “unsubstantiated information from an unknown source was received reinforcing Cavalcante’s status as an escape risk,” Brain said.

Since the escape, Brain said, security measures inside the prison and during prisoner transport off prison property have been strengthened, including assigning different-color clothing for those deemed potential escape risks and monitoring by one or two corrections officers of each inmate outside of cells. Officials earlier vowed to enclose exercise yards and add more cameras and guards.

Cavalcante, 34, had been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, in front of her children in 2021. Prosecutors say he wanted to stop her from telling police he was wanted in a 2017 killing in Brazil. He was awaiting transfer to a state prison when he scaled a wall and then jumped from a roof to freedom.

Cavalcante was captured after a two-week manhunt that left residents on edge and led to school closures right at the start of the academic year, as well as warnings for homeowners to lock their doors and blocked roads over the busy Labor Day weekend. He is now being held in a state prison and is due in court next month on an escape charge.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

39-year-old Raphael Johnson of Aliquippa has been arraigned and remains in the Beaver County Jail on one misdemeanor count of simple assault, and 2 felony counts of possession of a firearm. Initial bond was set at $15,000.

Johnson was in possession of a semi-automatic handgun while arguing with his girlfriend on Monday morning, before forcibly shoving the girlfriend out of the house, locking the door, barricading himself and beginning what would turn into a seven-hour standoff with Aliquippa police and the Beaver County ESU.

Following his arrest, officers discovered that Johnson’s criminal background includes a guilty verdict on firearms violations in 2005, and another for armed robbery in 2010. The 2005 firearms violation prohibits Johnson from owning or possessing a firearm.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Johnson on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at the Beaver County Courthouse.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Proposals to let independent voters cast ballots in party nomination primaries passed a Pennsylvania House of Representatives committee Tuesday, raising the prospect that changes could pass and take effect in time for next year’s presidential contest.

Two bills passed with support only from Democrats and were advanced toward a full House vote.

The measures would allow independent voters to choose which political party primary they want to vote in. One of the two bills would also allow third party voters to vote in major party primaries if their party did not receive enough votes to be considered an official party.

Electors would be able to vote for the party nomination for public office candidates but not to elect candidates for party offices.

A majority of states have some form of an open primary, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. There are seven states with laws on the books similar to the two Pennsylvania bills, allowing unaffiliated voters to cast primary ballots.

More than 1 million Pennsylvanians are not affiliated with either party, making them the fastest-growing demographic within the state’s electorate, sponsors for the bills said. A large number of veterans and young voters are unaffiliated, sponsors said.

“For whatever reason that our primary elections suffer from so low turnout, there’s obviously something wrong with the status quo in Pennsylvania,” said Rep. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia, a sponsor of one of the bills. “We have an opportunity to fix that, to overcome one of those barriers to increase voters in our primary and general election system.”

David Thornburgh, who chairs Ballot PA, a nonpartisan effort that supports ending the state’s closed primary system, called the vote historic.

“It’s time to let these voters have a say in who represents them and how their government is run,” he said in a statement.

The measures are part of an effort that has seen broader support — including a bipartisan group of former governors — to weed out the most extreme candidates before a general election.

“Candidates elected by those more extreme voters don’t have as much incentive to engage in the compromise and give and take that is so essential to effective governing,” the governors — Republicans Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker and Tom Corbett and Democrats Ed Rendell and Tom Wolf — wrote in an open letter last month. “Adding independent voters to the primary mix will help.”

The proposed change comes on the heels of an attempt by the Legislature to move up the state’s 2024 presidential primary date, which would allow the state to have more say in deciding the presidential nominees, and avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover. The chambers have not agreed on a date — though it would come weeks sooner than the current date set in law, April 23 — and counties in Pennsylvania have warned it is too late to make a change to successfully run the election.

Uncertainty about the date of the primary adds to the challenges faced by the counties that run the nuts-and-bolts of Pennsylvania elections, said committee member Rep. Brad Roae, R-Crawford, who voted no on both proposals.

“The election process has gotten very frustrating, very contentious,” he said. “We can only throw so many changes at the poll workers and at the election office staffs at the same time.”

House Democrats who supported the bills said the election staff could get up to speed quickly.

Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, said Pennsylvania had to reach the particularly young and new voters who weren’t ascribing to either political party in growing numbers.

“It may change back again one day. But for now, allowing taxpaying citizens the right to vote, I believe, is the core of democracy,” said Conklin, the committee chair.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is appealing the length of prison sentences for four Proud Boys leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy in the U.S. Capitol attack, challenging punishments that were significantly shorter than what prosecutors had recommended, according to court filings.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced former Proud Boys national leader Enrique Tarrio and three lieutenants to prison terms ranging from 15 to 22 years after a jury convicted them in May of plotting to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 presidential election.

Tarrio’s 22-year sentence is the longest so far among hundreds of criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, but prosecutors had sought 33 years behind bars for the Miami man.

Attorney Nayib Hassan said in an email that the defense team will review prosecutors’ reasoning for appealing the sentencing but is preparing its own appeal and believes it will “prevail on multiple grounds.”

Prosecutors, who made their court filings on Monday, also had recommended sentences of 33 years for former Proud Boys organizer Joseph Biggs, of Ormond Beach, Florida; 30 years for Proud Boys chapter leader Zachary Rehl, of Philadelphia; and 27 years in prison for chapter leader Ethan Nordean, of Auburn, Washington.

Kelly sentenced Nordean to 18 years, Biggs to 17 years and Rehl to 15 years.

Defense attorney Norm Pattis, who represents Biggs and Rehl, said in a text message that the government’s appeals are “ridiculous.”

“Merrick Garland needs a new hobby horse,” Pattis said of the attorney general, whose Justice Department secured the convictions.

Nicholas Smith, Nordean’s attorney, said in an email that his client “is encouraged by the government’s agreement that errors led to the judgment and sentence in his case.”

Prosecutors also are appealing the 10-year sentence for Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York. Prosecutors sought 20 years in prison for Pezzola, who was tried alongside the four group leaders. Jurors acquitted Pezzola of seditious conspiracy but convicted him of other serious charges.

The Justice Department already is appealing the 18-year prison sentence for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate Jan. 6 case, as well as the sentences of other members of his anti-government militia group.

Prosecutors had requested 25 years in prison for Rhodes. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced him to 18 years.

Also on Monday, a Proud Boys member who joined others from the far-right group in attacking the Capitol pleaded guilty to obstructing the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress for certifying the victory by Biden, a Democrat, over Trump, a Republican. William Chrestman, 49, of Olathe, Kansas, also pleaded guilty to threatening to assault a federal officer during the riot at the Capitol.

Kelly is scheduled to sentence Chrestman for his two felony convictions on Jan. 12. Estimated sentencing guidelines for his case recommended a prison term ranging from four years and three months to five years and three months.

Chrestman had an axe handle, a gas mask, a helmet and other tactical gear when he traveled to Washington, D.C., with other Proud Boys members from the Kansas City, Kansas, area. On Jan. 6, he marched to the Capitol grounds with dozens of other Proud Boys leaders, members and associates.

Chrestman and other Proud Boys moved past a toppled metal barricade and joined other rioters in front of another police barrier. He shouted a threat at officers and yelled at others in the crowd to stop police from arresting another rioter, according to prosecutors.

Facing the crowd, Chrestman shouted, “Whose house is this?”

“Our house!” the crowd replied.

“Do you want your house back?” Chrestman asked.

“Yes!” the crowd responded.

“Take it!” Chrestman yelled.

Chrestman also pointed his finger at a line of Capitol police officers, gestured at them with his axe handle and threatened to assault them if they fired “pepper ball” rounds at the crowd of rioters, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea.

Chrestman, a U.S. Army veteran, has been jailed since his arrest in February 2021.

More than 1,100 people have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Approximately 60 of them have been identified as Proud Boys leaders, members or associates.

Eleven days after 57-year-old Anthony Talotta arrived at a Pittsburgh jail, he died from what his family says was a treatable and preventable infection from a foot wound. Talotta, who had autism and developmental disabilities, had been brought to the jail after a fight with a staff member at the group home where he lived.

In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Talotta’s family alleges doctors and medical staff at the Allegheny County Jail provided substandard care. The lawsuit claims jail policies prohibiting prisoners with mental illness or developmental disabilities from being housed in the medical unit violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by creating a system that makes it harder for them to get adequate medical care.

The lawsuit also notes that at least 17 people died at the medically understaffed jail in a two-and-a-half year timeframe from March 2020 to September 2022, the majority of whom had mental health or chronic medical needs.

“This lawsuit is intended not only to find full and fair justice for Anthony, but it is also intended to find justice for the individuals who came before him and took their last breaths at the Allegheny County Jail as well and to protect those who enter that jail after them with the same or similar chronic care and mental health needs,” said Alec Wright, an attorney representing Talotta’s family along with attorneys at the Abolitionist Law Center.

The lawsuit names the Allegheny Health Network, which is the contracted jail medical care provider; Allegheny County and Medical Director Donald W. Stechschulte. The lawsuit also names Wilson Bernales, a doctor who dismissed or went against hospital recommendations in his treatment of Talotta and who, at the time of his employment with Allegheny Health Network, had had his medical license revoked or suspended in eight states. The lawsuit also names the unknown staffing agency that screened and hired Bernales.

The lawsuit alleges negligence in hiring Bernales without thoroughly researching his license issues in other states. It also alleges denial or delay of medical care, lack of supervision and training, wrongful death and discrimination.

A message was left for Allegheny Health Network seeking comment. A spokesperson for Allegheny County declined to comment on an open lawsuit.

Bernales, who is now living in Nevada, said he has never had any malpractice issues and called the medical license issues in other states “administrative concerns.”

Attorneys for Talotta’s family said the jail’s medical staff was aware of both Talotta’s injury, which included fractures, a torn ligament and blistering from burns, and that because of his autism and intellectual disabilities he was unable to communicate his medical needs or care for himself.

Jeff Lagrotteria, Talotta’s cousin, said Anthony called him from the jail but never mentioned his injury.

“He just said he was scared and asked how he was going to get out of that place… so that’s what we were working on,” Lagrotteria said, adding that no one from the group home or the jail told him about the injury from the fight either. “For years, he was taken care of by the group homes, and there were no issues. As soon as he gets into the jail, he got treated so horribly he died within days.”

Luciana Randall, president of Autism Connection of Pennsylvania, works with families all over the state who have incarcerated family members with developmental disabilities. But she said there are no comprehensive numbers of how many people incarcerated in the state have autism or developmental disabilities because jails do not screen for them.

“Then, since jails are designed to punish, the people who work there are generally not willing to or able to support people with disabilities like this. I hear most often from those employees: Why are they here? They don’t belong here. Isn’t there somewhere else they can go?” Randall said, adding that there are no diversionary programs designed for people with these disabilities, but she believes there should be.

Talotta was taken to a hospital two times as his injuries worsened, according to the lawsuit. He was ordered not to put weight on his foot, but jail staff removed a walking boot and took away his crutches because those devices were not allowed in the mental health unit.

The hospital also prescribed antibiotics and daily dressing changes and wound care. But the antibiotics were never provided, jail staff confiscated the medical supplies given to him by hospital doctors and jail medical staff never performed any wound care, the lawsuit alleges.

On Sept. 20, Talotta was found clutching his chest and unable to speak, from what attorneys assert was sepsis. Bernales gave Talotta a Benadryl for allergies and sent him back to his cell, where he was found a few hours later frothing at the mouth and unresponsive, according to medical records cited in the lawsuit. He was taken to the hospital where he died the next day.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Bernales challenged that narrative and the medical records, saying Talotta was allowed to keep the wound care supplies. He said the boot and crutches were taken away because no prisoners are allowed to have them since they could be made into weapons.

“I had planned to do the dressing changes all in house. He went to the hospital twice to receive care,” Bernales said. “It’s not like a hospital. I can’t just go to the patient’s cell and provide care. If the corrections officers say we don’t have enough staff to bring him out of his cell to get care, then I have to listen.”

Talotta did not have any brothers or sisters, and his parents spent most of their lives making sure he would be taken care of when they died, setting up a trust so his needs were met. He spent his time with all of his cousins in their big Italian family, becoming the official sausage tyer when they would gather to stuff homemade sausages. He also enjoyed going to the zoo or to the movies, getting most excited about the popcorn.

“Nothing can bring Anthony back,” said cousin Tina Talotta. “But I just feel that if my aunt Lena was still here, she would want other people taken care of, that this never happen to anyone else.”

(Dee-Ann Durbin/AP Business)

Reese’s may be in violation of state and federal laws with its new sweepstakes offer currently advertised on packs of peanut butter cups.

The promotion on two-cup packages reads “You could win $25,000” and, in smaller print, “See details inside.” But only after consumers have bought and opened a package can they see the small print: no purchase is necessary to enter the sweepstakes.

The Reese’s contest was first reported Monday by Edgar Dworsky, a consumer advocate and former assistant attorney general in Massachusetts, who runs the Consumer World website.

Sweepstakes are primarily governed by state laws, which require that no purchase is necessary to participate. A contest that requires a purchase is a lottery, which is subject to different rules.

Three federal agencies — Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Postal Service — also enforce laws governing sweepstakes depending on the type of promotion. The Postal Service requires mailed sweepstakes offers to make clear that no purchase is necessary, for example. The FTC doesn’t govern sweepstakes specifically, but has broad laws prohibiting “unfair and deceptive acts.”

Hershey Co., that Pennsylvania candymaker that owns the Reese’s brand, said late Monday that its website contains full details of the promotion. It also said some packages have QR codes that link consumers to more information.

“As with all of our promotions, we place great care and diligence to ensure they are compliant with all regulations,” Hershey said in a statement.

The company also said in-store displays showed abbreviated rules for the sweepstakes, including how to enter without making a purchase. But Dworsky said a spot check of candy displays in multiple states, including California, Virginia and Washington, found no such signs.

Packages purchased by an Associated Press reporter at a Michigan drugstore didn’t contain QR codes, and the store had no signage explaining the promotion.

The FTC said Monday that it can’t comment on the practices of particular companies outside of an investigation. It wouldn’t confirm or deny an investigation against Hershey.

Dworsky noted that Reese’s ran a similar promotion earlier this year that ended in April using the same packaging. Some of those packages are still for sale, even though the sweepstakes code has expired, he said.

Dworsky said he’s concerned that the packaging could lure consumers into thinking they need to buy it.

“You never have to pay to play. All these packages should be recalled,” he said.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

Aliquippa police responded to a 911 call Monday morning, to a home on Irwin Street when 39-year-old Raphael Johnson locked his girlfriend out of the house and wouldn’t let her back in. Aliquippa police responded to the scene, and the county’s ESU was called in when Johnson wouldn’t leave the residence.  

Aliquippa High School and Aliquippa Elementary School were placed on lockdown, according to a district spokesperson.

DA David J. Lozier said tear gas and a battering ram were used, but Johnson didn’t budge. It wasn’t until the use of a robot, along with a phone call asking him to leave, that Johnson was peacefully and successfully evacuated from the home and into police custody.

Lozier said Johnson was evaluated by medical personnel and had to be decontaminated from the tear gas, before being taken to the Beaver County Jail.