Massive wildfires in US West bring haze to East Coast
By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Wildfires in the American West, including one burning in Oregon that’s currently the largest in the U.S., are creating hazy skies as far away as New York as the massive infernos spew smoke and ash into the air in columns up to six miles high. Skies over New York City were hazy as strong winds blew smoke east from California, Oregon, Montana and other states. Oregon’s Bootleg Fire grew to 606 square miles (1,569 square kilometers) — half the size of Rhode Island.

Troopers shoot, kill Harrisburg gunman who fired toward them
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania state police say troopers shot and killed an armed man near Harrisburg after he allegedly fired into two occupied homes and toward troopers who were called to the scene. An agency spokeswoman said 34-year-old Mitchell James Shuller of Harrisburg ignored demands to drop his rifle and had shot in the direction of troopers when they killed him outside his home Tuesday morning. Shuller died at the scene in a rural area north of Harrisburg. He’d been home alone, and no one else was injured. Shuller’s estranged wife says he had mental and physical health problems and had lost a construction job because of the pandemic.

(Moon Twp., Pa.) A missing 28-year-old Beaver County man’s body was found in the trunk of a car by his family early yesterday afternoon at an the abandoned Texaco Gas Station on University Blvd. in Moon Twp.

Junaid Akhlas was reported missing from his home at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Akhlas appeared to have been shot in the head before he was put in the trunk of his own vehicle according to police.

Moon Township Police in a release said the family believed the victim was going to Pittsburgh International Airport to drop someone off and that they may have traveled through the area.

4 companies on verge of settling US opioid lawsuits
By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press
The three biggest U.S. drug distribution companies and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson are on the verge of a $26 billion deal to settle lawsuits brought by state and local governments across the country over the toll of prescription opioids, lawyers suing on behalf of local governments said. Full details of the settlement involving AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson could come this week but it could take months to get final approval from state and local governments. A $1 billion-plus deal involving the three distributors and the state of New York was also announced Tuesday.

Jeff Bezos blasts into space on own rocket: ‘Best day ever!’
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — Jeff Bezos has made it into space, riding his own company’s rocket. It was Blue Origin’s first flight with people on board after 15 test flights. The Amazon founder blasted into space Tuesday with a hand-picked group that included his younger brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas. They’re the youngest and oldest to ever hurtle off the planet. Their capsule landed 10 minutes later on the desert floor in West Texas. Named after America’s first astronaut, the New Shepard rocket soared on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

(Photo by Beaver County Radio’s Diane Powers)

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Aliquippa, Pa.) Numerous calls were received from residents  to the Aliquippa City  building on Monday  regarding trash not being picked up and it resulted in a busy day for the city’s staff.  A Valley Waste supervisor said yesterday afternoon that there is a shortage of drivers, not throwers and it is causing delays in trash pickup in the area.   For the last three months the supervisor said no applicants for a driver have been received.  He said now that the unemployment bonuses have ended  he urges those doing job searches to apply at Valley Waste. Their phone number is 724-843-9373 and the applicants can receive the information on how to apply.

(Photo courtesy of Center twp. Police Department, used with permission)

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Center Twp., Pa.) Center Township Police Chief Barry Kramer  presented awards to  four  firefighters,  two from Monaca, and two from Center Township at a ceremony on Monday night. The first responders were honored for aiding  in the search and rescue efforts  of an elderly township woman last January . The woman had fallen over a hillside  and after an intense search was  found and rescued . The firefighters honored are  Monaca Fire Chief Mike Seigel and Captain Tony Soriano, and Center firefighters Taylor  Goodlin and Jim  Biskup.

(Georgetown, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they were dispatched to 1328 Pa State Route 168 on July 17, 2021 at 3:56 PM for a disturbance.
Troopers report because of that disturbance they charged 60-year-old David Hughes of Georgetown with disorderly conduct for yelling an obscenity at his neighbor 46-year-old Steven Alger also of Georgetown.
Troopers did not say in the release what caused the disturbance.

(Chippewa Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they were dispatched to a one vehicle accident west bound on Interstate 376 in Chippewa Twp. on Saturday, July 17, 2021, at 2:04 PM.

Troopers stated via release that Jerry Everett from Chardon Ohio was driving a 2019 Toyota Tacoma west bound on I-376 in the area of Anchortown Road when he lost control of the vehicle going off the roadway onto the berm and then strike the guide cable with the driver’s side of the vehicle. Troopers said that a storm was coming through the area at the time of the crash causing Everett to wreck. He was issued a written warning for not properly driving on roadways lined for traffic.