A woman was rushed to the hospital after a car fire in Franklin Township overnight. Officials say the car fire happened around 1:30 this morning along South Hazen Avenue. Witnesses say that an off-duty officer was able to pull a 19-year-old woman inside the car to safety. She was rushed to the hospital and there is no word on her condition. A dog inside the car died in the fire. Firefighters quickly put out the flames, but not before they spread a little to the auto shop next to the car. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Three Beaver Falls men are being recognized for outstanding safety on the roads. Paul Yarosz, Mark Tukalo and Carl Zahn have been inducted into the prestigious National  Safety Council’s “Million Mile Club” for achieving 30 or more years of accident-free driving on the job. Beaver Falls postmaster Margo Perry tells Beaver County Radio newsman Pat Septak that the three men received a special plaque in a ceremony among their co-workers this morning at the Beaver Falls office.

As the state budget impasse continues to drag on, with no end in sight, many Beaver County school districts are just hanging on by a thread, without any of the much-needed funding they’ve come to rely on from Harrisburg. Today Beaver County Radio News began a four-part series on what long-term impact this lack of a budget will have on local districts. Gary Ceccarelli -Business Manager for the Big Beaver Falls Area School District – tells us that they’re very close to bankruptcy. He says they’re probably be okay through June, but eventually they’ll need to take out a loan, raise property taxes and possibly even close their doors.

Police say one man beat another with a skillet when they argued about doing the dishes at a charity-run transitional housing facility in Butler County. The Butler Eagle reports 26-year-old Joseph Parker faces a hearing March 28 on a charge of simple assault. The charges stem from an incident Feb. 18 at a home run by The Lighthouse Foundation. Police say 23-year-old Randy Fenstermaker Jr. told them that Parker didn’t like how Fenstermaker was washing the dishes so Parker grabbed a skillet and hit him in the head until it broke.

A section of Steuer Lane at Kane Road in Hopewell Township is closed to vehicle traffic indefinitely. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano reports that, according to township manager Norm Krause Jr., the status of the road’s condition – which is unstable – will be discussed at next Monday’s township workshop meeting.