HARRISBURG – Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Butler/Beaver/Lawrence) today voted “no” on the state budget for Fiscal Year 2021-22. Bernstine issued the following statement citing excessive government spending led to his negative vote.

“When it comes to spending taxpayers’ money, I don’t think we ought to look at a budget and say it’s not perfect, but it’s good enough. This budget is an 8.8% increase in government spending, and that will set the stage for excessive borrowing and tax hikes when President Biden’s bailout money disappears. This budget does nothing to help our struggling local businesses or help to rebuild our economy, and I cannot ignore those glaring realities when it comes to other peoples’ money.

“Harrisburg is really good at one thing — spending your money. They have proven time and time again they have no restraint when it comes to growing government and increasing spending. It’s long past time we enact the Taxpayer Protection Act and put in place constitutional spending limits that will permanently curb chronic overspending.

“While thousands of small businesses are suffering and Pennsylvania’s economic recovery is still lagging, public schools are profiting off the pandemic. They are raking in $300 million more in additional taxpayer funds in the budget despite sitting on more than $4.8 billion in reserve funds and being closed for most of the past year. That money would have been better spent on policies that incentivize work, strengthen the economy, and directly aid students and families to help address their unique learning losses.”

For more information about this, or any state-related issue, contact Bernstine’s district office in Ellwood City located at 438 Line Ave. The phone number is 724-752-2120. Information can also be found on online at RepBernstine.com.

(File Photo)

(Darlington Boro, Pa.) A Darlington man has been charged by Pa State Police in Beaver over and incident that occurred Sunday Evening around 7:15 PM on Morris Street in Darlington.
Troopers reported via release that 29-year-old Leah Wood of Darlington and 25-year-old Dustin Bailey also of Darlington were involved in a neighbor dispute that started on Friday June 25, 2021 and carried over throughout the weekend. Troopers say that on Sunday, June 28, 2021,  Bailey walked out onto Morris Street carrying what appeared to be two pistols while Wood was at her vehicle. Bailey walked towards Wood banging the two pistols together before pointing one at her and mimicking the recoil of a pistol. When troopers arrived and attempted to take Bailey into custody he resisted arrest. Once Troopers were able to get Bailey into custody he was trandported to the Beaver County Jail on charges of terroristic threats, simple assault through physical menance, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Keystone State News Connection

June 28, 2021

Emily Scott

PHILADELPHIA – The federal moratorium on evictions has been extended through July 31 – but the Biden administration says this is the final extension, and groups helping renters in Pennsylvania are worried the assistance in place has been slow to reach those in need.

Pennsylvania used $570 million it received from the federal government in January to set up an Emergency Rental Assistance Program for renters affected by COVID-19.

But Rachel Garland, managing attorney of the housing unit at Philadelphia’s Community Legal Services, said many applications are still being processed – and 30 days won’t be enough time to ensure those funds are dispersed.

“It’s a real opportunity for tenants and landlords to be able to stabilize, while still waiting for tenants to be economically stable again,” said Garland. “So, an additional 30 days until the end of July definitely helps – we’ll take every 30 days we can get – but there’s going to need to be long-lasting programs that support tenants and landlords.”

Philadelphia received its own $97 million allotment for its “PHLRentalAssist” program. Statewide, more than 93,000 households are currently at risk of eviction or foreclosure, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau survey.

In Lancaster County alone, more than 2,000 people have applied for the county’s rental assistance program. Shelby Nauman, chief impact officer of the Lancaster housing nonprofit Tenfold, said an added challenge during the pandemic has been the lack of affordable housing.

“So, what that is doing is really increasing the cost of rental housing,” said Nauman. “So, as this moratorium ends, we’re starting to hear stories of people who are having their rent increase upwards of 25 to 30%. And for folks on a fixed income, you know, that’s just devastating.”

Some programs Nauman would like to see receive increased funding to support renters and stabilize the housing market include housing counseling and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for developers. The latter would help increase the supply of affordable housing units.

(Photos Taken By Beaver County Radio’s Frank Sparks) 

(Beaver Falls, Pa.) The City of Beaver Falls Fire Department was called to the scene of a vacant house that was on fire in 1800 block of 6th Ave. in the city. As you can see in the picture below part of the structure collapsed during the fire.  The residents of the neighboring houses  were evacuated out of caution because of the possibility of the fire spreading to their houses. Beaver Falls was assisted on the scene by numerous other local fire departments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one was injured in the fire and its cause is unknown as officials continue to investigate.

(Bridgewater, Pa.)Beaver County Boom 2021 was held Saturday night June 27, 2021 in Brigdewater. Beaver County Radio did a live broadcast from Thursdays Restaurant and in the crossings park from 6 to 9:45 PM until the fire works started. Eddy Crow host of Teleforum along with Program Director Frank Sparks and Producer Curtis Walsh were at Thursdays and host of AM Beaver County Matt Drzik and Beaver County Radio Sports Director Bob Barrickman did a broadcast from the Crossing Park.

Many Dignitaries came out to celebrate the  first large event in Beaver County since the COVID-19 restrictions started. The Wrangler Band entertained the crowd at Thursdays as well as the listeners to Beaver County Radio. The band was also heard live in the park. Then at 9:45 PM the star of the night Zambelli Fireworks lit the sky Choreographed with music sound track heard exclusively on Beaver County Radio.

You can check out all of the photos of the fun below:

Changes to medical marijuana law approved by Legislature
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pandemic-era regulations that let medical marijuana dispensaries serve patients at curbside and dispense three months’ worth of the drug at a time have passed the Pennsylvania Legislature. The bill that was approved Friday is expected to be signed by Gov. Tom Wolf. The legislation also relaxes the rules under which contaminants in medical marijuana can be removed. A proposal to allow patients to grow marijuana  for their own use was defeated.

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania General Assembly is giving its approval to a $39.8 billion general fund budget that puts into savings about $5 billion in federal coronavirus relief money and boosts K-12 education funding by $300 million. The budget package that passed Friday pumps $279 million into transportation infrastructure and directs $280 million to nursing homes and similar facilities, both drawing from the federal pandemic money. It puts $2.5 billion into the rainy day fund and doesn’t spend much of the rest of the state’s share of federal pandemic money. Supporters say the reserves will help avoid future tax increases. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf plans to sign it next week.

(Wayne Township, PA) – Pennsylvania State Police have reported via release that on June 23rd, 2021 around 9:01 p.m. they were dispatched to a one vehicle accident on Rt. 288 in Wayne Township, Lawrence County. The crash involved a Mr. William Bonzo, a 31 year old man from Ellwood City, who was driving his motorcycle when a deer jumped onto the road and collided with him. On scene, it was found that the driver was hit in his right leg. The impact killed the deer, and possibly broke Bonzo’s leg. Mr. Bonzo was transported to St. E’s by a medevac ambulance, and his motorcycle was driven home by a friend with only minor damage.

(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s announced yesterday that The Department of Justice reached several benchmarks in the investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Garland said via release that “We have now crossed the threshold of 500 arrests, including the 100th arrest of a defendant on charges of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer. Yesterday we arrested our first defendant on charges that include assaulting a member of the news media.”

He went on to say that “Our efforts to bring criminal charges are not possible without the continued assistance of the American public. To date, we have received their more than 200,000 digital tips. I assure the American people that the Department of Justice will continue to follow the facts in this case and charge what the evidence supports to hold all January 6th perpetrators accountable.”

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The FBI continues to request the public’s assistance in identifying individuals sought in connection to the January 6th attack, and I encourage all of our citizens to visit  https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/capitol-violence to view images and video of the crimes committed that day. Anyone with information to share can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.