Author: Beaver County Radio

PUC’s Message To Beaver County: Before You Dig, Dial 8-1-1

Before you dig, dial 8-1-1. That was the message at Friday’s Public Utility Commission press conference at Columbia Gas’ training center Safety Town in Center Township. A company field technician marked a site to be dug for a gas line during a demonstration there. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano was there. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

 

Mostly Cloudy Today; Chance Of Thunderstorms

WEATHER FORECAST FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 13TH, 2018

 

TODAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH – 82.

TONIGHT – SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
LOW – 63.

TUESDAY – VARIABLE CLOUDS WITH SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH – 81.

AUDIO: Beaver Valley Community Concert Association 2018-19 Concerts Announced!

Since 1936, the Beaver Valley Community Concert Association has helped put on show after show of fantastic entertainment for the citizens of the valley, and the repertoire for 2018-19 looks no different.

Norma Kehr and Rhonda Ficca, administrators for the BVCCA, joined Matt Drzik for a preview of this year’s concert series, which includes the following:

  • Not Fade Away: The Buddy Holly Experience on October 9, 2018
  • Pop! Go The Classics featuring Mac Frampton on November 14, 2018
  • The Malpass Brothers on April 15, 2019
  • Beginnings: The Ultimate Tribute To Chicago on May 16, 2019

For more information on this year’s concerts, visit https://bvcommunityconcert.org/ for dates and prices.

To listen to the full interview, click the players below!

Part 1

Part 2

Bucs drop finale to Giants 4-3

Rodriguez sparkles again, Giants beat Pirates 4-3
By MICHAEL WAGAMAN, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A year ago, Dereck Rodriguez was down in Double-A ball, a converted outfielder hoping to take a new path as a pitcher.
A non-roster invite to spring training, Rodriguez finally got the call to the majors in late May.
Since then, he’s sparkled.
Rodriguez threw seven innings of two-hit ball to continue his fine rookie season and San Francisco beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday.
“He finds a way,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s just been so consistent getting us deep in the game. What a job he’s done since he’s come up. It’s a great story.”
Rodriguez (6-1) faced three batters over the minimum, allowing one run with four strikeouts and a walk. Both hits off him came in the second inning.
The 26-year-old righty has a 2.25 ERA, lowest among NL rookies.
“He stayed off the barrel,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “I didn’t think we got caught up in overswinging at all. We were trying to square him up, trying to hit it hard where he pitched it. We were unable to do a whole lot of that.”
Rodriguez has been San Francisco’s most consistent pitcher this season. He is tied for the team lead in wins and has allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last eight starts.
“After every start I sit back and look at what’s been happening the last couple of months,” Rodriguez said. “From where I was this time last year to where I’m at this year, it’s a big change.”
With five consecutive wins, Bochy believes Rodriguez deserves to be in the discussion for rookie of the year.
“You look at how consistent he’s been, you look at the numbers, without question he has to be in that talk and consideration,” Bochy said. “He’s doing all he can do and more than we thought. We knew he would be pretty good but he’s even exceeded that.”
Nick Hundley and Joe Panik each drove in two runs for the Giant and Gorkys Hernandez scored twice.
Starling Marte had a two-run double for the Pirates.
The Giants went 2-4 on their six-game homestand largely because their bullpen failed to hold two late leads against Houston, including one that cost Rodriguez a chance to win.
It nearly happened again.
Pittsburgh scored twice on Marte’s two-out double off reliever Reyes Moronta in the eighth, but Tony Watson retired Gregory Polanco with the tying run on second.
Will Smith pitched the ninth for his eighth save.
Hundley hit an RBI triple off Joe Musgrove (4-7) in the third and singled home a run in the fourth.
LITTLE SUPPORT
Musgrove allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked one but got little run support for the third consecutive start. Pittsburgh was shut out in Musgrove’s previous two starts and scored only one run while he was on the mound Sunday.
“It’s not my job to worry about that,” Musgrove said. “I feel like I’m continuing to throw the ball really well right now.”
PIRATES MOVE
Pittsburgh utility player Christopher Bostick was acquired by Miami for cash. Bostick, who played in two games for the Pirates this season, was designated for assignment last week.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli did not start after getting hit in the facemask by a foul tip in the first inning of Saturday’s game. Cervelli struck out looking as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.
Giants: RHP Hunter Strickland (fractured right hand) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento. The reliever is eligible to come off the disabled list Aug. 18.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (9-8, 3.63 ERA) faces the Twins in Minnesota on Tuesday. Taillon is 5-1 in his previous seven road starts.
Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 2.69) opposes Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers in the opener of a three-game series in Los Angeles on Monday. Bumgarner pitched seven scoreless innings against Houston in his most recent start.

Home run king Barry Bonds has his No. 25 retired by Giants

Home run king Barry Bonds has his No. 25 retired by Giants
By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Baseball Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Likely for the last time and almost 11 years after playing his final game, Barry Bonds ran out to his old spot in his No. 25 Giants jersey.
“I wanted to be in left field one more time,” Bonds said Saturday night. “And I thought it was appropriate. That’s what I wanted to do.”
“I was going to put the whole uniform on, but just didn’t have time because it ran a little bit longer. I wanted to throw on everything and stand in left field one more time. That’s where everyone saw me and that’s where I thought they should see me last,” he said.
Bonds had his number retired by the Giants during a long ceremony before San Francisco played his other team, the Pittsburgh Pirates — also 11 years to the month from when he broke Hank Aaron’s home run record in his 22nd and final major league season.
Still beloved and cheered in the Bay Area he cherishes as home, Bonds finished his career under the cloud of steroids allegations that made him a villain most everywhere else.
“I am overwhelmed with emotions as the reality of this day sets in,” Bonds said. “This may come as a surprise to a lot of people but as a child I didn’t even want to play baseball. I wanted to play all sports — basketball, football, ride my bike, all the things that kids do. But once my mom signed me up … I got my first taste of what would be my lifelong passion.”
Now called AT&T Park, Bonds knows what he meant to this place.
“I think the park thing is more to me than the number thing, because I built this park. That’s all,” Bonds said. “When I walk in this ballpark, I know whose house it is.”
Surrounded by former teammates and managers, Hall of Famers and his family, Bonds had no words as he mentally prepared for his number retirement ceremony.
“Shhhh,” the slugger said smiling, then a few minutes later repeated three times, “I have to focus.”
Bonds became the 10th Giants player in franchise history to have his number retired. He finished with 762 career home runs.
“I knew it was coming at one point. No one’s wearing it,” he said. “… What they did is fantastic and how they did it was first class.”
In July 2015, Bonds said he had a huge “weight lifted” when federal prosecutors dropped what was left of their criminal case against him after a nearly decade-long steroids prosecution. Bonds needs to be on 75 percent of Hall of Fame ballots to be enshrined in Cooperstown. He was on 56.4 percent of Hall ballots this year, up from 53.8 percent last year. He had just 36.2 percent in his initial appearance.
“Sure, it would mean a lot to anybody, for all the years I’ve worked and what I’ve done, sure,” Bonds said.
The seven-time NL MVP was greeted with a rousing ovation as fans chanted his name. The 54-year-old Bonds waved, clapped his hands and raised both arms to acknowledge the cheers as he made his big entrance from center field.
“Thank you San Francisco, thank you for making all my dreams come true,” Bonds said while remembering his late father, Bobby.
Giants great Willie Mays, Bonds’ godfather, called for the slugger to reach the Hall of Fame.
“When people talk about, ‘Oh, who’s the best ballplayer in the world?’ I don’t care,” Mays said. “I played my 20 years, 22 years, whatever it might be. Give somebody honor that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is a type of fraternity that, when you get there, you’ll say, ‘Man, how did I get here?’ And I want him to have that honor be something that happens to him.”
“Vote this guy in!” Mays added.
Other Giants Hall of Famers Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry also took part in the festivities.
Former managers Jim Leyland and Dusty Baker and current Giants skipper Bruce Bochy were on hand. So were Bonds’ mother, Pat, and his three children.
“Without question he is the best player I ever managed in my 22 years as a major league skipper,” Leyland said. “Let all of us be thankful that we had the opportunity to see one of the greatest players that’s ever lived for so many years.”
The Pirates stood in their dugout and clapped during a ceremony that lasted more than an hour. First pitch was 16 minutes late. R&B singer Johnny Gill performed the national anthem in another surprise to Bonds.
Baker managed Bonds from 1993-2002. He recalled watching Bobby Bonds in Riverside, California.
“I thought Bobby Bonds was the greatest prep school athlete I had ever seen in my life until one day Bobby Bonds told me that ‘my son is going to be greater than me,'” Baker said. “I couldn’t see that at the time because I hadn’t seen Barry play much before he went to ASU. But he told me, my son — and I told Barry this — is more dedicated and works harder than he did, and Bobby was right.”
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pirates spoil Bonds’ special night beat Giants 4-0

Williams helps Pirates blank Giants 4-0
By MICHAEL WAGAMAN, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates lead the major leagues with 13 shutouts. Trevor Williams was the starting pitcher in seven of them.
Manager Clint Hurdle doesn’t think it’s a coincidence, either.
Williams and two relievers combined on a six-hitter, and the Pirates blanked the San Francisco Giants 4-0 on Saturday night.
“He sets the tone for things,” Hurdle said. “When that fastball has the finish like it had tonight, that’s when you’re seeing the outings that you see him string together. He keeps everybody engaged.”
Williams (10-8) allowed five hits and walked one in seven innings. The right-hander has allowed two runs over his last 29 innings — a 0.62 ERA.
“It’s the work in between starts,” Williams said. “(Pitching coach Ray Searage) and I highlighted stuff that we needed to work on and made it more process-driven. We recognized right away that it was my four-seam and sinker tonight were going to play.”
Williams had been scheduled to pitch a day earlier, but Hurdle went with Clay Holmes to give the rest of the rotation extra rest.
It worked just fine.
“He’s pitching down in the zone and getting a lot of early contact,” Pirates first baseman Josh Bell said. “He keeps us off our feet and keeps us in the dugout.”
Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez each retired three batters to complete the shutout.
Bell homered for the second time in three days. Elias Diaz added two hits for the Pirates after coming in as an injury replacement for Francisco Cervelli.
The start of the game was delayed for a ceremony honoring home run king Barry Bonds, who became the 10th player in Giants history to have his jersey retired. Several of his former teammates and managers, including Dusty Baker and Jim Leyland, were on hand.
Williams was warming up in right field when Bonds jogged out to greet the fans in the left field stands.
“I felt like such a jerk out there,” Williams said. “It was weird timing. I felt like all the eyeballs were burning a hole through me.”
Buster Posey and Evan Longoria had two hits apiece for San Francisco. The Giants have lost nine of their last 11 home games.
“You could feel the crowd, the energy. We just couldn’t get it going offensively,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “The three-run homer, that’s a pretty good punch there.”
Bell continued his strong series since coming off the disabled list earlier in the week. He stopped a 0-for-13 slide with a homer on Thursday, and then had three hits on Friday.
After grounding into a double play in his first at-bat Saturday, Bell hit his eighth homer off Ty Blach (6-7) in the fourth. Bell’s three-run drive came after Gregory Polanco bunted for a leadoff hit and David Freese reached on an infield single.
Blach allowed four runs over four innings in his first start since May 27.
DANDY DEBUT
In his first major league appearance since 2016 with Atlanta, Casey Kelly made quite a Giants debut a day after being called up from Triple-A Sacramento.
The right-hander pitched five scoreless innings in relief. He could be a candidate to start Friday at Cincinnati when the Giants need a fifth starter again.
“What a great job he did,” Bochy said. “Really pitched well. He’s been throwing the ball well. That’s why he’s up here.”
WORTH NOTING
The Pirates called up left-hander Buddy Boshers and right-hander Michael Feliz from Triple-A Indianapolis. Right-handers Clay Holmes and Casey Sadley were sent down.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: Cervelli left in the fourth as a precaution getting hit in the facemask by a foul tip in the first. Cervelli has had concussion issues in the past.
Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (hyperextended knee) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.
UP NEXT
Right-hander Dereck Rodriguez (5-1, 2.34 ERA) pitches the series finale for San Francisco. Rodriguez leads NL rookies in ERA and is tied for second in wins. Right-hander Joe Musgrove (4-6, 3.41 ERA) goes for the Pirates.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NASA launches spacecraft to explore the sun

NASA spacecraft rockets toward sun for closest look yet
By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft zoomed toward the sun Sunday on an unprecedented quest to get closer to our star than anything ever sent before.
As soon as this fall, the Parker Solar Probe will fly straight through the wispy edges of the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, that was visible during last August’s total solar eclipse. It eventually will get within 3.8 million (6 million kilometers) of the surface in the years ahead, staying comfortably cool despite the extreme heat and radiation, and allowing scientists to vicariously explore the sun in a way never before possible.
No wonder scientists consider it the coolest, hottest mission under the sun, and what better day to launch to the sun than Sunday as NASA noted.
“All I can say is, ‘Wow, here we go.’ We’re in for some learning over the next several years,” said Eugene Parker, the 91-year-old astrophysicist for whom the spacecraft is named.
Protected by a revolutionary new carbon heat shield and other high-tech wonders, the spacecraft will zip past Venus in October. That will set up the first solar encounter in November.
Altogether, the Parker probe will make 24 close approaches to the sun on the seven-year, $1.5 billion undertaking.
For the second straight day, thousands of spectators jammed the launch site in the middle of the night as well as surrounding towns, including Parker and his family. He proposed the existence of solar wind — a steady, supersonic stream of particles blasting off the sun — 60 years ago.
It was the first time NASA named a spacecraft after someone still alive, and Parker wasn’t about to let it take off without him. Saturday morning’s launch attempt was foiled by last-minute technical trouble. But Sunday gave way to complete success.
The Delta IV Heavy rocket thundered into the pre-dawn darkness, thrilling onlookers for miles around as it climbed through a clear, star-studded sky. NASA needed the mighty 23-story rocket, plus a third stage, to get the diminutive Parker probe — the size of a small car and well under a ton — racing toward the sun.
From Earth, it is 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) to the sun, and the Parker probe will be within 4 percent of that distance at its closest. That will be seven times closer than previous spacecraft.
“Go, baby, go!” project scientist Nicola Fox of Johns Hopkins University shouted at liftoff.
It was the first rocket launch ever witnessed by Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago. He came away impressed, saying it was like looking at the Taj Mahal for years in photos and then beholding “the real thing” in India.
“I really have to turn from biting my nails in getting it launched, to thinking about all the interesting things which I don’t know yet and which will be made clear, I assume, over the next five or six or seven years,” Parker said on NASA TV.
NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, was thrilled not only with the launch, but Parker’s presence.
“I’m in awe,” Zurbuchen said. “What a milestone. Also what’s so cool is hanging out with Parker during all this and seeing his emotion, too.”
Parker, the probe, will start shattering records this fall. On its very first brush with the sun, it will come within 15.5 million miles (25 million kilometers), easily beating the current record of 27 million miles (43 million kilometers) set by NASA’s Helios 2 spacecraft in 1976. Zurbuchen expects the data from even this early stage to yield top science papers.
By the time Parker gets to its 22nd, 23rd and 24th orbits of the sun in 2024 and 2025, it will be even deeper into the corona and traveling at a record-breaking 430,000 mph (690,000 kilometers per hour).
Nothing from Planet Earth has ever hit that kind of speed.
Even Fox has difficulty comprehending the mission’s derring-do.
“To me, it’s still mind-blowing,” she said. “Even I still go, really? We’re doing that?”
Zurbuchen considers the sun the most important star in our universe — it’s ours, after all — and so this is one of NASA’s big-time strategic missions. By better understanding the sun’s life-giving and sometimes violent nature, Earthlings can better protect satellites and astronauts in orbit, and power grids on the ground, he noted. In today’s tech-dependent society, everyone stands to benefit.
With this first-of-its-kind stellar mission, scientists hope to unlock the many mysteries of the sun, a commonplace yellow dwarf star around 4.5 billion years old. Among the puzzlers: Why is the corona hundreds of times hotter than the surface of the sun and why is the sun’s atmosphere continually expanding and accelerating, as Parker accurately predicted in 1958?
“The only way we can do that is to finally go up and touch the sun,” Fox said. “We’ve looked at it. We’ve studied it from missions that are close in, even as close as the planet Mercury. But we have to go there.”
The spacecraft’s heat shield will serve as an umbrella, shading the science instruments during the close, critical solar junctures. Sensors on the spacecraft will make certain the heat shield faces the sun at the right times. If there’s any tilting, the spacecraft will correct itself so nothing gets fried. With a communication lag time of 16 minutes, the spacecraft must fend for itself at the sun. The Johns Hopkins flight controllers in Laurel, Maryland, will be too far away to help.
A mission to get close up and personal with our star has been on NASA’s books since 1958. The trick was making the spacecraft small, compact and light enough to travel at incredible speeds, while surviving the sun’s punishing environment and the extreme change in temperature when the spacecraft is out near Venus.
“We’ve had to wait so long for our technology to catch up with our dreams,” Fox said. “It’s incredible to be standing here today.”
More than 1 million names are aboard the spacecraft, submitted last spring by space enthusiasts, as well as photos of Parker, the man, and a copy of his 1958 landmark paper on solar wind.
“I’ll bet you 10 bucks it works,” Parker said.
___
The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Bucs late rally falls short. Giants 13 Bucs 10

Posey, McCutchen lead Giants past Pirates 13-10
By GIDEON RUBIN, Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The San Francisco Giants finally got their offense going, and they needed it to survive another shaky performance from their bullpen.
Buster Posey got four hits, Andrew McCutchen homered against his former team and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 13-10 on Friday night.
“They just started swinging with I think more authority,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
The Giants had lost three in a row and Pittsburgh had won three straight.
Posey broke out of a 0-for-13 stretch with his second four-hit game in less than two weeks. All four hits came in the first four innings as the Giants built a 10-2 lead.
He’s the first Giants player with four hits through the first four innings of a game since the team moved to San Francisco in 1958.
Posey and Alen Hanson each drove in three runs. McCutchen hit a leadoff homer and later drew four walks for a San Francisco team that batted .212 and averaged 2.7 runs over its previous six games.
“They were letting it go tonight,” Bochy said. “It was good to see them have some success, I mean we’ve been shut down, we’ve been due for a game like this where we break it open, even though they came back and made it a game. ”
Francisco Cervelli drove in five runs with three hits for the Pirates. His 11th home run of the season and fourth career grand slam, off reliever Pierce Johnson, closed Pittsburgh within 11-7 in the seventh inning.
Adeiny Hechavarria, playing his second game since being traded from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh, went 2 for 2 with a home run.
Giants starter Derek Holland (6-8) gave up five runs in 6 1/3 innings.
A big night from the offense allowed him to be more aggressive.
“It’s huge,” Holland said. “The offense is putting in the work, and I’m little bit upset with myself. They put the runs up, I’ve got to keep the momentum on our side.”
Clay Holmes (1-2) was tagged for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings in his third career start.
“Our command was pretty inconsistent throughout the evening,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Clayton was so good the last time out. His fastball command was off and that complicates things.”
HIGH HEAT
Giants third baseman Evan Longoria was hit in the back by a 97 mph fastball by Pirates reliever Kyle Crick in the bottom of the seventh. Longoria initially stayed in the game but was pulled in the top of the eighth. Longoria said he felt fine after the game, but wasn’t certain about his playing status for Saturday’s game.
“I don’t think he had intent,” Longoria said. “He threw a couple more to the backstop and almost hit (Joe Panik), he just obviously didn’t have a very good feel for where the ball was going tonight.”
OFF DAYS
Pirates OF Gregory Polanco struck out as a pinch-hitter. Manager Clint Hurdle said Polanco will get another rest day in Sunday’s series finale.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: 1B Brandon Belt (hyperextended right knee) will start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday, manager Bruce Bochy said. If all goes well, Belt could join the team for next week’s series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, which starts Monday. … RHP Johnny Cueto, who underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month, was moved to the 60-day DL. RHP Casey Kelly was selected to the Giants’ Major League roster in a corresponding move before Friday’s game. … RHP Derek Law was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
UP NEXT
RHP Trevor Williams (9-8, 3.88 ERA) will pitch Saturday for the Pirates. He has a 2.25 ERA without a decision in two career starts against the Giants. LHP Ty Blach (6-6, 4.28) will pitch for the Giants.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports