During the last five years, Pittsburgh’s police roster has shifted toward less experienced officers. In 2012, about half the force had more than 17 years of experience. By 2017, that median dropped to 12 years.

About 30 percent of officers in 2017 were in their first five years on the job, according to the rosters.

“There is definitely a lack of experience there for the younger officers,” said retired officer Ryan Carr, who left in May during his 24th year. “When I came on, the first guys I partnered with were 20 to 25-year veterans. The average age at some of these stations now, average time on the job is five or six years.”

— According to a police report, Two men have been charged with lighting a car on fire in Beaver Falls in an attempt to destroy it.

A witness told police she saw two men run from the area just prior to her noticing smoke coming from the car.

Brandon Broomfield, 24, of White Township approached the scene and told officers he was the owner of the car. He reported he had “been having issues with the vehicle smoking.” His friend Jason F. Reid, 38, of Ellwood City also made contact with the police.

Beaver Falls Fire Chief Mark Stowe told investigators “something did not seem right about the situation.” The fire was burning with a blue flame, which indicated an accelerant could have been used to start the fire. The fire department’s accelerant-sniffing dog, Patty, was called in to assist in the investigation & she indicated accelerant on Reid’s shoes. Police eventually learned that this was their third attempt at setting the car on fire.

Both Reid and Broomfield were charged by Beaver Falls police with arson, arson with the intent to collect insurance, reckless burning, criminal mischief and conspiracy.

— People who knew the 18-year-old Taiwanese exchange student charged in the U.S. with threatening to shoot up his school say that he liked guns and wanted to join the police. An Tso Sun, who has been jailed in Pennsylvania, was “an extremely simple and kind student, yet he would often have unusual ideas,” his former tutor says. Sun says his comments were a joke but has been charged with making terrorist threats.

Sharmion Peake, 30, was charged by Aliquippa police with burglary, trespassing, criminal mischief and theft. Police used fingerprints left on the glass of a broken window to connect him to the burglary of a Fifth Avenue barbershop.

According to the report, police found several fingerprints on the inside of the broken glass believing the suspect pulled himself through the broken window to get inside. Cigarette lighters were stolen, along with about $30 in change.

At an event in Richfield OH, PRESIDENT Donald Trump talked about his10-year plan to build and fix roads, bridges, pipes and put broadband access in rural America. The plan would be a combined effort of federal, state and local tax dollars along with private investment. His idea is to leverage $200 billion in federal tax dollars with $1.3 trillion from the other sources to reach the final figure.
Such a plan could create as many as 414,000 jobs.

The president referred to the plan as “the next phase of America’s comeback.” He said he knows about building things, adding he may have been better at it than being president. “This is the biggest and boldest infrastructure plan in the last half-century,” Trump said.
“We are like, in many cases, a third-world country.”

Trump referred to digging the Panama Canal and building the Empire State Building as feats to aspire to again. And a key part of his plan, he said, is to reduce a burdensome regulatory approval waiting time from as long as a dozen years to just a year by establishing one federal point of contact for a yes or no answer on a project.

“We must reclaim that proud heritage,” Trump said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan already has said the proposal could be divided into as many as six bills.

PHILADELPHIA ENERGY

Interfaith protests and arrests marked the week before Easter as clergy and congregants demanded investment in a clean-energy grid for Philadelphia’s low-income communities. Twenty five people with the Power Local Green Jobs campaign were arrested for acts of peaceful civil disobedience over three days this week as they demanded more investment in local solar anergy. Greg Holt with the Earth Quaker Action Team points out that PECO, the Philadelphia Electric Company, gets almost two-thirds of its power from fossil fuels in a city where dirty air contributes to high rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases.

WEATHER FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018

TODAY: Possibility of Snow tapering off and ending this morning but skies will remain cloudy this afternoon. Some rain may mix in. High 44F.

TONIGHT: Partly cloudy. Low 27F

SATURDAY: Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours and will become overcast in the afternoon. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 56F.

SUNDAY: Partly cloudy. High around 45F.

A year and a half after he pleaded guilty to tax conspiracy, sentencing for Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School founder Nick Trombetta has been scheduled for this summer.
Sentencing for Trombetta’s accountant, Neal Prence of Koppel, is scheduled for July.
Prence was indicted alongside Trombetta and charged with tax conspiracy for assisting Trombetta in the tax fraud scheme. Trombetta’s sister, Elaine Trombetta Neill, is expected in court early next week.

Then-prosecutor James Wilson alleged Neill used a company set up by her brother as a “conduit through which Dr. Nicholas Trombetta could channel money to himself, his sister, his mother and other persons.”

NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. FIRE

Thankfully, there were no injuries in a Thursday morning fire at 2365 River Road in North Sewickley Twp.— Unfortunately a dog and cat were killed.

North Sewickley Township Assistant Fire Chief Randy Syphrit said a passerby saw smoke coming out of all the windows at 10:11 a.m. and reported it. Syphrit said he believes the cause to be electrical…maybe a salt water aquarium’s pump.

Neither homeowner Linda Maloney nor her son, Justin Patterson were in the home at the time of the fire.

Frisco, Koppel, Ellwood City and Wurtemburg-Perry fire departments all assisted.

The loss of about 850 jobs with the potential closing of First Energy’s Nuclear Power Plant could be only the beginning of difficulties for the area.

According to Mike Rubino, executive director of the United Way of Beaver County said, “First Energy Corp. has been an unbelievable partner, not just to the United Way, but to other charities in Beaver County. They’ve always gone over and above.”

“It’s a tough day,” Rubino said after hearing the news that FirstEnergy Corp. could deactivate the plant within the next three years. “It’s definitely going to be a challenging next couple of years.”

FirstEnergy’s impact in the community goes well beyond the United Way. According to the company’s website, FirstEnergy pays upwards of $4 million annually in property, payroll and utility taxes to support area schools.

None of this includes the volunteer hours and food donations from the Power Plant employees.