PA-17 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OFFICES REOPENING

 

(PITTSBURGH, PA) – Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17) announced the Beaver County, Mt. Lebanon and Penn Hills District Offices will reopen to constituents effective Monday, June 22 as Beaver County and Allegheny County have both entered Pennsylvania’s Green Phase of the reopening matrix.

“My offices have been helping constituents remotely over the past few months,” said Lamb.  “As we begin to reopen our economy, I strongly encourage constituents to call our office for assistance, practice social distancing and to limit contact.  However, some constituents may need an in-person meeting.  Our office will follow the guidance from the CDC and local and state public health officials while working to meet the needs of constituents.”

All visitors to PA-17 District Offices are required to wear masks for entry, and all office staff will continue to follow non-contact protocols.  Appointments are not required but are strongly encouraged.  To schedule a meeting or for assistance with any federal issue please contact: Beaver County (724-206-4860), Mt. Lebanon (412-344-5583) or Penn Hills (412-871-2060).

 Lamb’s office is available to assist PA-17 residents with issues regarding federal agencies, including:

• Social Security Administration (SSA)
• Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA)
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
• Medicare
• U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
• Department of State (DoS)
• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
• Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

Click here for resources and information on coronavirus.

As we continue to look at Beaver County Memories, we turn our attention to “industrial strength” memories.  This segment is part of a special series showcasing the manufacturing sector. Beaver County Memories brought to you by St. Barnabas.

Beaver County is well known for making steel.  Behemoth mills bearing the names of Jones and Laughlin, Crucible and Babcock and Wilcox became legendary for their contributions to the local economy as well as keeping the world supplied with top quality products, as only Beaver County workers could produce. But there were other things that were made in Beaver County.  Everything from fine china to chocolates, to bricks to cork and many other products were created by local residents through the years.

Even as this segment was being written, a quick search on one of the prominent online auction sites found over eleven hundred items listed for sale bearing the name of  Mayer China. The listing of items included everything from cups, saucers, bowls, plates, teapots, coffee mugs and other items that were created at Mayer China’s plant located in Beaver Falls.  Some of the locally produced dinnerware was priced, in some cases, over a thousand dollars for a complete table setting.   

Mayer China continues to be  a very popular and well recognized brand as it was back in the day. The company had a very successful run for around a hundred years that began in 1881 when Ernest and Joseph Mayer bought Economy Pottery, a small company that was originally set up by The Harmonist Society.  By the 1920’s Mayer China was recognized around the world as being a top quality product and was used in cruise ships, railroads, fancy hotels and later on airlines. Mayer China even supplied its signature place settings for the The White Star Line, the famous British ship builder that built the RMS Titanic. 

Mayer China was located near the Beaver River along second avenue in Beaver Falls. That location enabled the plant to harness water power from the river in the early days to run its machines.  At its height, around three hundred people worked in the factory and they helped create a lasting legacy.   A tradition especially common among people from Beaver Falls, continues to be flipping over plates and saucers in restaurants to see if the chinaware has the Mayer China name imprinted on the bottom. In addition, Beaver County grandparents would bequeath their precious sets of Mayer China to their grandkids. The chinaware produced by Mayer China seemed to have special value simply because it was made locally in Beaver Falls.

Mayer China closed in 1990, but was reopened a couple of times up through about 2000 under different ownerships before closing for good. The factory has since been torn down, but the former office building and warehouse store still stands and houses a used auto parts business. 

Here is one tip from the writer, wait until you are completely done with that cup of coffee before you  turn it upside down to inspect it for the Mayer China name.  A suggestion learned from experience. 

This “industrial strength” Beaver County memory has been presented by St. Barnabas. Archived transcripts of this and other Beaver County Memories can be found at Beaver County Radio dot com. Tune in everyday for another Beaver County Memory on WBVP, WMBA, 99.3 F.M., and online through google play and iTunes apps, and Alexa smart devices.

Projected first-year college enrollment down in Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Projected first-year enrollment is down at Pennsylvania’s 14 state universities. According to numbers released Thursday by the state’s higher education system, 17,277 students paid deposits this week compared to 17,583 during this period last year. That’s a decline of nearly 2%. However, enrollment numbers vary. Cheyney University saw a 51% increase in first-year students making deposits at the historically black school. Bloomsburg University saw the deepest decline with 19% fewer first-year students enrolling. Officials cited the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for the lower numbers. But they also say there is a continuing decline in high school graduates. Completed applications statewide are down 6% this year.

 

This Saturday demonstrators plan to be at the Beaver County Courthouse for another protest, the latest in a series of protests here in Beaver County and across America following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Beaver County Radio spoke with Julian Taylor, who helped organize the last protest in Beaver Falls, about the details regarding this Saturday’s protest:

 

Taylor also wants to reiterate that this protest will NOT be the last, and that there is an important lesson that he hopes those protesting will keep with them:

 

The protest will be at the Courthouse from 1:00pm to 3:00pm on Saturday, June 13.

Gunman sought in deputy shooting killed, 3 officers wounded
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities say they are unsure of the motive of a gunman who was shot to death following a 36-hour hunt but they believe one thing: he planned to kill police. Twenty-six-year-old Mason Lira was killed Thursday afternoon after he emerged from a brushy riverbed in Paso Robles where he had hidden all night, authorities said. Three other law enforcement officers were wounded in confrontations but are expected to recover. Lira had been sought for the wounding of a San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputy Wednesday, an attack on a Paso Robles police station and the killing of a transient nearby.

Historical figures reassessed around globe after Floyd death
By SARAH RANKIN and DAVID CRARY Associated Press
Outrage over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis has sparked activism to pull down monuments in the U.S. and around the world. The campaign to remove Confederate monuments has intensified, an effort that has extended to statues of slave traders, imperialists and explorers globally. Protests and sometimes acts of vandalism have taken place in such cities as Boston; New York; Paris; Brussels; and Oxford, England. Scholars are divided over whether this amounts to erasing history or updating it. Targets of recent protests include statues of Christopher Columbus, British imperialist Cecil Rhodes and Belgium’s King Leopold II, who profited from a brutal regime in Congo.

Downplaying virus risk, Trump gets back to business as usual
By JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is back to business as usual three months after bowing to the realities of a pandemic that put big chunks of life on pause. It comes as coronavirus cases are on the upswing in many parts of the country. While the nation has now had months to stockpile protective gear and ventilators, a vaccine is many months away at best and a model cited by the White House projects tens of thousands of more deaths by the end of September. But the president’s campaign is again scheduling mass arena rallies, and he is back to spending summer weekends at his New Jersey golf club.

Stock markets pick up after heavy Wall Street rout
By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer
Stock markets are picking up following Wall Street’s steep sell-off the day before on worries over a possible “second wave” of coronavirus cases. Benchmarks rose Friday in Europe. The FTSE 100 recovered after falling on news that the British economy contracted by more than 20% in April. That wiped out nearly two decades’ worth of growth. Asia shares mostly closed lower. U.S. markets were set for gains on the open with the Dow future contract up 2.2% and S&P 500 futures 1.9% higher. On Thursday, the Dow fell almost 7%.

(South Strabane Twp., Pa.) A Truck Driver was killed Friday morning when his Tractor Trailer he was driving crashed shortly after 1 a.m. this morning on Interstate 70 in South Strabane Township.

It’s being reported that the truck hit a bridge support on the I-79 South bound underpass after going over the hillside.

A hazmat team was called to the scene because the truck was leaking diesel fuel, officials said.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the crash.