Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published November 19, 2025 6:19 P.M.

(Center Township, Pa) The Beaver Valley Mall will soon lose one of their longest lasting stores.

Sources say that Spencer’s Gifts will soon be shutting down their mall location after approximately 55 years in operation.

The closure is set to happen in late January.

Spencer’s Gifts also operates stores at Pittsburgh area malls including Robinson, Monroeville, and Ross Park.

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania State Police recently opened a new selection cycle for men and women considering a career as a state trooper. The funding for four cadet classes was included in the 2025-2026 Pennsylvania state budget. You must be at least twenty years old at the time of application and and have a valid driver’s license from any state and either a high school diploma or GED certificate. Applications are due by December 19th, 2025 and you can submit your application by going to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employment website, which can be found by clicking the link below:

Click here to visit the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employment website.

Applicants who meet all of the requirements for eligibility move on to a qualifying examination that is written. Applicants must also complete a polygraph examination, background investigation, physical readiness test, medical screening, and psychological screening successfully before training at the academy. You also can not have reached the age of forty upon your entry into the training academy and you need to be at least twenty-one years old after your application is submitted.

You can also get more information about becoming a state Trooper, the requirements for it and the benefits of the job by clicking here: PATrooper.com

(File Photo of the PPG Industries Logo)

PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov 19, 2025– PPG (NYSE:PPG) today announced that it has received the highest “AAA” rating for the second consecutive year from the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) ESG ratings assessment, denoting PPG as a “leader.”

“Sustainability is more than a goal – it’s a key part of our business strategy,” said Peter Votruba-Drzal, PPG vice president, global sustainability. “It’s a catalyst for ongoing improvement across every part of our business, from customer solutions to facility operations. This recognition underscores how PPG is positioned to meet our customers’ needs: expanding our portfolio of sustainably advantaged solutions while reducing waste, water use, emissions and energy consumption.”

MSCI ESG Research provides in-depth research, ratings and analysis of the environmental, social and governance-related business practices of thousands of companies globally. It rates global public and select private companies on a scale of AAA (leader) to CCC (laggard), according to exposure to industry-specific ESG risks and the ability to manage those risks relative to peers. The research is designed to provide critical insights that can help institutional investors identify risks and opportunities that traditional investment research may overlook.

To learn more about PPG’s sustainability progress and 2030 targets, visit ppg.com/sustainability.

(File Photo of the Beaver County Courthouse)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver, PA) During the solicitors’ report of the Beaver County Commissioners’ work session this morning at 10 a.m. at the Beaver County Courthouse in Beaver, Beaver County Solicitor Garen Fedeles provided an update on a 457 voluntary retirement plan that Beaver County participates in. Fedeles clarified that this specific plan is one that employees in the county can choose to contribute on their own even though it is no mandatory. A retirement plan administrator from Sewickley named Paul Palguta, who was in charge with some of the investments of that 457 plan, was charged with theft and embezzlement of approximately $20.3 million. The story about him can be found by clicking the link below: 

Click here to read more about the story about Mr. Palguta: $20.3 million vanishes with the death of retirement fund bookkeeper

Fedeles confirmed that eight plans were affected by this incident, there is a lawsuit that is trying to get money back and this case is in front of a court with a judge right now, “awaiting a judge to sign off on a proposed distribution of some of the assets that they have recouped.” The house of Palguta has been sold and a couple of bank accounts have been recouped, as well as roughly about $2 million recouped in total. Fedeles also noted an attorney has also been hired by the Beaver County Commissioners who specializes in the field that has to do with the 457 plan to assist them through this case and they are waiting for a blessing by the judge right now to move forward with the sale of the recouped assets of this case. In other business, Fedeles believes that all of the tax assessment appeals are “probably finalized” as far as the period of appeal of when they can appeal and 375 appeals is what the total will probably end up being and January of 2026 is when these cases are scheduled to start going before judges. During the commissioners’ report of the work session, Commissioner Jack Manning stated that he attended a recent annual town hall that focuses on how to prevent drug and alcohol addiction. Even though he noted that a significant issue in Beaver County is fentanyl, he confirmed that both addictions and deaths are decreasing. Manning also expressed that Beaver County has achieved a record high of 1,112 people seeking treatment through behavioral health and a record high of 786 people completing that aforementioned treatment. Commissioner Tony Amadio also commented in the Commissioners’ report of the owrk session that he was fascinated by the journal that the Beaver County Conservation District puts together about all of their projects, which Manning noted is available online. Manning also made a comment that there is an “uptick,” no pun intended, of ticks that are testing positive for their diseases as well as an increase of lyme disease in the area from the ticks.

(File Photo of Congressman Chris Deluzio)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Carnegie, PA) According to a release from Congressman Chris Deluzio in Carnegie today, Deluzio (PA-17) announced today that two of his requested community projects successfully received more than $1.2 million in federal funding. $1,015,000 will go to the Ambridge Borough Recreational Center in Beaver County and $200,000 will assist in both financing Tarentum’s water treatment plant and for upgrades for pump houses in the A-K Valley. November 12th, 2025 was when the funding was approved. Deluzio helped to secure federal funding of $1,015,000 for the Ambridge Borough Recreational Center, which will repurpose a former site of a steel mill brownfield into an asset for the region that will promote development for economics and provide opportunities for recreation for surrounding communities. The facility plans include courts for basketball, pickleball, and volleyball, batting cages, basketball shooting machines, a mini shooting gallery for the sport of volleyball, futsal, and basketball, a turf field, as well as multipurpose fields. The facility will also host sports tournaments and other services like health screenings, educational programs and job training programs. Deluzio also assisted to secure federal funding of $200,000 for the Tarentum Water treatment plant and pump house upgrade project, which will support critical upgrades for mechanical and electrical reasons at the municipal water plant. This project modernizes the main pump house by the installation of smart variable-speed pumps to improve efficiency of energy and flow control, replacing water lines that are aging to ensure reliability and reduce the loss of water loss and upgrading electrical systems that are outdated to meet current safety and operational standards. These improvements will help improve delivery of service to residents and will strengthen infrastructure resilience that is long-term.

(Photo of Jeffrey Lynn Thomas Provided with Release Courtesy of Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday’s Office)

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release today from Attorney General Dave Sunday’s office, Sunday announced that Jeffrey Lynn Thomas, former Somerset County District Attorney, was denied review in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding a 2023 conviction of sexual assault at a Windber home.

The state’s highest court recently declined to review Thomas’ case after the state Superior Court affirmed his conviction. The Superior Court panel agreed with the Office of Attorney General, who won the conviction, that the trial was fair and the jury’s verdict aligned with the evidence.

Thomas was convicted of six charges, including indecent assault and strangulation, and sentenced to 2½ to 7 years in state prison.

An investigation by the Office of Attorney General found that on the night of the incident, Thomas entered the victim’s home and refused to leave, ultimately beating and sexually assaulting her.

”We are pleased that the defendant’s latest attempt to evade accountability for this attack has failed,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Since his first post-conviction filing, we have argued — and courts have agreed — that the trial process in this case was proper and that the jury considered overwhelming evidence to convict.”

Thomas, 40, is currently serving his sentence in SCI Waymart. Upon release, he is required to register his whereabouts with police as a sex offender for 15 years.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Tracy Piatkowski has represented the Commonwealth on appeal. The case was prosecuted by Chief Deputy General Patrick Schulte and Senior Deputy Attorney General Tomm Mutschler.

Thomas later pleaded no contest to domestic abuse in Cambria County.

(File Photo)

(Harrisburg, Pa.)  Attorney General Dave Sunday announced charges against a Beaver County man in connection to an Aliquippa man’s fatal fentanyl-related overdose in 2023. The Office of Attorney General charged 43-year-old Donald J. Duncan with felony drug delivery resulting in death and related offenses, regarding the Nov. 20, 2023, death of a 24-year-old man. Duncan, of New Brighton, was arraigned Tuesday and bail was set at $75,000.

Duncan provided fentanyl pills to the victim, who was found unconscious outside an apartment building and later died at a hospital. “Fentanyl kills, and anyone who perpetrates the distribution and spread of this fatal poison will be held accountable for the death and heartbreak they cause,” Attorney General Sunday said. “I commend our partners at the Beaver County District Attorney’s Office for the collaboration on a high-priority issue in every Commonwealth community.”

“Thank you to the Attorney General’s Office for their hard work in making an arrest. Without their dedication, the family of the deceased may have never had the opportunity to see justice done,” Beaver County District Attorney Nathan Bible said. “My office stands by them in their continued fight to get poisons like fentanyl off the streets, and hold accountable those who supply it.”

Investigators used cellphone communications and other tactics to track the supply of fentanyl to Duncan.

The Beaver County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute the case. Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) A couple is now in jail after police say they kidnapped a woman and threatened to have her killed. The incident began in Aliquippa on Monday afternoon and went as far as the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh. According to police, Ariel Harper and her boyfriend Tyrone Turner showed up at the victim’s house and forced her into a car at gunpoint. The duo accused the woman of stealing money from them. Police paperwork states that the victim actually rented that car for Harper and Turner and knew them through her job. Police confirm that the couple drove the victim to Pittsburgh. Turner allegedly told her they were going to “meet my people and I am going to pay them to kill you.” The car stopped eventually at a red light that was close to the Zone 3 police station of Pittsburgh. The victim jumped out of the car to find help and Pittsburgh Police drove her back to Beaver County. Harper and Turner were arrested in Aliquippa at their Linmar Terrace home without incident and are in the Beaver County Jail with a number of charges which include robbery and kidnapping.