(File Photo of Aliquippa Quips Football Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) On Wednesday, two standout Aliquippa football players, Tiqwai Hayes and Arison Walker signed their letters of intention to play college football. Hayes, a running back for the Aliquippa Quips, who received offers from Pitt as well as other well-known colleges from the programs in the Power Four Conferences, committed to Penn State University last year after eclipsing more than 7,000 yards through his senior season, one of the best in the history of the already standout Aliquippa football program. Hayes will also graduate this December as one of the first students to do so, as well as leaving Aliquippa with a grade point average of 4.1 to go along with his commitment to Penn State, in which Hayes found them to be a standout school. Walker, a senior Aliquippa Quips defensive back, chose St. Francis University of Pennsylvania after a longer decision in which he confirmed that both God and his family helped with making. Walker comes from a football family, and two of his relatives played Division I football, as Larry Walker was a four-year defensive back for Albany, while DJ Walker is playing at Ohio University as a red-shirt freshman.  

Shell release

(Monaca, Pa.)  Shell Polymers Monaca will hold its seventh annual smoke detector handout event on Thursday, December 12, at Beaver Valley Mall. Join us at the water fountain, starting at 6 p.m. Two items will be provided per household. Devices will be allocated on a first-come, first serve basis, and the team will be onsite until all available smoke detectors are distributed.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between the Center Township Fire Department and Shell Polymers Monaca. Since its inception in 2018, the annual event has grown significantly, reflecting Shell’s commitment to community safety. This year, 350 life-saving devices will be offered to local households. Over the past six years, the Center Township Fire Department and Shell Polymers Monaca have distributed more than 2,500 smoke detectors to families across Beaver County.

(File Photo of Aliquippa School Board Logo)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 5th, 2024 at 10:09 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) The action of a resolution towards the removal of a board member was taken at Wednesday night’s Aliquippa School Board meeting. Tori Durham-Flannigan was asked to resign from her position as a school director immediately.   A  proper investigation concluded that Durham-Flannigan disclosed information she learned from a legally held executive session under confidentiality and the protection of executive privileges. The motion was made due to the fact that confidential matters of personnel were disclosed. The board rejects her actions, with all being both inappropriate and unacceptable, as well as a violation of board policy. The board also requested that Durham-Flannigan should be removed from all board committees and not serve on any such committees.

(File Photo of Aliquippa High School Football Coach Mike Warfield)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano, Published on December 5th, 2024 at 10:03 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) The Aliquippa school board held its reorganization and regular meeting Wednesday night and announced the return of Aliquippa High School Football Coach Mike Warfield for the 2025-2026 season after Warfield took a leave of absence this season. The board voted to reinstate Warfield with his salary totaling $12,500. They voted to reinstate Football  Coach Mike  Warfield His salary for the season will be $12,500. The board’s next regular meeting will be on Wednesday, January 15,2025 at 6 p.m. in the Gene Karmazyn Black Box Theater.

FILE – Ronald Rowe, acting director of the U.S. Secret Service, speaks to reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, Pool, File) 

By REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting director of the Secret Service is promising accountability for what he called the agency’s “abject failure” to secure the rally where a gunman opened fire on Donald Trump last summer during his presidential campaign.
Ronald Rowe is set to testify Thursday in front of a bipartisan House task force investigating how the Secret Service, which protects the highest echelon of American leaders, performed during two assassination attempts against Trump in two months. A portion of Rowe’s remarks was released before the hearing.
The task force’s inquiry is one of a series of investigations and reports into the July shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, that have faulted the troubled agency for planning and communications failures. Already, the fallout has included the resignation of the agency’s previous director and changes that increased Secret Service protections for Trump before the Republican won the November election.
Trump has not yet named his pick to lead the agency.
A separate independent panel investigating that assassination attempt has said the Secret Service needs new leadership and that “another Butler can and will happen again” without major changes in how candidates are protected. Trump was wounded in the ear, one rallygoer was killed, and two others were wounded.
Rowe said the agency’s internal investigation identified failures by multiple employees. He noted that the quality of the advance work — the people who go to a location before an event and plan how the Secret Service will protect someone — did not meet agency standards.
“It is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure on July 13, 2024,” Rowe says in the prepared remarks. “Let me be clear, there will be accountability, and that accountability is occurring.”
He did not give specific information, including, for example, how many employees might be disciplined or if anyone would be fired.
This is the task force’s second public hearing and the first time that Rowe has addressed it in public. It is scheduled to release a report on its findings and recommendations by Dec. 13.
Many of the investigations have centered on why buildings near the rally with a clear line of sight to the stage were not secured in advance. The gunman, Thomas Crooks, climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire as Trump spoke.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service countersniper, and Trump was surrounded by agents and hustled offstage.
The shooting also exposed communications problems between the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement officials who routinely assist the agency in securing big events.
Another assassination attempt on Trump in Florida two months later also contributed to the agency’s troubles.
Ryan Wesley Routh is accused of lying in wait for Trump on Sept. 15 in the shrubbery of one of Trump’s Florida golf courses in West Palm Beach, Florida. A Secret Service agent saw the firearm poking through the bushes and opened fire, thwarting the potential attack. Routh never fired a shot.
The agency has defended its response as much more in line with how its defensive systems are supposed to operate. Critics have questioned how Routh was able to camp out for so long at a golf course Trump often visited while in town.
Ever since the first assassination attempt, the Secret Service has been under intense scrutiny about its ability to carry out what’s often described as a “zero failure mission.”
Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned a little over a week after the July shooting and one day after she appeared before a congressional hearing where she was berated for hours by both Democrats and Republicans.
Rowe was then announced as the acting director.
In his statement to the bipartisan task force, Rowe noted what he has done to bring about change.
“It has been my singular focus to bring much needed reform to the Secret Service. To be an agent of change. To challenge previous assumptions,” Rowe said.
Among the things he highlighted:
— The agency increased the staff assigned to Trump and expanded its use of drone technology to get a high-level view of venues.
— Secret Service personnel are required to be at the same location as state and local law enforcement while protecting someone to avoid some of the communications failures from the Butler rally.
— In a nod to the stresses on agents and officers protecting a growing list of people in an increasingly divisive political environment, Rowe said he was prioritizing mental health and wellness programs and had hired a chief wellness officer this week.