(Story reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondant Sandy Giordano, Published on October 25, 2024 at 7:21 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) The Aliquippa School Board approved their National Honor Society criteria. At last week’s school board meeting, the Aliquippa School Board approved the 3.5 GPA requirements on a 4.0 grading scale. The district is also now a member of the National Junior and Senior High School Honor Society Woodlawn Chapter. 

Noah J. Sperling, an elementary guidance counselor, was also hired, contingent on providing all of the necessary documents by November 20, 2024. Once the process is complete, his starting date will be approved, and Sperling will earn $49,000 a year. 

(Story reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondant Sandy Giordano, Published on October 25, 2024 at 7:18 A.M.)

(Aliquippa, PA) The Beaver County Youth Football league briefly suspended the Aliquippa Youth football team after an altercation following a game at Central Valley’s field last Saturday. The incident in question involved a group of women fighting in the stands over the game being moved to Central Valley. The coaches and team were not involved in the incident. Mayor Dwan B. Walker who took to social media on Wednesday night to set the record straight on the incident was who stepped forward to break up the fight. Walker was punched and kicked during the incident.
The league has now reversed their decision and all games for the weekend are back on according to Coach Malik Shegog. Shegog told Giordano: “After a lot of uncertainty and chaos, we made it  through to the other side. We love how the community and even outside communities came through to speak up for the kids, and A HUGE SHOUT OUT to the coaches Jay Harv, Donald C. Walker III, Derhon Towler, and Mayor Dwan B. Walker and Marco Harris.” Shegog said that all players are to show up for practice ready to go and he also said, “Let’s go 3 for 3, ready to play.” The Center Township Police Department expected to file charges in the case. This is a continuing story and we will have updates as they are available.

HARRISBURG, Oct. 23 – The Pennsylvania House yesterday adopted Rep. Rob Matzie’s H.R. 318, which directs the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to perform a comprehensive study of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Matzie, who is the vice chairman and longest-serving member of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee, said a thorough study of PIAA’s decision-making processes and operations is needed because of concerns that the association – and particularly the way it classifies schools for competition – puts student athletes in harm’s way and forces them to compete against wealthier schools with bigger budgets and larger rosters.

“For too long, we have been hearing from parents and student athletes across the state that the PIAA’s policies are jeopardizing student health and creating a dangerous and uneven playing field,” Matzie said. “We have taken those concerns to the PIAA, but they have gone unanswered. It’s time to move the ball on this issue, and we start by taking a closer look at the association, its structure and its decision-making.”

Matzie’s resolution directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to perform a comprehensive study and make recommendations regarding:

• PIAA’s competition classification formula and transfer policy.
• The location of state championships.
• The association’s financial performance; broadcast agreements; and name, image and likeness policy.
• The composition of the Board of Directors and the feasibility of legislative and state departmental appointees to the board.
• The potential for expanding the authority of the Pennsylvania Athletic Oversight Committee.

The PIAA oversees senior high and junior high athletic competitions in the state and is charged with developing and enforcing rules regulating those competitions. More than 1,400 public, charter and private schools with more than 350,000 student athletes fall within PIAA’s jurisdiction.

FILE – The sign outside a McDonald’s restaurant is seen in Pittsburgh, June 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

E. coli food poisoning linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states, including one person who died and 10 who were hospitalized, federal health officials said Tuesday.

The death was reported in an older person in Colorado, and one child has been hospitalized with severe kidney complications, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Infections were reported between Sept. 27 and Oct. 11, in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Colorado has the most cases, 26, followed by Nebraska with nine.

Everyone interviewed in connection with the outbreak had reported eating at McDonald’s before falling ill and most mentioned eating Quarter Pounder hamburgers, the CDC said. The U.S. Agriculture Department, the Food and Drug Administration and state health officials are also investigating.

A specific ingredient has not been identified as the cause, but investigators are focused on onions and beef. A preliminary FDA investigation suggests that slivered onions served on the burgers are a likely source of contamination. The USDA is investigating the hamburger patties.

In a statement, McDonald’s officials said that initial findings suggest that some illnesses are linked to onions sourced from a single supplier. The company has halted distribution of the slivered onions and temporarily removed the Quarter Pounder from menus in the affected states, and also in portions of Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

“We take food safety extremely seriously and it’s the right thing to do,” the statement said.

E. coli bacteria are harbored in the guts of animals and found in the environment. Infections can cause severe illness, including fever, stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. People who develop symptoms of E. coli poisoning should seek health care immediately and tell the provider what they ate.

The news comes in an already tough year for the Chicago-based McDonald’s chain. Its global same-store sales fell for the first time in nearly four years in the second quarter as inflation-weary customers skipped eating out or chose cheaper options. The company responded with a $5 meal deal, which was introduced at U.S. restaurants in late June and was recently extended through December. The deal doesn’t include the Quarter Pounder.

McDonald’s shares dropped 9% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the CDC’s announcement.

The type of bacteria implicated in this outbreak, E. coli O157:H7, causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. each year, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths. Infections are especially dangerous for children younger than 5 and can cause acute kidney failure.

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Associated Press writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this story.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court on Wednesday said people whose mail ballots are rejected for not following technical procedures in state law can cast provisional ballots, a decision sure to affect some of the thousands of mail-in votes likely to be rejected this fall.

The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Butler County’s Republican-majority election board must count provisional ballots that were cast by two voters after they learned their mail-in ballots were voided because they arrived without mandatory secrecy envelopes.

The decision was a legal defeat for the Republican National Committee and the state Republican Party, which had argued Butler County had correctly rejected the provisional ballots cast during the April primary.

Secrecy envelopes keep ballots concealed as elections workers open the stamped outer envelopes used to mail the whole packets back. Voters also must sign and date the exterior envelopes. Pennsylvania voters have so far applied for more than 1.9 million mail ballots.

The two voters had received emails notifying them of the “naked ballot” problem, and they both went to their polling places on the primary election day and cast provisional ballots. They sued after learning the Butler County Board of Elections also rejected their provisional ballots, and a county judge upheld the election officials’ decisions.

Mail-in ballot rules in Pennsylvania changed drastically under a 2019 law, widely expanding their use and producing a series of lawsuits. Pennsylvania’s status as the swing state with the most electoral votes in the close presidential election, now in its final two weeks, puts the court decision under heightened scrutiny as the parties scrape for votes.

Most counties — but not all — help inform voters in advance of Election Day that their mail-in ballot will be rejected, giving them the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot at their polling place, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

“The General Assembly wrote the Election Code with the purpose of enabling citizens to exercise their right to vote, not for the purpose of creating obstacles to voting,” wrote Justice Christine Donohue for the majority.

In a dissent joined by the other Republican on the court and one of the five Democratic justices, Justice Kevin Brobson argued the two voters had already cast their ballots by mail, so the provisional ballots they also cast should not be counted.

He said voters have to follow election laws, whether that means using the secrecy envelope or showing up at the polls during the time they are open. State lawmakers could have told election boards to count provisional ballots under such circumstances, Brobson wrote.

“The General Assembly, however, clearly did not, and this Court is not at liberty to make additions or modifications to the unambiguous statutory language in order to effectuate that result,” Brobson said.

An ACLU lawyer involved in the case, Witold Walczak, said Wednesday the decision applies across the state, that all voters whose mail-in ballots are disqualified for any reason will be allowed to cast valid provisional ballots.

“In the end, this is about not two votes counting or zero votes counting, it’s about one vote counting,” Walczak said. “If your first vote does not count, as with these disqualified mail ballots, the provisional ballot must count. You’re entitled to have one vote counted.”

Walczak expects the number of disqualified mail-in ballots to be in the tens of thousands in this year’s election.

FILE – A Denny’s restaurant is shown Sept. 14, 2017, in Cranberry, Pa.(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Denny’s says it’s closing 150 of its lowest-performing restaurants in an effort to turn around the brand’s flagging sales.

About half of the closures will happen this year and the rest in 2025, the company said during a meeting with investors Tuesday. The locations weren’t revealed, but the restaurants represent around 10% of Denny’s total.

Stephen Dunn, Denny’s executive vice president and chief global development officer, said in some cases, the restaurants are no longer in good locations.

“Some of these restaurants can be very old,” Dunn said during the investor meeting. “You think of a 70-year-old plus brand. We have a lot of restaurants that have been out there for a very long time.”

Others saw traffic shifts during the pandemic that have yet to reverse, he said.

On Tuesday, Denny’s reported its fifth straight quarter of year-over-year declines in same-store sales, which are sales at locations open at least a year.

Restaurant inflation is outpacing grocery price inflation, which makes it harder for some customers to justify eating out, Denny’s said. And when they do eat out, they often head to fast-casual brands like Chipotle or fast-food chains. Denny’s said family dining — the category in which it competes — has lost the most customer traffic since 2020.

Still, Denny’s said it has bright spots, including a value menu that lifted sales in its most recent quarter and growing sales of its delivery-only brands like Banda Burrito.

Shares in Denny’s Corp., which is based in Spartanburg, South Carolina, tumbled almost 18% on Tuesday.

Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), and Department of Aging (PDA) joined officials from the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General to encourage Pennsylvanians to take part in the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day initiative this Saturday, October 26.

The DEA has offered National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day since 2010 with the goal of fighting prescription drug misuse by creating convenient ways to dispose of medication that could otherwise be at risk of misuse.

In addition to the DEA’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Days, the Shapiro Administration offers year-round opportunities to dispose of medication through DDAP’s Prescription Drug Take-Back Program. Today’s event was held at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s headquarters in Harrisburg, which houses one of DDAP’s drug take-back boxes.

“This event is tailor-made to dispose of expired, unused and unwanted prescription medications in a safe manner. It’s a simple three-step process: clean out your medicine cabinet, find the nearest take-back box, and drop off the medications,” said DDAP Deputy Secretary Kelly Primus. “In addition to the DEA’s boxes, there are nearly 900 DDAP drug take-back boxes available throughout Pennsylvania year-round for residents to use, including at buildings throughout the Shapiro Administration. Every day – not just Saturday – is a take-back day in Pennsylvania.”

During the most recent National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day in April 2024, the DEA collected more than 31,000 pounds of unused medication in Pennsylvania alone across 263 collection sites.

Since the inception of Pennsylvania’s drug take-back program in 2015, more than 1.4 million, or 700 tons, of prescription medication have been destroyed across 67 Pennsylvania counties.

The PSP aims to provide a safe and convenient means of disposal year-round by collecting unwanted prescription medications at 65 stations across the Commonwealth. No personal information is required, and drop-off boxes are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More than 4,400 pounds of medications were collected at PSP stations last year.

“Drug take-back boxes are safe, free of charge, easy to use, and conveniently located at a state police station near you,” said PSP Commissioner Colonel Christopher Paris. “Please make sure prescription medications do not end up in the wrong hands or used the wrong way by disposing of them properly and responsibly.”

The DMVA’s Counterdrug Joint Task Force (CJTF) is operated by the Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG) and, along with narcotics agents from the Attorney General’s office, is responsible for collecting and weighing discarded prescription drugs through Pennsylvania’s drug take-back program. In addition, the CJTF provides counterdrug support and training to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, community-based organizations, and educational and government organizations that request assistance at no cost to the agency supported. The PNG is part of the DMVA’s dual mission, which also includes supporting Pennsylvania’s more than 700,000 veterans.

“Safeguarding our communities is a priority for the DMVA, and that starts with eliminating threats and harmful temptations like the use of unused prescription drugs,” said Brigadier General John Pippy, Acting Adjutant General and head of the DMVA. “We are proud to partner with DDAP and other agencies on Saturday. Together, as one team, with one mission, we will properly transport and dispose of these drugs assuring that they will not fall into the wrong hands.”

 

“We thank our friends at DDAP for partnering on this proactive measure that will save lives,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said. “This partnership will offer everyone a chance to do their part in fighting the opioid epidemic by conveniently disposing of their expired and unwanted prescriptions.”

 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 83 percent of adults 65 and older report they are currently taking prescription medicine and older adults are also more likely to be taking multiple prescription medications. This can lead to a higher rate of exposure to potentially addictive medications. The increased availability of prescription medication in the homes of older adults makes it vitally important to regularly clean out and dispose of old, unwanted, or unneeded prescription medication.

 

“An older adult’s prescription needs may change over time, resulting in either taking a different medication or stopping a particular one altogether. This could generate unused or unwanted prescriptions that remain in their home and potentially getting into the wrong hands, leading to misuse, developing a substance use disorder or lethal overdose,” said Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich. “To protect both the older adults and the persons who may come across those prescriptions, we encourage everyone to consider the risks and to take proper action to discard those unused or unwanted medications.”

BEAVER FALLS, PA – Neighborhood North: Museum of Play celebrates 3 years of growth in their temporary space by launching a capital campaign and Giving Gears community funding campaign towards building their new permanent home. 

Neighborhood North: Museum of Play (NN) is a children’s museum project that started as a local pop-up exhibit in 2015; grew into a fully-operating temporary space in 2021; and now seeks to redevelop the unoccupied News Tribune Building into a permanent home for youth learning and exploration. The new space can serve as a keystone for downtown community renaissance in Beaver Falls. Currently the museum’s Preview Space occupies a former bank on the corner of 14th St & 8th Ave – a 2,500 sf space transformed and open daily for general fun, school field trips, birthday parties, and special learning events. The project’s immediate popularity and 3 years of continual growth has propelled it to plan a move into the former regional newspaper publishing and printing house, a few blocks away. 

Community Involvement Building a Community Museum 

This year, NN launched its capital campaign to fund the Tribune Building’s renovation. Over $1.2 million has been raised towards a $10 million goal. In addition to attracting large private donations and public grants, NN is now launching a community giving campaign called Giving Gears. This unique program offers anyone the opportunity to be a part of the museum’s construction. Donations ranging from $100 – $10,000 will directly support design and renovation, and will be recognized with an inscription on an actual machine gear. All sponsored gears will be interconnected in a brand new exhibit featured on the exterior of the new museum. Turning one gear will rotate all of them together – symbolizing the communal revitalization efforts. Giving Gears donation info is available at: https://www.neighborhoodnorth.com/giving-gears/. 

Founder and Executive Director, Christine Kroger says: “Giving Gears is a fantastic opportunity for classrooms, clubs, businesses, workplaces, families, friends, and groups of any kind to join together and raise money towards constructing a vital new children’s museum.” 

Full Steam Ahead on an Amazing Revitalization Journey 

Renovating the Tribune Building will create a premier regional attraction where children and families can access playful learning experiences that nurture curiosity, belonging, and confidence. The larger footprint (18,000 sf) will also integrate teen programs, adult-learning and family-engagement offerings. The Preview Site’s success (15,000+ visitors lifetime) has laid the groundwork for this new project to aim for a 2028 opening. Christine credits partnerships with local government and redevelopment agencies, as well as regional businesses and family foundations, for helping grow the audience for youth discovery and innovation in the region. 

(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT has revealed some guidelines for vehicles that can automatically drive without someone in the driver’s seat on the road. As of Wednesday, not only will these highly automated vehicles drive on roads, but also, people can go to a remote location to drive them. The HAV Advisory Committee, which was created in October 2018, teamed up with PennDOT to establish these guidelines for highly automated vehicles. In addition, this committee was made to continue to test these vehicles as well to keep Pennsylvania safe.