Story by Beaver County Radio Correspondent, Sandy Giordano –

(Aliquippa, PA) On Thursday school officials at Aliquippa announced that 15 students involved in a senior prank late last Thursday into Friday morning will walk in graduation ceremonies at the school tonight.

(Beaver, Pa.) During Open Statements yesterday in Sheldon Jeter Jr’s Trial for the murder of his friend and room mate Tyric Pugh Investigators allege that Jeter shot Pugh on Kiehl Street after the two got ice cream together on May 15, 2020.

The prosecution, seeking a conviction of first-degree murder. In opening statements the prosecution stated that the evidence links Jeter to the crime scene just moments before Pugh was found dead.

Defense attorney Randall McKinney is casting doubt that Jeter killed Pugh by emphasizing the friendship between the two men and the lack of motive.

The first witnesses Thursday were two witnesses who saw Pugh’s body on Kiehl Street in Aliquippa. Two Pa State Troopers who investigated the crime also testified.

Jeter’s trial will continue in Beaver County Court Today

(AMBRIDGE) New grant funding of $1.3 million will create affordable housing and other opportunities for Beaver and Allegheny county residents struggling with homelessness, substance use and other issues, state Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver/Allegheny, announced today.

Matzie said the funding – administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency through the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund – will go to area organizations serving the area’s most vulnerable residents.

“Having a place to call home can provide new hope and a fresh start for those in our community who are struggling because of addiction, domestic violence and other hardships,” Matzie said. “Securing this funding will help them get back on their feet, and it comes at an important time, when the pandemic has made life more difficult for many of our most vulnerable residents.”

Matzie said the projects funded include:

• Cornerstone of Beaver County – Emergency Shelter Renovation Project — $200,000.
• Beaver County Commissioners – Home Modification Program — $100,000.
• Beaver County – Rental and Utility Assistance — $50,000.
• Willissae’s Agency for Vision and Empowerment for WAVE Housing Services — $50,000.
• Allegheny County Department of Human Services – Mobility Counseling Program — $350,000.
• Allegheny County Save Your Home Program Housing Counseling — $150,000.
• North Hills Affordable Housing – HEARTH 25 years of changing loves– $200,000.
• Catapult Greater Pittsburgh Inc. – Decreasing Racial and Economic Disparity Through Homeownership and Asset Building — $200,000.

Funding for the grants came from Marcellus Shale Impact Fees and Realty Transfer Taxes.

BETHEL PARK, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a woman tried to run over two children in a school parking lot and made racial slurs about one of the youths. Eighteen-year-old Haley Jankowski, of Bethel Park, faces numerous charges stemming from the June 2 altercation. She has denied the allegations, saying she wasn’t trying to hit the youths but instead was trying to flee the scene because a large crowd was converging on her car and throwing bricks and rocks at it. She and the teen she was driving suffered minor injuries in the crash. Authorities say she was driving under the influence.

Keystone State News Connection

Michayla Savitt

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A gas preemption bill in the state Senate would prevent Pennsylvania municipalities from adopting policies to restrict or prohibit methane gas use in new homes and buildings, in favor of using electricity.

Critics of the measure say it could especially hurt areas like Bethlehem, which has its own climate plan and has reduced municipal greenhouse-gas emissions by 37% from 2005 to 2017.

Robert Routh, public policy and regulatory counsel for the Clean Air Council, said the bill would hinder local communities’ clean energy goals.

“The bill as currently written is over-broad,” Routh argued. “And it has the potential to chill any municipal efforts to, say, adopt new energy-efficiency measures, or even to offer financial incentives to developers to pursue all-electric construction for new buildings.”

Senate Bill 275 is still in committee, but Routh believes with the state’s deep ties to the gas industry, it’s likely the bill will pass, or be included in the budget as an amendment.

Appliances that use fossil-fuel energy sources account for 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Logan Welde, staff attorney and director of legislative affairs for the Council, thinks the policy could halt progress in curbing emissions.

“If we can’t reduce the amount of gas that we’re pulling out of the ground, transporting and burning, we are not going to be able to be on track to reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions that we really have to do.”

A 2021 Department of Environmental Protection climate change impact assessment estimates the state is on course for a six-degree temperature increase by mid-century.

Rachel Golden, deputy director of the Clean Buildings Campaign for the Sierra Club, noted the Senate bill is part of a trend her organization is seeing in the U.S.

“The gas industry has seen this momentum, and they feel it is an existential threat to their business model,” Golden asserted. “It’s important to understand that the gas industry’s main revenue source from delivering gas to end users is to homes and buildings.”

She pointed out homes and buildings account for 94% of gas industry revenue in Pennsylvania, higher than the national average of 87%.

(Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Curtis Walsh)

(Photo above submitted by Patterson Township Secretary/Treasurer Christin L. Milnes)

On April 7th Patterson Township Police and Volunteer Fire Department, Patterson Heights Volunteer Fire Department, and Chippewa Township Police and Volunteer Fire Department responded to a single vehicle motorcycle accident on Darlington Road.  They found a male individual who was bleeding heavily from leg and head injuries while lying in the street.  Patterson Township VFD Quad 903 was the first to arrive on scene. Patterson Township Assistant Police Chief Nicholas Bathgate was also first on scene and managed operations.  Patterson Heights and Patterson Township Volunteer Fire Departments set up a landing zone for stat medivac while Beaver Falls and Chippewa Township Police conducted traffic.  Patterson Township QRS member and EMT Melissa Graeser, along with Chippewa Township Police Officers Tom Paranuik and Daniel Frederick performed patient care while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. They applied multiple tourniquets to control the bleeding.  CPR was performed by EMT Graeser and Officer Paranuik before assisting the ambulance crew with prepping for transport to the landing zone.  Stat Medivac transported the individual to a Pittsburgh Hospital.  The Patterson Township Board of Commissioners expressed their appreciation tonight for the heroic actions of these Departments and individuals by presenting them with a Proclamation of Appreciation.  Due to the efforts made by said individuals and their departments, they gave the victim a fighting chance.  Even  though the individual did not survive, these efforts enabled the victim to be an organ donor and save lives for others.

House GOP unveils ambitious proposal to revamp election law
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Republican proposal to revamp Pennsylvania election law would affect deadlines, early voting and mail-in ballots and require ID for all in-person voters. The measure, sponsored by Republican State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove, was made public Thursday. It’s likely to encounter pushback from Democrats in a state where statewide elections are usually competitive. The state’s counties have urged lawmakers to pass something by the end of the month so that changes to how and when ballots are counted will be in place for the Nov. 2 vote.

By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature is ending Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s pandemic disaster emergency declaration and extending hundreds of regulatory waivers. A bill that passed the House and Senate unanimously on Thursday would extend the waivers until Sept. 30, unless Wolf’s administration ends them sooner. The bill goes to Wolf. Separately, the chambers passed a resolution Thursday to end Wolf’s disaster emergency declaration, carrying out what they see as the new powers given to them by voters in last month’s statewide referendum. Democrats questioned its legality and wisdom if there’s a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. It doesn’t require Wolf’s approval.

By DAVID KLEPPER and GARY FIELDS Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Some police organizations and Republican politicians are blaming Democrats and last year’s defund the police effort for a troubling rise in homicides in many cities across the country. The increases are real, and some cities did make modest cuts to police spending. But the claims by Republicans overlook the fact homicides are up in many cities, including ones that increased police spending or have Republican mayors. Experts say the real reason homicides are up even though many other kinds of crime are down are complicated. They include the social and economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic and protests about killings by police following the death of George Floyd.