(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania rose by two cents this week to an average of $4.16 per gallon, according to AAA East Central. 

The national average also increased, climbing seven cents to $4.11 per gallon. 

AAA said rising crude oil prices — recently around $96 per barrel — have contributed to the increase as tensions continue in the Persian Gulf. 

In Beaver County, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas is about $4.18. 

According to a release from AAA East Central and AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report, here are the average pricesof unleaded self-serve gasoline this week in various Pennsylvania areas:

$4.326      Altoona
$4.175      Beaver
$4.135      Bradford
$4.101      Brookville
$4.081      Butler
$4.184      Clarion
$4.234      DuBois
$4.198      Erie
$4.105      Greensburg
$4.162      Indiana
$4.163      Jeannette
$4.180      Kittanning
$4.138      Latrobe
$4.184      Meadville
$4.145      Mercer
$4.125      New Castle
$4.132      New Kensington
$4.199      Oil City
$4.177      Pittsburgh
$3.963      Sharon
$4.138      Uniontown
$4.298      Warren
$4.158      Washington

(File Photo: Caption for Photo:  police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh background blur, Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto/z1b)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Bethel Park, PA) Police are investigating an incident involving a suspicious man on the Montour Trail. 

The Bethel Park Police Department said officers were called to the trail near Limestone Drive around 8 p.m. Friday after a woman reported an encounter. 

Investigators said the man, believed to be between 18 and 22 years old, approached the woman, commented on her appearance and reached toward her arm. The woman’s dog lunged at the man, who then ran down the trail toward Peters Township. 

A bystander witnessed the incident and stayed with the woman until officers arrived. 

Police described the man as about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 135 pounds, with medium-length black hair and a light brown skin tone. He was wearing a grayish-white shirt, tan shorts and possibly clear glasses. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Bethel Park Police Department at 412-833-2000. 

(File Photo of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A Pittsburgh-area agency that provides services to survivors of domestic violence has filed a federal lawsuit alleging its funding was unfairly cut. 

Crisis Center North said it has received funding for more than 40 years from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a nonprofit that distributes grant funding on behalf of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. 

In the lawsuit, the center alleges the coalition imposed unnecessary and inefficient requirements for financial reporting. The center said it provided the required information but not in the specific format requested. 

(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A Pittsburgh-area police officer is facing charges in Sumter County, Florida following an alleged domestic incident, according to an arrest affidavit. 

Investigators said Officer Manuel Pihakis of the Reserve Township Police Department is accused of biting his girlfriend during an altercation at a hotel. Authorities said a second incident occurred hours later at a private residence. 

According to the affidavit, Pihakis is accused of striking the victim in the back of the head with an open hand, knocking her to the floor. 

He was charged with simple battery and domestic violence, taken to jail and later released on bail. Police said he has been placed on administrative leave. 

KDKA-TV reported that an internal report from February described Pihakis as appearing intoxicated while off-duty inside the police station, citing observations of slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man who managed problem-plagued voter registration drives in Pennsylvania ahead of the 2024 presidential election pleaded guilty Monday to three misdemeanor counts and was sentenced to a month in county jail.

Phoenix resident Guillermo Sainz Gurrola was also fined $1,000 and will serve probation for three counts of solicitation of registration, which prosecutors described as offering financial incentives to canvassers who met quotas.

The attorney general’s office said charges of forgery, unsworn falsification, public records tampering and violations of state elections and voter registration laws remain pending against six canvassers. One is also facing an identity theft charge.

Sainz Gurrola’s defense attorney, Timothy M. Stengel, declined comment but said his client apologized in court. Authorities had previously identified him as Guillermo Sainz, but Stengel and the online court docket gave his name as Guillermo Sainz Gurrola.

Stengel said the plea on Monday involved registration drives in Lancaster, Berks and York counties.

In a court affidavit filed with the criminal charges, investigators said Sainz Gurrola, an employee of Field+Media Corps, “instituted unlawful financial incentives and pressures in his push to meet company goals to maintain funding which in turn spurred some canvassers to create and submit fake forms to earn more money.”

Field+Media was funded by Everybody Votes, which has worked to improve voter registration rates in communities of color. The court affidavit said Everybody Votes had fully cooperated with the investigation and that its contract with Field+Media prohibited payments on a per-registration basis.

Sainz Gurrola managed Pennsylvania operations from May to October 2024.

The investigation began in the weeks before the general election when election workers in Lancaster County flagged voter registration forms for potential fraud. Investigators said they appeared to contain false names, suspicious handwriting, questionable signatures, incorrect addresses and other problematic details.

In the homestretch of the presidential contest, then-candidate Donald Trump seized on the case, declaring there had been “cheating” involving “2,600” votes. The actual issue in Lancaster was about 2,500 suspected fraudulent voter registration forms, not ballots or votes.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A Pittsburgh woman who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to child sexual abuse material was sentenced yesterday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Officials said 32-year-old Marissa Lynn Segal was sentenced to 7½ years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay approximately $13,000 in restitution. 

Prosecutors said Segal distributed and possessed images and videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors. 

According to information presented to the Court, on July 14, 2025, Segal distributed material depicting the sexual exploitation of minors—including photographs and videos of infant victims and victims engaged in acts of bestiality—via a mobile application. 

She pleaded guilty to the charges on Jan. 12. 

The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Members of law enforcement control shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who authorities say tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives has been charged with the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump. He appeared in court Monday to face charges in a chaotic encounter that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being rushed off the stage and guests ducking for cover underneath their tables.

Cole Tomas Allen was taken into custody after the shooting on Saturday night and is being charged in federal court in Washington. Authorities say an officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest but is expected to recover.

Allen, of Torrance, California, is being represented by lawyers with the federal defender’s office and sat beside them in court in a blue jail uniform. He also was charged with transport of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce and with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. He did not enter a plea.

Prosecutors have not revealed a motive, but in a message reviewed by The Associated Press that authorities say was sent by Allen to family members minutes before the attack, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin,” made repeated references to the Republican president without naming him and alluded to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions.

Investigators are treating the writings, along with a trail of social media posts and interviews with family members, as some of the clearest evidence of the suspect’s mindset and possible motives.

Allen, 31, is believed to have traveled by train from California to Chicago and then onto Washington, where he checked himself in as a guest at the hotel where the gala dinner was held with its typically tight security, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.

Video posted by Trump shows a man, who authorities say was armed with guns and knives, running past a security barricade as Secret Service agents run toward him.

Records show Allen is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer. A social media profile for a man with the same name and a photo that appears to match that of the suspect show he worked part-time for the last six years at a company that offers admissions counseling and test preparation services to aspiring college students.