PITTSBURGH (AP) — Authorities say a man who took his year-old daughter from her mother’s Pittsburgh home during an argument that sparked an Amber Alert is now facing several charges. Twenty-year-old Giante Lee Thomas Jr. went to the women’s home around 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and the woman said he pointed a gun at her during the subsequent dispute. She also said he threatened her life before he left the home with the infant. State police and other law enforcement officers spotted Thomas’ vehicle outside a city home about six hours later and found the child there unharmed. Thomas was ordered held without bail on  Friday and it wasn’t known if he’s retained an attorney.

Barletta to decide soon on whether to run for governor
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lou Barletta, the former congressman who unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in 2018, says he’ll make a decision in the next few weeks on whether to seek the Republican nomination for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. Barletta said Friday that he felt the pull of running for office again during the pandemic and seeing the hardship of business owners and people losing their jobs. He says the final decision on whether to run is up to his family. The office is open since Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is term-limited. Attorney General Josh Shapiro is widely expected to seek the Democratic nomination.

(PITTSBURGH, PA) – Today, Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17) announced that his office is now accepting requests for Community Project Funding (CPF) for the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Appropriations process, to direct funding to specific governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, or geographic locations.  Through the new CPF program, Members of Congress will be able to request funding for up to 10 specific projects in their districts to serve the public good.  The deadline for submission of CPF requests for PA-17 is Tuesday, April 6, 2021 at 5:00 PM.  Late or incomplete requests will not be accepted or considered.

“This program is an opportunity to invest federal dollars in important projects in our communities.  These requests will be completely transparent, which makes them different from the previous ‘earmark’ process,” said Lamb.  “When it comes to how your tax dollars are spent, this program gives more of a voice to Western Pennsylvania and less to Washington.”

The new CPF program is being implemented with accountability measures to ensure a responsible and transparent process.  All CPF submissions are required to be posted on lamb.house.gov in order to ensure full transparency.  Therefore, all information submitted by a requesting organization should be considered public information.  The House Appropriations Committee will also establish an online, searchable public database of all CPF requests received by the Committee.

The House Appropriations Committee intends to fund community projects on a limited basis in the FY22 Appropriations bills.  Therefore, CPF requests that address the most significant needs of local communities or provide a significant public good are more likely to be included.  Not every CPF request submitted by a Member of Congress will be included in the FY22 appropriations bills.

Only eligible CPF requests that meet all the guidelines established by the Appropriations Committee will be accepted and considered.  Visit Lamb’s website to review the guidelines established by the House Appropriations Committee and to submit a request.

CDC changes school guidance, allowing desks to be closer
By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are relaxing social distancing recommendations for schools, now saying students can sit as close as 3 feet to each other in classrooms. The new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, announced Friday, signal the agency’s turn away from the 6-foot distancing recommendation that had forced some schools to remove desks, stagger scheduling and take other steps to keep kids apart.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano 

(Center Twp., Pa.) JC Branthoover was hired as the junior high baseball coach at Thursday night’s Central Valley School Board meeting. He was approved as the volunteer coach at the February meeting. He will be paid a stipend of $1,000.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano 

(Ambridge, Pa.) Former Aliquippa High School Assistant Football  Coach, Sherman McBride, has been  hired by the Ambridge School Board Wednesday night as the school’s new football coach.  A 3 year agreement  was approved, and McBride will earn $9,000.00 a season The contract ends in 2023-2024.  and is pending final review by the school district solicitor.

Do you have the winter blahs and can’t wait for spring to arrive well your wait will be over at 5:37 AM Tomorrow morning. In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox occurs when the Sun crosses the equator line, heading north. This event marks the start of spring in the northern half of the globe. After this date, the Northern Hemisphere begins to be tilted more toward the Sun, resulting in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures. (In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the opposite: the March equinox marks the start of autumn, as the Southern Hemisphere begins to be tilted away from the Sun.

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night”—aequus (equal) and nox (night). On the equinox, the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world. Equinoxes are the only two times a year that the Sun rises due east and sets due west for all of us on Earth!