By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer
October 25, 2021 10:26 AM
LONDON (AP) — Former Facebook data scientist turned whistleblower Frances Haugen is answering questions from lawmakers in the United Kingdom who are working on legislation to rein in the power of social media companies. Haugen said Monday that Facebook is making online hate and extremism worse and outlined how it could improve online safety. She spoke before a parliamentary committee scrutinizing the British government’s draft legislation to crack down on harmful online content. Haugen told lawmakers how Facebook Groups amplifies online hate, saying algorithms that prioritize engagement take people with mainstream interests and push them to the extremes. She says the company could add moderators to prevent groups from being used to spread extremist views.

by Frank Sparks News/Program Director
October 25, 2021 at 9:56 AM
(Slippery Rock Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in New Castle are reporting that they were dispatched to Cheeseman’s Fright Farm in Slippery Rock Twp. on Friday night around 9:10 OM for a report of a stolen vehicle.
Upon investigating it was learned that a 46-year-old man from Hubbard Ohio had his 2011 Ford F-350 stolen by an unknown person. The suspect fled in the scene in an unknown direction. the truck had Ohio registration plate number HEG6916. State Police in New Castle are asking anyone with information to call them at the New Castle Barracks.

by Frank Sparks News/Program Director
October 25, 2021 07:53 AM
(Ellwood City, Pa.) Pa State Police in New Castle are reporting that they are investigating after they received a report of theft by deception of a 56-year-old Ellwood City man.
Troopers are reporting that an unknown person contacted the man and told him that he had an outstanding warrant and that he needed to pay $3000.00 to have the warrant taken care of or he would go to jail. The victim bought $1000.00 worth of Visa Debit cards and provided the numbers and PIN to the suspect.
State Police are continuing to investigate at this time.

by Frank Sparks, News/Program Director
October 25, 2021 at 07:20 AM
(Moon Twp., Pa.) The National Weather Service in Moon is now confirming that a total of 8 tornadoes, including two in Beaver County, tore through western Pennsylvania Thursday night, October 21, 2021 .
Tornadoes were confirmed in New Galilee, Franklin Township, Hampton Township, Peters Township, Hopewell Township, Washington County, Mt. Nebo, Butler and east of West Finley.
Both Tornados that hit Beaver County were EF-1 and caused moderate damage in both communities.

(File Photo)
Story by Frank Sparks News/Program Director
October 25, 2021 at 06:13 AM
(North Strabane Twp., Pa.) 56-year-old Holly Ann Davis, of Canonsburg was killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 79 in North Strabane Township early Sunday morning.
According to the state police, Davis was heading north on I-79 when she was hit head-on by 26-year-old Kristina Coyne, from Washington Pa.. Coyne was driving the wrong way going south in the north bound lanes.
Just prior to the crash, Washington County 911 started receiving calls from drivers seeing a vehicle going the wrong direction, south in the northbound lanes.
Coyne was flown to the hospital for treatment, and her condition is currently unknown.
I-79 was closed down for several hours while police investigated.

October 25, 2021 at 5:55 AM
By BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional ethics watchdog has concluded there is “substantial reason to believe” that the wife of Pennsylvania Rep. Mike Kelly used nonpublic information gained through her husband’s position in Congress to purchase stock last year. That could violate federal law and House rules. A report issued Thursday by the Office of Congressional Ethics details the April 2020 purchase of stock in an Ohio steel maker. The company had threatened to shut down a plant in Kelly’s district unless the Trump administration granted it trade relief, which the administration did. Kelly’s wife Victoria purchased stock before that information became public and later sold it for a profit. Kelly’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

05:50 AM
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Spending in the race for an open seat on Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court has blown past $5 million, with less than two weeks left until Election Day. Campaign finance reports filed Friday show that most of it, or roughly $3 million, has been spent to help Republican Kevin Brobson, including spending by third-party groups in the race. That compared with about $2 million to help Democrat Maria McLaughlin. Brobson’s largest donor, by far, is a group that receives millions from suburban Philadelphia billionaire Jeffrey Yass. Labor unions, the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and the state Democratic Party are McLaughlin’s biggest donors.

Keystone State News Connection

Emily Scott

ERIE, Pa. — The Keystone State is seeing several barrier-breaking progressive candidates running for office in unexpected places: rural Pennsylvania.

The trend of progressive Democrats running for office is not unique to Pennsylvania. It has been increasing since the 2016 election, everywhere from Maine to Virginia to Iowa.

Tyler Titus is running for Erie County Executive. A victory would mean Titus would be the first openly transgender county executive in the country. Titus tells of experiencing rural generational poverty firsthand, growing up in a small-town southeast of Erie, and said poverty solutions need a holistic and progressive approach, whether in urban or rural America.

“When you talk on progressive values that center around people and not just profit, you can win in purple spaces, you can win in red spaces,” Titus asserted. “And I think that we see a momentum shifting. And that’s exciting, and it shows that I really think that the U.S. is at a time of reckoning.”

Titus is running against Republican Brenton Davis, a small-business owner and military veteran, in the Nov. 2 election.

The small Rust Belt city of Beaver Falls, northwest of Pittsburgh, may elect its first Black woman mayor next week.

Kenya Johns is a lifelong resident of Beaver Falls who defeated Democrat incumbent George Quay in May and currently is unopposed in the November election. Johns said her success speaks to the importance of uplifting voices reflective of the communities they represent.

“It’s going to show that although we talk about needing diversity, equity and inclusion, we’re at a space now where we can’t just talk about it,” Johns contended. “We need to be able to put people in that can make sustainable change. That’s what the future of America looks like. It looks like brothers helping brothers, sisters helping sisters, to make a better place, a better environment, for all of us.”

Mayor Quay is attempting a write-in campaign to have his name on the ballot. Johns’ running mates, Peggy Evans and Vanessa Taylor, who are both running for City Council, also won in the May primary.

In the featured photo, firefighters can be seen battling the fully engulfed building.

Story and photo/video by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Curtis Walsh, published October 23, 2021 at 5:08 A.M. Updated 9:29 A.M. October 24, 2021.

(New Brighton, PA) A structure fire broke out around 4:30 A.M. Saturday morning in New Brighton. The fire occurred on the 1400 block of Penn Avenue at the location of Meehan’s Self Storage. Flames could be seen coming from one fully engulfed garage type building, storage units attached to the structure were affected as well. Additionally, a neighboring shed and trees along the building caught fire. New Brighton, Beaver Falls, and Rochester fire departments were dispatched to the scene, along with multiple other departments responding as well. Firefighters appeared to be getting the blaze under control by around 5 AM, and remained on scene for hours after. Beaver Falls Fire Department reported that several other nearby buildings that were exposed to the fire sustained heat damage and water was immediately placed on those buildings to prevent further damage.  We have not yet learned the cause of the fire. You can see video of the fire here:

Aftermath photos submitted by Ray Harris, a renter of storage units at the facility:

• Modernized dining rooms with globally inspired décor and new furniture
• Digital self-order kiosks and menu boards
• Expanded McCafé service areas
• Remodeled counters that allow for table service
• Mobile Order and Pay technology
• Expansive outdoor patio