Author: Beaver County Radio

Fight for Black Voters Intensifies in Close Pa. Senate Race

FILE—Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, meets with supporters as he leaves his event in Philadelphia, in this file photo from Sept. 24, 2022. Black voters are at the center of an increasingly competitive battle in a race that could tilt control of the Senate between Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz, as Democrats try to harness outrage over the Supreme Court’s abortion decision and Republicans tap the national playbook to focus on rising crime in cities. (AP Photo/Ryan Collerd, File)
By MIKE CATALINI and MARC LEVY Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pennsylvania Senate candidates Dr. Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman are fighting hard for Black voters who might make the difference in their close race. It’s a voting bloc that traditionally lines up solidly behind Democrats. But some community activists worry that the party hasn’t come up with a unified message for candidates and hasn’t done enough to ensure turnout. Fetterman is touting his past work to free people who may have been imprisoned unjustly. Oz and Republicans are seeking to tie Fetterman to increases in crime and violence. In a close race, peeling off just a few Black voters — or an absence of enthusiasm — could make the difference.

General Motors Broadens Electric Goals With New Division

GM Logo Gradient (01-28-21) This image provided by General Motors shows the GM Logo. General Motors is creating a new energy division that will include chargers for electric vehicles, solar panels and other energy-related products and services. The company said Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, that the unit, called GM Energy, will have offerings for home, commercial and electric vehicle customers. (General Motors via AP)
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer
General Motors is creating a new energy division that will include chargers for electric vehicles, solar panels and other energy-related products and services. The company said Tuesday that the unit, called GM Energy, will have offerings for home, commercial and electric vehicle customers. The division will also be able to sell energy from electric vehicle and stationary storage batteries back to utilities during peak, high energy consumption periods.

New Galilee Woman Charged with DUI After Traffic Stop in Big Beaver

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Big Beaver Borough, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they have charged a New Galilee woman with a DUI after a traffic stop at Larchwood and Rosewood Drives in Big Beaver Borough.
Troopers said via release that they stop a 2018 Ford Explorer that was being driven by 61-year-old Beth Vankirk at 11:55 PM Friday night, October 7, 2022 for a traffic violation. Troopers reported in the release that Vankirk admitted to drinking alcohol and was found to be impaired. She was arrested for suspicion of DUI. Charges are currently pending at the local magistrates office.

Midland Man Charged with DUI After New Brighton Traffic Stop

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(New Brighton, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they have charged a Midland man with a DUI after a traffic stop at Mulberry Street and 6th Avenue in the Borough of New Brighton.
Troopers said via release that they stop a 2015 Chrysler that was being driven by 24-year-old Quaeshawn Thompson at 1:47 AM Monday Morning, October 10, 2022 for a traffic violation. Troopers reported in the release that Thompson was found to be under the influence of alcohol and was arrested for suspicion of DUI. Charges are currently pending at the local magistrate’s office.

New Brighton School Board Honors Collwell For Service, New Basketball Coaches To Be Voted On Later This Month

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

At the first of two monthly meetings for the New Brighton School Board, the board formally acknowledged eight years of board membership for Jewel Colwell. She was presented with a commemorative certificate designating that honor, presented to her by New Brighton superintendent Dr. Joseph Guarino.

The board also submitted–for future approval–a total of nine new basketball coaches to be hired and paid by stipend or hired as volunteers. The new staff to be voted on includes a new boy’s varsity basketball coach plus one assistant (Franzee Barlamas & John Proano, respectively), a new girls’ varsity basketball coach plus one assistant (Jerrod Planitzer & Richard Walton), and new 7th & 8th grade boy’s basketball coaches (Scott Alaksin & Dave Anderson). The board will decide on the approval of these new coaches at their voting meeting on October 24.

Also to be voted on at the October 24 meeting will be the first readings of revised policies for Threat Assessment, Emergency Preparedness, Food Safety, and School Security Personnel. A trip for qualifying students (grades 5-12) for the AGLOA National Academic Games tournament in Orlando, as well as ski trips for students grades 7-12, will also be seeking approval at the October 24 meeting.

The October 24 voting meeting is scheduled for 7:30 PM at New Brighton High School.

Tuesday’s AMBC: Fall-ing For It

On Tuesday’s A.M. Beaver County, Matt Drzik will talk with New Brighton Borough Manager Tom Albanese at 8:35 about the New Brighton Fall Fest taking place on Saturday, October 15.

Frank Sparks starts your morning with news at 6:30 on Beaver County Radio.

No Quick Fixes for Steelers, Tomlin During Nightmarish Start

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin meets with reporters after an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. The Bills won 38-3. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — For nearly two decades the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed immune to the realities of the NFL.
Seasons came, seasons went. And the Steelers stayed relevant. In the mix. A factor even as the fortunes of their AFC North rivals — Baltimore chief among them — and the vast majority of the rest of the league rose and fell and rose again, just the way it’s supposed to work under the salary cap.
During coach Mike Tomlin’s first 15 years on the job, Pittsburgh played exactly one game in which it was eliminated from playoff contention.
One. One out of 241. One.
It’s a figure that seems all but certain to climb by several multiples in 2022 after the Steelers fell to 1-4 during an embarrassing 38-3 loss to Buffalo on Sunday.
“We just got smashed today,” Tomlin said shortly after the franchise’s worst setback in 33 years, a dismantling that exposed a staggering gap in talented depth between the two teams.
The Bills hardly missed a beat despite missing tight end Dawson Knox and safety Jordan Poyer, among others. Buffalo rookies were making plays all over the field. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir caught the first five passes of his career. Running back James Cook ran by a group that included linebackers Jamir Jones and Ryan Anderson — both of whom were on the practice squad at the start of the season — to the end zone for his first score.
The Steelers have made signing their best players (linebacker T.J. Watt, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, WR Diontae Johnson) to lucrative extensions a priority, moves that require them to find good players on the cheap.
It hasn’t happened.
The same team that found gems in players that became roster fixtures such as Antonio Brown (sixth round), linebacker Vince Williams (sixth round) and Ramon Foster (undrafted) and Alejandro Villanueva (free-agent signing) has swung and missed far more often than not in recent years. The decision to use high picks on offensive skill position players such as running back Najee Harris and wide receiver Chase Claypool rather than fortify the trenches in an effort to prop open the championship window under Ben Roethlisberger appears ill-advised.
Roethlisberger isn’t around anymore to cover up the warts on offense. Watt is out indefinitely with a left pectoral injury. Fitzpatrick is banged up. And the defense is a mess in their absence.
The Steelers have been 1-4 before on Tomlin’s watch, pulling themselves out of a massive hole to nearly reach the postseason in 2013.
They’ve gotten blown out before on Tomlin’s watch. Last year alone they followed 31 and 26- point losses with victories the following week.
Yet the resiliency that’s been the trademark of Tomlin-coached teams seems far away at the moment.
Not with the offense 30th in the league in scoring. Not with practice squad players filling in for an injury-ravaged defense. Not with the very small margin for error the Steelers needed to work within as they began the post-Roethlisberger era — don’t turn the ball over and hope the defense reverts to its 2020 version — obliterated well before Halloween.
Tomlin promised “to turn over whatever stone to change the outcomes of games like what transpired today.”
The stones they’ve turned over on the roster have yet to make a significant positive impact. Their short-term options are basically limited to raiding other team’s practice squads or signing guys off the street.
The chance at real solutions likely won’t come until free agency and the 2023 draft.
There are 12 more games remaining in 2022, a dozen more up-close looks at the harsh realities of a business model the Steelers are discovering they are no longer immune to.
WHAT’S WORKING
The decision to turn to rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett looks like the right move. Pickett appeared to be two things against the Bills: fearless and decisive, qualities Mitch Trubisky failed to show with any sort of consistency during his 3 1/2 games at the helm.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
Everything else pretty much. Tomlin wasn’t lying when he said it’s all interconnected. Yet the best way to take some of the pressure off a beat-up and underperforming defense is by scoring more.
The Steelers have six offensive touchdowns through five games. Cleveland running back Nick Chubb has seven.
STOCK UP
Cam Heyward. The defensive end’s No. 97 was in relentless pursuit of the ball on Sunday regardless of the circumstances or who was around him, a testament to his professionalism and the example he is trying to set.
STOCK DOWN
Harris. Maybe it’s the foot injury he suffered during training camp. Maybe it’s the lack of push by the offensive line in front of him. Maybe it’s the scheme. Whatever it is, the second-year running back has been unable to get it going. He is averaging a paltry 3.2 yards per carry through five games and has looked like the lesser of the two options next to backup Jaylen Warren.
KEY NUMBER
0 — the number of touchdown receptions by Pittsburgh wide receivers in mid-October.
INJURIES
Tight end Pat Freiermuth sustained a concussion in the third quarter that appeared to leave him briefly unconscious on the field. It’s his third concussion in less than two seasons, a troubling trend for a promising young player. … DT Larry Ogunjobi left with a back injury and did not return and the secondary remains a shambles, with Levi Wallace (concussion) and Cam Sutton (hamstring) joining the injury list.
NEXT STEPS
Find some semblance of pride while trying to do something that’s been particularly problematic over the years: beat Tom Brady. The Tampa Bay QB is 9-3 against Pittsburgh in his career, with 29 touchdowns against five interceptions.
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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Longtime Allegheny County Pa. State Rep. Tony DeLuca Dies

(File Photo of Rep. DeLuca’s official State photo)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) Longtime 32nd Legislative Pa. State Rep. Anthony M. “Tony” DeLuca, the senior member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, died Sunday.

There is no official word on how the 85-year-old died only that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma, according to a news release from his office.

DeLuca, who was a Democrat represented a district that is comprised of Penn Hills, Verona, the majority of Plum Borough and the Borough of Oakmont for the last 39-years and participated remotely  in House floor sessions and voted on legislation as recently as last week.

In a statement released on Monday morning Speaker of the House Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) issued a statement say that  “Our chamber will not be the same when we reconvene for session. Rep. DeLuca was not just our longest serving current member, but one of the most revered and respected by his colleagues and all Pennsylvanians.”

“Rep. DeLuca’s unwavering commitment to his district could never be questioned, and his efforts on behalf of all Pennsylvanians, and in particular children, as the Democratic chair of the House Insurance Committee will have an impact for many years to come.

“We will miss his welcoming spirit and wisdom in our chamber, and we will miss the friendship he brought to so many. My prayers are with his wife and family during this difficult time, and on behalf of the House of Representatives, we offer our sincerest condolences. Rep. DeLuca will be truly missed.”

 

 

 

 

Missing Woman in South Beaver Twp. Found Safe

(File Photo provided by Beaver County 9-1-1)

(South Beaver Twp., Beaver County) 87-year-old Mildered was reported missing by South Beaver  Twp. Police Department late Saturday evening after she walked away from the Lakeview Personal Care Home 498 Lisbon Rd Darlington PA 16115.

It was reported Sunday afternoon on the Ohioville Police Departments Facebook Page  that she was found safe. There has been no other information released.