(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

With the sun shining and the backdrop of the Shell Cracker Plant in full view, the press conference introducing “Energize PA” to the public took place near the recently built Heritage Valley & AHN facilities in Monaca. “Energize PA” is a new legislative package looking to improve the job opportunities for PA residents looking for (or looking to keep) their jobs, and expanding the business growth brought on by new industry–such as the aforementioned Shell plant.

The bill package was created by Beaver (and Washington) County State Representative Josh Kail and House Speaker Mike Turzai (of Allegheny County), and the duo also were the main speakers at the press conference on Thursday. Kail spoke about several aspects of this that he appreciated, including the fact that his dad started as a boilermaker in the steel industries, and how the look of growth compared to the previous Horsehead Zinc Plant was astounding. Kail also talked about how Beaver will not be the only county affected by the bill:

Turzai took several minutes to openly appreciate the bill that he and Kail co-wrote, and he agreed with Kail that the working class members of the commonwealth would be greatly supported by Energize PA. The House Speaker also praised Shell for its commitment to staying local when it came to employment:

The two hosts were joined by several other Republican delegates from Beaver County and surrounding areas; one of them, Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce President Matt Smith, was chosen to talk about Energize PA and his views of what the package will do for the state’s workers and job-seekers. Smith also praised the legislation for being bipartisan and based in multiple facets of the job market:

Other attendees to the press conference were County Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp, State Representative Jim Marshall (R-Beaver/Butler), and Beaver County Chamber of Commerce President Jack Manning.

Beaver County officials are celebrating a tentative agreement with three of its largest unions. The Beaver County Times says the unions, representing more than 220 employees from county row offices, will vote Monday on a two-year-deal. If approved by the unions as well as officially by the county commissioners afterward, the new agreements would run through the last day of December 2020.

THE BEAVER COUNTY TIMES REPORTING THIS MORNING
THAT AFTER 2 CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF DECLINING
OVERDOSE DEATHS IN BEAVER COUNTY – THOSE
NUMBERS MAY AGAIN BE ON THE RISE. THE COUNTY
SAW 15 DEATHS IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS
YEAR – VERY SIMILAR TO 2016 WHEN THE SAME PERIOD
SAW 16 DIE EN ROUTE TO A FINAL TOLL THAT YEAR OF
102 OVERDOSE DEATHS. THAT YEAR WAS CONSIDERED
THE START OF THE OPIOID CRISIS IN BEAVER COUNTY.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY DAVID LOZIER SAID THAT
TRADITIONALLY THE 1ST AND 4TH QUARTES OF THE
YEAR ARE THE WORST. 41 PEOPLE DIED FROM DRUG
OVERDOSE IN THE COUNTY IN 2018, WHICH WAS HALF OF THE TOTAL FROM 2017.

Beaver County is asking the I-R-S to forgive a more than 380-thousand-dollar fine it received. The fine is connected to improper paperwork filed for payroll taxes between 2016 and 2018. The county hasn’t yet filed the proper paperwork, according to their solicitor. They are working with a financial consultant to finish those filings now.

POLICE WERE CALLED TO THE BOSCOV’S STORE
IN THE BEAVER VALLEY MALL JUST AFTER 3PM
ON MAY 4TH FOR REPORTS OF A COMBATIVE
SHOPLIFTER. UPON ARRIVAL POLICE FOUND 22
YEAR OLD HONESTI MASSEY OF CENTER ST
STRUGGLING WITH A STORE SECURITY GUARD.
DURING HER STRUGGLES MASSEY REPORT
EDLY BIT THE GUARD ON THE ARM HARD
ENOUGH TO DRAW BLOOD. MASSEY WAS FOUND
TO HAVE ABOUT $182 IN MERCHANDISE IN HER
PURSE. SHE WAS CHARGED WITH ROBBERY BY
INFLICTING BODILY HARM, SIMPLE ASSAULT,
AND RETAIL THEFT. A PRELIMINARY HEARING IS SET FOR MAY 24TH.

Police in New Brighton are looking for a woman who forced a young Beaver Falls girl to get a birth control implant. Valerie Fullum is a friend of the 12-year-old’s mother. Fullum is accused of driving the girl from Beaver Falls to a Turtle Creek health clinic to have the device installed without her parents’ permission and against the girl’s will. The implant was eventually removed from the girl at U-P-M-C Children’s Hospital. Fullum was watching the 12-year-old and another girl overnight when the incident occurred.

Former Beaver County basketball star Herb Pope is going to federal prison. U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon on Wednesday sentenced him to 48 months behind bars for using a gun to rob a Sewickley bank in 2016 with his half-brother. The sentence was a substantial departure below federal guidelines, and she also gave him credit for time served, which is about three years since his 2016 arrest. The 30-year-old Pope was an Aliquippa star who excelled at Seton Hall University and later played in Europe. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to robbing Sewickley Savings Bank on Feb. 12, 2016, with his half-brother, Tyler Bridges.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THURSDAY, MAY 16TH, 2019

 

TODAY – PARTLY SUNNY. HIGH – 73.

TONIGHT – PARTLY CLOUDY WITH LATE NIGHT SHOWERS
OR THUNDERSTORMS. LOW NEAR 60.

FRIDAY – SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING.
GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE.
HIGH – 71.

SATURDAY – CLOUDY SKIES DURING THE MORNING HOURS
FOLLOWED BY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON.
HIGH – 83.

SUNDAY – PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING FOLLOWED BY
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
AFTERNOON. HIGH – 84.

Trump criticizes prosecutors at event for fallen officers
By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump used a ceremony for fallen law enforcement officers on Wednesday to criticize big-city prosecutors he asserts don’t go after criminals who pose a severe threat to public safety.
Trump pledged to the families of fallen officers that the country will “never, ever leave your side, never disappoint you” but went beyond memorializing for much of the annual event.
He singled out prosecutors in Philadelphia and Chicago as being part of a “dangerous trend” by deciding not to prosecute “many criminals who pose a severe threat to public safety and community well-being.” He provided scant context for the claim, and prosecutors in those cities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The president also renewed his calls for changes to the nation’s immigration laws, citing the shooting death last December of a Northern California police officer, Cpl. Ronil Singh. Trump said the suspect in Singh’s killing could have been kept out with “border security, with the wall, with whatever the hell it takes.” Paulo Virgen Mendoza, suspected of being in the country illegally, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Trump also made an apparent reference to the case of actor Jussie Smollett, saying that “those who file false police reports should face full legal consequences.”
The actor was charged with felony disorderly conduct and accused of making a false police report after claiming he was attacked by two masked men who shouted slurs at him and put a noose around his neck. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office abruptly dropped the charges in March.
The White House did not comment on whether Trump was specifically citing the Smollett case.
The 38th annual memorial service honored 228 peace officers who died in the line of duty last year.
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Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.