WASHINGTON (AP) — Self-described “Middle Class Joe” Biden has left the ranks of the middle class in terms of his financial status. The Democratic presidential candidate reports in tax returns and disclosure forms that he and his wife have earned more than $15 million in the years since he was vice president in the Obama administration. Before lucrative book and speaking deals, Biden took in little more than his government salary as vice president and, before that, a U.S. senator from Delaware.

(Photos taken by Sandy Giordano)

FARMERS MARKET DAYS KICKED OFF IN HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP LAST NIGHT. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO WAS THERE. A booth where a lady was selling all types of homemade soaps attracted several shoppers. (Becky Durr is pictured, she’s from Darlington..Reusable shopping bags were distributed to visitors). Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

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(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

It was a lengthy Commissioners’ work session Wednesday, and the majority of it focused on county parks and fund prioritizing.

For starters, Department & Public Works director Dan Colville brought the Commissioners up to speed on the latest regarding a “sliding” area of Brady’s Run that has been closed off to the public, leading to the Commissioners questioning what still needs to be done and how much it will cost. Unfortunately, Colville informed the Commissioners that Brady’s Run wasn’t the only issue:

After Colville spoke, Solicitor Garen Fedeles talked about the upcoming resolutions for Thursday’s public session, including the contracts of a pair of Habitat For Humanity homes in the county, as well as a $400,000 grant to renovate the Rochester War Memorial.

Then it was time for the audience participation, which ended up dominating the final two thirds of the work session. First was Roger Thomas, an Ambridge resident who is also the co-chair of the Pennsylvania Committee for the Anaylsis and Reform of Our Criminal System, who spoke out against the current amount of jury expenses that Beaver County is paying. Thomas broke the numbers down and asked the Commissioners to make the right move:

Thomas also insisted that the old rule insisting that jurors getting paid 17 cents a mile from the post office in their zip code be changed to 17 cents a mile starting from the jurors’ address.

Commissioners Tony Amadio and Sandie Egley had their injunctions with Thomas in regards to his request, particularly Egley’s concerns on how the move would effect local businesses. But Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp disagreed with Egley, feeling that the move would be okay for local businesses:

Then two members of a project looking to put a historic landmark along Crows Run Road spoke to the Commissioners about their hopes to memorialize a Civil War-era gunmaker and blacksmith near the site of the old scrap yard along the road.

Finally, the recent disclosure of Brush Creek Park having received $1 million in funds over the last year was brought front and center, as two Marion Township representatives let their views on what the county was doing with those funds be heard. Police Commissioner Alan Dambach and Secretary Treasurer Marilyn Zona both accused the County for feeling that the funds were being used solely on the bridge located in the township and that Brush Creek Park was being neglected because of it. Zona got into a verbal tussle with Commissioner Sandie Egley over the matter:

Dambach also felt that the county was being neglectful towards Brush Creek, and told the Commissioners what he wanted–something Commissioner Egley felt the County already had:

The Commissioners will reconvene tomorrow for public session at 10:00 AM.

(Photo taken by Sandy Giordano)

AMBRIDGE COUNCIL LAST NIGHT KICKED OFF THE PLANNING STAGE FOR THE 2024 BICENTENNIAL. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO WAS THERE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

President Donald Trump wants to “make America white again” by including a U.S. citizenship question on the 2020 census, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Pelosi made the remark while addressing the media Monday in her home city of San Francisco. Republicans, Pelosi said, are attempting voter suppression and gerrymandering so “just their people vote and not the general population”.

The Disabled American Veterans organization is teaming up with Recruit Military to hire military veterans and military spouses at a job fair at Heinz Field tomorrow. Beaver County Radio News Intern Kristian Biega has more on the story. Click on ‘play’ to hear Kristian’s report…

The Calumet Volunteer Fire Department in Westmoreland County has decided to pull the plug on a big fundraising event it had scheduled later this month…due to religious opposition. The event was billed as a “Sparkling Queens of Drag Bingo” night set for July 20. A similar Calumet drag queen fundraiser earlier this year raised about $10,000. But, fire department officials say they had no choice but to cancel the event because they sold only about 60 tickets. They had hoped to sell 300 by now. A group of seven pastors from churches in the Mount Pleasant Township area sent out a letter in March saying in part: “This event encourages the touching, fondling, and groping of patrons dressed in drag.” But the drag queen bingo game organizers say the volunteer fire department is now the loser. Jeffrey Kaczynski, spokesman for the Sparkling Queens of Drag, says that all of their events are sellouts…raising over $180,000 for local fire departments, and local organizations in the span of just one year.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia police are seeking a mob of people, mostly teens, who looted a pharmacy. Police on Tuesday released video that shows about 60 people flooding into a Walgreens on South Street around 10 p.m. on July Fourth. Some are shown knocking items off shelves while others are shown fleeing with merchandise. Police Capt. Sekou Kinebrew tells WPVI-TV a cashier who tried to intervene was hit on the head with a glass bottle.

A vote is expected this week that could raise the tuition for 14 universities that are part of the State System of Higher Education. The Board of Governors are working to set the basic tuition rate for the 2019-2020 school year during the meetings today and tomorrow at the Dixon University Center. Last year, the board raised tuition three percent, which was its second-lowest increase in more than a decade.