Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published January 16, 2026 2:04 P.M.

(Ambridge, Pa) Congressman Chris Deluzio held a press conference along with State Representative Rob Matzie and members of Ambridge Borough Council Friday morning.

Congressman Deluzio initiated the conference by presenting a check for $1,015,000 to Ambridge for a community and recreation center. Representative Rob Matzie followed up the Congressman’s check by announcing an additional $42,000 has been secured to help with finalizing plans and conceptual designs for the project.

Deluzio said “This project will bring new opportunities to Ambridge and the surrounding area—for our kids and families, for the whole community, and for the area economy. Congratulations to Ambridge Borough on this well-earned federal funding, and thank you to State Rep. Rob Matzie for going to bat for the project in Harrisburg, too. I’ll always fight down in Washington to bring home federal money to make life better for all of us in Western PA.”

Regarding the center, Ambridge Mayor Tina Iorfido-Schmidt said “Ambridge is such a strong community, and having a place where neighbors can come together, where our kids can play sports, and where we can host neighborhood programming will only make our community even stronger.”

Borough Manager Mario Leone says the center will be located on the former Brownfield steel site along New Economy Drive and 14th Street. A lot that has been cleaned up and vacant since the 1990’s.

Leone says the multipurpose facility with include a turf field, and numerous courts for basketball, pickleball, volleyball and more. It will also serve as a venue for sports and cheerleading tournaments along with other services like educational and job training programs.

Additionally, the site will house a food incubator with efforts by Crop and Kettle and Riverwise.

Tom Cephas of Cephas Elite, a locally based youth development and sports organization, was in attendance of the meeting along with local youth. Cephas says that having a local indoor facility will be beneficial for youth sports, stating that it is “hard to compete for indoor space”, especially for programs that aren’t offered directly by schools.

Conceptual designs of the project are expected to be revealed in the near future.

Construction is estimated to begin in 2027 and a ribbon cutting will be held when the project is complete.

 

(Photo Courtesy of the Allegheny County Jail)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A man from Wilkinsburg who was convicted of shooting and killing a 15-year-old boy in Homewood could spend the rest of his life in prison. Court documents confirm that yesterday was when a judge sentenced Shaun Scott to 35 years to life for the death of the teenager in 2022. October 20th, 2025 was when Scott was convicted of that murder. The fifteen-year-old victim was shot in the head when he was waiting to cross the street in Homewood on his minibike on March 30th, 2022 and that victim later died at the hospital. According to police, Scott, who was seventeen years old at the time, fired three shots and hit the boy once in the head. Scott is also charged with a second deadly shooting because he is accused of killing eighteen-year-old Maleek Thomas in the Hill District of Pittsburgh on June 24th, 2022, because Scott reportedly told police he was throwing rocks at windows outside an apartment building on Chauncy Drive, trying to get the attention of people because the music was too loud. When Thomas approached Scott and asked him who he was, Scott told police that he put on a mask, pulled out a gun and shot him. The trial for Scott in regards to the murder of Thomas is set to start in February.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Telford, PA) According to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and the Towamencin Township police chief, a man from Telford, Pennsylvania is accused of sexually assaulting at least one elderly woman during four alleged break-ins in 2025. Steele made an announcement in a press release yesterday that John Vernon Gray was arrested and charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, burglary and related offenses. The four alleged incidents happened on two days, but two incidents occurred six months apart from the other two incidents. Prosecutors noted that the victims ranged from 46 years old to over 90 years old and they either lived alone or they were presumed to have lived alone. Police confirm that the first two alleged incidents occurred on May 10th, 2025.  A 79-year-old woman told police she awoke to a man breaking into her home through her bedroom window on Dock Drive shortly before 2:30 a.m. and she screamed, which scared the man off, and then the man entered a second home in the Dock Woods Senior Living Community and sexually assaulted a woman in her nineties about an hour later. Then, on November 8th, 2025, police allege Gray broke into two other homes, because a 72-year-old woman told police a man broke into her home on Dock Drive around 3 a.m. and attempted to lift her nightgown and prosecutors stated that the suspect fled after she screamed. Steele also expressed that about 30 minutes later, Gray broke into a home on Crosshill Court in Towamencin Township through a sliding glass door. Gray allegedly entered the bedroom and began touching a 46-year-old woman and according to Steele, he fled after the victim screamed for her husband. The twenty-two-year-old Gray was arrested on Saturday and he denied bail and a preliminary hearing for him is scheduled for February 2nd, 2026. The office of Steele is asking anybody who may have been a victim of incidents that Gray has been involved in to make a call to detectives of Montgomery County at 610-278-3385.

(Photo Courtesy of WTAE-TV Pittsburgh, Posted on Facebook on January 16th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) According to officials, a crash has shut down the northbound lanes of I-79 at the Warrendale interchange in Marshall Township. This occurred this morning, it involved multiple vehicles and PennDOT confirms that I-79 northbound is closed at the Warrendale (Exit 75) interchange. An Allegheny County 911 supervisor states that emergency crews were called to the area at 10:29 a.m. Early reports have note that state police say that a tanker truck was driving southbound when it clipped a tractor-trailer/box truck that was also driving south and police also expressed that this caused the tractor-trailer to cross into the northbound lanes, where it crashed into a van head-on. Police also are saying that three people were transported to the hospital from scene, including two from the van and another from the truck. Drivers are encouraged to consider routes that are alternative until I-79 northbound at the Warrendale (Exit 75) interchange reopens.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro gestures at a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris in Ambler, Pa., Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Governor Josh Shapiro announced yesterday that eligible Pennsylvanians can now apply for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate (PTRR) program.The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue is now accepting applications for rebates on property taxes or rent paid in 2025 and this began yesterday. Governor Shapiro and Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne are reminding eligible applicants that the PTRR program provides real financial relief to seniors, widows and widowers, as well as people with disabilities, especially after Shapiro championed an expansion of the program that was historic. The expansion increased the maximum standard rebate to $1,000, which was up from the prior maximum of $650, and it raised income eligibility limits for homeowners and renters, as well as tying the income limits to cost-of-living adjustments. The income limit for applicants of rebates is now $48,110, which is an increase of over $1,500 from last year, thanks to this change. The link to apply online for the PTRR Program can be found by clicking here.

According to a release in Harrisburg yesterday from Governor Josh Shapiro’s office, here is some more information about how to file for this program, more information about eligibility and more information about the PTRR program:

Eligibility/How to File

• The PTRR program benefits eligible Pennsylvanians age 65 and older; widows and widowers age 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older. The table below shows the maximum rebate for homeowners and renters who fit this criteria are eligible for, depending on their income in 2025:

 

INCOME	MAX STANDARD REBATE
$0 – $8,550	$1,000
$8,551 – $16,040	$770
$16,041 – $19,240	$460
$19,241 – $48,110	$380

•  Submitting your application online through myPATH by clicking here — in English by clicking here or Spanish by clicking here. It is easy and does not require you to sign up for an account. Filing online gives you instant confirmation that your claim has been successfully filed. Applicants also will have access to automatic calculators and other helpful features that are not available through the paper application.
• It’s free to apply for a rebate and assistance is available at hundreds of locations across the state: Department of Revenue district offices, local Area Agencies on Aging, and state legislators’ offices. You must reapply for a rebate every year as they are based on annual income and property taxes or rent paid during the prior year.
• The easiest way to check the status of your rebate is to use the Where’s My Rebate? tool on myPATH. To check on the status of your claim, you will need your Social Security number, claim year, and date of birth.

 

• About the Property Tax/Rent Rebate program
  
  During his first year in office, Governor Josh Shapiro signed into law a historic expansion of the Property Tax/Rent Rebate (PTRR) program, which means more Pennsylvanians now qualify — and at the same time — the vast majority who qualified in prior years have seen their rebates increase. This was the first time the program was expanded since 2006. The expansion:

 

• Increased the maximum standard rebate to $1,000.
• Increased the income cap for both homeowners and renters.
• Increased the income cap to grow with inflation each year moving forward.

 

• Since its inception in 1971, the PTRR program has delivered nearly $9 billion in property tax and rent relief to some of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable residents. The PTRR program is funded with revenue from gaming.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – SNAP EBT information sign is displayed at a gas station in Riverwoods, Ill., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Officials in Pennsylvania have now rolled out a new online tool they hope will help food stamp recipients follow federal work requirements and hold on to their benefits. According to state estimates, more than 144,000 Pennsylvanians are at risk of losing their grocery assistance because of the tightened rules instituted in phases in September and November. Pennsylvania is also promoting a website to prevent some of these losses and it will help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients find volunteer opportunities that will help them meet the added requirements. This website can be found by clicking here.

(Photo Courtesy of the City of Aliquippa Police Department)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) The trial continued yesterday in Beaver County for Brett Ours of Aliquippa, who is accused of attacking Preston Coleman at the Aliquippa VFW 3577 bar on January 5th, 2025. The charges for Ours include aggravated assault and attempted homicide. Ours took the stand to defend himself even though a surveillance video of the incident was shown in the courtroom and he told the jury that Coleman was calling a man with whom he had “bad blood,” from a motorcycle club that Ours was excommunicated from. The attack lasted 30 to 40 minutes. Jurors could see Ours punch, kick and choke Coleman repeatedly in the video of the incident and prosecutors believe Ours was trying to kill Coleman. However, Ours stated that he feared for his own safety and despite never seeing one, he believed Coleman had a gun on him, so he pulled out his knife. Before hitting Coleman, the video of the incident showed Ours stabbing the bar multiple times and throwing the knife to the ground and he is now ex-girlfriend took the knife from the ground before the beating started. Ours was asked during the testimony if he was sorry for what he did and he responded: “Absolutely. I fully take responsibility. I hurt a man. I never intended to kill Preston. I’m not proud of what I did.” Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible believes the prosecutor of Ours has proved the case to the jury. Bible expects the jury to start deliberations today and if jurors are not close to a verdict by the late afternoon, deliberations will resume on Tuesday because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. 

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Sheetz)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Altoona, PA) According to a recent release in Pennsylvania from Sheetz, yesterday was National Bagel Day, and Sheetz is offering customers $2 off any breakfast sandwich from its Made-to-Order (MTO®) menu from January 15th through January 19th, 2026. However, the Sheetz app is where this promotion can only be redeemed, and customers must add the offer under the OFFERZ tab in the Sheetz app to redeem it at any of the 800+ Sheetz locations. This applies to their fan-favorite breakfast sandwiches, including Breakfast Meltz, Croissants, Everything Shmagels, Shmagels, Shmuffins, Shmiscuits and more. If you are a My Sheetz Rewardz member, the offer can only be applied once per member.