Pennsylvania educator wins National Teacher of the Year award

(Source for Photo and Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Brett Sims/Council of Chief State School Officers – Danielle Smith, Keystone News Service, Caption for Photo: Ashlie Crosson, the 2025 National Teacher of the Year, will spend a year representing educators and serving as an ambassador for the teaching profession. – Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Reported by Danielle Smith of Keystone News Service)

(Mifflin County, PA) A high school educator from Pennsylvania has been named this year’s National Teacher of the Year, one of the highest honors in the field. The prestigious award is for educators who have demonstrated excellence in the classroom and exceptional commitment to their students. Ashlie Crosson teaches Advanced Placement language and composition, English 10 and survival stories at Mifflin County High School. She says she’s honored to receive the award. Inspired by great teachers growing up, she has been an educator for more than 14 years and calls teaching one of the oldest and most rewarding careers and one the world will always need. According to Crosson, “I had amazing teachers who valued me and invested in me and made me feel confident and smart and important. If you can do a job where you get to make other people feel like that, that’s a good way to spend a life. And I think that’s what we try to sort of focus on or celebrate for students.” Crosson also teaches the journalism program, which publishes the school newspaper and the district magazine. She has had a positive impact on her students’ academic and career paths as some of her former students now work at the local newspaper.

“Martinis with Monet Art Expo” hosted by the Cranberry Artists Network features a Pittsburgh artist as its juror along with people participating in the art exhibition

(Photo of Carolyn Pierotti Courtesy of the Cranberry Artists Network)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) The Cranberry Artists Network will hold an art exhibition called the “Martinis with Monet Art Expo” from July 9th through August 21st at the Cranberry Township Community Center. Participants 18 years old and above are invited to join this fundraising event starting on July 10th from 7-9 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for artists and $20 for all others that night while all other nights are free. The juror is Carolyn Pierotti, a Pittsburgh artist who owns Purple Room Fine Art, LLC. You can also visit cranberryartistsnetwork.com for more information or to make an entry for this show.

 

AAA East Central’s gas price report states gas prices drop seven cents in Western Pennsylvania this week

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Gas prices are seven cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at about $3.51 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The report states that at this time a year ago, the average price for a gallon of gas in Western Pennsylvania was $3.82. The report also notes that the average price that you can expect for a gallon of unleaded gas here in Beaver County is around $3.65. According to a release from AAA East Central and their weekly gas price report, here are the average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various Pennsylvania areas:

$3.389      Altoona
$3.652      Beaver
$3.594      Bradford
$3.400      Brookville
$3.571      Butler
$3.389      Clarion
$3.388      DuBois
$3.313      Erie
$3.452      Greensburg
$3.535      Indiana
$3.456      Jeannette
$3.662      Kittanning
$3.513      Latrobe
$3.580      Meadville
$3.582      Mercer
$3.481      New Castle
$3.461      New Kensington
$3.601      Oil City
$3.550      Pittsburgh

$3.418      Sharon
$3.607      Uniontown
$3.699      Warren
$3.506      Washington

Man taken into custody for using a slingshot to shoot rocks at people in Pittsburgh

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) An eighteen-year-old man hit victims with rocks on Sunday in Mellon Square Park in Pittsburgh and was apprehended for his actions. The suspect, Yashua Strong, used a slingshot to hit several victims, including one that was walking with his dog. According to a criminal complaint, Strong started shooting rocks towards other people on 6th Avenue and Smithfield Street. Strong got taken into custody and his charges include aggravated assault, a propulsion of missiles and criminal mischief.

 

Man from the Pittsburgh area charged after stealing sports trading cards with a value of $47,000 from two owners

(File Photo of two City of Pittsburgh Police Cars on a Street with a Person Walking in the Background)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A man from the Pittsburgh area now has charges against him for stealing from two collectors and taking sports trading cards worth over $40,000. According to a criminal complaint, Gregory Orosz of White Oak agreed to take 54 trading cards and grading fees from two individuals to have them professionally authenticated. Police confirm that Orosz refused and $47,000 was stolen from the two owners.

Pittsburgh man gets a prison sentence of seventy months and three years of supervised release for disobeying federal firearm laws and distributing controlled substances in Western Pennsylvania

(File Photo of the united States Department of Justice Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Revetti announced that a Pittsburgh man received seventy months in prison and three years of supervised release on Thursday. Thirty-eight-year-old George Sotoris Vlastos had two federal firearms violations and was accused of distributing controlled substances around and in May of 2020 in Western Pennsylvania. Vlastos also disobeyed federal law by owning a firearm while owning controlled substances and made wrong statements to get that firearm.

Resident of Guatemala pleads guilty to a charge of an illegal re-entry of a removed alien

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Coraopolis, PA) Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Revetti announced that a resident of Guatemala pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of an illegal re-entry of a removed alien. Thirty-five-year-old Juan Manuel Secaida got arrested by the Coraopolis Police Department on April 1st, 2025 for being in the country illegally. Secaida was also removed from the country in January of 2020. According to Revetti, Secaida has been in federal custody since his April arrest and will return to immigration custody.

Vote for election reform bill that would change several election laws taking place in the Pennsylvania House

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., on April 4, 2022. Pennsylvania voters on Tuesday, Nov. 8, will send dozens of new representatives and senators to the Legislature, thanks to a slew of retirements and new district maps that were revamped by the state’s redistricting commission. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Today is the day in which a vote will take place in the Pennsylvania House about an election reform bill that is wide-ranging. The bill known as the Pennsylvania Election Code was advanced Monday. The passing of this bill would change the laws in the state for voting in-person early, the accuracy of voting systems and penalties for interfering with elections. Laws that deal with ballot pre-canvassing and drop boxes of ballots would also be changed if the bill passes.

Environmental Protection Agency removes Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program and costs over a half a million dollars for Beaver County organizations and related initiatives

(File Photo of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) The Environmental Protection Agency has gotten rid of the Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program. An email was sent last Tuesday by the CEO and president of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative to applicants and grantees that noted operations that occur daily needed to stop. Over $500,000 for initiatives for economic vitality and local public health that was either on or not on contract will affect Beaver County organizations including RiverWise, the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community and Three Rivers Waterkeeper.

Unidentified suspect arrested for driving under the influence in Center Township

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Center Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that an unidentified suspect was arrested after driving under the influence in Center Township on April 20th, 2025. The suspect committed a vehicle code violation that day and police stopped the person on Block Church Drive. According to police, the suspect was subsequently arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance and the suspect has pending charges.