(File Photo)
Gas prices are three cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.979 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                $4.979
Average price during the week of June 21, 2022                                     $5.007
Average price during the week of June 28, 2021                                     $3.246

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

$4.906      Altoona
$5.028      Beaver
$4.964      Bradford
$4.952      Brookville
$4.994      Butler
$4.959      Clarion
$4.984      DuBois
$4.943      Erie
$4.983      Greensburg
$4.965      Indiana
$4.982      Jeannette
$5.002      Kittanning
$4.997      Latrobe
$4.955      Meadville
$5.042      Mercer
$4.967      New Castle
$4.996      New Kensington
$4.988      Oil City
$4.977      Pittsburgh
$4.959      Sharon
$5.025      Uniontown
$4.966      Warren
$4.984      Washington

Trend Analysis:

The national average for a gallon of gas has fallen for a second week after another decline in the global price of oil. This week’s gas average is $4.89, nine cents less than a week ago, 30 cents more than a month ago, and $1.80 more than a year ago. Even with these historically high gas prices, summer travel is in full swing. Heading into the Independence Day weekend, AAA predicts 42 million people will hit the road, setting a new record for car travel.

Although crude prices strengthened at the end of the week due to positive market sentiment after the stock market rallied, crude prices dropped earlier in the week amid market concern regarding the potential for economic growth to slow due to rising interest rates and inflation.  A lower economic growth rate than expected could cause crude demand to decline, leading prices to follow suit. The cost of oil accounts for almost $3 of every $4.89 paid at the gas pump.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 72 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members.  News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com.  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

(Penn Dot Drivers Center in Chippewa, Pa.)

(Harrisburg, PA)The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that all driver license and photo centers, including its full-service center in Harrisburg, will be closed Saturday, July 2, through Monday, July 4, 2022, in observance of Independence Day.

(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT District 11 is announcing drilling operations on Route 4028 (Tuscarawas Road) in Brighton Township, Beaver County, will occur Tuesday through Thursday, June 28-30 weather permitting.

(Photos taken and used with permission of David Novak)

Story by Frank Sparks, Beaver County Radio
(Beaver Falls, Pa.) If you saw first responders on the scene a structure fire early Saturday morning along 8th Ave in Beaver Falls for the second time in a week that is because the Beaver Falls Fire Department along with other county firefighters burnt down the building that was used for a training exercise late last week. The building previously housed a barber shop. The City of Beaver Falls owns the property.

Check out the photos below taken by local photographer and Emergency Dispatcher David Novak:

(File Photo Taken by Frank Sparks)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio
(Beaver, Pa.) The Beaver County Court Administrator’s office announced Monday morning that  court proceedings  for  men charged with criminal homicide and  and firearms prohibited in the murder of Curtis Flowers II, 19  on November 24, 2020 at Davis and Wykes Street has been continued.. Rico Ramone Rodgers, 22,of Aliquippa  and  Jeffrey Lamont Alford, 27 are lodged in the Beaver County Jail without bail.

(Photo by Curtis Walsh, Beaver County Radio) 

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio
(Hopewell Twp., Beaver County, Pa.) Pa State Police have identified and charged the driver in a roll over car accident  last Thursday night along  I-376 in Hopewell Township that resulted in him being injured. State Police have charged 29-year-old Daniel R. Berdis, with driving a vehicle at a safe speed. There is no word on the extent of Berdis’ injuries or his condition at this time.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has sided with a football coach from Washington state who sought to kneel and pray on the field after games. The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines for the coach. The justices said Monday the coach’s prayer was protected by the First Amendment. The case forced the justices to wrestle with how to balance the religious and free speech rights of teachers and coaches with the rights of students not to feel pressured into participating in religious practices. The outcome could strengthen the acceptability of some religious practices in some other public school settings. The decision is the latest in a line of Supreme Court rulings for religious plaintiffs.

(File Photo)

(Beaver County, Pa.) The Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver announced on Sunday, June 26, 2022, that they will be conducting DUI Checkpoints throughout Beaver County over the month of July. Police did conduct a DUI Checkpoint on Friday night on the Beaver Falls side of the New Brighton-Beaver Falls Bridge.

(Photo by Frank Sparks, Beaver County Radio)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio
(Beaver Falls, Pa.) Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano is reporting this morning that the City of Beaver Falls Fire Department was called out around 10PM last night to the former Angeles Apartment building at the corner of 14th street and 7th Ave. after the building was struck by lightning. The roadway in that area is currently closed due to safety concerns as debris from the chimney of the building fell to the street below. The City of Beaver Falls Public Works Department was also dispatched to the scene to clean up the debris.