(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the New Castle Police Department)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(New Castle, PA) According to New Castle police on Sunday, a man named Ismael Davila has been found and was taken for medical treatment. Davila has dementia and he is from New Castle. Police noted that he went missing from his Parkwood Court home and was last seen at 8:30 a.m. Saturday when he initially went missing.
(File Photo: Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of LIGHTFIELD STUDIOS – stock.adobe.com)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(New Castle, PA) A New Castle bakery was found to be out of compliance with regulations again after a recent follow-up health inspection. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture inspectors visited Bill’s Bake Shoppe on Liberty Street in New Castle on Friday for a follow-up inspection. A report states that inspectors located six violations that put the business out of compliance. Five of the violations included in the report are considered repeat issues, like the person in charge not demonstrating “adequate knowledge of food safety,” rodent feces throughout the facility, no sanitizer test strips or test kit, not using an approved detergent-sanitizer and dirty non-food contact surfaces. Inspectors gave Bill’s Bake Shoppe until March 20th to resolve all the most recent violations. The bakery will be inspected again within seven to ten days and its license will not be renewed until it’s deemed compliant again.
(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Allegheny County, PA) A Pitcairn man was arrested on DUI charges in connection with a crash that authorities said killed one of his passengers and injured another. The Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office announced that twenty-four-year-old Jordan Isaiah Ha Bowyer was arrested yesterday on charges of homicide by vehicle and DUI and that same office stated that an arrest warrant was issued for Bowyer on Saturday in connection with the single-vehicle crash on I-376 in September of 2024. According to deputies, Bowyer was driving the car when it crashed, killing a 20-year-old passenger and seriously injuring a 26-year-old passenger. The 20-year-old passenger, Brooke Howard of Pitcairn was declared dead on the scene on the Parkway East.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – An NCAA logo displayed on the fence before an NCAA softball game between Jacksonville and FGCU, March 24, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Gary McCullough, File)
(AP) One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme that allegedly raked in millions of dollars off of big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday.
Jalen Smith appeared in federal court in Philadelphia and pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges, becoming the first of 26 people charged in the scheme to formally do so. It came a week before the start of March Madness, in which bettors will wager billions legally — and illegally — on the 68 college basketball teams in the tournament.
Smith, of Charlotte, North Carolina, trained and developed local basketball players for professional scouting combines and used those connections with players when he became part of the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The charges against Smith and 25 others were unsealed in January. Smith’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, said in an interview that Smith pleaded guilty to get the matter behind him, serve whatever sentence he’ll be given and “move forward in his life in a positive direction.”
Smith had begun talking to prosecutors about a guilty plea well before he was formally charged, and the possibility that others in the case might plead guilty didn’t have any impact on his decision making, Cipparone said.
Besides the fixers who recruited players and placed bets, the charges targeted 17 former college basketball players and four other players who were active with their college teams this season.
More than a dozen players tried to fix games as recently as last season and some helped recruit other players, federal prosecutors said.
Two of the players charged were banned by the NCAA after a separate point-shaving investigation. One of the two, former University of New Orleans player Dae Dae Hunter, said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he participated in point-shaving to get money to care for his child.
It is the latest gambling scandal to hit the sports world since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision unleashed a meteoric rise in legal sports betting.
Smith was active in helping fix games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, placing bets and recruiting players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said.
The fixers would then bet against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said.
Smith often traveled to meet players to deliver cash payments by hand, prosecutors said. In one case, Smith traveled to Louisiana to arrange the delivery of about $32,000 in cash to two of the players charged in the scheme, prosecutors said.
Smith also pleaded guilty to a separate weapons charge, stemming from an FBI search of Smith’s bedroom at a house in North Carolina last May where agents found a loaded handgun in a hamper underneath some clothing.
Smith was prohibited from possessing the weapon as a condition of a drug conviction in 2018, and told agents that he had bought it from a man outside a sneaker store in Charlotte, the plea agreement said. Agents later found that it had been reported stolen.
The point-shaving scheme began with two games in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2023, according to the indictment. Successful there, fixers recruited Smith and two other fixers and moved on to rigging NCAA games, and the last game they fixed was in January 2025, it said.
Their scheme grew to involve more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams, who then rigged and attempted to rig more than 29 games, prosecutors said.
They wagered millions of dollars, raking in “substantial proceeds” for themselves, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to players in bribes, prosecutors said. Payments to players typically ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game, they said.
Prosecutors named more than 40 schools where games were allegedly targeted by the scheme. Those included Tulane University and DePaul University.
Rigged games included major conferences and some playoffs, including the first round of the Horizon League championship and the second round of the Southland Conference championship, prosecutors said.
Players often recruited teammates to cooperate by playing badly, sitting out or keeping the ball away from players who weren’t in on the scheme to prevent them from scoring. Sometimes the attempted fix failed, meaning the fixers lost their bets, prosecutors said.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – This April 2, 2021, file photo shows bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. Republicans in Congress are making the politically brazen bet that it’s more advantageous to oppose President Joe Biden’s ambitious rebuild America agenda than to lend support for the costly $2.3 trillion undertaking for roads, bridges and other infrastructure investments. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor announced major reforms to the city’s permitting process yesterday. O’Connor stated that he wants to smooth the path for small businesses to open and homeowners to do renovations, and he also wants to improve coordination between city departments and improve transparency for residents. He cited Shauntel Green, who sought help from the mayor after running into roadblocks to opening a restaurant in Homewood. O’Connor expressed that some changes, especially those for commonly used permits, should happen quickly. However, an overhaul of the city’s zoning code could take much longer.
(File Photo of a Gavel)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Allegheny County, PA) A Plum man is facing numerous charges after police said he intentionally blew up his home nearly four years ago. Jacob Rabb is facing a lengthy list of charges, including criminal attempted homicide, in connection with an explosion on Hialeah Drive in Plum that injured five people, destroyed his house and damaged several other homes. According to the criminal complaint, Rabb intentionally tampered with the dryer’s gas valve and turned the gas on, allowing gas to flow into the home, which exploded around 11:30 p.m. on April 22nd 2022. Rabb, his then-girlfriend and their three young children were home during the explosion. Police stated in the criminal complaint that one of the children suffered first-degree burns.
(Credit for Photo: Courtesy of KDKA Photojournalist Bryan Orr, Page’s Dairy Mart opened Monday for its 75th season along East Carson Street.)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Pittsburgh, PA) Page’s Dairy Mart opened for the season yesterday, kicking off the 75th season at the historic Pittsburgh ice cream shop along East Carson Street in the South Side. The line wrapped around the building from the front end on East Carson Street all the way around to near Becks Run Road, which is a custom at Page’s.
(File Photo of the Top of a School Bus)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Duquesne, PA) The state of Pennsylvania will review whether the Duquesne City School District is sustainable long-term and whether it should merge with another district. The study will examine everything from enrollment to finances and could help determine what education in Duquesne looks like in the years ahead. This feasibility study will examine potential partnerships with nearby districts, including East Allegheny School District, Pittsburgh Public Schools and West Mifflin Area School District.
(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – The Pennsylvania Capitol is seen, Feb. 6, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. Pennsylvania lawmakers will return to session Monday, June 3, as they begin a four-week countdown to the state government’s new fiscal year, as Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and Republican lawmakers offer competing visions for how to use a massive surplus. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Harrisburg, PA) The Shapiro Administration released the results yesterday of a comprehensive accessibility study of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex, which outlines clear next steps to ensure the capitol complex is more welcoming, usable, and inclusive for all Pennsylvanians. It was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS), and the study evaluated access across the 45-acre Capitol Complex, including exterior routes, entrances, restrooms, elevators, signage, and interior circulation. Work that is upcoming builds on significant progress made during the first three years of the Shapiro Administration to modernize state facilities while respecting the historic character of the Capitol.
(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Education)
Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Butler, PA) According to a release from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe visited a Butler Area School District elementary school yesterday to honor a 31-year bus driver and paraprofessional that was recently recognized as a 2026 Pennsylvania Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award honoree. Kimberly Lokhaiser, or Ms. Kim, as she is known by the students, staff, and community of her district, has built a legacy of over thirty years of making sure that her students feel safe, seen and loved during their travels to and from school each day.