Pennsylvania legislators to kick off session by taking oath
By MARK SCOLFORO and MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania lawmakers are returning to the state Capitol to be sworn in for the two-year legislative term. Republicans hold large majorities in both chambers. The state House begins the session Tuesday with 113 Republican seats and 90 Democratic. One of those GOP districts is vacant because of a recent death. Republicans hold at least 28 seats in the 50-member Senate. The House is expected to elect Lancaster County Republican Rep. Bryan Cutler as speaker. The Senate is poised to make Centre County Republican Sen. Jake Corman its presiding officer, president pro tempore.

Cleveland rocked: Browns lose coach to virus for Steelers
By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) — Two days after celebrating their return to the NFL playoffs, the Cleveland Browns have been knocked knocked flat. Coach Kevin Stefanski has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Cleveland’s first playoff game since 2002. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer will be the acting head coach Sunday. Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio and wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge also tested positive along with two more assistant coaches. NFL rules state that anyone testing positive must sit out at least 10 days. It’s a major blow to the Browns, who qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons on Sunday with a win over Pittsburgh. The league says the status for the game in Pittsburgh has not changed.

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano 

(Potter Twp., Pa.) An unidentified worker at the BASF plant in Potter Township fell off of a train injuring his shoulder and sustaining a cut to the head on Monday afternoon. According to a Center Township police  spokesman first responders were dispatched to the scene at 1:45 p.m. The worker was transported to a Pittsburgh hospital by Life Flight. No further details were available about the workers condition.

AAA: Gas Prices Rise in PA; Nation Enters 2021 on a Lower Note at the Pump
The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is four cents higher this week at $2.518 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $2.518
Average price during the week of December 28, 2020                              $2.475
Average price during the week of January 6, 2020                                    $2.910

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

$2.677      Altoona
$2.482      Beaver
$2.671      Bradford
$2.540      Brookville
$2.426      Butler
$2.452      Clarion
$2.531      DuBois
$2.666      Erie
$2.393      Greensburg
$2.659      Indiana
$2.414      Jeannette
$2.571      Kittanning
$2.290      Latrobe
$2.616      Meadville
$2.600      Mercer
$2.241      New Castle
$2.645      New Kensington
$2.643      Oil City
$2.542      Pittsburgh
$2.359      Sharon
$2.533      Uniontown
$2.619      Warren
$2.342      Washington

Trend Analysis:
While the national gas price average ($2.25) is nine cents more than last month, January gas prices are already 33 cents cheaper than this time last year. That is the largest year-over-year difference at the beginning of January since 2015.

Today’s average has remained unchanged for the past 12 days. This pump price stability is credited to consistent crude oil prices in late December, about $47-48/barrel, combined with low demand. U.S. gasoline demand, as recorded by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), was at the lowest level for the last week of December in 23 years (since 1998) – at 8.1 million b/d.

AAA expects demand to dwindle in coming weeks and gas prices to likely be cheaper, especially if crude oil holds at the current price point. How high or low gas prices will go in 2021 will largely depend on crude oil prices, supply and demand. AAA expects that as the Coronavirus vaccine becomes more widely available and if states loosen travel restrictions, Americans will begin to drive more which will lead to an impact at the pump.

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.

GOP to block Democrat from state Senate in mail ballot fight
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A day before Pennsylvania state lawmakers will be sworn in for a new two-year session, state Senate Democrats accused Republicans of trying to “steal” an election by objecting to letting one of their members take his seat. The dispute revolves around the election of Sen. Jim Brewster of Allegheny County. Republicans say they won’t swear in Brewster during Tuesday’s ceremony while they consider a complaint filed Friday by Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli. Brewster beat Ziccarelli by 69 votes, according to state-certified returns. Ziccarelli also is suing in federal court to overturn that result. The contest hinged on court decisions that allowed counties to count mail-in ballots that lacked a handwritten date on the ballot envelope.

Amazon’s Bezos tops list of richest charitable gifts in 2020
By The Associated Press undefined
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — The world’s richest person made the single largest charitable contribution in 2020, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of top donations, a $10 billion gift that is intended to help fight climate change. Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, whose “real-time” worth Forbes magazine estimates at roughly $188 billion, used his contribution to launch his Bezos Earth Fund. The fund has paid out $790 million so far, according to the Chronicle. Setting aside Bezos’ whopping gift, though, the sum of the top 10 donations last year — $2.6 billion — was the lowest since 2011, even as many billionaires vastly increased their wealth in the stock market rally that catapulted technology shares last year.

In farewell, DeVos urges Congress to reject Biden’s policies
By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer
In a farewell letter to Congress, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged lawmakers to reject policies supported by President-elect Joe Biden, and to protect Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate. Monday’s letter does not explicitly acknowledge President Donald Trump’s election defeat nor does it refer to Biden by name. Instead, it gives lawmakers “some encouragement and closing thoughts” as DeVos prepares to exit the Education Department. DeVos’ letter offers an unemotional farewell to a Congress that had a chilly relationship with her from the start. Her 2017 Senate confirmation required a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.

Truck sought after blasts damage parked car, shake homes
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police in Pittsburgh are searching for a white pickup truck after explosions in two neighborhoods that shook homes and damaged a parked car. Police said an incendiary device was thrown from a moving vehicle in the Lawrenceville neighborhood just after 9 p.m. Sunday. They said another explosion was reported just after 10:30 p.m. Sunday in the Hill district, with residents “feeling their homes shake and some type of odor in the air,” police said. A bomb squad with explosive detection dogs responded, but police said no evidence had been recovered. A pickup truck is being sought in the first blast, which damaged the parked car. No injuries were reported.

The New Brighton Public Works Department will offer curbside collection and recycling of Christmas trees in New Brighton Borough every Monday now through the end of January.  Trees shall be placed at the curb once all decorations and tree bags have been removed.  Trees over six feet (6′) in height shall be cut in half.  Please call (724) 846-1870 and provide the address where the tree can be collected.