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Story by Beaver County Radio staff
(Baden, Pa.) Baden Community leaders and citizens are left with many questions on Tuesday after David Christner the borough Police Chief suddenly retired yesterday. There have been many rumors circulating the borough about an internal investigation that is being conducted and there was no reason given for the chief’s abrupted departure.
Stay tuned to Beaver County Radio as this is a developing story.
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Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Potter Twp., Beaver County, Pa.) Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC, a subsidiary of Shell plc, announced Tuesday morning that it has commenced operations of the Shell Polymers Cracker Plant in Potter Twp. .
The facility is the first major polyethylene manufacturing complex in the Northeastern United States and has a designed output of 1.6 million tons annually.
“Building this world-class facility is a fantastic achievement and one the team can be proud of; it’s a showcase of Shell’s project delivery expertise,” said Huibert Vigeveno, Shell Downstream Director. “With great market access, innovative offers and connected infrastructure, Shell Polymers Monaca is well positioned and ready to serve customers with high-quality, competitive products.”
Strategically located within a 700-mile radius of 70 percent of the U.S. polyethylene market, the Potter Twp. facility sits on 384 acres adjacent to the Ohio River in Beaver County. The facility has contracted most of its natural gas feedstock at Final Investment Decision from the nearby Utica and Marcellus basins. The advantages of proximity are not limited to production; SPM also offers customers shorter supply chains, which translates to increased flexibility and access to polyethylene pellets that can be used in a wide variety of products such as common household goods, consumer and food packaging, as well as industrial and utility products.
The start-up of Shell Polymers Monaca represents an important step in growing Shell’s chemicals business as part of its Powering Progress strategy. The company is increasingly participating in value chains closer to end-use customers and using advantaged feedstocks to deliver more high value products while reducing exposure to commodity chemicals over time.
“I’m proud that in delivering this facility we’ve had a strong and innovative safety focus; invested in the community through employment and education; and helped repair and improve the local environment by remediating a brownfield site. These commitments are core to Shell’s Powering Progress strategy today and will remain so in the years to come,” said Vigeveno.
The first hour of Tuesday’s Teleforum program will see a visit from 1st Consultants’ Tom Young! (Economic wellbeing is the subject) The second hour of Teleforum will have everyone hear from Jeff Bost; (a drinking report from the pandemic/Not good news), and the third hour will have Eddy babbling. Teleform is on every weekday from 9 till noon on am1230, am1460, fm99.3, and fm95.7.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
The New Brighton School Board met for its first–and only–meeting of November 2022, thus making it a regular voting meeting instead of the usual planning meeting that preludes the voting meeting that would take place two weeks later.
In this meeting, the board unanimously accepted the resignation of Travis Whalen from the School Board. School board President John Ludwig thanked Mr. Whalen for his time and service to the board, and Whalen responded in kind. “To everybody here, thanks for being such great colleagues. We have great leadership here, and great board members,” Whalen said. “I’m not going very far, I’m literally right there.” Whalen joked that he is relocating to the “wrong side” of Wises Grove Road; his resignation takes effect on December 6, 2022.
The board also unanimously approved the building of a new playground by Snider Recreation at a cost not to exceed $70,000. “This will replace what I call the ‘original’ playground, the main playground that’s closest to the building,” stated Superintendent Dr. Joseph Guarino, saying that it will not replace the newer playground donated by HeadStart that is located outside the high school gymnasium.
“The original playground has far exceeded its life expectancy,” he added, “and it’s starting to need serious repairs, which obviously is not worth it for playground equipment.” Guarino said that the funding for the playground comes from surplus money held back from as far back as the 2018-19 school year, and that the timeline for construction relies heavily on the supply chain.
Also approved by the school board were the implementation of Act 57 of 2022 Property Tax Penalty Waiver Provisions, as well as a 10-year agreement to renew the lease between the New Brighton School District and New Brighton Youth Baseball. There will be no additional meetings by the School Board for November; their next meeting will be their Reorganization meeting on December 5.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
“First and foremost, you have to be a fine musician. But there’s so many other skills you have to learn, and we’re helping her learn those. That’s our goal.”
In 2022, the Beaver County Choral Society launched their inaugural Choral Conducting Scholar program, designed to give collegiate students the experience to not only conduct the singers and orchestra, but ultimately to plan, organize, polish, and execute a full performance piece from start to finish.
“I came to Duquesne to pursue my Bachelor’s in Music Education,” Sirianni stated, “and through that I really found out that conducting was another one of my callings, if you will.” Sirianni found out about the BVCS through one of her professors at Duquesne who knew Mrs. Burchill, and that led to her obtaining this position: “I’m so fortunate and so grateful to the BVCS for all the opportunities they’ve given me.”
“We are having a ball with Miah,” Stagno added. “We’re really proud of her, and we’re really pleased to support young conductors and musicians, and one of the missions of the Beaver Valley Choral Society is to encourage and support young people…that’s the next generation of musicians, and we need to be behind them.”
Sirianni joined the BVCS as Choral Conducting Scholar for the Christmas concert season, but the plan–according to Burchill–is to have her become more heavily involved in the spring/Easter concerts. “For the spring, she will have a piece that she will introduce to the choir, teach the choir, conduct from beginning to end, the whole process,” Burchill said. “She’s going to be able to walk through, with mentorship, how to do that whole process, and she’ll conduct them at all the concerts.”
To watch the full conversation with Sharon, Pat, and Miah–click on the Facebook feeds below!
Part 2:
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a man was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire with police in a Pittsburgh suburb over the weekend. Allegheny County police say officers in Forest Hills were dispatched shortly before 10:30 a.m. Sunday to investigate a report of a man yelling at people and lifting his shirt to display a firearm. Officers say they found the man and tried to talk to him but he fired at them and they returned fire, hitting him multiple times. He was pronounced dead at a hospital; his name wasn’t immediately released. Conty police say they were asked by local police to investigate.
Pittsburgh Police gather outside the Destiny of Faith Church in Pittsburgh, Friday Oct. 28, 2022, where a shooting while a funeral was being held, left several people wounded. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — An independent review panel has opened an investigation into the lack of a police presence despite a request for it at a Pittsburgh funeral where a shooting left six people injured last month. Two shooters opened fire outside the Destiny of Faith Church on Oct. 28 during a funeral for a man slain two weeks earlier. Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizens Police Review Board, said officers should have been there because police knew about intergroup tensions that could pose a risk. She asked whether supervision, communication or insubordination problems were to blame for that and similar incidents and said that’s why the review board opened its inquiry.
A Kennywood Park security guard stands at the main entrance to the amusement park in West Mifflin, Pa., early Sunday, Sept 25, 2022. Pennsylvania police and first responders have descended on the amusement park southeast of Pittsburgh following reports of shots fired inside the attraction, which was kicking off a Halloween-themed festival. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. (AP) — A judge has dismissed all charges against a teenager wounded in a shooting at a western Pennsylvania amusement park that also sent another teen and an adult to the hospital. An Allegheny County district court judge dismissed aggravated assault, reckless endangering and firearms charges against the 15-year-old defendant in the Sept. 24 gunfire at Kennywood Park on the opening night of the park’s Phantom Fall Fest. Defense attorney Kenneth Haber called the case presented by prosecutors “smoke and mirrors.” A 39-year-old man and a 15-year-old were taken to hospitals with leg wounds and the youth eventually arrested had a graze wound.
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Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Beaver County, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they received a report last Tuesday November 8, 2022 at 7:30 PM from 32-year-old Sharon Graves of East Palestine, Ohio that she was involved in a hit and run accident on I-376 between the Monaca and Center Exits.
Graves was driving a 2017 Subaru eastbound when she says that a newer Jeep Grand Cherokee side swiped her vehicle and continued driving at a high rate of speed towards Pittsburgh. The Jeep was described as having dark tint and was a dark grey or blue color. Troopers say the vehicle should have damage to the driver side near the front wheel or bumper. The vehicle is believed to have a Pennsylvania license plate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Pa State Police in Bever at 724-773-7400
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Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing lane restrictions on I-79 in Allegheny County, will occur this week, Monday through Friday, November 14-18 weather permitting.
Starting Monday, single-lane restrictions will occur on I-79 between the bridges over Glenfield Road and Red Mud Hollow Road daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday as crews conduct milling and paving operations. Additional milling and paving working will occur on the northbound I-79 ramp from Glenfield Road, requiring a closure of the ramp as needed during the same time. Traffic will be detoured.
Posted Detour
Southbound on Glenfield Road
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 I-79 in 2022 and 2023 for bridge deck replacement work. The majority of the project will conclude in the fall of 2023.
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.
511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.