BEAVER COUNTY RADIO

PITTSBURGH — This Saturday, “Rock Reggae & Relief” will transform Downtown Pittsburgh’s Forbes Avenue and the newly revitalized Market Square into the city’s ultimate urban oasis for a full day of live music, immersive experiences, local food, handcrafted cocktails and community connection, all while supporting an important cause.

Returning to its original downtown street festival roots after two years at Stage AE, “Rock Reggae & Relief” (RRR26) celebrates nine years of music, community and giving back, while showcasing the energy and revitalization of Downtown Pittsburgh.

From noon through the evening, festivalgoers can experience two stages of
national touring artists, local favorites, immersive activations and the signature positive vibes that have made “Rock Reggae & Relief” a highly anticipated summer event.
This year’s headliner is the famed U.K. band UB40, known for hits like “Red Red Wine,” “(The Way You Do) The Things You Do” and “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You.”

Two stages, on Forbes Avenue and in Market Square, will anchor the festival footprint

The full lineup:

Tickets are $69 for general admission, $43 for kids 12 and under; $159 for VIP Gold and $369 for VIP Platinum, available at rockreggaerelief.com.

The concert raises money for Café Momentum’s paid internship program — a 12-month curriculum that transforms the lives of youths leaving the juvenile justice system. Throughout the year, interns engage in paid professional development in the Pittsburgh area that builds essential social and life skills while teaching financial and academic fundamentals. Case managers walk alongside them, offering resources like parenting classes, educational support and career exploration, while helping them navigate challenges tied to anger, trauma or abandonment. At the end of the program, graduates are placed in meaningful jobs with community partners, ready to take their next steps.

Festival organizer Lucas Piatt and prominent Pittsburgh concert promoter Rich Engler appeared on the Beaver County Radio Morning Show on Wednesday to discuss the concert. Hear the full interview by pressing “play” here:

 

The festival also offers diverse array of vendors, specializing in food, drink, art and overall creativity. The full list is at rockreggaerelief.com

(Caption and Credit for Photo: <p>Derek Lee’s counsel from the Abolitionist Law Center argued the court cannot and did not look at individual culpability because second-degree murder is murder committed during the commission of another felony. (Adobe Stock)</p>)

(Reported by Danielle Smith, Keystone News Service)

(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided on March 26th that the state’s mandatory life-without-parole law is unconstitutional. Lawmakers have now missed an important follow-up deadline to establish a new sentencing scheme for felony murder. The Commonwealth v. Lee case centered on Derek Lee, a man who was involved in a 2014 Pittsburgh home robbery when his accomplice fatally shot a resident. He was given a mandatory life sentence despite not firing the gun. The court gave the state’s General Assembly 120 days to come up with new rules for sentencing, but that deadline passed on July 24th, meaning the ruling is now in effect. Elizabeth Wood-Bennett with the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania explains that Lee isn’t exonerated of his crime. The ruling will impact future sentencing decisions, but there’s still the unresolved issue of “retroactivity” – whether others serving the same sentence are also owed a resentencing. Woods-Bennett says hundreds of others serving the same mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole still remain in legal limbo. In its decision, the Court recognized that people convicted of felony murder can have vastly different levels of responsibility.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cleveland, OH) Fifteen people are now facing federal charges after prosecutors confirm that they ran a large-scale drug ring that distributed over 100 pounds of methamphetamine in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

According to a statement in a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, the group obtained meth from drug suppliers in Akron, Ohio, and the U.S.-Mexico border before it was sold to people in Pennsylvania, Ohio and other places in the surrounding region.

The news release also noted that four homes in Akron were used as stash houses to distribute, process and store the meth. 

Investigation from law enforcment was a yearlong effort from federal and local agencies and it found drug transactions totaling over 100 pounds of meth.

Investigators seized approximately 15 pounds of meth as well as a firearm as part of the investigation, and authorities confirm that the 15 people were taken into custody between April and May in a series of coordinated arrests.

The defendants charged have an age range from 27 to 62 years old and these people received a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine:

• Ricardo Allison
• Sheldon Bell
• Earl Breckenridge
• Craig Consilio
• Clarence Daniels
• Bryce Dittman
• Larry Finch
• Nicholas Helfrick
• John Koza
• Samantha Lentz
• Marcus Nixon
• Anthony Raunikar
• Tyler Smith
• Jazzmin Thomas
• John Townsend

(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Allegheny Health Network)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Allegheny Health Network (AHN) announced the appointment today of Steven J. Goodnow, DO, as chief medical officer of AHN Wexford Hospital, effective immediately.

Dr. Goodnow joined Allegheny Health Network in 2016 and he has been serving as AHN Wexford Hospital’s interim chief medical officer since February of 2026.

Dr. Goodnow will still oversee clinical operations, quality and safety initiatives, and physician affairs in this role.

He will play a role in sustaining that hospital’s mission to provide high-quality and patient-centered care as part of its health system’s Living Health Clinical Model.   

Dr. Goodnow started his career at AHN as an internal medicine resident and later served as a primary care physician before then becoming a hospitalist.

He served as the hospitalist medical director at AHN’s Wexford and Grove City hospitals before his interim CMO role.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services: Caption for Photo: Allentown, Pa., August 4, 2026 — State and regional EMS leaders visit Cetronia Ambulance Corps to highlight an additional $6 million included in the 2026‑27 state budget to support modern equipment purchases for EMS agencies, including video laryngoscopes, defibrillators, and IV pumps.

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cetronia, PA) The administration of Governor Josh Shapiro recently invested $6 million in the 2026-2027 Pennsylvania state budget to assist Pennsylvania Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies.  

This funding will help purchase the equipment and tools that they need to enhance the care that people in Pennsylvania receive when times of crisis occur. 

Governor Shapiro has invested over $79 million in EMS investment since he went into office. 

There are over 17,000 EMS professionals serving throughout the state of Pennsylvania, and these providers respond to calls totaling more than 2.3 million every year. 

(Caption for Photo: An Amtrak Cascades train in 2022. Service frequency on the Seattle-to-Portland route could be dramatically expanded in coming years. Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Amtrak is adding a second train to take riders from Pittsburgh to New York City. 

Amtrak’s board of directors noted in a public meeting on July 29th that a second train will take Pittsburgh riders to New York City and points in between. 

Officials stated that this ride is expected to be added later this year. 

Crews spent the last few years upgrading tracks and stations along the route between Pittsburgh and New York City because of a partnership between PennDOT and Norfolk Southern. 

Amtrak reported recently that it saw a record number of riders last year at a total of 34.5 million riders. 

(File Photo of the Allegheny Health Network Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Allegheny Health Network and two UPMC hospitals made a list of twenty-eight Pennsylvania hospitals that earned top marks on a recent ranking by U.S. News and World Report of facilities.

This was based on outcomes for patients, experiences for procedures which are common, as well as specialty care. 

These rankings were published this month and U.S. News & World Report evaluated the hospitals across fourteen different specialties, which included cancer and orthopedics.

The two UPMC hospitals that made the list were UPMC Passavant and UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside.