FILE – Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., holds up an article while questioning Attorney General William Barr during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the oversight of the Department of Justice on Capitol Hill, July 28, 2020 in Washington. Johnson, the new leader of one of the houses of Congress that will certify the winner of next year’s presidential election helped spearhead the attempt to overturn the last one. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP, File)

The new speaker of the U.S. House had a key role in trying to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election win. Republican Rep. Mike Johnson spearheaded a legal brief in support of an unsuccessful lawsuit trying to overturn the results. He repeated baseless conspiracy theories about the election and voted against certifying its outcome after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. His role is significant because he is now second in the line of presidential succession and because the House in January 2025 will have a key role in certifying the winner of next year’s presidential election.

In this image taken from video released by the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office, an unidentified shooter points a gun while entering Sparetime Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Maine State Police ordered residents in the state’s second-largest city to shelter in place Wednesday night as the suspect remains at large. (Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Officials say at least 16 people are dead after a man opened fire at a bar and a bowling alley in Lewiston, Maine, and police are searching for a person of interest who is a trained firearms instructor. Hundreds of law enforcement officers are seeking Robert Card after Wednesday night’s shooting, and a shelter-in-place advisory is in place in an area that includes Maine’s second-largest city and nearby Lisbon. A police bulletin says Card was a firearms instructor believed to be in the Army Reserve and assigned to a training facility in Saco, Maine. It did not provide details about his treatment or condition but said Card had reported “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base.

FILE – Cleanup continues, Feb. 24, 2023, at the site of a Norfolk Southern freight train derailment that happened on Feb. 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. The costs related to the East Palestine derailment continue to grow to reach $966 million for Norfolk Southern, but the railroad’s service is improving and its insurance companies have started to pay their share of the cost of the crash in eastern Ohio early this year. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern’s costs related to the East Palestine derailment have grown to reach $966 million. But the railroad’s service is improving and its insurance companies have started to pay their share of the cost of the crash in eastern Ohio early this year. The Atlanta-based railroad on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit of $478 million, half of last year’s $958 million. But without the derailment costs its adjusted earnings were just ahead of Wall Street expectations. The average speed of Norfolk Southern’s trains increased to 20.5 mph during the quarter as service improved.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing the closure of the ramp carrying traffic from Route 51 (Coraopolis Road) to southbound I-79 in Robinson Township, Allegheny County will occur Friday through Sunday, October 27-29 weather permitting.

At 7 p.m. Friday night, the ramp carrying traffic from Route 51 to southbound I-79 will close to traffic through 11 a.m. Sunday morning, October 29 to allow crews to remove the I-79 southbound crossover. Crews will conduct eradication and line painting operations to restore southbound traffic to its original configuration. All southbound I-79 traffic will use the local lane (left-hand lane) until southbound configuration is restored. Please use caution when traveling through the work zone.

Posted Detour

Southbound Route 51 to Southbound I-79

• Head south past the closed ramp
• Take the ramp to northbound I-79
• Take the Neville Island (Exit 65) exit
• Turn left onto Grand Avenue
• Turn left onto the ramp to southbound I-79
• End Detour

Northbound Route 51 to Southbound I-79

• Take the ramp to northbound I-79
• Take the Neville Island (Exit 65) exit
• Turn left onto Grand Avenue
• Turn left onto the ramp to southbound I-79
• End Detour

This work is part of the $43.9 million I-79 “S-Bend” Project that includes full-depth pavement reconstruction, bridge preservation work on five mainline structures (I-79 northbound and southbound over Clever Road, I-79 northbound and southbound over Route 51, and the Neville Island Bridge). Additionally, there will be milling and paving of three ramps at the Route 51 (Coraopolis/McKees Rocks) interchange. The project also includes guiderail replacement, highway lighting and signing upgrades, new pavement markings and delineation, and other miscellaneous construction work.

Information and photo provided by PA Crime Stoppers.

(Ambridge, PA) The PA State Police Troop D in Beaver is continuing their investigation on a cold case homicide that occurred on September 18, 1976. 12-year-old Heidi Morningstar was found deceased on a private lawn in a residential neighborhood in Edgeworth Boro, Allegheny County. Morningstar’s death was ruled a homicide. Morningstar was last seen by family on September 17, 1976 in their home residence in Ambridge. This homicide is being investigated by the Allegheny County Police with assistance from The Pennsylvania State Police and Beaver County Detectives Bureau. Any persons with information on the crime are asked to contact Det. William Herman ACPD at 412-473-1200 or you can contact the Pennsylvania Crime Stoppers at 1-800-4PA-TIPS (8477). A $5,000 reward is being offered.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published October 26, 2023 7:16 A.M.

(Beaver, PA) Donna Lee Siple, who was the President of the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce has announced that she has stepped down from her position. She cites in a letter sent to chamber members and friends, that the decision was made due to her husband accepting a job position with the Nashville Rescue Mission. Siple stated “My resignation comes with both sorrow and affection. I am immensely thankful for the opportunity my husband has been given, yet it saddens me to leave the Beaver County community.”
The chamber Board of Directors has formed a search committee, made up of members of the Executive Committee and Personnel Committee, to begin the search for a new President of the Chamber. Information on the job will be posted soon.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A bill passed the GOP-controlled state Senate to require Pennsylvania parents to opt in their children to access book deemed sexually explicit after more than an hour of passionate floor debate Tuesday.

The bill passed 29-21, with objection from most Democrats. It now goes onto the Democrat-controlled House, where it faces an uncertain future. The bill passed the chamber, along with another that regulated how teachers communicate with parents about curricula, and drew opposition from the state’s largest teachers union.

The move is part of a larger nationwide effort of expanding parental oversight of schools, which saw a swell of energy in Florida last year. In the months since, other state Legislatures have taken up similar legislation that opponents say specifically targets LGBTQ+ and students of color.

In Pennsylvania, the bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Ryan Aument of Lancaster County, said the bill was a “very measured approach to addressing what was rapidly becoming a contentious national issue.” He rejected that it was an attempt to ban books, attack the LGBTQ+ community or censor anyone.

One Democrat, Sen. Lisa Boscola of Northampton County, agreed, saying policies like this draw heated, vocal support on both sides of the issue.

“It’s tearing our communities apart,” she said. “That’s why this General Assembly needs to lead. It needs to set forth a statewide policy that balances those radically different viewpoints of parents on both sides of this issue.”

Under the Pennsylvania measure, a similar version of which also passed the chamber last year, districts would identify and list books that contain any sexual material — used in classroom instruction or available in the library — and require parents sign an opt-in form to grant permission for their children to access some books.

It defines sexually explicit as showing “acts of masturbation, sexual intercourse, sexual bestiality or physical contact with a person’s clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or, if the person is a female, breast.”

The measure would also prohibit depictions of nudity in books for students in kindergarten through grade eight.

Opponents denied that the legislation wouldn’t ultimately censor voices, and said books available in school are vetted by educators. They said parents already have the ability to control what their children read.

“Exploring human relationships, sex and love are some of the most challenging and rewarding obstacles that we will face in life,” said Democratic Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, of Montgomery County. “And we need the right education and materials available to ensure people can explore those spaces safely and with the right knowledge to be able to interact with the world around them compassionately.”

Another bill — a similar version of which was vetoed by former Gov. Tom Wolf last year — that considered what it calls “classroom transparency” also passed the chamber, 28-22. That measure would require schools to post online the title or link for every textbook used, syllabi and course summaries and the state academic standards for the course.

Democrats said schools already allow for parents to review curriculum, and the legislation would be needlessly burdensome on districts.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Doug Mastriano of Franklin County, said there was “nothing nefarious” about the bill’s intent.

Both measures were opposed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The Community College of Beaver County has been named one of the Top 16 Community Colleges in Pennsylvania according to website intelligent.com. This is the second consecutive year that CCBC has made the list, in a ranking system based on tuition costs, the number of credits required to graduate, and the online coursework delivery format.

Furthermore the school was ranked highest by intelligent.com for Financial Aid, scoring a 98.38 out of 100. The score is based on a comparison of tuition costs, admission, retention and graduation rates, faculty, reputation, and the student resources provided for online students.

“I always tell our students, staff, and faculty that the ‘best is yet to come’ and now it is here,” said CCBC President Roger W. Davis in a press release. “As the community’s college, we are so proud to receive this recognition and are committed to offering all residents real learning for real life at a realistic cost.”