(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.

(Photos taken by Beaver County Radio Staff Member Matt Drzik)

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

(Freedom, Pa.) Firefighters from the Borough of Freedom and several other local fire departments  responded to a house fire at 1050 8th Avenue around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, January 2, 2021. According to Freedom Borough Fire Chief Mark Forrest there was extensive damage to the 2 story frame home, and the homeowner was able to escape without injury.

(Monaca Pa.) On Sunday night the 117^th Congress of the United States started the term by holding an election for the Speaker of the House. Nancy Pelosi a California Democrat is the only women speaker in US history. This election was set to be possibly be the closest challenge to date of her three other terms as Speaker of the House. With the Democrats having a slim majority and the COVID-19 Pandemic effecting Congress members who could and couldn’t vote.  In the end Pelosi was selected to her fourth term with the gavel.

Pelosi won with 216 votes to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s 209. Not a single Republican defected from McCarthy, compared to six in 2019.

But Pelosi’s appointment wasn’t agreeable by five Democratic members of Congress including local Congressman from the 17^th District Conor Lamb. Rep. Lamb voted for House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries a New York Democrat, who is considered a rising star in the caucus ranks. Back in 2019 Lamb also went against the majority of Democrats and cast his vote for Speaker  for former Rep. Joe Kennedy. Beaver County Radio reached out to Rep. Lamb’s team to find out why he voted the way he did and via e-mail statement the Congress man said ““When I first ran for Congress three years ago, my constituents told me they wanted new leadership across the board, and I promised to vote for new leadership even in my own party.  That’s what I did again yesterday.”

As for the other four Congressman that voted for someone other than Pelosi  Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) cast his Speaker vote for Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), a former House member turned senator who was considered a potential running mate for President-elect Joe Biden last year and the other three voted “present”: Reps. Mikie Sherrill (N.J.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.) and Abigail Spanberger (Va.).