Shown are lockers at Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne, Pa., Wednesday, May 3, 2023. As schools across the country struggle to find teachers to hire, more governors are pushing for pay increases and bonuses for the beleaguered profession. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As schools across the country struggle to find teachers to hire, more governors are pushing for pay increases and bonuses for the beleaguered profession. Some are doing it for the second straight year, as others vow to beat out other states competing for educators. Ahead of Monday’s start of national Teacher Appreciation Week, 26 governors are talking about boosting teacher compensation. That’s according to the nonprofit Teacher Salary Project. It’s not clear how far pay raises will go toward relieving the shortages. Some teachers say it’s too little, too late to fix problems that are years in the making.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing an overnight lane closure on the southbound Interstate 79 local lane in Glenfield, Sewickley Hills, and Franklin Park boroughs and Ohio and Aleppo townships, Allegheny County will occur Tuesday night, May 9 weather permitting.

The southbound I-79 local lane (right-hand lane) between I-279 and the Neville Island Bridge will close to traffic from 7 p.m. Tuesday night through 6 a.m. Wednesday morning to allow crews to conduct deck placement work on the bridge over Red Mud Hollow Road. All southbound I-79 traffic will use the crossed over express lane (left-hand lane).

Southbound I-79 traffic will not be able to access the Mt. Nebo Road (Exit 68) and the Emsworth/Sewickley Route 65 (Exit 66) interchanges. Traffic to those exits will be detoured.

Posted Detour

• Southbound I-79 traffic will take the Neville Island (Exit 65) off-ramp
• Turn right onto Grand Avenue
• Take the ramp to northbound I-79
• From northbound I-79 follow to the Emsworth/Sewickey or Mt. Nebo Road interchanges
• End detour

The work is part of the $26.49 million I-79 improvement project. Improvements include four bridge deck replacements, one bridge preservation, milling and resurfacing, preservation work on seven sign structures, installation of five new ITS signs, guide rail improvements, signage updates, and pavement marking installation. Crossovers will occur on southbound I-79 in 2023 for bridge deck replacement work. The majority of the project will conclude in early 2024.

The prime contractor is the Joseph B. Fay Company. Work on this project will be coordinated with other projects in the area.

To help keep motorists informed as work progresses, PennDOT has created an email distribution list for the I-79 Neville Island Bridge rehabilitation including traffic advisories and construction updates. Enroll by sending email addresses to stcowan@pa.gov. Please write “Subscribe – I-79” in the subject line.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, 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.

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA – Sen. Elder Vogel, Jr. (R-47) has announced that Stephanie Bengoa-Wilson from the Pennsylvania American Legion Veterans Assistance Program will be available on Thursday, May 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at his Cranberry Township District Office, 8001 Rowan Rd, Suite 205, Cranberry Township. No appointment is necessary.

Wilson can help veterans and their families with understanding the benefits they have earned, enroll in the VA health care system, assist with the appeals process, and more. Participants are asked to bring any documentation and paperwork they may need.

For more information, contact Vogel’s Cranberry Township District Office at 878-978-2575.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 8, 2023 11:37 A.M.

(Ambridge, PA) Residents are asked to move their vehicles the night before so streets can be swept. The borough street department has to be able to do the sweeping when the vehicles aren’t parked on the street, according to police.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT district 11 is announcing inspection activities on the Sewickley Bridge (Route 4025) in Sewickley Borough and Moon Township, Allegheny County, will occur  Monday through Friday, May 8-12 weather permitting.

Single-lane alternating traffic will occur on the Sewickley Bridge from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day to allow crews from Mackin Engineering to conduct routine bridge inspection activities.

Motorists should allow extra time if using the bridge.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, 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.

The photo above gives a peak into the new WBVP studio under construction in April 2023 (Frank Sparks).
Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Published May 8, 2023 10:50 A.M.

(Brighton Township, PA) William V. Day, CEO of St. Barnabas Health System and President of St. Barnabas Broadcasting, joined Beaver County Radio General Manager Frank Sparks and “Teleforum” host Eddy Crow on the air Friday to make a special announcement on the future of Beaver County Radio. Mr. Day announced the WBVP & WMBA studios will move into the former Michael Baker building in Brighton Township, which St. Barnabas purchased in 2018.  He says the move to the property “gives us access to do all kinds of things”, and added the relocation is “indicative of what’s happening in Beaver County. It’s a great place to live, great place to work, great place to worship, Beaver County is a great place, if we can further enhance the attractiveness of Beaver County, we want to do it.” A grand opening of the new studios will take place on June 17th, featuring special guests and a car cruise sponsored by Pennsylvania Hot Rod Company at the new studio site located at 4301 Dutch Ridge Road in Brighton Township.
Audio of the announcement can be heard below:

The move takes place as the stations celebrate the 75th Anniversary of WBVP going on the air.  The current studios on 7th Avenue in Beaver Falls have been the home of WBVP since the late 1970s, and WMBA since 2000. WBVP’s first studio in 1948 was located in the upstairs of 1216 7th Avenue (the building where Vocelli Pizza currently is), before moving to the basement of a bank at 1400 7th Avenue in the late 1960s.  WMBA started out with a studio in the upstairs of Action Tire on Duss Avenue in Ambridge in 1957 before making a couple other moves around Ambridge prior to moving in with WBVP. The move will make history, as this will be the first time WBVP has studios that aren’t located in Beaver Falls.
First WBVP studio location seen in background (1940s/1950s):         

 

 

The image above shows a Center Township Police Cruiser at the scene of the Monaca Walmart shooting in 2022 (Keith Walsh).
Story by Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published May 8, 2023 7:28 A.M.  

(Center Township, PA) The family of Kenneth Vinyard, the man who died after a Center Township police officer tackled him while helping a shooting victim at the Monaca Walmart, has agreed to settle their lawsuit for nearly 1 million dollars.

Vinyard was said to be tackled by Officer John Hawk, resulting in him hitting his head on the ground and later dying at the hospital. The lawsuit is reportedly being settled for 950,000 dollars. No other details are available at this time.

Pastor David Grove of the Church of the Redeemed of Beaver Valley dives into the message of Psalm 37, with a focus on doing not as the evildoers of earth have done.

“Wake Up Beaver Valley” airs every Saturday morning from 9 AM to 10 AM on Beaver County Radio and is presented by the Church of The Redeemed of Beaver Valley. Archived editions of “Wake Up Beaver Valley” can be heard at the Beaver County Radio Podcast Library.

In this week’s episode of Highmark Heroes, Jim Roddey talks with Allegheny Health Network surgeon Dr. Kirsten Newhams about esophageal cancer.  Then, Mr. Roddey speaks with Eric Zahren and Melissa Brock from the Carnegie Hero Fund to discuss more tales of heroism.

“Heroes” is presented by Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield and the Allegheny Health Network, airing Saturdays at 10:00 AM and Sundays at 12:30 PM on Beaver County Radio. Archived editions of “Heroes” can be heard at the Beaver County Radio Podcast Library.

Mark Hamill, from right, and Billie Lourd, daughter of the late actress Carrie Fisher, pose with Fisher’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame alongside “Star Wars” characters C-3PO and R2-D2 during a posthumous ceremony in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 4, 2023. The day is also known as May the Fourth in tribute to the “Star Wars” films in which Fisher played Princess Leia. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Carrie Fisher received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, a May the Fourth tribute to a beloved “Star Wars” actor that had a touch of stardust. The star’s daughter, Billie Lourd, wearing her mother’s portrait printed on her metallic dress, accepted the star on behalf of Fisher. She threw glitter, her mother’s favorite, on the newly unveiled star. Several in the crowd were dressed as characters from the franchise and C-3P0 and R2-D2 were present for the unveiling. Lourd shouted “Never forget the droids!” on a wet day that gave way to sun.