Author: Beaver County Radio

Edna Emma Davis (1930-2025)

Edna Emma (Primo) Davis, 94, formerly of Monaca, Pennsylvania passed away peacefully on March 5, 2025, at the Arbors of St. Barnabas in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania.

Edna was born on May 8, 1930 in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, the daughter of the late Frank and Rosina (Castrone) Primo. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, John, her two brothers, Anthony (Clara) Primo and Robert (Anna) Primo, and infant brother John, and her five sisters: Mary (Vincent) DeBacco, Avelia (Matthew) Fronko, Julia (Eugene) Zigerelli, Evelyn (Allen) Swain and infant sister Elisa, as well as her in-laws Robert and Fannie Davis.

Edna is survived by her three sons, Mark Davis, Michael (Bianca Russo) Davis, and Jeffrey (Renee Grandchamp) Davis. She was a proud and loving grandmother to five grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and four step-great-granddaughters.

The Primo family eventually settled in Monaca, where Edna graduated from Monaca High School as a member of the class of 1948. She then attended the Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Beaver Falls, where she graduated in 1951 and became a Registered Nurse.

Not long after her graduation, Edna, her sister Evelyn, and their good friend Theresa Susa, moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she embarked on her nursing career at St. Luke’s Hospital. It was there that Edna met a young man named John Davis, who soon became the love of her life. John and Edna were married on February 19th, 1955, at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Monaca, and began their more than 60 years of life together in an apartment on the southwest side of Chicago. One by one, they welcomed three sons into the family, Mark, Michael, and Jeffrey, and soon they had outgrown their small two-bedroom apartment. The family moved to Woodridge, Illinois, to a new home that John and Edna shared for almost 50 years. They raised their three children together and Edna dedicated herself to her home and family, as well as continuing to work part-time as a nurse at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Illinois. She was a parishioner of St. Scholastica Church, where she was an active member of the Joliet Diocese Council of Catholic Women, serving a term as President of that organization. She was named “Parish Woman of the Year” by the Council, an honor for which she was very proud. In addition, she was a founding member of the Woodridge Garden Club, where she also served a term as President.

Soon after they retired, Edna and John began to spend their winters in Clearwater, Florida, sharing a condominium at Imperial Cove with Edna’s sister Evelyn and her brother-in-law, Allen Swain. They eventually chose to live there year-round, and while there, they traveled, enjoyed many social activities, and welcomed visits from their children and new grandchildren, with whom they swam in the pool and took to the many attractions in the area. They remained in Clearwater until John passed away in 2016. During her time in Clearwater, Edna was a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church.

Following John’s passing, Edna returned to western Pennsylvania, residing at the Village of St. Barnabas in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the St. Barnabas Red Hat Society and enjoyed many social activities with new friends and enjoyed frequent visits from her children and grandchildren.

The family will receive friends on Thursday, March 13th from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm at Simpson Funeral & Cremation Services, 1119 Washington Avenue, Monaca where parting prayers will be offered on Friday, March 14th at 9:30 a.m., followed by a mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church of Monaca. Interment will follow in the parish cemetery.

The family has suggested rather than flowers that memorial gifs be given in Edna’s memory to the American Cancer Society.

To share online condolences, view Edna’s video tribute, get directions, please visit www.simpsonfuneralhome.

Rev. Arthur I. Peters, Sr. (1939-2025)

Rev. Arthur I. Peters, Sr., 85, of Rochester, passed away on March 8th, 2025 in Heritage Valley Beaver. He was born in East Liverpool, Ohio on November 26th, 1939, a son of the late Caesar A. Sr. and Dorothy Wright Peters. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one daughter, Victoria E. Peters, a sister, Millicent Russell, two brothers, Caesar A. Peters Jr. and Richard Peters. He is survived by his wife of thirty-one years, Beverlee D. (Law) Peters, three daughters and one son-in-law, LeTecia D. and James Worsley of New Jersey, Anita L. Peters, of Mississippi and Sarah L. Jacobs of Ohio, three sons and a daughter-in-law, Arthur I. Peter II of California, Jason A. and Nia S. Peters, of Lexington, North Carolina, Jacob M. Peters of Ohio, twenty-one grandchildren, seventeen great-grandchildren, one great-great grandson, as well as several nieces and nephews.

Reverend Arthur was a retired service technician and customer service director with Xerox Corporation of Youngstown, Ohio. He was a former member of the Second Baptist Church of East Liverpool, Ohio and the former pastor and former member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church of Weirton, West Virginia. He was a member of Christian United Association where he was a chaplain, having served in that capacity, with the former Friendship Ridge. He was a Peacetime Navy Veteran, a member and former president of the East Liverpool NAACP, a member of the Urban League of Youngstown, Ohio. Reverend Arthur was a former police patrol officer in Canton, Ohio, and a technician of animation with Walt Disney Inc. He was a retired school bus driver with Hopewell School District, a former DART bus driver, as well as a volunteer program director with the Society for the Blind, providing a radio program for the visually impaired. His passion was being a motorcycle enthusiast, as a member of the Gold Wing Road Rider Association. He loved traveling with his wife Beverlee by motorcycle and motorhome.  Friends will be received on Friday, March 14th, from 10 a.m. until the time of service at 11 a.m., at William Murphy Funeral Home, 349 Adams Street Rochester. Officiating will be Pastor Richard Jackson. Interment will follow in Spring Grove Cemetery of East Liverpool, Ohio. The Vietnam Veterans of America will provide full military honors for their fallen comrade Friday, March 14th at 11:45 a.m. at the funeral home.

Congressman Chris Deluzio publishes opinion piece in the New York Times opposing absolutism of anti-tariffs from Democrats

(File Photo of Congressman Chris Deluzio)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Carnegie, PA) According to a release from Congressman Chris Deluzio’s office, Deluzio published an opinion piece in the New York Times on Friday called “Hey Democrats: It’s Time to Rethink Our Stance on Tariffs” to oppose absolutism of anti-tariffs from Democrats. Deluzio believes that people that make policies discover how tariffs help in the industrial field. Deluzio provided examples of tariffs defending the rights of workers, water and air, tariffs assisting wages and production in America and tariffs protecting both security and economic industries. 

Ambridge man pleads guilty for possessing material involving the sexual exploitation of a minor

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Revetti announced Friday that a resident of Ambridge pleaded guilty to a charge of having material that involved the sexual exploitation of a minor. Forty-two-year-old Bradley J. Schrott had a video of a minor being sexually exploited on February 17th, 2023. Schrott was serving a term of supervised release during the time the offense happened for the same offense, which gave him a sentence of thirty months in prison. According to Revetti, Schrott could face up to no less than ten years and up to twenty years in jail, an up to a $250,000 fine or both provided by the law. Schrott will be sentenced on June 3rd, 2025.

The word is getting spread out to Pennsylvania voters about voter registration

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Chester County, Pa., election workers process mail-in and absentee ballots at West Chester University in West Chester, Pa., Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Harrisburg, PA) With Pennsylvania’s primary election set for May 20th, a nonpartisan group is working to raise awareness about voter registration. Over 8.7 million Pennsylvanians are eligible to vote in the municipal election. Amy Widestrom from the League of Women Voters is concerned about low turnout in local races, noting Montgomery County’s forty-one-point-nine percent turnout in 2023. She says one precinct saw less than one percent – only 379 voters. She emphasizes the importance of voting for key positions. She adds Pennsylvanians must register to vote by May 5th to cast a ballot in the primary and the last day to apply for a mail-in-ballot is May 13.

 

Woman with warrants for alleged previous retail thefts apprehended by Aliquippa police

(Photo Courtesy of the City of Aliquippa Police Department)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Beaver County, PA) A woman that had warrants for previous retail thefts was arrested by Aliquippa Police on Saturday. Police stopped a car for an equipment violation and found thirty-six-year-old Diana Disilvestro in the passenger’s seat. Disilvestro was accused of allegedly stealing items on both February 13th, 2025 and February 15th, 2025 from the Dollar General in Aliquippa. Disilvestro faces multiple charges for retail theft. Disilvestro was taken to the Beaver County Jail without incident.

Man from Nazareth, Pennsylvania arrested for driving under the influence in Aliquippa

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a man from Nazareth, Pennsylvania was arrested for driving under the influence in Aliquippa on Sunday at 1:19 a.m. According to police, an unidentified forty-year-old man was on the 20th Street Block of Aliquippa when he was deemed impaired by police upon further investigation. Police are continuing to investigate this incident. 

Four people arrested after damaging and defacing rocks at Buttermilk Falls in Beaver Falls

(File Photo of Buttermilk Falls Park)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that four unidentified suspects have been arrested for a criminal mischief incident that damaged property at Buttermilk Falls on Sunday. According to police, three women and one man defaced rocks that were property of Beaver County with aerosol spray paint cans at the Buttermilk Falls Park at 3:43 p.m. A witness also captured the incident on his phone. All four of the suspects also received non-traffic citations. 

 

 

Electrical fire occurs at Hopewell Area High School

(File Photo of Hopewell High School Sign)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Hopewell, PA) The cause of an electrical fire that occurred at Hopewell Area High School on Saturday is still under investigation. According to a press release from Fire Chief Jonathan Cochran, the fire was contained to an electrical transformer box outside the maintenance area of the school. Chief Cochran also stated that some Duquesne Light crews were present at the incident after Hopewell Police requested their help and both maintenance staff and school administration also assisted. An oil spill was also discovered after the transformer was de-energized. The fire was able to be handled. This is a developing story, and we will have updates as soon as they are available.

Lawsuit aims to strike down LGBTQ antidiscrimination protections in Pennsylvania

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Philadelphia’s altered gay pride flag is seen outside City Hall on June 19, 2017, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Two public school districts and several parents have sued Pennsylvania in a bid to undo antidiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people, saying the state’s two-year-old regulation is illegal because it goes beyond what lawmakers intended or allowed.

The lawsuit comes amid a national debate over the rights of transgender high school athletes to compete in women’s sports, and was filed in the statewide Commonwealth Court late Thursday.

If the lawsuit is successful, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission would no longer be able to investigate complaints about discrimination involving sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The plaintiffs’ lawyers also say a favorable ruling in court would bar transgender student athletes from competing in women’s high school sports in Pennsylvania.

The plaintiffs include two districts — South Side Area and Knoch, both in western Pennsylvania — and two Republican state lawmakers, Reps. Aaron Bernstine and Barbara Gleim, as well as three parents and seven students.

The lawsuit names Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which investigates complaints about discrimination because of someone’s race, sex, religion, age or disability in housing, employment and public accommodations.

Shapiro’s office said it had no immediate comment Friday, and the commission did not respond to an inquiry about the lawsuit Friday.

The lawsuit is aimed at the definition of sex discrimination, which the commission expanded by regulation to include sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. The regulation was approved in late 2022 by a separate regulatory gatekeeper agency, and it took effect in 2023.

The plaintiffs contend that the state Supreme Court has interpreted the term “sex” as used in the Pennsylvania Constitution to mean either male or female.

They also contend that the state Legislature never gave permission to the Human Relations Commission to write regulations expanding the legal definition of sex discrimination, making the regulation a violation of the Legislature’s constitutional authority over lawmaking.

The commission has justified the expanded definition by saying that state courts have held that Pennsylvania’s antidiscrimination laws are to be interpreted consistently with federal antidiscrimination law. The commission can negotiate settlements between parties or impose civil penalties, such as back pay or damages.

For years, Democratic lawmakers tried to change the law to add the terms sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to the portfolio of complaints that the Human Relations Commission could investigate. Every time, Republican lawmakers blocked the effort.

Shapiro, in the past, has backed the Democrats’ legislation and in 2021 called GOP-backed legislation to prohibit transgender athletes from playing women’s high school and college sports “cruel.”

Most states have laws against discriminating against gay or transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations or investigate such complaints, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for equality for LGBTQ people.