The Beaver County Commissioners held their work session Wednesday morning in preparation for Thursday’s regular commissioners meeting. Beaver County Radio’s Greg Benedetti reports that the commissioners received a report from budget director Ricardo Luckow that says the county has refinanced its bonds to a total of 115-million dollars with revenues projected through the year 2032. The immediate budget relief for this year is 6.7-million dollars with 1.6-million dollars in revenues for next year.

Voters in Beaver County went the same way as those in the rest of Pennsylvania. Democrats overwhelmingly supported Hillary Clinton, who got more than 53 percent of the vote, to Bernie Sanders’ 39 percent. Beaver County Republicans voted for Donald Trump, who got 57 percent. Ted Cruz managed to get 22 percent while John Kasich received 18 percent.

An Aliquippa man who pleaded guilty to child rape and production of child pornography has been sentenced to 59 to 118 years in prison. Washington County Judge Gary Gilman imposed the sentence on 25-year-old Michael John Bickel of Aliquippa, after an investigation by the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office found he sexually abused three boys for as many as four years and videotaped some of the abuse with his cell phone. Bickel was arrested in March 2015 and charged with more than 200 counts of child rape and child pornography. Agents said at the time that he had disseminated more than 100 images of child pornography. The victims of his assaults were between the ages of 7 and 12 at the time.

Two people were injured last night in a fire at an Aliquippa apartment building, according to Beaver County emergency officials. The incident occurred at the Eleanor Roosevelt Apartments at 740 Sheffield Ave. about 8:40 p.m. Emergency crews from Aliquippa, Baden and other communities responded to the blaze at the 12-story apartment building and had the fire out within an hour. The two victims were taken to area hospitals. Their names and conditions have not been released.

Voters in Pennsylvania are casting ballots on primary contests, including the state’s first competitive Republican presidential primary in decades. In addition to presidential candidates, voters today are also deciding hotly contested Democratic primary races for U.S. Senate and state attorney general. One Republican voter from the Harrisburg area, Laura Seyler, calls Donald Trump a bully, and she says that’s exactly why she voted for him. For primary election results, listen to AM Beaver County Wednesday morning beginning at 6:30 a.m. on 1230 WBVP and 1460 WMBA.

Aliquippa Municipal Water Authority general manager Bob Bible said the authority revisited the bills sent to Raccoon Twp. residents in recent weeks last week. According to Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Goirdano, those using up to 6,000 gallons per quarter will pay $75, any additional 1,000 gallons will pay $12.50. Bible said some homes use less water, and that helped with the decision. He said a lot of the meters are 3/4″ or 1″ .