Author: Beaver County Radio

Holden Bradley Eckman (2022-2026)

Holden Bradley Eckman, 3, lovingly known as “Holdy B,” passed away unexpectedly on April 2nd, 2026, surrounded by so much love, all his music, and more importantly, his two favorite people, Mommy and Daddy. He was born on December 28th, 2022 and is survived by his parents, Sydney and Brad Eckman, his little brother, Maddox Eckman, his maternal grandparents, John and Melissa Kaercher, his paternal grandmother, Beth Tatko (Bill Parish); his paternal grandfather, Rick Eckman, his uncle and godfather, Jon Kaercher (Jacob Longerbeam), his godmother, Ryleigh Bauer (Shane Hopkins), his maternal great-grandparents, Ronnie and Jackie Golletti, his paternal great-grandfather, Bob Tatko, his aunt, Leeanna (Will) Norman, his great-aunts: Melanie Bauer, Maryann Angeline, Bobbi Naples, Kathy Alvarez, Sue Tatko, and Jessica Tatko; as well as his great-uncles, Ryan Bauer, Ed Angeline, Sam Naples, Joe Alvarez, and John Tatko; along with his “best babysitter,” Ms. Jeri; his nenny and pay-pay, and many other loving family members and friends. He was preceded in death by his baby brother; his maternal great-grandparents, John and Rae Kaercher; his paternal great-grandparents, Ralph and Lela Eckman, and his paternal great-grandmother, Marge Tatko.

Holden was the most loving, kind, and caring boy you could have ever met. He stole the hearts of everyone he met with his sweet spirit, joyful heart, comical personality, unforgettable smile and contagious laugh. Though his time here was far too short, he made a lasting impact on every life he touched. He was not dealt a fair chance at life, but he never let that stop him. He loved life more than anyone we know, and made sure to live every moment to the fullest. He never backed down and always going at his own speed and was truly unstoppable. Some of his favorite things included his bb’s, pad-pad, superheroes, dressing up in his costumes, being in his pj’s, his music, Play-Doh, playing outside at the park, baking brownies with Mommy, deer hunting with Daddy, being the best big brother to Maddox, buying a new toy every single day, Donald’s, rolls and dip, tea, popcorn, and slushies, the beach, adventures anywhere, shopping, playing with friends, snuggling, Halloween, The Grinch, and just being at his most favorite place–home.

Holden had a special way of bringing people together. Through his strength, joy, and pure love for life, he touched the lives of people he never even met and taught everyone around him so much about what truly matters: how to live fully, love deeply, and cherish every single moment. Holden will be deeply missed by all those who love him.

The family would like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Friehling and Dr. Piper for their compassionate care during Holden’s initial AML diagnosis.

A heartfelt and profound thank you goes out to Dr. Randy for the love and dedication he showed to Holden over the last 15 months: for playing with him, caring for him, and most importantly, being by his side throughout his final day.

The family would also like to express their deepest gratitude to all of the nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital, who became like family throughout this journey. Your compassion, love, and unwavering support will never be forgotten.

Holden’s love, laughter, and beautiful spirit will live on forever in the hearts of all who were blessed to know him and he will never be forgotten.

Family and friends are welcome to attend a Mass to celebrate the wonderful life of Holden on Tuesday, April 7th, at St. Felix Church, 450 13th Street, Freedom at 10 a.m. Following the Mass, all are invited to join the family for a luncheon at Holden’s favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse.

All arrangements have been entrusted to William Murphy Funeral Home, Inc., 349 Adams Street, Rochester.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Holden’s name to the Beaver County Cancer and Heart Association, 3582 Brodhead Road #201, Monaca, PA 15061.

Avis Maxine Flick Watt (1930-2026)

Avis Maxine Flick Watt, 96, of Beaver and Beaver Falls, passed away on April 3rd, 2026. She was born in Saxonburg on January 28th, 1930, a daughter of the late Walter and Elma Flick. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Merle Edwin Watt. They had a great life together being married 67 years until the time of his death. She was also preceded in death by her son, Edwin Lee Watt, her brothers and their spouses, Robert (Margie) Flick, Kenneth (Gertrude) Flick, her sisters and their spouses, Genevieve (Kenneth) Bauman and Pauline (Bud) Thurau and her sister-in-law, Amanda Flick. She is survived by her son, Alan (Sandra) Watt, of Smithville, Tennessee, her daughter-in-law, Janet Shaddick of Beaver, her former daughter-in-law Dixie Watt of Brentwood, Tennessee, her grandchildren: Bryan (Stephanie) Watt of Spring Hill, Tennessee, Amy Watt of Brentwood, Tennessee, Abby Watt (Patrick Woods) of Pittsburgh and Megan Watt (Jarred Gates) of Moon Township; as well as her great grandchildren, Ruby Ball, Oliver Watt, Phoenix Watt and Ramy Woods, her brother, Dale Flick and many nieces and nephews.

Avis was raised on a farm in Cherry Valley in Clinton Township of Butler County. She was a bookkeeper for North Star Cheese in Bakerstown, Pennsylvania for many years. She and Merle moved to Beaver where she was a bookkeeper for Vanport Municipal Authority. She has been preparing for this day since an early age completely believing in the Christian Bible verse of John 14: 2-3 and 2 Timothy 4: 7-8. She was raised Presbyterian and over the course of her life she was a Sunday School teacher, Deacon, Pastor Search Committee Member and greeter. She loved her church immensely. She maintained active with various Presbyterian churches as her health allowed. She was also a Past Worthy Matron of Eastern Star and was an active member of the Tusca Ridge Garden Club. She enjoyed gardening, traveling and fishing on Lake Erie. She was someone that only looked for the good in people. She was also level headed and mild mannered. She’ll be in our hearts always.

The family is grateful to all the staff at Franciscan Manor for their care during the past 12 years.

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, April 7th from 6-8 p.m., at Noll Funeral Home, Inc., 333 Third Street, Beaver, who was in charge of her arrangements, and where a Funeral Service will be conducted on Wednesday, April 8th at 11 a.m.

Followed by burial at Beaver Cemetery, Buffalo Street, Beaver.

Roger A. Baker (1962-2026)

Roger A. Baker, 63, of Brighton Township, passed away on April 2nd, 2026. He was born in Utica, New York on February 19th, 1962, a son of the late Robert and Ada Sue (Bicker) Baker. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother-in-law, Bill Loughman.

He is survived by his wife, Lynn Baker, his daughter, Delanie (Grant) Sills, his siblings, Robbee (Tom) Kosak, Ross (Adria) Baker and Randy Baker, his mother-in-law, Nancy Loughman, his sisters in law, Leigh (Gary) Majetic, Laurie (Karl) Ludwig and Lisa Loughman and many nieces and nephews.

Roger was a member of the Hopewell VFW post 8805. He retired from the Pittsburgh International Airport where he was an Air Traffic Controller.

There will be a celebration of life for Roger at a later date. Arrangements have been entrusted to the branch of Huntsman Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Artists Marian Sallade and Deb Letterie are featured artists for their art shows in Cranberry Township next month

(Credit for Photos: Headline Photo and Photos Below Courtesy of the Cranberry Artists Network)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) According to a recent release from the Cranberry Artists Network, Marian Sallade and Deb Letterie are their featured artists for the month of May 2026. Their art shows will be featured at that time at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center. The hours for the CAN Art Gallery in the Cranberry Township Municipal Center are Mondays – Thursdays from 7:30 AM to 8:30 PM., Fridays from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM and Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sallade confirms that landscapes are usually her central theme painting. Letterie states that she has experimented with mediums like oils and soft pastels. 

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Pittsburgh man charged after two-vehicle crash occurs in Beaver County

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver reported via release today that thirty-two-year-old Joseph Cambou of Pittsburgh was charged after a two-vehicle crash occurred in Beaver County on April 1st, 2026. Cambou was driving on Gas Valley Road in Greene Township at approximately 5:50 a.m. and traveled through a stop sign on State Route 168. Forty-five-year-old Gary Johnston, Jr. of Lisbon, Ohio hit the vehicle of Cambou with his vehicle. Cambou was transported to Sewickley Hospital after sustaining minor injuries and Johnston was not injured. 

AAA: Inattention Behind the Wheel Can Lead to Deadly Consequences

(File Photo of AAA East Central Logo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) AAA is urging the public to recognize the deadly consequences of inattention behind the wheel. As incidents of distracted driving increase across the country, Distracted Driving Awareness Month (April of 2026) serves as an important reminder to all motorists of the potentially fatal risks that can be caused by texting, talking on the phone, or using other mobile apps. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 3,275 people were killed and more than 324,000 were injured in distracted driving crashes in 2023: an average of nine deaths and nearly 900 injuries every day. According to a release from AAA East Central in Pittsburgh, AAA recommends motorists to follow these tips to stay focused behind the wheel and help prevent tragedies:

  • Utilize the Driving Focus feature on smartphones to minimize distractions.
  • Pull over safely to make a call or send a text.
  • While a passenger, speak up if the driver of the vehicle is distracted.
  • Put phones out of sight to reduce temptation.
  • Program GPS before starting a trip, not while driving.
  • Ask passengers for help with navigation, calls, or texts.
  • Don’t be a distraction—avoid calling or texting others while they’re driving.

Artemis II astronauts race to set a new distance record from Earth and behold the moon’s far side

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This image provided by NASA on Monday, April 6, 2026, shows a view of the moon taken by the Artemis II crew before going to sleep on flight day 5. (NASA via AP)

HOUSTON (AP) — With the moon looming ever larger, the Artemis II astronauts raced to set a new distance record Monday from Earth on a lunar fly-around promising magnificent views of the far side never seen before by eye.

The six-hour flyby is the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era with three Americans and one Canadian — a step toward landing boot prints near the moon’s south pole in just two years.

A prize — and bragging rights — awaits Artemis II.

Less than an hour before kicking off the fly-around and intense lunar observations, the four astronauts were set to become the most distant humans in history, surpassing the distance record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.

Mission Control expected Artemis II to surpass that record by more than 4,100 miles (6,600 kilometers).

Artemis II is using the same maneuver that Apollo 13 did after its “Houston, we’ve had a problem” oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.

Known as a free-return lunar trajectory, this no-stopping-to-land route takes advantage of Earth and the moon’s gravity, reducing the need for fuel. It’s a celestial figure-eight that will put the astronauts on course for home, once they emerge from behind the moon Monday evening.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen were on track to pass as close as 4,070 miles (6,550 kilometers) to the moon, as their Orion capsule whips past it, hangs a U-turn and then heads back toward Earth. It will take them four days to get back, with a splashdown in the Pacific concluding their test flight on Friday.

Wiseman and his crew spent years studying lunar geography to prepare for the big event, adding solar eclipses to their repertoire during the past few weeks. By launching last Wednesday, they ensured themselves of a total solar eclipse from their vantage point behind the moon, courtesy of the cosmos.

Topping their science target list: Orientale Basin, a sprawling impact basin with three concentric rings, the outermost of which stretches nearly 600 miles (950 kilometers) across.

Other sightseeing goals: the Apollo 12 and 14 landing sites from 1969 and 1971, respectively, as well as fringes of the south polar region, the preferred locale for future touchdowns. Farther afield, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn — not to mention Earth — will be visible.

Their moon mentor, NASA geologist Kelsey Young, expects thousands of pictures.

“People all over the world connect with the moon. This is something that every single person on this planet can understand and connect with,” she said on the eve of the flyby, wearing eclipse earrings.

Artemis II is NASA’s first astronaut moonshot since Apollo 17 in 1972. It sets the stage for next year’s Artemis III, which will see another Orion crew practice docking with lunar landers in orbit around Earth. The culminating moon landing by two astronauts near the moon’s south pole will follow on Artemis IV in 2028.

While Artemis II may be taking Apollo 13’s path, it’s most reminiscent of Apollo 8 and humanity’s first lunar visitors who orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968 and read from the Book of Genesis.

Glover said flying to the moon during Christianity’s Holy Week brought home for him “the beauty of creation.” Earth is an oasis amid “a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe” where humanity exists as one, he observed over the weekend.

“This is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and that we’ve got to get through this together,” Glover said, clasping hands with his crewmates.

Savannah Guthrie returns to “Today” show after mother’s disappearance

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Savannah Guthrie, left, gets a kiss form Hoda Kotb during a visit to the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday, March 5, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

(AP) Savannah Guthrie, who will return on April 6 as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show after a nearly two-month absence sparked by the disappearance of her 84-year-old mother, said in an interview that aired on Friday that “joy will be my protest.”

Guthrie, speaking with colleague Hoda Kotb, said that while it’s hard to imagine returning to a place of joy and lightness, she wants to try, even as she acknowledged she’s not sure she can do it or if she’ll belong anymore.

“I can’t come back and try to be something that I’m not. But I can’t not come back, because it’s my family,” Guthrie said. “I think it’s part of my purpose right now. I want to smile and when I do, it will be real and my joy will be my protest. My joy will be my answer. And being there is joyful and when it’s not, I’ll say so.”

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing from her Arizona home on Feb. 1. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will. The FBI released surveillance videos of a masked man who was outside Guthrie’s front door in Tucson on the night she vanished. Authorities have not released new evidence publicly in weeks.

The Guthrie family has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of their mother.

Savannah Guthrie, who’s co-hosted NBC’s morning show since 2012, pulled out of covering the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which began just days after her mother’s disappearance.

Abductions are rare. The vast majority of people who are reported missing are believed to be runaways — not kidnapped or abducted. Throughout all of 2024, the latest year that the National Crime Information Center published data, over 530,000 missing person records were entered. Roughly 95% of the hundreds of thousands of cases filed in 2024 were believed to be runaways and only 1% were listed as abducted.

Savannah Guthrie, acknowledging her mother is among the many missing, donated to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The organization on Thursday highlighted the cases of three children who disappeared in Arizona — Jimmy Hendrickson in 1991, Karen Grajeda in 1996 and Jesse Florez in 2001.

“We encourage everyone to stay alert,” the center said in a statement. “It’s up to the public to keep their eyes open. You never know when the next lead will be the one that brings someone home.”

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that tips are still coming in on Nancy Guthrie but at a declining rate. The FBI says it’s no longer revealing the number of tips it receives daily in the investigation. Portions of Kotb’s interview with Savannah Guthrie were released over multiple days this week. In the videos, Guthrie said she and her siblings knew their mother didn’t wander off, given her medical condition, and that doors were propped open at her house. Authorities also discovered blood and a missing camera near the doorstep.

Some media outlets reported receiving ransom notes tied to the case. Guthrie and her siblings responded to two that they believed were real and offered to pay money. Guthrie said her celebrity status might be the reason her mother was taken, but that possibility was “too much to bear.”

She again appealed for information, saying the family can’t be in peace or move forward with healing without knowing what happened to their mother.

“How can someone vanish without a trace?” Guthrie asked. “How? Someone knows something. Even if that something is someone’s been acting strange for the last seven or eight weeks. Even if it’s just that. Somebody knows. And maybe somebody’s afraid and I understand that, but our hearts are in agony.”

ICE arrests thirteen “illegal aliens” outside of a PennDOT driver’s license center in Armstrong County

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Kittanning, PA) The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Saturday that an investigation is underway after ICE agents arrested multiple people outside of a PennDOT driver’s license center in Armstrong County. This occurred on Friday. A spokesperson for DHS confirmed to WTAE that ICE responded to calls from the East Franklin Police Department after “concerned citizens reported an abnormally large amount of individuals” outside the PennDOT driver licensing center in Kittanning. DHS said in a statement that ICE arrested”13 illegal aliens from countries including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan.” Officials stated that one individual resisted arrest and assaulted a local officer. 

AK-style rifle recovered after incident involving intoxicated male occurs in Aliquippa

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the City of Aliquippa Police Department)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) Aliquippa police were dispatched to the 300 block of Superior Avenue (Valley Terrace C Building) at approximately 5 p.m. on Friday for a report of an intoxicated male requesting help. An officer observed a group of males in the 400 block of Superior Avenue (Valley Terrace B Building) while responding, which included individuals known to law enforcement. One unidentified male abruptly fled on foot while attempting to conceal a firearm. A foot pursuit was initiated by officers, and the man was observed by responding officers to be in possession of an AK-style rifle. The suspect escaped from police and officers conducted a search of the area. They tried to make contact at a residence believed to be associated with the individual. However, no contact was made. The firearm was recovered and was identified as a Century Arms AK-style rifle. A potential suspect identity has also been obtained. This incident remains under investigation and anyone with information on it is encouraged to contact the Aliquippa Police Department at 724-378-8000.