Officials with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources are warning of an increased wildfire risk over the next few months. Representatives with D-C-N-R say 85-percent of Pennsylvania’s wildfires happen between March and May. They say many here burn carelessly without paying attention to how dry or windy it may be.

A NORTH SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP WOMAN IS FACING CHARGES AFTER SHE ALLEGEDLY SHOWED UP DRUNK TO PICK UP CHILDREN FROM SCHOOL. ACCORDING TO THE POLICE REPORT, POLICE WERE CALLED TO RIVERSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BY A SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR FOR A PROBLEM WITH A PARENT WHO WAS THERE TO PICK UP CHILDREN. THE REPROT SAYS 44-YEAR-OLD GAIL CONNERS APPEARED TO BE INTOXICATED WHEN SHE CAME TO THE SCHOOL TO PICK UP THE CHILDREN, ONE OF WHOM WAS A SMALL CHILD, ABOUT 4 YEARS OLD.  ACCORDING TO POLICE, CONNERS SMELLED STRONGLY OF ALCOHOL, HAD TROUBLE STANDING ON HER OWN AND WAS SLURRING HER SPEECH. ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, CONNERS REFUSED TO SUBMIT TO A BLOOD TEST, TELLING POLICE THAT SHE ONLY HAD THREE BEERS BEFORE SHE CAME TO THE SCHOOL. CONNERS IS CHARGED WITH D-U-I AND ENDANGERING THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN.

New Castle City Police report a bullet was found on the floor of a New Castle Area School Bus that was carrying 13 students on the commute home from George Washington Intermediate School on Tuesday .According to the department’s facebook page, police said following their investigation it was determined that there is no evidence of any weapon on the bus or in the school, and there is no credible threat. The investigation is continuing.

Two women are accused of holding a third against her will for four days in Ambridge. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has the story. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

Authorities: Police fatally shoot woman armed with handgun
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say police shot and killed a woman who pointed a gun at officers and refused their commands to put it down.
The shooting in Greensburg started shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday when the woman fired shots at a car not far from her home. She then walked back home, and police soon arrived on scene.
Authorities say the woman, armed with a handgun, walked onto her porch. One officer fired a bean bag at her in an unsuccessful bid to disable her, and another officer soon shot her.
The woman was taken to a hospital but died there a short time later. Her name has not been released.
The officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in police-involved shootings.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR THURSDAY, MARCH 14TH, 2019

 

TODAY – CLOUDY SKIES WITH A FEW SHOWERS THIS
AFTERNOON. WARMER WITH A HIGH OF 71.

TONIGHT – CLOUDY WITH OCCASIONAL RAIN SHOWERS.
LOW AROUND 50.

FRIDAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF A RAIN
SHOWER. HIGH – 54.

SATURDAY – OVERCAST. A FEW FLURRIES OR SNOW
SHOWERS POSSIBLE. HIGH – 38.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY – SUNSHINE IN THE MORNING…THEN
BECOMING CLOUDY LATER IN THE
DAY. HIGH AROUND 40.

Manafort sentenced to 7 years, faces fresh New York charges
By ERIC TUCKER and CHAD DAY Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sentenced to a total of seven and a half years in prison Wednesday after a federal judge rejected his appeal for no additional time and rebuked him for his crimes and years of lies.
Within minutes of the sentencing, prosecutors in New York brought state charges against Manafort — a move that appeared at least partly designed to guard against the possibility that President Donald Trump could pardon him. The president can pardon federal crimes, but not state offenses.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Manafort to nearly three-and-a-half years in prison on charges that he misled the U.S. government about his foreign lobbying work and encouraged witnesses to lie on his behalf. That punishment is on top of a roughly four-year sentence he received last week in a separate case in Virginia. He is expected to get credit for the nine months of jail time he’s done already.
The sentencing hearing was a milestone moment in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election campaign. Manafort was among the first people charged in the investigation, and though the allegations did not relate to his work for Trump, his foreign entanglements and business relationship with a man the U.S. says has ties to Russian intelligence have made him a pivotal figure in the probe.
Though the judge made clear that the case against Manafort had nothing to do with Russian election interference, she also scolded Manafort’s lawyers for asserting that their client was only charged because prosecutors couldn’t get him on crimes related to potential collusion with the Trump campaign.
“The no-collusion mantra is simply a non sequitur,” she said, suggesting that those arguments were meant for an audience outside the courtroom — presumably a reference to the president, who has expressed sympathy for Manafort and not ruled out a pardon.
Jackson also harshly criticized Manafort for years of deception that extended even into her own courtroom and the grand jury. She said much of the information he provided to prosecutors after pleading guilty couldn’t be used because of his history of deceit.
“It is hard to overstate the number of lies and the amount of fraud and the extraordinary amount of money involved” in the federal conspiracy charges related to his foreign lobbying work and witness tampering.
Reading from a three-page statement, Manafort asked for mercy and said the criminal charges against him have “taken everything from me already.” He pleaded with the judge not to impose any additional time beyond the sentence he had received last week in a separate case in Virginia.
“I am sorry for what I have done and all the activities that have gotten us here today,” Manafort said in a steady voice. “While I cannot undo the past, I will ensure that the future will be very different.”
The 69-year-old, who arrived in court in a wheelchair, said he was the primary caregiver of his wife and wanted the chance for them to resume their life together.
“She needs me and I need her. I ask you to think of this and our need for each other as you deliberate,” Manafort said. “This case has taken everything from me already — my properties, my cash, my life insurance, my trust accounts for my children and my grandchildren, and more.”
His plea for leniency followed prosecutor Andrew Weissmann’s scathing characterization of crimes that the government said spanned more than a decade and continued even while Manafort was awaiting trial. The prosecutor said Manafort took steps to conceal his foreign lobbying work, laundered millions of dollars to fund a lavish lifestyle and then, while on house arrest, coached other witnesses to lie on his behalf.
“I believe that is not reflective of someone who has learned a harsh lesson. It is not a reflection of remorse,” Weissmann said. “It is evidence that something is wrong with sort of a moral compass, that someone in that position would choose to make that decision at that moment.”
Defense lawyer Kevin Downing suggested Manafort was being unduly punished because of the “media frenzy” generated by the appointment of a special counsel.
“That results in a very harsh process for the defendant,” Downing said.
After the hearing, Downing criticized Jackson’s sentencing as “callous”, “hostile” and “totally unnecessary” as he was shouted down by protesters.
“I think the judge showed that she is incredibly hostile toward Mr. Manafort and exhibited a level of callousness that I’ve not seen in a white-collar case in over 15 years of prosecutions,” Downing told reporters, noting that he was “disappointed” by the sentence.
Wednesday’s sentencing comes in a week of activity for the investigation. Mueller’s prosecutors on Tuesday night updated a judge on the status of cooperation provided by one defendant, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, and are expected to do the same later in the week for another.
Mueller’s investigation has shown signs of coming to a close and he is expected to soon deliver a report to the Justice Department.

The Best of Beaver County is easy to discover; it’s right on your radio!  Tune in this and every Thursday from 11 to 11:30 am  for “the Best of Beaver County”, a new show on WBVP and WMBA presented by St. Barnabas. The show is hosted by Jim Roddey and is dedicated to shining light on the great things going on right here in your neighborhood, and the people that are making it happen.  This Thursday, enjoy conversation and insight with Lisa Micco, Executive Editor Beaver County Times and Bethany Williams, Director of Development for Beaver Falls, PA

You can also watch a live video stream of the show on the WBVP-WMBA Facebook page, plus the radio broadcast will be replayed each Sunday from 11:30 am to Noon on Beaver County Radio.

Trump: US grounding Boeing 737 Max 8, 9 after Ethiopia crash
By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is issuing an emergency order Wednesday grounding all Boeing 737 Max 8 and Max 9 aircraft “effective immediately,” in the wake of the crash of an Ethiopian Airliner that killed 157 people, President Donald Trump said.
Many nations had already barred the Boeing 737 Max 8 from its airspace, but until Trump’s announcement, the Federal Aviation Administration had said that it didn’t have any data to show the jets are unsafe. Trump cited “new information” that had come to light in the ongoing investigation into incident. He did not elaborate.
“All of those planes are grounded, effective immediately,” Trump said during a scheduled briefing on border security.
Trump said any airplane currently in the air will go to its destination and then be grounded. He added all airlines and affected pilots had been notified.
Trump said the safety of the American people is of “paramount concern,” and added that the FAA would soon put out a statement on the action.
Trump said the decision to ground the aircraft “didn’t have to be made, but we thought it was the right decision.”
The president insisted the announcement was coordinated with aviation officials in Canada, U.S. carriers and aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
“Boeing is an incredible company,” Trump said. “They are working very, very hard right now and hopefully they’ll quickly come up with an answer.”
In a statement, Boeing said it “continues to have full confidence in the safety of the 737 MAX.” The company added that it had decided “out of an abundance of caution and in order to reassure the flying public of the aircraft’s safety — to recommend to the FAA the temporary suspension of operations of the entire global fleet of 371 737 MAX aircraft.”
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the company was “supporting this proactive step out of an abundance of caution.”
Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.