(photo provided with release)

McDonald’s Be Our Guest Cards will be given to those who support the Red Kettle Campaign at Giant Eagle grocery store at 100 Settlers Ridge Drive

Pittsburgh, PA. – (December 9, 2024) – As the holiday season picks up, McDonald’s owner operators in the Pittsburgh area will be teaming up with the Salvation Army to do a 1-day takeover for the Red Kettle Campaign at the Giant Eagle grocery store at 100 Settlers Ridge Drive. Local Owner/Operators Twila Mezan, John Santonastasso, Toni Hower, and their crew members will ring bells on December 12 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Anyone who donates during the event will receive Be Our Guest Card for a free McDonald’s breakfast combo meal. Fan-favorite McDonaldland character Grimace will also be making an appearance during the fundraiser.

“McDonald’s has a long history of giving back to the community,” said Santonastasso, who owns and operates 27 restaurants with his wife Kathy and daughter Toni. “We are looking forward to continuing this tradition with The Salvation Army and the red kettle campaign.”

The iconic Salvation Army red kettle campaign began in 1891 by Captain Joseph McFee, a Salvation Army officer who was looking for a way to cover the cost of the community Christmas meal. Today in the U.S., The Salvation Army assists more than four-and-a-half million people during the Thanksgiving and Christmas time periods. If you are unable to attend the event the day of, donations are accepted virtually by texting the word “kettle” to 31333 or by visiting the local Virtual Red Kettle link: https://salarmy.us/PGHWestsideKettle

(Photo of the Beaver Falls School District Entry courtesy of PENNDOT)

Pittsburgh, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 11 invites the public to vote on 9 plows decorated by high school students in Allegheny, Beaver, and Lawrence counties as part of the annual Paint the Plow program. Paint the Plow is a statewide outreach aimed at promoting winter driving safety and fostering appreciation for high school art programs and student creativity.

Earlier this year, teens from the Pittsburgh region designed and painted PennDOT plow blades based on the statewide theme “Use your reason when it’s freezin’.” The theme was chosen to remind motorists to practice safe driving during the winter season.

Students from A.W. Beattie Career Center, Fox Chapel Area, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Beaver Falls, Blackhawk, Freedom Area, Laurel, Neshannock, and Union Area high schools participated.

This year, the public is invited to vote through an online survey posted on the PennDOT website www.penndot.pa.gov/PaintthePlow. The voting form can be found by clicking on the county names within the table. Participation is limited to one vote per person per district.

The plow photo in each district that receives the most votes between December 9-15, 2024, will be deemed the “Fan Favorite” for that area. The blades are also eligible for the “Judges’ Pick” honor that will be determined by PennDOT personnel, based on a standard judging criteria.

The winner in each category will be announced later in December.

Schools and participants are encouraged to share the link to the contest to promote voting. PennDOT may post the pictures on statewide and regional Facebook accounts, however responses on social media will not count toward the voting totals.

For more information on PennDOT’s winter preparations and additional winter-driving resources for motorists, visit the department’s winter website.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.

Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District11.

Information about infrastructure in District 11, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D11Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.

Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook and Instagram.

(File Photo of a Christmas Tree on a Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Landsdale, PA) The administration of Governor Josh Shapiro held an event called “Trees for Troops,” which helped military families in need to receive Christmas trees as those helped to put trees in trucks, delivered from Bustard’s Christmas Trees in Landsdale on Thursday. One of the speakers during the event was Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding, who talked about how trees are symbols of hope for those that protect our country during this Christmas season. Redding also talked about how talking trees represent a caring and appreciative message for the military. According to Redding, two percent of the nation is serving in the military as well as another two percent who is responsible for feeding those in the country, which is the underserved population that are receiving these trees through this program.

(File Photo of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Badge)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Hopewell Township, PA) According to a report from the Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver, a crash occurred in Hopewell Township on I-376 West on Thursday. Police confirmed that the driver, 32-year-old Trisha N. Sperry of Greensburg, had no injuries after her vehicle ran over an ice patch, went on the left side of the road, then hit both the front and back bumpers after hitting a cable barrier twice. The report also states that Sperry was charged for “driving on roadways that were laned  for traffic.” 

(File Photo of radio mic)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) If you are looking to watch a show that will bring joy this holiday season, the Beaver County Office on Aging will present “A Christmas Carol,” a radio show that will be live on Tuesday December 10th at 9:30 a.m. at the Center at the Mall, Unit 284, at the Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca, as well as on Tuesday, December 17th at 9:30 a.m. at Circle of Friends in New Brighton. The office will also provide coffee, a themed punch for the holidays, and desserts as you enjoy the performance.

(File Photo of a Drawing of Beaver Falls)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) According to a Facebook post from D and G Pizza, Beaver Falls, on Sunday, their owner Ken Lovato has made a decision that the local pizza place will close for good on Saturday, December 21st. Lovato notes that the D and G Pizza that originally opened was in operation for sixty years, and since the passing of his father Gene this year, he could not thank the Beaver Falls community and the customers enough for the support to both serve them and to work in the business that his family ran and made a staple in Beaver Falls.

(File Photo of Police Lights)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 9th, 2024 at 7:41 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) An Aliquippa woman was arrested for robbery and other related charges. Police were dispatched to 159 6th Avenue on Plan 11 at 8:20 a.m. Saturday morning for an unknown problem. Champagne Patrick of Aliquippa robbed $60, keys, and the wallet of a man working at a residence in the area thanks to video evidence that was discovered from a witness.

Patrick was detained after her home was investigated on Wykes Street and she is now in the Beaver County Jail after receiving charges of robbery, second degree misdemeanor for theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and a summary offense of harassment. 

(File Photo of Central Valley School District Logo)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 9th, 2024 at 7:38 A.M.)

(Center Township, PA) The Central Valley School Board held their regular meeting last week for reorganization purposes. The board president is now Dennis Bloom, who takes over for David Ambrose after two years. The vice president is Donna Belcastro and Joe O’Neill is the treasurer. On January 18 of next year, superintendent Dr. Nick Perry will retire, while high school principal Shawn McCreary will be the acting superintendent. Perry will work as a consultant until he is replaced by someone else. Hannah Lanctot was hired to be a volunteer swim coach, after the resignations of both the head and assistant swim coaches were also announced. Today, the vacancy of the superintendent will be posted by the board. January 8th of next year at 7 p.m. will be the following work session for the board and their next regular meeting will occur at 7 p.m. of January 16th of next year.

File Photo: Source for Photo: Kenny Pollard, 75, holds a photo in his home from a vacation that he and his wife, Elizabeth, took to Clearwater Beach, Fla., approximately 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

(Unity Township, PA- AP) The remains of a woman who fell into a sinkhole were recovered Friday, four days after she went missing while searching for her cat, a state police spokesperson said.

Trooper Steve Limani said the body of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard was sent to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy after rescuers used machinery to bring her to the surface.

Limani told reporters Pollard was found at about 11 a.m. approximately 30 feet (9 meters) underground, some 12 feet (4 meters) from the opening of the sinkhole. Limani said Pollard apparently fell onto a cone-shaped pile of debris created by the crumbling mine, then rolled or otherwise moved toward the southwest to where her body was recovered.

The autopsy may help determine whether Pollard was killed by the fall, Limani said.

The announcement came in the fourth day of the search for Pollard, who had last been seen Monday evening, looking for the cat near a restaurant half a mile (0.8 kilometers) from her home in the village of Marguerite.

Axel Hayes, Pollard’s son, said a state trooper told him and other family members that her body had been found.

“I was hoping for the best, I really was,” Hayes said in a phone interview. “I was hoping she was still alive, maybe in a coma or something. I wasn’t expecting all of this.”

Mike O’Barto, who chairs the Unity Township Board of Supervisors, said the tragedy was deeply felt among his friends and neighbors.

“Unity Township is a tight-knit community. We are made of several coal mining towns. And of course, Marguerite’s one of them,” O’Barto said. “And when people suffer, we all suffer. The people of Unity Township are sad today.”

Pollard’s family reported her missing around 1 a.m. Tuesday as the temperature in the area dropped below freezing.

The search focused on a sinkhole that began as a manhole-sized gap and may have only recently opened above where coal was mined until about 70 years ago. Hunters and restaurant workers who were in the area in the hours before Pollard’s disappearance told police they hadn’t noticed the sinkhole.

Police said they found Pollard’s car parked about 20 feet (6 meters) from the sinkhole with her 5-year-old granddaughter inside. The cat, Pepper, has not reappeared, Hayes said.

The effort to find Pollard — which a fire official said lasted about 80 hours — included lowering a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole, although it detected nothing. Crews removed a massive amount of soil and rock to try to reach the area where they believed she fell into the chasm about 30 feet (9 meters) deep.

Pollard grew up in Jeanette, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Unity Township, where she lived for much of her adult life. She previously worked at Walmart and was married for more than 40 years.