9 Vehicle chain reaction crash in Lawrence County

According to Trooper Matthew Woloszyn the crash on routes 422 and 388 in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence County on Wednesday was “Without a fatality being involved, it’s probably the worst crash that I’ve investigated,” Tara Ulrich who was on board the Newcastle Transit Authority bus said there were 9 vehicles involved. The chain reaction crash included a tractor trailer, a pick-up truck, several cars and a bus.
Three people with “major life-threatening injuries” were flown by medical helicopter to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, police said in a WTAE-TV interview. All others in the crash suffered minor or no injuries, police said.

More than the number of people who die in car crashes or by gun violence is the total of Americans who died of overdoses in 2017. That number released on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control indicates it is more than 70,000.
Gateway Rehab’s new medical director, Dr. Jason Kirby, who has only been on the job a little over a month, stated that “Unfortunately, the rates of addiction are still on the rise in this country.” and Pennsylvania, as well as West Virginia and Ohio, rank among the highest.
Dr. Kirby says every demographic has seen an uptick from teens to people in their 80s and one of the main contributors is a drug with a strength 50-times more powerful than heroine: fentanyl.

Dr. Kirby says if it hasn’t affected you personally, it will and stresses that medicines like Narcan, an overdose reversal drug, “needs to be available, it is highly effective when used correctly when bringing people back from the brink of death.”

ABUSE

The first of four listening sessions since the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse was held at Paul Cathedral in Oakland on Thursday night. There was not a dry eye in the place as Bishop David Zubik listened along with others while stories were recounted about the horror of abuse at the hands of a priest. Organizers in the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese are hoping to create a safe space so Survivors and parishioners can work through the healing process together.

A report issued by a 75 member bipartisan Nuclear Energy Caucus states that “the value of nuclear energy is clearly evident” and doing nothing about the impending closure would be a “devastating and permanent blow to Pennsylvania’s economy and environment.” That leaves 3 options. One would be to compensate nuclear plants for their environmental attributes which is already being done for other sources of electrical generation.
The second would be propping up the economic prospects of carbon-free, zero-emissions nuclear plants by assessing a fee on electrical generators that emit carbon into the atmosphere.
The third option would involve different phases that would include a long-term approach for carbon pricing while the state government would offer immediate financial assistance.
Andrew Williams of the Environmental Integrity Fund stated that “Pennsylvania can and should step up and create a system with flexible, market-based solutions that will reduce climate pollution.” A group known as Citizens Against Nuclear Bailouts feels that “Corporations of an already profitable nuclear industry continue to go door-to-door at state capitols across the country looking to pad their shareholders’pockets with bailouts from hardworking citizens to increase their own profits.”

WEATHER FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018

TODAY: Generally cloudy. Slight chance of a shower late. High 46F.

TONIGHT: Cloudy skies. Low near 35F.

SATURDAY: Rain likely. High near 45F.

SUNDAY: Sun and a few passing clouds. High 61F.

A Fayette County man has died after being shot by his wife in a dispute over breakfast oats earlier this year. The argument and shooting followed a night of doing drugs. Rachel Eutsey allegedly grabbed a revolver from her father’s bedroom after John Maki allegedly threw a baseball bat out of an open door and began to yell at Eutsey about the oats. She told police she pointed the gun at Maki and fired in an attempt to scare him. However, the shot struck Maki in the head.
Police said the couple’s 8-month-old child was said to be filthy and in a state of neglect, and the child is now in the custody of Fayette County Children and Youth Services.

Eutsey will now likely face a homicide charge.

Sandy Girodano has a report for us on the Commissioners work session held yesterday morning.

Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has some information for us on an arrest that has been made.

Have an idea? Run with it!

A group of eight people met eight weeks ago at a mobility conference in Oakland. They heard about the problem of safe transportation for late-shift workers, especially women, and within five days they developed an idea to use off-duty drivers from the Port Authority’s Access program to fill the gap.
Ford’s “City of Tomorrow” challenge chose their Safe Shift proposal as one of three winners out of 129 project submissions. Safe Shift was the only winner that involves a mostly new organization. They will split the $100,000 in seed money with iomob, a Spanish startup developing an app that will provide users with a series of transportaion alternatives.