(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Aliquippa, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver reported via release today that forty-one-year-old Randall Sennett of Leetsdale was arrested for possessing suspected crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia in Aliquippa on February 26th, 2026. Sennett was found with the drugs at 1:41 a.m. after he was stopped at the 700 block of Sheffield Avenue for a vehicle code violation.
(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Geneva College, Posted on Facebook on April 21st, 2026)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Beaver Falls, PA) The Geneva College Athletic Department recently selected DJ Damazo to be Geneva’s new head men’s basketball coach after a nationwide search. Damazo will replace Jeff Santasiero, who retired after this past season after 30 years as the head coach of the Golden Tornadoes and 38 years on the men’s basketball staff. Damazo returns to his alma mater in Beaver Falls for this opportunity, because he graduated from Geneva in 2013. He also played basketball for Geneva and was a two-year starter. He began his coaching career at Blackhawk High School as an assistant before serving as a graduate assistant at Eastern University for two years. He was then hired as the head coach at Valley Forge University in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania in 2017 and led the program for four years. He turned a team that with a 3-17 record into one that posted its highest win total in the program’s Division III history, while also finishing fifth in NCAA Division III in scoring in his final season. Damazo has served as an assistant coach at Grinnell College in Grinell, Iowa for the past five seasons, which included the best three-year stretch in its program’s history, including the recently completed 2025-26 season in which the program achieved the most wins in program history of 22. Grinnell won two Midwest Conference Championships during Damazo’s tenure and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament both seasons.
(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Allegheny Health Network)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) According to a release from Allegheny Health Network (AHN), Highmark Health announced today that Mandy Ranalli has been named the organization’s Chief Development Officer to lead all of the fundraising activities for AHN. Ranalli most recently served as the vice president of Major and Principal Giving for the Children’s National Hospital Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most respected children’s hospitals. Before that, she worked as the associate vice president for Major, Principal and International Giving at that same foundation to cultivate relationships with grateful patients and foundations around the world. Ranalli is a Western Pennsylvania native who is returning to a city she knows well because from 2007 to 2019, she served in various fundraising and leadership roles at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, which included roles leading the major, principal and corporate engagement programs. She also spent three years at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, which is a nonprofit organization that raises funds for children’s hospitals and pediatric programs in the United States and Canada, including at AHN Saint Vincent Hospital in Erie. Ranalli will work with executive and clinical leadership to advance the philanthropic strategy for one of Pennsylvania’s largest academic health systems in her new role. She will also oversee the operations of AHN’s existing trusts (Alle-Kiski Medical Center Trust, Forbes Health Foundation, Saint Vincent Hospital Foundation for Health and Human Services, Suburban Health Foundation, and the Western Pennsylvania Hospital Foundation).
BEAVER COUNTY RADIO
BEAVER — A new, free exhibit at the Beaver Area Heritage Museum tells the untold stories of the people and never-before-seen archaeological artifacts from a pivotal time when, in the nation’s earliest years, nearly the entire U.S. Army was based at Fort McIntosh in Beaver.
On view until December, the interactive “Fort McIntosh: Its People and Archaeology” invites visitors to learn what soldiers experienced during a remarkable chapter of the Revolutionary era, and how personality quirks and clashes among the leaders shaped its legacy.
From December 1784 to November 1785, the troops stationed at Fort McIntosh — with only small detachments at Fort Pitt and West Point — represented the core of the first permanent body of the United States Army. In this moment, the site played a defining role in the establishment of the nation’s first peacetime standing army.
“This exhibit during the America 250 commemoration connects Beaver directly to the founding story of our nation in a way few people realize,” Mark Miner, chairman of Beaver Area Heritage Museum, said. “It’s not just local history — it’s national history — it happened right here, and we want the world to know it.”
“We wanted to create an experience that sparks curiosity — especially for young people in our community,” Stacey Ivol, director of the Beaver Area Heritage Museum, said. “Through hands-on elements like the children’s dig and the real stories behind these artifacts, we hope to inspire the next generation to explore history, ask questions, and see their connection to the past.”
The exhibit features a host of man-made artifacts unearthed from the original fort site during the digs of 1974–1975, but stored away ever since. They have been organized, analyzed, and prioritized by professional archaeologists and cultural resource specialists with Michael Baker International. These materials highlight how modern archaeology deepens and refines our understanding of the past.
A new interactive children’s dig station offers younger visitors a hands-on way to experience the process of archaeological discovery, conduct their own mini digs, log their finds, and take home their treasures.
The Museum is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the first Sunday of each month from 1 to 4 p.m., along with select additional Sundays throughout the season.
By combining decades of research with new discoveries and interpretation, the exhibit strengthens Beaver as a destination for national historical tourism — and invites visitors to see it with a fresh perspective.
This exhibit has been made possible through the support of Heritage Valley Health System, Community College of Beaver County, the Spanos Group of Raymond James, The Wright Promise, and IBEW Local 712.
For more information, visit beaverheritage.org/2026-
(File Photo: Source for Photo: Leon Smith, named the 2026 National Teacher of the Year, stands in front of his classroom at Haverford High School, in Havertown, Pa. on Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa)
HAVERFORD, Pa. (AP) — A high school history teacher in Pennsylvania who helps students look inward to find their strengths and outward to find community inside and outside the classroom has been named the 2026 National Teacher of the Year.
Leon Smith, 46, has spent his entire 25-year career at Haverford High School, where he teaches Advanced Placement classes in U.S. history and African American studies. He describes himself as a “warm demander,” someone who sets high expectations while surrounding students with love and support. Often, that means recognizing hidden talents and bringing them to the forefront, he said in an interview Monday.
“An adult can tell you that they see something in you that maybe you didn’t see in yourself,” he said. “I love to do that for students. When I see ambition, when I see talent, I let them know that so that they can hopefully pursue that goal and achieve their dreams.”
Smith starts each class with a community building exercise — on Monday, he asked his students to talk about a song that made them happy. One shared a track that reminded him of a family vacation. Another recalled music she listened to with friends before they went their separate ways. The exercise helped settle the students before the discussion shifted to a harder question: When, if ever, should the United States enter a war happening far away?
“We want to make sure that our students can think critically, that they have empathy, that they can understand the nuance and complexity that goes into making decisions,” he said. “My hope is that when they leave my classroom, that they can be civically engaged, that they can make sure that they can create a society that they can be proud of.”
Smith also extends his teaching to outside the school, taking students to the state Capitol each year to engage with policymakers. That won him praise from the organization behind the award, the Council of Chief State School Officers, which also cited his emphasis on the inclusion of multiple perspectives in history.
As the Teacher of the Year, Smith will spend a year promoting the pivotal role educators play in shaping the next generation.
“They’ve moved societies. They have empowered activist movements. They’ve helped people to figure out what they want to do when they group up,” he said. “They’ve had a tremendous impact, and my hope is that people are inspired to join that legacy.”
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, center, stands on the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Stamford, CT) Sources confirmed to ESPN today that former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is joining NBC’s Sunday night pregame show, “Football Night in America,” as an NFL studio analyst. Sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that talks between Tomlin and NBC picked up steam in Augusta, Georgia two weeks ago. The Athletic first reported Tomlin’s hiring at NBC. The fifty-three-year-old Tomlin is the second former Steelers head coach to transition into broadcasting, joining his predecessor, Bill Cowher, who was hired at CBS as a studio analyst in 2007 after stepping down from the Steelers. Cowher never returned to coaching. Tomlin stepped down as the head coach of the Steelers on January 13th, 2026 after nineteen seasons with the team and was the longest-tenured head coach of a North American professional sports franchise prior to his resignation. Tomlin had a 193-114-2 record in the regular season, a record of 8-12 in the postseason and never finished below .500 during his NFL head coaching career.
Lisa Anne Trapizona (Denny), 61, unexpectedly passed away in her sleep at her home on April 19th, 2026. She was born on January 28th, 1965, and was preceded in death by her parents, William and Bonnie (Wilgruber), and her brother, William Denny Jr. She is survived by her husband, Richard Trapizona, and her three children, Joshua Walker, Marissa Trapizona, and Sarah Trapizona (Shane Welteroth).
Lisa grew up in Hopewell, attending Hopewell School District Schools from kindergarten through senior high. There she made many friends and created lasting memories that she shared years later at several reunions. She attended Carlow Business School and began a long career of business management. She began working for Church and Dwight with partner company Arm and Hammer. She then went on to work for Delmonte Foods and split her time between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and San Francisco, California. Later in her career she began developing a technological background, developing an app and helping her company win an Emmy. In the latter half of her life, she worked for Highmark helping improve health care systems and supporting all those she worked with. In 1994, she married Richard Trapizona in a small ceremony held in Ross Township. She and Richard had been married for 32 years and together for 39 years. For their honeymoon, they went to Las Vegas, Nevada which became a staple family vacation every year after. She and Richard built their home in Sewickley, where they raised their son and two daughters. She was an active member in the Quaker Valley community where her son and two daughters attended school there, participating in classroom activities and extracurriculars. She was a passionate and strong woman that would lend a helping hand to anyone who needed help. She believed strongly in family values and enjoyed spending time with her kids and hearing all about their days. Lisa was a devoted Catholic practicing at St. James Church in Sewickley. She recently helped her future son-in-law become a member of the church. She taught Sunday school for over twenty years and helped anywhere she could. She loved the community it built and enjoyed the congregation being like a family.
According to her wishes, Lisa wanted to be cremated. A Memorial visitation will take place on Friday, April 24th from 3-7 P.M. in the John Syka Funeral Home, Inc., 833 Kennedy Drive, Ambridge, who was in charge of her arrangements. Family and friends will then meet on Saturday, April 25th at 10:30 A.M. in the St. James Church-Divine, 200 Walnut Street, Sewickley, for a Mass of Christian Burial. Interment will follow in the Mt. Olivet Catholic Cemetery, 2186 Brodhead Road, Aliquippa.
Lisa will be remembered for her kindness, creativity, and passion for family and friends.
Henry F. “Hank” Podbielski, 82, also known as Mr. Pod, passed away on April 15th, 2026. He was born on July 5th, 1943, a son of the late Henry and Henrietta Podbielski. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 47 years, Barbara, a brother, David, his brothers-in-law, Jeff Marsico, Gary Stanley, Jeff Stanley and his nephews, Joshua and Logan Podbielski. He is survived by his sons, Terry Podbielski (Kaitlyn) of New Brighton, Chris at home and Michael, of Beaver Falls, his grandchildren, Addison and Tallen, his two sisters, Barb (Doug) Dunlap of Ohioville and Christine Marsico of Moon Township, a brother, Tom (Sue) of West Palm Beach, Florida, his sisters-in-law: Kay Podbielski, Kay (Phil) Ziska, Brenda Stanley, Louie Stanley; as well as many nieces and nephews.
Henry was a graduate of Beaver Falls High School Class of 1961 and a 1965 Graduate of Geneva College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Communication. After various jobs in the community, he decided to enter the teaching profession. In the fall of 1968, he was hired by the Beaver Local School District of Lisbon, Ohio. He taught English, Speech and Theatre Arts. During his career, he directed over 30 musicals and 27 straight dramatic plays. After retiring from a 30 year career at Beaver Local, he came back to Pennsylvania to work in Freedom School District as a job coach. He worked with students who were having trouble in the classroom and in life. For those students who were employed, he had to help them learn their job skills and have the employer do an evaluation on the student’s job performance. At this point, Henry retired and decided to enjoy life. Henry was an avid Beaver Falls Tiger football and basketball fan. He was also a Penn State football season ticket holder. He enjoyed many trips to Happy Valley as well as visiting many away and Bowl games in the United States. This obituary would not be complete without one last word from Henry: “We are Penn State!”
Friends will be received on Monday, April 27th from 2-4 P.M. and 6-8 P.M. in the GABAUER-LUTTON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES., INC., 117 Blackhawk Road, Beaver Falls, who was in charge of his arrangements, and where departing prayers will be offered on Tuesday, April 28th at 9:30 A.M. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 A.M. at St. Monica Church, 116 Thorndale Drive, Beaver Falls. Fr. Kim Schreck will serve as celebrant.
BEAVER COUNTY RADIO
PITTSBURGH — The NFL will host an expansive lineup of activities for the 2026 NFL Draft, taking place April 23–25 in Pittsburgh.
The Draft will transform the city’s North Shore and Point State Park into a free, three-day celebration of football, community and culture, bringing the next generation of NFL stars to one of the country’s most iconic football cities while celebrating Pittsburgh and the surrounding area.
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DATE
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TIMING
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Thursday, April 23
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8 p.m. – 12 a.m.
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Friday, April 24
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7 p.m. – 12 a.m.
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Saturday, April 25
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12 p.m. – 7 p.m.
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