(North Sewickley, Pa.) Pa State Police in Gibsonia are reporting that they were called by Pa Turnpike Workers at the Homewood Maintenance facility on Sunday morning at 1:00 AM for a report of a cell phone that workers found along the Pa Turnpike at mile marker 17.3 in North Sewickley Township.

Troopers reported via release that the LG cell phone valued at Approximately $400.00 was found by workers and turned over to State Police. If this happens to be your phone you can contact Pa State Police in Gibsonia at (724)-443-5907.

(Big Beaver Boro, Pa.) Pa State Police in Gibsonia are reporting that they were called to the scene of a one vehicle accident on the east bound entrance ramp to the Pa Turnpike in Big Beaver Boro on Memorial Day at 11:45 AM.

Troopers reported via release that upon arriving on the scene and investigating they learned that 34-year-old Maxwell Pauletich of Columbiana Ohio lost control of the 2008 Chevy Equinox that he was driving when he was attempting to enter the Turnpike at the Beaver Valley interchange at a high rate of speed. Pauletich’s vehicle struck a guard rail on the right side of the road and then traveled across the road striking a concrete barrier. Pauletich was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

AAA: Western PA Gas Prices Remain Steady; National Average Shows Little Movement
Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are one cent lower this week at $3.177 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $3.177
Average price during the week of May 24, 2021                                        $3.178
Average price during the week of June 1, 2020                                         $2.343

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.155      Altoona
$3.199      Beaver
$3.099      Bradford
$3.207      Brookville
$3.203      Butler
$3.223      Clarion
$3.200      DuBois
$3.180      Erie
$3.147      Greensburg
$3.199      Indiana
$3.195      Jeannette
$3.184      Kittanning
$3.192      Latrobe
$3.195      Meadville
$3.199      Mercer
$3.135      New Castle
$3.195      New Kensington
$3.199      Oil City
$3.192      Pittsburgh
$3.099      Sharon
$3.193      Uniontown
$3.099      Warren
$3.179      Washington

Trend Analysis:
At $3.04, the national gas price average only increased one penny leading up to Memorial Day weekend. Most states saw no change to pump prices or a decline on the week. However, prices may not stay this way for long. For the week ending May 21, demand jumped to 9.4 million barrels a day. This is the highest reported number since March 2020 and up nearly 30% over the same week last year, indicating motorists are filling up more frequently.

Gasoline supply and demand levels are looking more like typical summer numbers. Demand has steadily jumped week-over-week since the end of April and supply has decreased. The increasing demand and decreasing supply combined with more expensive crude oil prices mean gas prices are likely to fluctuate throughout June.

Today’s average is $1.05 more than last year at this time and 15 cents more expensive than last month. The May national gas price averaged $3/gallon. That is just 11 cents more than the May 2018 and 2019 national averages. With a $3+/gallon average at the start of June, this month could prove to be the most expensive average in years.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by 53 cents to settle at $66.32. Although prices ended the day down, crude prices gained on the week after the Energy Information Administration’s weekly report showed that total domestic crude inventories decreased by 1.7 million barrels to 484.3 million barrels. However, last week’s price gains were limited by market concerns that increasing coronavirus infections around the world could reduce crude consumption this year.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 73 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members.  News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com.  Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Just hours after Lt. Governor John Fetterman flew LGBTQIA+ pride flags from the balcony of his office in the Pennsylvania State Capitol to mark the start of Pride Month, the flags were taken down by state employees. The legislature passed a provision last year to ban “unauthorized flags” on Capitol grounds.

Fetterman said in an e-mailed statement “I can’t say I am surprised, but I am deeply disappointed that the flags were removed, on the literal start of Pride Month,” He went on to say “ What’s even more disappointing and angering is that the Republicans in Pennsylvania can quickly come up with legislation to take down the flags, but not to ensure that Pennsylvania law explictly protects the LGBTQIA+ community from discrimination. This is bull explanative.”

(Harrisburg, Pa.) Pennsylvania State Police investigated 844 traffic crashes during the four-day Memorial Day holiday driving period, from May 28 through May 31, 2021. The crashes resulted in eight fatalities and 183 injuries. Alcohol was a factor in 63 of the crashes, but it was not a factor in the fatal crashes.

Troopers also made 596 arrests for driving under the influence and issued 9,624 speeding citations over the holiday weekend. State police also cited 1,025 individuals for not wearing seat belts and issued citations to 144 motorists for not securing children in safety seats.

Beaver County is part of Troop D the Beaver Barracks and Troop D responded to 46 crashes with one person being injured and three of the accidents involved alcohol.

Troop D also issued 43 citations for DUI, 285 speeding citations, 3 Child seat violations, 67 Seat belt violations, issued 54 seat belt warnings, and 679 other citations during the holiday weekend.

Chauvin faces hearing on federal charges in Floyd’s death
By AMY FORLITI Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in last year’s death of George Floyd is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court for allegedly violating Floyd’s civil rights. Derek Chauvin is scheduled to appear in court via videoconference Tuesday from Minnesota’s maximum-security prison in Oak Park Heights, where he’s being held as he awaits sentencing for murder. The federal charges allege Chauvin violated Floyd’s rights as he restrained him face-down while he was handcuffed and not resisting. Chauvin’s attorney said during his murder trial that the officer’s actions were reasonable. Chauvin is also charged in a second indictment alleging he violated the rights of a 14-year-old boy in 2017.

Mail-in voting law spurring new tensions over elections
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — County officials are reprising their call for fixes to Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law to help them run a smoother election in November, as Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration told counties that they must not count mailed-in ballots without the voter’s handwritten date on the envelope. The counties’ call for action Tuesday comes amid a partisan stalemate over how to fix shortcomings or gray areas in Pennsylvania’s 2019 expansive mail-in voting law. Meanwhile, a top state election official told counties that voters must date their mail-in ballot envelope for their ballot to count. Philadelphia and its suburban counties decided to count undated ballots in the May 18 primary election.