Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published July 29, 2024 8:46 A.M.

(Center Township, Pa) A rumor has been spreading in recent days on social media that the Beaver Valley Mall is being sold to Amazon to use as a distribution center. The unverified rumor also states that current businesses will have to move out of the mall within two years. No official sources have confirmed the rumor is legitimate. A Beaver County Radio news source told Beaver County Radio that they are “highly skeptical” of the rumor. However, they did confirm that there have been talks of repurposing the mall interior. Center Township Supervisors say that they have no information on the matter. Beaver County Radio has reached out to the mall but have not yet received a response.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Wampum, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand  jury in Pittsburgh on charges of Production of Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor  and Possession of Material Depicting the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today. 

The three-count Indictment named Thomas Hyatt-Baney, 21, formerly of Wampum,  Pennsylvania, as the sole defendant. 

According to the Indictment, Hyatt-Baney, on or about May 28, 2023, and June 25, 2023,  produced visual depictions of the sexual exploitation of a minor. The Indictment also charges Hyatt Baney with possessing, on or about September 9, 2023, videos and still images depicting the sexual  exploitation of minors, some of whom were prepubescent and under the age of 12 years.  

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than 15 years or more than 30  years in prison, a fine of $750,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual  sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history,  if any, of the defendant.  

Assistant United States Attorney Carolyn J. Bloch is prosecuting this case on behalf of the  government. 

The Pennsylvania State Police and Homeland Security Investigation conducted the  investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. This case was brought as part of Project Safe  Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the  growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices  and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe  Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals  who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project  Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc. 

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

Norfolk Southern locomotives are moved through the Conway Terminal in Conway, Pa., Saturday, June 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Norfolk Southern got a boost during the second quarter from insurance payments related to last year’s disastrous East Palestine derailment, but it also made progress in reducing its expenses and getting more efficient.

The Atlanta-based railroad said it earned $737 million, or $3.25 per share, in the quarter, but there were several unusual factors influencing the results. And last year’s $356 million profit, or $1.56 per share, was heavily weighed down by costs related to the derailment near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

But CEO Alan Shaw is most proud of the $250 million in productivity and safety gains the railroad has made this year. Norfolk Southern also hauled 5% more freight during the quarter thanks to the efficiency and new business it was able to attract.

“I’m really encouraged by our progress and I’m really confident in our future,” Shaw said. “We did everything we said we were going to do.”

The $156 million in insurance payments the railroad received as it recovered some of the more than $1.7 billion it has spent in response to the February 2023 derailment in eastern Ohio more than offset the $91 million in costs this quarter. That resulted in a $65 million net boost to earnings. Much of the derailment costs, including the $600 million class action settlement the railroad agreed to this spring, will likely eventually be covered by the railroad’s insurance.

Further complicating the financial picture is the fact that Norfolk Southern spent $22 million in the quarter to fight back against investor Ancora Holdings’ campaign to take over the board and fire the railroad’s management. Ancora’s nominees ultimately won three board seats, but not enough to take control.

Without any of those unusual factors, Norfolk Southern estimated that it would have earned $694 million, or $3.06 per share, in the quarter. The analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected the railroad to report earnings per share of $2.86.

Its stock rose almost 7% in after-hours after the earnings report came out.

Norfolk Southern endorsed all of the recommendations the National Transportation Safety Board made in its final East Palestine report, and the railroad said it has largely addressed the safety concerns the Federal Railroad Administration raised in a report last year. But the rail industry has been lobbying against many of the proposed regulations Congress has been considering.

During the proxy fight, Shaw hired a new operations chief and promised to make the railroad more efficient, though he still says he doesn’t want to cut so deep that Norfolk Southern won’t have the resources it needs to handle additional freight when the economy does improve.

The railroad said has already parked more than 320 locomotives and pulled some 7,000 cars off its network as it moved to run fewer but longer trains to handle the same freight without as many engines or crews.

Over the next two years, Norfolk Southern predicts will improve productivity by about $550 million and boost its profit margin.

Already, the railroad reported improvement in every single performance metric in its quarterly report Thursday with everything from the average velocity of its cars to the amount of time trains spend in railyards getting better.

Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau said Norfolk Southern has been steadily improving its efficiency and “put together a really solid quarter.”

The railroad’s revenue grew 2% to $3.04 billion in the quarter, in line with Wall Street’s forecast.

Norfolk Southern is one of the nation’s largest railroads operating trains across the eastern United States.