PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The attorney general of Pennsylvania says he’s filing a lawsuit accusing a pharmaceutical giant of fueling the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office said it would announce details of the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon. Pennsylvania is one of the states hardest hit by opioid addiction. Shapiro’s office two years ago joined with dozens of other states to investigate companies that make and distribute opioid painkillers. Several Pennsylvania counties have already sued drugmakers.

UNDATED (AP) — A new study bolsters evidence that soda taxes can reduce sales, but whether they influence health remains an open question. The research published Tuesday found that a Philadelphia tax imposed in 2017 led to higher prices and a 38 percent decline in soda sales that year. That’s taking into account an increase in sales in neighboring cities. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

THE ALIQUIPPA ASSISTANT POLICE CHIEF IS FACING A HEARING, AS WE HEAR IN THIS REPORT FROM BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

A Monaca woman accused of leading police on a chase through Center Township and Aliquippa will stand trial later this year. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has more…

A bill is being introduced at the state Capitol to close the religious and philosophical exemptions in Pennsylvania’s immunization law. Senate Bill 653 only would allow for anyone with a pre-existing health problem to be exempt from being immunized. Senator Daylin Leach says he’s introducing the bill to help stop the spread of easily preventable but deadly diseases.

According to this week’s Triple-A East Central Gas price report the average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is two cents cheaper this week at $3.08 per gallon. Gas prices are decreasing despite the Energy Information Administration’s latest reports which show an increase in demand to summer-like levels and a decrease in gasoline stocks. The national price is at 2.86 a gallon down three cents from last week.

Investigators say 23 people in western P-A are among the nearly 180 statewide facing welfare fraud charges. The charges were filed Monday totaling 886-thousand dollars over the first quarter of 2019. If convicted the suspects face up to seven years in prison and a 15-thousand-dollar fine.

THE CHIPPEWA TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT IS PARTICIPATING IN A NATIONAL ‘CLICK IT OR TICKET’ SEAT BELT ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVE BEGINNING THIS WEEK AND CONTINUING THROUGH JUNE 2ND. THE GOAL IS TO REDUCE UNBELTED INJURIES AND DEATHS ON PENNSYLVANIA HIGHWAYS THROUGH COORDINATED ENFORCEMENT USING TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT ZONES AND ROVING PATROLS. CITATIONS WILL BE ISSUED TO MOTORISTS WHO ARE CAUGHT UNBUCKLED OR TRANSPORTING UNRESTRAINED CHILDREN. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT PENNDOT.GOV/SAFETY.

A Zelienople man was killed and a woman injured in an overnight crash on the North Shore. Police said the driver lost control of the vehicle on the ramp to the Fort Duquesne Bridge from Allegheny Avenue. The crash occurred around 1:30 this morning. According to the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office, 30-year-old Joshua Wine of Zelienople was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman was injured and transported to a local hospital; her condition is not known. It’s not clear who was driving the vehicle. Area streets reopened around 5 a.m.

MCKEESPORT, Pa. (AP) — A judge has ruled that a western Pennsylvania man must stand trial on charges he flushed his grandparents’ ashes down a toilet after his mother kicked him out of her home. Thomas Wells faces two counts of abuse of a corpse and a criminal mischief charge. McKeesport police say the Pittsburgh man had been staying with his mother for a brief time before she asked him to leave last September. She says a relative later told her what happened with the ashes. Wells has denied flushing the ashes.