Story and photos by Mark Peterson

(Beaver, PA) Beaver County District Attorney David Lozier was the final person to speak from the podium in court room 1 in the Beaver County Courthouse at a press conference on Friday May 8, 2020.  Lozier backed up what other county leaders had proclaimed earlier to media personnel in attendance at the closed forum.   Lozier clarified and summed up the press conference by closing his segment with “I will not prosecute a business or a business owner who has a complaint against them under these orders. ”

Beaver County Commission Chairman Dan Camp, along with fellow commissioners Tony Amadio and Jack Manning joined State Representatives Jim Marshall and Joshua Kail and State Senator Elder Vogel , set the stage prior to Lozier’s final confirmation. The collection of county and state officials all offered commentary at Friday’s press conference. The event was scheduled as a forum to voice the group’s displeasure with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s recent decision to not ease COVID 19 closure restrictions on Beaver County, leaving it the only county in the south west region under full lock down.  In a rather bold maneuver, the group stood in solidarity and announced Friday that Beaver County businesses will be encouraged to re open regardless of statewide closure mandates still in place, under the same conditions as the “yellow  phase” of business reopening  scheduled to begin on May 15th in neighboring areas.  Assurance was given that businesses will not face potential legal problems from local law enforcement if they do open their doors.

Beaver County District Attorney, David Lozier, speaking at Friday’s press conference.

The strong reaction from Beaver County officials came on the heels of being surprised.  Much of the rhetoric at Friday’s presser centered around a feeling of Beaver County seemingly being duped by, and then spurned by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.  Local officials proclaimed that the dialogue between The Governor and the county had been positive and that the Governor’s office was even praised the efforts  and progress made in fighting and containing the COVID 19 virus.  According to County Commissioner, Tony Amadio,  “We were told for the past six weeks that we were doing a good job. We were doing a great job, and that the southwest corner was going to be able to move forward into the yellow.  And the we found out last night, that they put a wall around Beaver County.  It was just, as I said, totally disheartening.”

Officially, Beaver didn’t pass muster for having the COVID 19 closure restrictions lifted because the number of on going corona virus cases reported on a per capita basis weighted with total population wasn’t low enough.  Though very few residents outside of long term care facilities have contracted the virus, a high concentration of COVID 19 cases and deaths have occurred in with a couple local facilities.  A couple of isolated outbreaks  in those facilities made it impossible for Beaver County to meet the Governor’s threshold for re opening.

Story and photos by Mark Peterson

(Beaver, PA)  There were actually two prominent news stories on Friday concerning Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf potentially lifting stay at home restrictions in Western Pennsylvania. The obvious angle was the fact that Beaver County was the only county in the entire southwest region of the state to not be scheduled for re classification into the lesser restrictive “yellow phase” of the COVID-19  shut down orders that began back on March 16, 2020.   The reason given from Governor Wolf and his team was that Beaver County’s per capita infection rate from the virus was still too high.  Sad news for sure for many residents who were hoping to be able to go out and shop at local merchants again starting on May 15, when the other areas will begin easing restricting.  Officially, at least, Beaver County will continue to be Full shut down mode for the time being until at least June 4, 2020.  The other story, and perhaps the more interesting one that surfaced from the same issue on Friday, was the fact that Beaver County’s leaders stood in solidarity and thumbed their noses at Governor Wolf’s bad news for the area.

County Commission Chairman Dan Camp was the opening speaker at a noontime press conference held at the Beaver County Courthouse, and much like the kid who didn’t get picked to play on the school yard pick up team until last, vowed to make the ones doing the selecting pay for their oversight.  Camp announced that businesses would be welcome and encouraged to open anyway, regardless of the fact that the restrictions would still still in place. He assured the gathering of media types in attendance that District Attorney, David Lozier, would not be pursuing any potential future cases  brought against  merchants by local law enforcement officials for opening their shops. Lozier later on in the meeting confirmed the fact.

Dan Camp’s Opening monologue segment of the press conference.

The 37 minute press conference featured words of the same ilk from the other Beaver County commissioners, state representatives and Lozier himself.

Harrisburg, Pa.   Pa. Governor Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine held a press conference on Friday afternoon to announce 13 more counties moving from a red phase to a yellow phase next Friday, May 15, 2020. Beaver County was not included on that list and Political figures throughout the area are not happy with the decision.

During the Press conference Gov. Wolf was asked why not Beaver County? Press the play button below to hear what he said:

Matzie questions governor’s decision to keep Beaver County closed
Says excluding county from others moving to ‘yellow,’ open status May 15 makes ‘zero sense’

AMBRIDGE, May 8 – State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, issued the following statement in response to Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement today that Beaver County will remain in the “red,” closed status, when surrounding counties – including Allegheny County – move to the “yellow,” open phase of the state’s reopen plan on May 15.
“Beaver County remaining in COVID red status, due to inflated numbers from one nursing home, makes zero sense. I’ve been urging the administration, for over a month, to intervene in the dire situation at Brighton Rehab. I directly informed the Department of Health of my concerns about the lack of transparency with residents, families and the public.

 “So now, a facility that is responsible for nearly 70% of our county’ total cases, is being used as a reason to hold us back? It’s unacceptable.

 “We took the directive – stay calm, stay home, stay safe – to heart. We social distanced, wore masks and gloves.

 “Our businesses suffered; our workers suffered. But we did it to help protect the health and well-being of our friends, families and neighbors. And while far too many of our people tragically died, that tragedy could have been far, far worse. We are ready to move forward. We are ready to start our recovery. We must continue to utilize necessary safeguards to protect ourselves and those we may be in contact with for the foreseeable future. We are ready to safely and responsibly move to the yellow phase.   

 “I’ve already asked privately, so now I’ll make the request publicly. Governor Wolf and Secretary Levine, it’s time to move Beaver County to yellow status.”

(Beaver Falls, Pa,) Tune into 1230 WBVP, 1460 WMBA, 99.3 FM, and beavercountyradio.com at 2:00 p.m. today for a virtual press conference with  Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. They will provide an update on the coronavirus known as COVID-19 and efforts to mitigate the virus in Pennsylvania. Governor Tom Wolf  is also expected to announce more counties moving from the red phase to yellow phase starting next Friday May 15, 2020

We will have full coverage of the Governor’s Press Conference at 2:00 p.m. Courtesy of Common Wealth Media Services.