Photos of the fire and aftermath courtesy of the Campbell family.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published August 12, 2026 12:06 P.M.

(Raccoon Township, Pa)  A Raccoon Township family is dealing with the aftermath of a devastating fire that destroyed the base of operations for their family business.

The Campbell family says that their lives changed in an instant in the early morning hours of August 6th.

An explosion and subsequent fire took place at approximately 4:15am in the shop for Campbell’s Lawn Care, which is located on the property where the family lives along Route 18.

Nobody was injured during the fire and the Campbell’s are thankful that that their multi-generational home was spared, however one of their cats was not recovered.

The building that burnt was the home to maintenance and repair operations of the family business, and included sentimental life-long collections of tools and supplies which were all lost in the fire. They say the status of the business, which has been operating since the 1990s, is now in critical condition due to the massive loss.

The Campbell’s say that insurance will cover a fraction of the costs but will not be able to cover everything that that was there.

They are accepting donations from those who are able to help them in any way possible, whether it be tools, supplies, or monetary.

Their GoFundMe page can be viewed here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-campbell-family-rebuild-after-a-devastating-fire?attribution_id=sl:4a136a6c-45c0-41ce-bd31-9068c2468e3c&lang=en_US&ts=1786497256&utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_content=amp30-treatment-2&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link

 

 

 

 

 

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published August 12, 2026 9:21 A.M.

(Freedom, Pa) The Freedom Area School District announced they are looking for applicants to fill a vacancy on the Board of School Directors resulting from a resignation.

The person appointed will serve the remainder of the current unexpired term through December 2029.

Eligible candidates must be at least 18 years old and have been a resident of the district for a minimum of one year.

Applications are bring accepted through Thursday, August 20, 2026 at 3:00 PM.

Interested individuals must submit a letter of interest and resume to Dr. Jeff Beltz, Superintendent of the Freedom Area School District.

Applications can be mailed to the district, or delivered in person to the District Administrative Office during business hours.

Pittsburgh, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is announcing inspection work on the Beaver-Rochester Bridge which carries Route 51 over the Beaver River in Rochester and Bridgewater boroughs, Beaver County will occur Thursday, August 13 weather permitting.

There will be a traffic shift and shoulder closure on the Beaver-Rochester Bridge ramp to southbound Route 51/65 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Thursday. Crews from Mackin Engineering and the Sofis Rigging Company will conduct bridge inspection activities.

FILE -Toyota dealership, April 30, 2026, in Nashua, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — Toyota is recalling about 655,000 of its Camry vehicles globally, the automaker confirmed Tuesday, due to a display error that may deactivate safety indicators like turn signals and hazard lights during startup.

Most of the now-recalled cars were sold in the U.S. — where more than 508,000 model year 2025-2026 Camry Hybrids are affected.

According to documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, these vehicles are equipped with a 7-inch (17.8 centimeters) display combination meter that can become blank at startup. And beyond turn signals and hazard lights, certain warnings like seat belt reminders and “key left in ignition” buzzers may also not function as a result.

These display failures increase crash risks — both for drivers who may not be able to see telltale indicators and “the ability of other road users to recognize the driver’s intent to change direction or indicate a vehicle hazard,” the NHTSA warns.

Texas-based Toyota Motor North America — a subsidiary of the larger Japanese automaker — says it will notify all known owners of the affected Camrys to bring their vehicles into a certified dealer. To remedy the issue, those dealers will later provide a software update free of charge.

Owner letters are set to be mailed starting Sept. 21 in the U.S., and Toyota expects to complete those notifications by early October. In the meantime, customers can check the NHTSA’s and Toyota’s online recall lookups to see if their car is affected.

Toyota confirmed to The Associated Press via email Tuesday that its recall affects markets in North America, the Middle East, Asia and some countries in other regions. The company said the 655,000 vehicles impacted globally were produced between December 2023 and July 2026 — across three plants located in the U.S., Japan and Thailand.

For more information, customers can visit Toyota’s website or contact customer support at 1-800-331-4331.

FILE – A portion of the Clairton Coke Works, a U.S. Steel plant, is seen Aug. 11, 2025 in Clairton, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

A federal safety agency recommended the development of written policies and procedures for flushing gas valves a year after a blast at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh killed two workers.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board issued a final report into the August 2025 blast at Clairton Coke Works, which also injured 11 others, including contractors.

U.S. Steel has said the explosion happened when workers were flushing a gas valve with pressurized water in preparation for routine planned maintenance at the sprawling riverside industrial facility, the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The valve ruptured under intense pressure and released combustible coke oven gas.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration previously fined the company a total of $118,214 and issued 10 citations. OSHA had said that U.S. Steel’s written procedures, practices and training to safely maintain equipment and flush the gas valve were incomplete, outdated or inadequate.

The Chemical Safety Board report recommended that U.S. Steel develop a written procedure for washing valves with pressurized water in order to minimize the operation’s hazards. It also recommended that an industrial cleaning contractor which used a pump truck to apply pressurized water to the valve develop written policies and procedures for cleaning piping systems containing flammable or toxic gas, and train its workers in such operations.

The Chemical Safety Board report found that when a valve would not close fully, U.S. Steel had a practice of injecting steam or high-pressure water into the cleanout port in an attempt to remove residue.

“U.S. Steel had no procedure for how to safely conduct this operation, but for at least three years before the incident, U.S. Steel employees had utilized pressurized water to clean valve seats on an ad hoc basis despite the lack of a formal procedure prescribing it,” according to the report’s executive summary.

Chemical Safety Board member Sylvia Johnson said the blast “was the result of workers routinely performing a task incorrectly over a period of years until it ultimately led to a catastrophic explosion.”

The valve that failed was more than 70 years old and made from cast iron, which the report said is widely recognized as a brittle material. Numerous safety publications either ban or warn against using cast iron equipment in certain hazardous applications, including for flammable substances such as coke oven gas.

The report also said the two workers who died and two of the five seriously injured workers were located around buildings directly above the coke oven gas piping. If these buildings were located in a different area of the facility away from coke ovens, “this incident could have been far less severe,” said Drew Sahli, the Chemical Safety Board investigator in charge.

Before the blast, Clairton Coke Works had a history of accidents and explosions, and some current and former workers there say poor management and underinvestment have exacerbated air pollution and undermined workplace safety, Pittsburgh’s Public Source and The Associated Press have found.

The blast came on top of a string of other accidents at the Clairton plant over time, as well as a long history of legal battles between U.S. Steel and Allegheny County regulators, who regularly accuse the company of flouting environmental rules at the facility.

The report noted that a similar gas oven explosion occurred at the Clairton plant in July 2010, injuring 14 U.S. Steel employees and six contractors. The report criticized U.S. Steel for failing to conduct a subsequent facility siting evaluation after that incident.

Pittsburgh, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is announcing inspection work on Route 68 (Midland-Beaver Road) in Industry Borough and Vanport Township, Beaver County will occur Wednesday, August 12 weather permitting.

There will be single-lane alternating traffic restrictions controlled by flaggers on Midland-Beaver Road between Barclay Hill Road and Sebring Road from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Wednesday. Crews from Mackin Engineering and the Sofis Rigging Company will conduct bridge inspection activities on the structure over Norfolk Southern rail lines.

PITTSBURGH (Aug. 11, 2026) — Researchers at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Cancer Center contributed to a new international study led by City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment organization, showing that a blood-based test may help detect both colorectal cancer and the precancerous growths that can lead to it.

The study, published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, found the test detected approximately 90 to 92 percent of colorectal cancers and 81 percent of advanced adenomas, or high-risk polyps.

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in the United States, with more than 55,000 deaths expected this year. Rates are increasing among younger adults, even as screening has reduced cases in older populations.

At the same time, screening rates remain below national targets, and about one in three eligible adults are not up to date on recommended screening.

Colonoscopy remains the most effective screening tool, but some patients delay or avoid it due to preparation or discomfort.

“This is an important step toward making colorectal cancer screening more accessible,” said Ali H. Zaidi, MD, medical director of aerodigestive research at the AHN Cancer Center, professor of surgery and medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine, and a co-author of the study. “A blood test could provide a more convenient option for patients and help identify those who need follow-up care.”

David L. Bartlett, MD, director of the AHN Cancer Center and president of the AHN Research Institute, was also a co-author of the study.

The test works by analyzing small molecules in the blood, called microRNAs, and using advanced analytics to identify biological signals associated with colorectal cancer or precancerous changes.

Unlike many existing blood-based tests, this approach is designed to detect not only cancer but also advanced adenomas, allowing for earlier intervention.

“For years, most blood-based cancer screening tests have focused on finding cancer after it has already developed. Our goal was to move detection further upstream by identifying advanced adenomas and early-stage colorectal cancers, when intervention can have the greatest impact. If we can reliably detect these lesions through a simple blood test, we have an opportunity not only to find cancer earlier, but also to help prevent it altogether,” said Ajay Goel, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics at City of Hope and senior author of the study.

AHN Cancer Center served as a key participating site in the international study, which enrolled more than 1,600 participants undergoing colorectal cancer screening.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this research is its potential to identify patients at risk before cancer develops,” said David L. Bartlett, MD, director of the AHN Cancer Center, president of the AHN Research Institute and co-author of the study. “By finding advanced precancerous polyps through a simple blood test, we may be able to reach more people with screening, intervene earlier and ultimately reduce the burden of colorectal cancer.”

While this blood test is still being studied and is not yet a replacement for colonoscopy, experts say it could eventually help more people take that first step toward screening.

“Too many patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer after the disease has already progressed,” Dr. Zaidi said. “Our goal is to change that by making screening easier, more accessible and more effective.”

Experts emphasize that while the blood test remains under investigation, patients should continue to follow recommended screening guidelines and discuss the most appropriate screening option with their physician.

Pittsburgh, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is announcing lane restrictions on Heights Road (Route 3038) in Hopewell Township, Allegheny County will begin Wednesday, August 12 weather permitting.

Single-lane alternating traffic restrictions controlled by flaggers will occur on Heights Road between Hill Street and Buchannan Avenue from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily, as needed, through mid-September as crews from D&M Contracting conduct gas main repair work for Peoples Natural Gas.