Body found in burned vehicle on western Pennsylvania road
CLAYSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Authorities are trying to identify a body found in a burned vehicle on a western Pennsylvania road over the weekend. The Washington County coroner’s office was called to the scene Sunday in Claysville in East Finley Township. Officials said the remains of the man or woman were officially pronounced dead at 8:45 p.m. Sunday. There was no immediate word on the cause of death or the cause of the vehicle fire. State police are investigating.

Supreme Court throws abortion fight into center of midterms
By DAVID CRARY and JILL COLVIN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a potentially ground-breaking abortion case, probably this fall, and the news is energizing activists on both sides of the contentious issue. They’re already girding to make abortion access a high-profile issue in next year’s midterm elections. The case on hand is a Mississippi law that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. If upheld by the Supreme Court, it would mark a first step toward the possible demise of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. That ruling established a nationwide right to abortion at any point before a fetus can survive outside the womb.

HARRISBURG – Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) on Monday introduced “constitutional carry” legislation, which would no longer require law-abiding citizens to obtain a government-issued license to carry a concealed firearm in Pennsylvania.

Constitutional carry, or permitless carry, allows an individual over 21 years of age who has passed a criminal background check upon purchase of a firearm to legally carry a handgun concealed without first having to obtain government permission.

Current law does not require citizens to obtain a license to openly carry a firearm in Pennsylvania.

Bernstine, a vocal pro-Second Amendment lawmaker, called the current concealed carry process a duplicative abuse of the constitutional rights of law-abiding gun owners.

“Pennsylvanians who follow the law each day should not be punished or hindered just because they prefer to carry their weapon concealed,” said Bernstine. “Constitutional carry ensures that citizens have the right to protect themselves and their families without seeking a government permission slip.”

Bernstine’s bill, House Bill 659, would make available an optional concealed carry license which would be valid in other states that have a reciprocal agreement with Pennsylvania.

The bill’s introduction comes on the heels of new executive actions on gun control announced at the federal level.

House Bill 659 has 68 Republican and Democrat co-sponsors.

“The broad bipartisan support from my colleagues shows that law-abiding Pennsylvanians are tired of the constant attacks on our firearms rights,” said Bernstine.

Currently, 20 other states have constitutional carry, including Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

 Recently, Bernstine was interviewed by Pennsylvania House Second Amendment Caucus Chairman Matt Dowling about his proposed legislation. To view the interview, click here. https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/pagopvideo/761130463.mp4

(Beaver County, Pa.) Today is Primary Election Day  in Pennsylvania. The polls are open from 7 AM to 8 PM tonight. There are four questions on the ballot that most republican representatives are telling the voters in their district to vote yes for all four.

Today is election day and polls are open from 7 AM to 8 PM tonight. If you have a mail in ballot or absentee ballot they need to be at the elections bureau before 8PM tonight or they don’t count.
The ballot for the May primary will include choices for Justice of the (PA) Supreme Court, Judge of the Superior Court, Judge of the Commonwealth Court, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and various county and local municipality positions.

Also on the ballot will be four statewide ballot questions along with various county or local ones. Most republican representatives are telling the voters in their district to vote yes for all four of the state wide questions. The questions are listed below:

1. QUESTION ONE: Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to change existing law and increase the power of the General Assembly to unilaterally terminate or extend a disaster emergency declaration—and the powers of Commonwealth agencies to address the disaster regardless of its severity pursuant to that declaration—through passing a concurrent resolution by simple majority, thereby removing the existing check and balance of presenting a resolution to the Governor for approval or disapproval?

2.QUESTION TWO: Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to change existing law so that: a disaster emergency declaration will expire automatically after 21 days, regardless of the severity of the emergency, unless the General Assembly takes action to extend the disaster emergency; the Governor may not declare a new disaster emergency to respond to the dangers facing the Commonwealth unless the General Assembly passes a concurrent resolution; the General Assembly enacts new laws for disaster management?

3.QUESTION THREE: Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended by adding a new section providing that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of an individual’s race or ethnicity?

4. QUESTION FOUR: Do you favor expanding the use of the indebtedness authorized under the referendum for loans to volunteer fire companies, volunteer ambulance services and volunteer rescue squads under 35 PA.C.S. §7378.1 (related to referendum for additional indebtedness) to include loans to municipal fire departments or companies that provide services through paid personnel and emergency medical services companies for the purpose of establishing and modernizing facilities to house apparatus equipment, ambulances, and rescue vehicles, and for purchasing apparatus equipment, ambulances and rescue vehicles, protective and communications equipment and any other accessory equipment necessary for the proper performance of the duties of the fire companies and emergency medical services companies?

(Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondant Curtis Walsh)

(New Brighton, PA) New Brighton Fire Department responded to a smoke detector activation at Haynes Day Care Center on 6th Street in New Brighton. Fire fighters did a sweep of the building and allowed adults and children who evacuated to re-enter shortly after arriving. No injuries occured.

Harrisburg, PA – With Tuesday’s municipal primary election just one day away, Acting Secretary of State Veronica W. Degraffenreid today reminded Pennsylvanians that the Department of State’s election night returns website offers up-to-the-minute results.

“The public, candidates and the media can find the most complete picture of how Pennsylvanians voted on our election returns site,” Secretary Degraffenreid said. “We collaborate with all 67 county election offices to consolidate results as soon as they are available.”

The electionreturns.pa.gov site will provide for each race a breakdown of votes cast at polling places on Election Day, votes cast by mail ballot and votes cast by provisional ballot. The department will post unofficial results on the site as it receives reports from counties after the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Since Pennsylvania’s election laws do not currently permit the pre-canvassing of ballots that most other states allow, counties cannot begin mail ballot counting until 7 a.m. on Election Day. More than 800,000 Pennsylvania voters requested a mail ballot, and the overwhelming majority of all ballots will be counted within a few days after the election.

Visitors to electionreturns.pa.gov can customize searches, receive timely updates, view results on mobile devices, use a location-based service through the “My County” link to instantly bring up their county’s election returns and connect to each county’s election results website.

Secretary Degraffenreid reminded Pennsylvanians voting by mail-in or absentee ballot to return their voted ballot in person to their county election board by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Check votespa.com/county to find ballot drop-off locations and hours for your county. The deadline for county election boards to receive voted mail ballots is 8 p.m. on May 18, Election Day. Postmarks do not count.

Voters who have not voted by mail ballot can vote in person at their polling place on Election Day. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on May 18.

Voters who applied for and received a mail ballot and then decide they want to vote in person at the polls must bring their entire unvoted mail ballot packet with them to be voided, including both envelopes. If a voter surrenders their entire mail ballot packet, they will be able to vote a regular ballot at the polls.

If a voter applies for a mail ballot but does not return it and does not have the entire packet to surrender at the polling place, they may vote by provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day. Their county board of elections will then verify that they didn’t vote by mail before counting their provisional ballot.

Voters who are registered as Republican or Democrat will choose their parties’ nominees for seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court, Commonwealth Court, county Common Pleas Courts, and Philadelphia Municipal Court.

Also on the party ballots will be a wide variety of county, school board, and local seats such as mayor, city or borough council member, township commissioner or supervisor, magisterial district judges, and precinct election officials.

All registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, will be eligible to vote on four ballot questions. Three of the questions are proposed constitutional amendments, and the fourth question is a referendum on making municipal fire departments or companies with paid personnel and emergency medical services companies eligible for an existing state loan program.

In addition, all registered voters in the following four districts, regardless of party affiliation, will be voting in special elections to fill vacancies:

• 22^nd State Senate District (Lackawanna County and parts of Luzerne and Monroe counties)
• 48^th State Senate District (Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties)
• 59^th State House District (parts of Somerset and Westmoreland counties)
• 60^th State House District (parts of Armstrong, Butler, and Indiana counties)

For complete information about voting in Pennsylvania, visit votesPA.com or call 1-877-VOTESPA (1-877-868-3772).

PennDOT, PSP Focus on Traffic Safety with ‘Click It or Ticket’ Mobilization

Harrisburg, PA – With Memorial Day weekend and the summer travel season approaching, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) are urging drivers to keep traffic safety top of mind when behind the wheel. The agencies will work with municipal police departments and other safety partners across the commonwealth to participate in the national “Click It or Ticket” seat belt education and enforcement initiative from May 17 through June 6, 2021.

“‘Click it or Ticket’ isn’t about citations, it’s about saving lives,” said PennDOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones in a crash.”

Pennsylvania law requires any occupant younger than 18 to buckle up when riding in a vehicle, as well as drivers and front-seat passengers. Children under the age of two must be secured in a rear-facing car seat, and children under the age of four must be restrained in an approved child safety seat. Children must ride in a booster seat until their eighth birthday.

In addition to adopting a zero-tolerance approach toward violators, troopers certified as child passenger safety technicians will offer car seat fittings and inspections throughout Pennsylvania, helping ensure that car seats are in good working condition, installed properly, and free from recalls.

“State police child passenger safety technicians look forward to hosting dozens of events across the commonwealth to highlight child passenger safety,” said Major Robert Krol, director of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Patrol. “We hope everyone who drives with children in their vehicles will take advantage of this free resource to keep their youngest passengers safe while traveling.”

A complete list of child passenger seat fitting stations is available at psp.pa.gov.

As part of the enforcement efforts, state and local police, along with agencies across the United States, will participate in a one day Border-to-Border initiative on May 24 to provide increased seat belt enforcement at state borders, reinforcing the states’ focus on safety.

PennDOT data shows there were 11,265 crashes in 2020 where at least one occupant was not wearing a seat belt, resulting in 348 fatalities.

As the summer driving period kicks off, we encourage Pennsylvanians to “Know Before You Go” by checking conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles in Pennsylvania by visiting www.511PA.com. The service, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. Motorists can also see active construction projects at www.511PA.com.

For more information on seat belt safety visit, www.PennDOT.gov/Safety.

PennDOT’s media center offers resources for safety organizations, community groups, or others who share safety information with their stakeholders. Social-media-sized graphics highlighting topics such as seat belts, impaired driving and distracted driving can be found online at www.PennDOT.gov in the “Media Center” under the “About Us” footer.

Follow PennDOT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PennDOTNews, like the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDepartmentofTransportation and Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot.

(Wayne Twp., Lawrence County, Pa.) Pa State Police in New Castle are reporting that they were called to a home on Northwestern Drive in Wayne Township, Lawrence County for a report of theft by deception.

After investigating Troopers reported via release that 72-year-old Robert Cunningham from Ellwood City was a victim of fraud. The report stated that Cunningham sent $300,000.00 via Bitcoin to an unknown suspect between June 1 of 2020 and May 11, 2021. State Police didn’t release any other information as they continue to investigate.

(Photo courtesy of AHN)

(PITTSBURGH, PA) In 2020, the Pittsburgh winter felt darker and colder than most. The COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak, and hospitals were jammed with patients as every day an increasing number of people were diagnosed with the virus. The roads stayed quiet as people sheltered in their homes, missing the fun of gathering for sporting events or celebrating Christmas with family and friends.

But nothing stopped Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers –in ambulances and in medical helicopters, in the western Pennsylvania region and throughout the nation from providing front-line care to people in need, in their homes and in their communities. In fact, EMS services were in demand, more than ever before.

Now Allegheny Health Network (AHN) has collaborated with the legendary Marvel Comics to tell the true-life stories of first medical responders from AHN and community EMS services.  Set in the winter of 2020, the first responders’ stories are brought to life in a comic book, titled “The Vitals: True EMS Stories,” that was unveiled to the public today.

“EMS providers are truly the unsung heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Robert Twaddle, Vice President, Prehospital Care Services, AHN. “With demand for their services at unprecedented heights, and facing exposure to a highly contagious and dangerous virus, they never faltered in delivering outstanding face-to-face care in patients’ homes and in community settings and accident scenes. I am honored to work with these brave and selfless individuals every day.

“We are thrilled to see our EMS providers portrayed as the heroes they truly are, and we hope seeing “The Vitals: True EMS Stories” gives them a moment of pride at the remarkable work they have done over the past year,” Twaddle said.

According to the National Association of State EMS Officials, in 2020 there were 27.5 million 911-initiated EMS activations resulting in direct patient contact, up from 17 million in 2018. They put themselves at risk to serve their communities; nationwide more than 128 medical first responders have died of COVID-19, according to an investigation by Kaiser Health News and the Guardian.

“Just like in Marvel comic books, we see each of these stories as a chance to experience the heart and drive behind the heroes working tirelessly to save lives,” said Dan Buckley, President of Marvel Entertainment. “After the incredible reaction we saw from our first comic book with AHN and Doner, we knew these stories were truly special. We are honored to help AHN tell more of these stories, which now give us another glimpse into the world of healthcare heroes saving millions of lives every day.”

“Though the EMS personnel depicted in the comic book are based on eight real individuals, we want all our EMS partners in the community and at AHN to know: This comic book is about all of you,” Twaddle continued. “It represents all your stories, all the hard work you have done to continue delivering care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter who you are, this is your story.”

The comic books will be distributed to EMS personnel and an e-reader will be available for digital distribution on Marvel.com and AHN.org/TheVitalsEMS.

 

“The Vitals: True EMS Stories” is a follow-up to Marvel Comics’ “The Vitals: True Nurse Stories,” a comic book depiction of the heroic stories of AHN nurses during the pandemic, which debuted to national and international acclaim in December 2020. As with the nurses depicted in the initial “The Vitals,” EMS providers were nominated by their co-workers for inclusion in this follow up comic book story.

“We are happy, but not surprised, that so many EMS colleagues took the time to write glowing, detailed nominations of their co-workers,” said Thomas Campbell, MD, Chair, Emergency Medicine, at AHN. “Our local EMS partners never forget that delivering effective emergency medical care always requires teamwork. They value and support their teammates, and take pride in their accomplishments. All of us who work in emergency medicine are proud to be part of their team.”

The accomplishments of the eight EMS personnel depicted in “The Vitals: True EMS Stories” include calmly talking a psychiatric patient off a ledge where he was threatening to jump, delivering a breech-birth premature baby and delivering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the tiny infant, continuing to provide direct patient care despite risk factors for COVID complications such as asthma and cancer survivorship, spending spare time collecting winter coats and backpacks for young people in need, and performing an in-field cricothyrotomy (airway incision that allows a patient to breathe) on a burn patient.

“The Vitals: True EMS Stories” can be viewed at any time by visiting Marvel.com. The comic book is written by Marvel Comics writer Sean Ryan, drawn by artists JL Giles, Zé Carlos, and Ramon Bachs.  The cover art was created by artists Zé Carlos & Rachelle Rosenberg.