Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News. Published July 27, 2026 6:47 P.M.

(New Brighton, Pa) A Beaver County man is facing 100 felony charges of child pornography.   

22 year old Luke Poteete of Beaver Falls is currently in the Beaver County Jail on a $150,000 bond. 

According to the criminal complaint filed Monday, a search warrant was executed by the New Brighton Police Department after Poteete was previously arrested earlier this year after being accused of raping and assaulting a child in New Brighton. 

Investigators searched the suspects phone and cloud account to recover files during a limited time frame for when Poteete allegedly communicated with the victim of the previous case. 

During that search, they discovered over 2,500 images and videos of child pornography,  involving children thought to be between the ages of 2 and 10.

According to the complaint, the videos contained a variety of footage involving male and female children being forced to engage in sexual acts with adults and animals. 

According to Poteete’s LinkedIn profile, “working with children” is listed as one of his top skills and he is listed as previously working at the Beaver County YMCA, coaching and leading activities for children until 2021.  

Poteete attended and was an athlete at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, where his father, who is an internationally recognized cybersecurity expert, is the Associate Professor of Computer Science.   

Poteete is scheduled for a preliminary hearing regarding this case for 100 counts of Child Sexual Abuse Material in August. He is slated to go to trial for the former case on charges of Rape of Child and Sexual Assault, among others, in September.   

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published July 27, 2026 1:44 P.M.

(Beaver, Pa) The Beaver County Commissioners are speaking out regarding the recent plan PennDot has announced for Wildwood Road.

The road has been closed since 2025 and PennDot says the bid to repair and reopen it may not go out until 2028. The road has been a longtime shortcut between Route 51 and Dutch Ridge Road in Brighton Township. 

One of the main reasons PennDot has stated for the lengthy delay is the “result of a necessary right–of–way being located on “protected park land (which will require) a lengthy acquisition process.“

The protected park land is the nearby Brady’s Run Park, which is a county owned. The Commissioners say they have never been contacted by PennDot in regards to any of these planning needs.       

The County Commissioners issued a release Monday in response to PennDot’s claims saying “Wildwood Road remains an important access route priority for Beaver County. We receive calls and inquiries on a continual basis from the public, first responders, and the healthcare community. We relay those concerns to PennDOT at public input meetings and other governmental and department channels. We are committed to working with PennDOT to gain it’s reopening without “lengthy delays due to right of way” issues”. 

The Commissioners went on to say that they are appreciative of PennDot’s efforts to recognize the importance of getting the road open and understand the number of other projects they have at any given time. 

However, the Commissioners want to make it clear that that they “commit to immediately providing any required right–of–way as quickly as legally permissible”.

 They note that they “eagerly await collaborating with PennDOT on its reopening”.

(File Photo of the Big Beaver Falls Area

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) The Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded grants last week to two Beaver County schools so they can help students chase career goals in both vocational training programs and special education.

The Big Beaver Falls Area and Riverside School District received grants of up to $20,000 each through the Developing Future Special Educators program from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

According to Jennifer Ceriani, Big Beaver Falls Area School District’s secondary program director, her district is planning to start its own chapter of the Best Buddies program, which brings students with and without disabilities together to form personal friendships, work together and promote leadership development.

According to Emily Smith, Riverside School District’s director of pupil services, the grant that it received will continue to support its Riverside Rising Educator Club.

Students in the Rising Educator Club have worked with students with disabilities and the special education staff at Riverside School District for the last four years by designing STEAM days and summer camps for elementary students, by designing a sensory playground area and teaching lessons at alternative education programs.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – This aerial photo taken with a drone shows a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Binghamton, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

(Lebanon, TN- AP) Cracker Barrel’s CEO is stepping down nearly a year after an attempted rebrand of the chain led to a fierce customer backlash.

Cracker Barrel said Monday that CEO Julie Masino will step down next month but remain with the company until Oct. 9 in an advisory capacity.

David Deno will succeed Masino on Aug. 10 as CEO. Deno served as the CEO of Bloomin’ Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse and other chains, from 2019 until he retired in 2024. He has also held executive roles as Best Buy and Yum Brands, which is the parent company of KFC and Taco Bell.

Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel hired Masino, a longtime Taco Bell and Starbucks executive, in July 2023. She was chosen for her record as an innovator with the hope that she would attract new customers to Cracker Barrel, which operates nearly 660 restaurants in 43 states.

Masino introduced updated menu items, like Hashbrown Casserole Shepherd’s Pie, to increase Cracker Barrel’s dinnertime traffic. She also started remodeling the company’s dark, antique-filled restaurants, lightening the walls and installing more comfortable seating.

Then, last August, Cracker Barrel announced plans to ditch its longtime logo, which features an older, overall-clad man leaning on a barrel as well as the words “Old Country Store.” The company said it would continue to honor Uncle Herschel — the man in its logo, who represents the uncle of Cracker Barrel’s founder — on its menu and on items sold in its stores. But the new logo would be simpler and easier to read on road signs and in phone apps.

The backlash was immediate. Fans didn’t like the new logo and also rebelled against the store redesigns. Even President Donald Trump weighed in, saying in a Truth Social post that Cracker Barrel “should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before.”

Masino reversed course within a few days, but the damage was done. Cracker Barrel’s same-store restaurant sales plunged 5% last fall and 7% in the quarter ending Jan. 30, 2026. Same-store sales at the retail stores connected to its restaurants dropped even further.

Still, the company’s shareholders voted in November to keep Masino in place as CEO, and sales trends had begun to improve in recent months. In the quarter ending May 1, same-store restaurant sales were down 2.6% and the company raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast.

Masino also helped sharpen the company’s focus on the Cracker Barrel brand with the sale of the company’s Maple Street Biscuit Co. stores. Cracker Barrel acquired Maple Street in 2019 and operated 50 locations around the country.

Citi analyst Jon Tower said in a research note Monday that the news of Masino’s departure was surprising given those recent improvements.

Cracker Barrel shares fell 2.7% in early afternoon trading.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Beaver County Firefighters Association)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(File Photo of the Pittsburgh International Airport Airside Terminal)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The FlyBy 5K and 2-Mile Fun Run/Walk will offer those who participate rare access to the airfield of Pittsburgh International Airport on September 19th.

This event, which includes a first look at the airport’s new terminal from the airfield, will return after a one-year hiatus due to construction.

Registration is now open for the event and it allows people of all ages to run or walk along the same taxiways used by aircraft.

The event features two course options: a timed 5K of 3.1 miles, and a 2-Mile Fun Run/Walk that is untimed, which is presented by CNX Resources.

Both of these routes are stroller-friendly, and children under 4 years old can register for free.

All those who participate will receive a technical finisher shirt and a medal, and awards and post-race festivities will finish the morning.

Proceeds from this event will support the Allegheny County Airport Authority Charitable Foundation.

The event is organized by P3R, which is the group responsible for the annual DICK’S Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon.

You can click here to register for the event or to get more information.

(File Photo of a Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is announcing lane restrictions for high friction surface treatment (HFST) work in Beaver and Lawrence counties have been extended.

The following restrictions will occur, according to the schedule listed below from a release from PennDOT District 11:

Monday, July 27 from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM

• Route 224 (Youngstown-Poland Road) will have single-lane mobile restrictions in both directions at the intersection with Jackson Street in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County

Tuesday, July 28 from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM

• Eastbound Mitchel Road (Route 4012) will have single-lane mobile restrictions

If inclement weather occurs, the work that is listed above will shift to the next night.

Ram Construction Services will conduct this work.

(File Photo of Congressman Chris Deluzio)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Washington, D.C.) Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17) announced his new Build America Plan in Washington D.C. today to reindustrialize America and grow solid manufacturing jobs.

This plan by Deluzio rejects the era of both half-measures and piecemeal tax credits by laying out a real industrial strategy to rebuild the manufacturing of America, invest in workers that are skilled, and make foreign polluters pay instead of letting them undercut American-made and cleaner products.

(File Photo of a Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that inspection work on the bridge that carries Route 18 (Seventh Avenue) over the Beaver River in New Brighton Borough and the City of Beaver Falls, will continue today and tomorrow, weather permitting.

From 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. each day, single-lane restrictions will occur on the Route 18 bridge in both directions between Third Street in Beaver Falls and Fourth Avenue in New Brighton Borough.

Inspection activities will be conducted by crews from Michael Baker International.