The Beaver County Humane Society held a second pet food drive to help benefit the animals living and looking for homes at the Humane Society on May 19. BCHS Executive Director Susan Salyards spoke with Matt Drzik on A.M. Beaver County about the event and the good it does for the community of animals in Beaver County.
To listen to the full interview, click on the player below!
The Center Township Supervisors have set in motion plans for a new municipal building, Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has details:
FBI: Shooter at Pensacola base coordinated with al-Qaida
By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they have proven a link between the gunman in the deadly December attack at the Pensacola Naval Air Station and al-Qaida. The officials say the gunman, a Saudi Air Force officer, was meticulous in his planning and had been radicalized overseas for at least five years. The gunman killed three U.S. sailors before he was killed by a sheriff’s deputy during the rampage at a classroom building where he had been undergoing flight training. The FBI learned of the contacts between Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani and operatives of al-Qaida after breaking the encryption on cellphones that had previously been locked and that the shooter had tried to destroy.
2017 video shows Georgia officer tried to tase Ahmaud Arbery
By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A video released Monday shows police in Georgia attempting to search Ahmaud Arbery’s parked car in 2017, and when he refuses to let them and begins to walk back to the vehicle an officer tries to use a stun gun on him. The video, first obtained by The Guardian, shows Arbery refusing Glynn County police when they ask to search his Toyota and as he walks toward his vehicle he is told “keep your hands out your pockets.” The officer then pulls the Taser and attempts to use it but it malfunctions. Arbery was killed Feb. 23 after a pursuit by a white father and son who armed themselves and gave chase after seeing the 25-year-old black man running in their subdivision.
Wolf: Pocono Raceway may have to resume races without fans
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf says NASCAR can hold its races at Pocono Raceway in late June if the coronavirus situation improves in the area, though the races might have to go off without fans. Pocono Raceway is in Monroe County, which currently is under Wolf’s strictest pandemic orders, or a red designation. But Wolf said that if Monroe County moves to yellow before the races, then NASCAR may hold the races June 27 and 28 as long as there are no spectators present and guidelines are followed to keep competitors safe. NASCAR resumed its Cup Series schedule Sunday at Darlington, South Carolina, without fans.
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Starling Marte announced on social media that his wife Noelia has died of a heart attack. Marte made the announcement on Monday night and wrote that he was “grateful for the expressions of esteem and solidarity in this difficult time.” The 31-year-old Marte has played his entire eight-year big league career with the Pittsburgh Pirates before being traded to the Diamondbacks during the offseason. Both the Pirates and Diamondbacks responded to Marte with condolences on social media.
AAA: Pennsylvania Gas Prices Jump Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend
The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is 16 cents higher this week at $2.265 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
On the week, Pennsylvania (+8 cents) saw the largest increase among Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states and saw the second biggest jump of all states in the country. Otherwise states in the region saw mostly increases of a few pennies, but no more than a nickel. State averages range between $1.71 in North Carolina to $2.17 in Washington, D.C. In addition to Washington, D.C., New York ($2.15) and Pennsylvania ($2.14) carry the most expensive averages in the region and land among the top 10 highest in the country.
While gasoline stocks saw a slight increase, to push total inventory to nearly 71 million barrels, regional refinery rates dropped just below 50%. As more states in the region move towards opening, which is likely to increase gasoline demand, motorists can expect gas prices to increase, but still remain cheap compared to typical May pump prices.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average $2.265
Average price during the week of May 11, 2020 $2.106
Average price during the week of May 20, 2019 $3.068
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$2.258 Altoona
$2.264 Beaver
$2.264 Bradford
$2.248 Brookville
$2.263 Butler
$2.211 Clarion
$2.224 Du Bois
$2.265 Erie
$2.261 Greensburg
$2.284 Indiana
$2.258 Jeannette
$2.273 Kittanning
$2.259 Latrobe
$2.281 Meadville
$2.296 Mercer
$2.180 New Castle
$2.279 New Kensington
$2.299 Oil City
$2.270 Pittsburgh
$2.299 Sharon
$2.278 Uniontown
$2.295 Warren
$2.295 Washington
On the National Front
Pump prices continue to increase across the country with nearly every state’s average pushing more expensive on the week, on average by four cents. At the start of the Memorial Day work week, the national gas price average is $1.87.
The last time the national gas price average leading into the holiday was under $2/gallon was 17 years ago in 2003. That year motorists paid, on average, $1.50 to fill-up. Gas prices this year won’t be as cheap as 2003, but today’s national average is a dollar cheaper than one year ago. While Memorial Day gas prices are likely to remain this cheap, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer is not going to drive the typical millions of Americans to travel as the country continues to practice social distancing.
Americans can expect gas prices to continue to push more expensive, possibly hitting $2/gallon in the next few weeks. This is mostly due to demand increasing as states re-open. This week will also bring the Environmental Protection Agency’s waiver on the sale of winter-blend gasoline to an end. Stations will switch over to summer-blend gasoline, which is more expensive to produce. Typically, the switchover to summer-blend can cause gas prices to spike during the summer driving season, but that will likely not be the case this year due to the impact of COVID-19 on demand and crude oil prices.
At the end of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $1.87 cents to settle at $29.43 per barrel. Crude prices increased last week amid growing market optimism that crude demand continues to rebound as more states re-open and demand for gasoline has grown in recent weeks.
Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.
AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 78 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.
Department of Health Announces CDC Teams to Assist in Pennsylvania COVID-19 Response
Harrisburg, PA – Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sent three teams to Pennsylvania to assist with the COVID-19 response.
“We are so pleased to have this level of collaboration and assistance from the CDC to help our teams working in the field in Pennsylvania,” Dr. Levine said. “COVID-19 is a particularly challenging situation for congregate settings, including large workplaces, food industries and long-term care facilities. These teams are assisting us in our response in these hardest-hit areas as we work to protect the public health and safety of Pennsylvanians.”
These teams arrived in Pennsylvania on Thursday, May 14. Since then, they have been working to become familiar with the situation across the state so they can begin providing assistance to locations in need. There are two teams assisting long-term care facilities and one team assisting food facility outbreaks.
The CDC teams will be onsite in Pennsylvania for two weeks to help in the response using their expertise. These teams will help assess the situation, teach infection control practices, and offer training on personal protective equipment (PPE) and outbreak response at the facilities they visit. They will also assist with developing a testing strategy for the nursing homes they visit and use their expertise to help cohort residents.
As of 12:00 a.m., May 18 p.m., there were 63,056 positive cases of COVID-19 statewide in 67 counties and 4,505 confirmed deaths. Most of the patients hospitalized are 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 and older. More data is available here.
The Wolf Administration stresses the role Pennsylvanians play in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19:
Updated Coronavirus Links: Press Releases, State Lab Photos, Graphics
All Pennsylvania residents are encouraged to sign up for AlertPA, a text notification system for health, weather, and other important alerts like COVID-19 updates from commonwealth agencies. Residents can sign up online at www.ready.pa.gov/BeInformed/
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Rescue crews in western Pennsylvania are searching for a man who fell into the Ohio River while fishing near Pittsburgh over the weekend. Ohio Township police said 23-year-old Kenneth Robinson had been fishing with three friends from a boat dock on Neville Island when he fell into the water Saturday night. Swift water rescue crews and search dogs have been taking part along with township police and emergency medical personnel.