Royal Dutch Shell is closing an office near Pittsburgh next summer, but that won’t affect a pending decision on whether to build a major petrochemical plant in Beaver County. Shell spokeswoman Kimberly Windon tells the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that most of the 180 workers at its Franklin Park office who are involved in gas and oil drilling will be moved to Houston, the company’s U.S. headquarters. She says the decision won’t affect ongoing efforts to redevelop a former zinc plant for possible use as a petrochemical cracker plant in Potter Township. Shell hasn’t formally committed to the project, but has spent millions on the site.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is implementing a cashless tolling system for motorists crossing the Delaware River Bridge from New Jersey into Pennsylvania on Interstate 276. Here’s how it works: A camera will snap a photo of your license plate and then mail a bill to your home. The system is the first-ever cashless tolling point in the state. It’s called “Toll By Plate” and is for non-E-Z-Pass customers. An invoice for the toll of $6.75 will be mailed to the registered vehicle owner’s home. Toll By Plate is only available at the new tolling point at the turnpike’s Delaware River Bridge. The second cashless tolling pilot project is planned for the Beaver Valley Expressway in mid to late 2016.

A local school district has been selected by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to test out a new teaching concept to prevent snow days from piling up. Seneca Valley School District will turn to technology to test out a flexible instruction day (FID). On Friday, February 12th, students will stay home from school, but it is not a day off. Instead, students will be taught over the internet. If the test goes well, the district could implement more flexible instructional days in the future during inclement weather.

Pennsylvania’s sales tax is the focus of budget negotiators as they try to end the five-month-old state budget impasse. House Majority Leader Dave Reed says lawmakers are considering broadening the sales tax to more goods and services.

Some Beaver Falls businesses and residents were without power for a short time Monday after a tree that someone was cutting down along 15th street fell onto some power lines. Duquesne Light crews worked during the early afternoon hours to repair the problem. The WBVP and WMBA studios were among those affected by the outage, knocking both stations off the air, which delayed the Noonday Report by an hour. The very popular Yankee Trader show was cancelled for the day.