ALIQUIPPA, PA –ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for community-based disability services providers, has announced that John Palmer, a direct support professional employed at Beaver County Rehabilitation Center (BCRC), has been named the recipient of the 2024 Pennsylvania DSP of the Year Award. Palmer joins 54 other honorees nationwide in the 2024 edition of ANCOR’s annual Direct Support Professional of the Year Awards program. This year’s awards garnered a record-breaking 492 nominations.

“BCRC is so incredibly proud of John. We are thrilled to celebrate his award, which both recognizes him as well as highlights the significance of the Direct Support Professional (DSP) role in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) community. John promotes true community inclusion for the people we support daily and his commitment to those he serves is unwavering” said Lesley Hallas, Executive Director. “John clearly demonstrates the transformative power of community-based supports, and we’re so grateful that ANCOR has recognized John with this national honor.”

Since 2007, ANCOR’s annual DSP of the Year awards recognize outstanding DSPs who deliver long-term services and support to people in the I/DD community. The awards celebrate the important role DSPs play in ensuring people with I/DD have what they need to thrive and be included in the community. These awards also seek to raise awareness about a direct support workforce in crisis. Inadequate investments in this essential workforce have led to a decades-long severe shortage of DSPs, which has only been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and has accelerated into a crisis that threatens access to critically needed services.

“Each year, we are seeing more nominations, and more compelling nominations, for ANCOR’s DSP of the Year Awards,” said Diane Beastrom, president of ANCOR’s Board of Directors and vice president of transition for Ohio-based I Am Boundless. “But John’s nomination just blew us away. I cannot think of a more deserving professional to honor, as they truly exemplify what it means to see, appreciate, and value the people we are fortunate enough to support.”

Barbara Merrill, chief executive officer for ANCOR, added: “DSPs really and truly do it all, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this year’s class of honorees deliver transformative and 

sometimes lifesaving supports to the people who accept their services. People like John and all 55 of the 2024 honorees are perfect reminders of why ANCOR works tirelessly to advocate on behalf of the direct support workforce and the incredible work our DSPs do to support people in community.”

The awards ceremony where John and the other 2024 honorees that were recognized took place in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday, April 10th during ANCOR Connect ’24, the association’s annual conference. 

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand  jury in Pittsburgh for violating federal firearms law, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan  announced today. 

The one-count Indictment named Nasean Hunt, 18, as the sole defendant. 

According to the Indictment, on or about July 9, 2023, in the Western District of  Pennsylvania, Hunt illegally possessed a machinegun—a 9mm Glock handgun affixed with a gold  “automatic conversion switch.” Federal law prohibits the possession of a machinegun as well as any  part, such as a switch, that is designed for use in converting a weapon into a machine. 

The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to  $250,000, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be  based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant. 

Assistant United States Attorney DeMarr W. Moulton is prosecuting this case on behalf of  the government. 

The Beaver County Detective Bureau and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and  Explosives conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels  of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to  make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent  crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and  legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent  violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and  measuring the results. 

An indictment is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven  guilty. 

Story by Curtis Walsh with contributions by Keith Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published April 17, 2024 9:23 A.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) The coroner was called to the 1000 block of 10th Avenue Wednesday morning in Beaver Falls. Beaver County Radio spoke to neighbors of the incident and they say a man was killed after breaking into a home.

A man allegedly broke in to a residence through a cellar door or window and was shot. One neighbor said she heard gunfire around 5:30am. We have heard possibly three shots were fired.

We are still awaiting more details from the City of Beaver Falls Police Department.

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published April 17, 2024 8:37 A.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) We have received reports that the coroner was called to 1000 Block of 10th Avenue in Beaver Falls Wednesday. We are currently working on gathering more details.

Story by Curtis Walsh with contributions by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 16, 2024 8:34 P.M.

(Fallston, Pa) The road closure on Route 51 could potentially last over a month. Heavy rains caused a landslide and collapse of Darlington Road all the way down to Route 51. Darlington Road remains closed while Cove Hill Road acts as a turn around. Route 51 is closed in both directions between Juction Auto Service and Cove Hill Road.

The road closure is expected to be in effect until May 31, 2024, according to a spokesperson for Fallston.

The PennDOT Geotechnical Unit will be on site Wednesday, according to Steve Coen, PennDot District 11 Press Officer.  He said crews will be taking material off the hillside. Cowan said he’s hopeful that crews would be able to open the road in a few days if the hillside is stable enough.

Route 51 is a well traveled road featuring many restaurants and businesses. Beaver County Radio had the opportunity to speak with Jim Covert, one of the owners of Zooky’s Sports Tavern, which is caught in the middle of the closure.

The bar and restaurant is no longer accessible from Fallston requiring many customers to take a significant detour.  Covert says he was never made aware from any authorities about the closure. He says business wasn’t bad over the weekend and customers are still coming but he did notice a significant decline during lunch, likely due to the inconvenience of anyone south of the detour.

Covert said he would be placing signs near the detours, to let customers know they are still open. “It’s going to be interesting” said Covert, “gotta keep rolling with the punches”.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 16, 2024 1:43 P.M.
Photo by Curtis Walsh

(Rochester Township, Pa) On Sunday night just after 5 pm, wind drove a multi structure fire of homes that were in close proximity to each other in the 400 block of East Washington Street, according to Fire Chief Mike Mammone.  Two frame homes were destroyed, 4 were damaged, and 2 buildings were a total loss. One firefighter was treated for a hand injury, 2 firefighters were taken to the hospital.

A barge operator believes it has found a sunken barge in the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, one of 26 that broke loose and floated away during weekend flooding, company officials said Tuesday.

Crews used sonar to locate an object in a stretch of river north of the city, which Campbell Transportation Company Inc. said it presumes to be its missing barge.

The river remained closed to maritime traffic while the company worked to salvage the runaway barges.

Cmdr. Justin Jolley, of the U.S. Coast Guard’s marine safety unit in Pittsburgh, said Tuesday that once the object in the river is confirmed to be the missing barge, “we’re hopeful we can reduce the security zone to that area and allow traffic to resume.”

Seventeen of the barges are secure and under control, while seven remain positioned against the Emsworth Locks and Dam and one is pinned against the Dashields Locks and Dam, the company said.

“We are actively developing a recovery plan for all affected vessels, which will be implemented when safe for the recovery workers, barges and the public,” said Gary Statler, the company’s senior vice president for river operations.

Jolley said Campbell began retrieving barges pinned against the Emsworth dam on Tuesday morning.

The Coast Guard is investigating how the barges got loose from their moorings late Friday, striking a bridge and smashing a pair of marinas. All but three of the barges were loaded with coal, fertilizer and other dry cargo. Statler said the barges broke loose “under high water conditions on the rivers, resulting in strong currents due to flooding in the area.”

No injuries were reported.

An inspection of the Sewickley Bridge revealed no significant damage, and the bridge was reopened to traffic on Saturday,

The barge mishap took place more than two weeks after Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after it was hit by a wayward cargo ship, killing six construction workers who plunged to their deaths.

Campbell, of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, owns and manages more than 1,100 barges and moves about 60 million tons of dry and liquid cargo each year, according to its website.

FILE – This April 2, 2021, file photo shows bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The union that represents a Pittsburgh newspaper’s truck drivers, one of five unions that have been on strike for 18 months, has approved a new contract with the paper’s owners. Four other unions, including one representing the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s journalists and other newsroom employees, have not settled.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said the remaining members of Teamsters Local 211/205 voted unanimously to accept a labor dispute settlement agreement and dissolve their union at the newspaper. Details of the agreement were not disclosed, but the newspaper reported that it substantially resolves all strike-related issues and health care, including any outstanding National Labor Relations Board actions.

The newspaper declined further comment on the matter.

Four other unions at the Post-Gazette — including the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which represents reporters, photographers and other newsroom employees — are not part of the settlement and remain on strike. The Communications Workers of America represents the other Post-Gazette workers still on strike, including the mailers, advertising staff, and the journalists at the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild.

CWA officials said they were disheartened by the Teamsters’ settlement.

“It’s beyond disappointing that the Teamsters would abandon their fellow strikers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss said in a statement posted on the union’s website. “We stood with the Teamsters: in the cold, in the rain, in the snow, and in the face of violent scab truck drivers and aggressive police. We will continue to strike and hold the employer to account.”

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis added, “Their decision to prioritize greed over solidarity with their fellow union members is not only disappointing but also a betrayal of the values that we hold dear in the labor movement.”

The Teamster local and the three other non-newsroom unions went on strike in October 2022, and they were joined by the Newspaper Guild members two weeks later. The Post-Gazette hired replacement employees, while the striking newspaper guild members have been producing their own newspaper, the Pittsburgh Union Progress, during the strike.

Joe Barbano, a trustee and business agent for the Teamsters local, told WESA that the union was backed into a corner, noting its membership had fallen from around 150 to just 30 when the strike began.

“A majority of (the remaining members) said we would take some type of a settlement, we’ll move on with our lives,” Barbano said. “And that’s what we did.”

Barbano said his local had presented the idea for this settlement about six months ago to the other unions but they other didn’t move on it, so the Teamsters decided to move forward on their own. He acknowledged the Teamsters negotiated in secret from the other unions on strike, saying it was because the Post-Gazette made that a requirement.

Gas prices are two cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.853 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                         $3.853
Average price during the week of April 8, 2024                                                $3.839
Average price during the week of April 17, 2023                                              $3.822

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.829      Altoona
$3.867      Beaver
$3.897      Bradford
$3.772      Brookville
$3.861      Butler
$3.753      Clarion
$3.838      DuBois
$3.878      Erie
$3.832      Greensburg
$3.889      Indiana
$3.884      Jeannette
$3.848      Kittanning
$3.851      Latrobe
$3.885      Meadville
$3.900      Mercer
$3.754      New Castle
$3.827      New Kensington
$3.899      Oil City
$3.864      Pittsburgh
$3.867      Sharon
$3.890      Uniontown
$3.900      Warren
$3.856      Washington

Trend Analysis:
Today’s national average price for regular gasoline is $3.63. This marks an increase of four cents from last week and twenty cents from one month ago. Today’s average is three cents cheaper than last year. Compared to last week, oil prices are a few dollars cheaper, with minor fluctuations.

Monaca, PA – Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) has joined #CCMonth, a monthlong  grassroots education and stigma-busting campaign coordinated by the Association of Community  College Trustees (ACCT). The primary goals of #CCmonth are to improve awareness of the economic,  academic, and equity advantages of attending community colleges and to bust longtime stigmas  wrongly associated with public two-year colleges. 

“The past year has proved beyond any doubt that our college is vital to our community and our state,”  said Roger W. Davis, president of CCBC. “We’ve expanded program offerings, through the Build Back  Better grant and other initiatives, broadened our horizons with a new site in Washington County  through our aviation and College Here and Now programs, and reinstated our well-respected  community events and resources. #CCMonth is an opportunity to celebrate the importance and value of  our college to our community and to demonstrate how we are cultivating students for the future.” 

Public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model designed to guarantee access to  affordable, high-quality higher education for all. They serve as an onramp to bachelor, master, and  higher-level degrees for many, particularly for the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse  students. They guarantee fair admissions for all students and offer support for adult learners who must  work to support their families. Without community colleges, many American students would not be able  to access higher education at all. 

In short, community colleges like CCBC were created to serve the needs of their communities, and they  do it exceptionally well. 

CCBC is the region’s most affordable higher education institution allowing students to gain transferable credits and career focused training to join the workforce. Students can begin the process in high school  through the College Here and Now program and then choose from ten program pathways to continue  

their education as a college student. The college’s programs are designed to give students practical,  hands-on experience to prepare them to enter the workforce quickly. The new mechatronics program,  funded by the Build Back Better grant, is an example of this learning model where students combine  robotics and AI in the classroom and implement it in the manufacturing industry.

“Before I worked at a community college, I learned at a community college,” Dr. Katie Thomas, Dean,  School of Professions and Transfer Studies said. “Today, I am a doctor, a dean, and a person with a voice  at the table because of the transformational power of community colleges. #CCMonth is an opportunity  to celebrate these awesome organizations.” 

Despite some ongoing stigma about community colleges, research from New America’s annual Varying  Degrees study and other sources reveals that most Americans hold community colleges in the highest  regard concerning the cost of attendance, tax dollar support, and efficient operations. 

More Americans also believe community colleges are more underfunded than other institutions, and “a  majority believe that students need career-related support (88%), financial aid (87%), and academic  support (85%). They also strongly believe that colleges and universities must provide housing (82%) and  food (76%) support and on-campus childcare (70%),” according to the survey report. Community  colleges throughout PA and the United States provide these services so that the most disadvantaged  students can succeed in their higher education careers.  

“Community Colleges provide opportunities and support, but they also form personal relationships with  their students and help them create a vision for their future,” said Kim Turcola, academic advisor. “CCBC offers many resources to students including academic advising, financial aid assistance, career coaching,  mental health counseling, and wellness support such as food security.” 

Each year, the #CCMonth campaign makes millions of impressions across social media platforms, and  organizers encourage students and others to share the importance of community colleges in cultivating  skills and their affordability for financially challenged generations.