Unions representing more than 36,000 Verizon landline and cable workers are threatening to strike Wednesday morning in Pennsylvania and 8 other states if the company doesn’ t agree to a new contract. Union officials say Verizon wants to freeze pensions, make layoffs easier and rely more on contract workers. Verizon says it needs to rein in surging medical costs.

The state Senate has cleared the way to push from April to November a vote on whether to change the mandatory retirement age for Pennsylvania judges from 70 to 75. Opponents say the late change wastes more than one-million dollars spent to advertise the April question and print ballots, as some counties had already done.

Senate backers say they hope medical marijuana legislation will get to Democratic Governor Tom Wolf’s desk this week and start what could be a two-year process of setting up regulations for growers, dispensaries and physicians. A Senate committee approved changes to a bill yesterday that passed the House last month.

A tree fell onto a home on Brown Road in New Sewickley Township last night. The call came in shortly before 11:30. Part of the roof at the back of the house collapsed. The tree also brought down some power lines. Two people were inside the home at the time of the incident, but there were no injuries reported.

New Castle police are investigating after a man sheared a utility pole in a car crash late last night. The crash happened on Butler Avenue near Frew Mill Road shortly after 11 p.m. The driver crossed the center line of the road and crashed into a utility pole, shearing it. The vehicle got back on the road and continued until it hit a dirt mound and flipped on to its roof. New Castle police say the man had to be cut out of the car by fire department crews. The driver was reportedly bleeding from his head, but was conscious and told rescuers that he couldn’t remember anything about the crash. The unidentified driver was sent to a local hospital. No one else was in the vehicle at the time of the crash. The downed utility pole knocked out power in the area for some time.

State Rep. Jaret Gibbons – a Democrat representing Beaver, Butler and Lawrence Counties – will assume a new leadership role in Harrisburg. Gibbons has been named the Democratic Chairman of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee. Gibbons talked to Beaver County Radio newsman Pat Septak about how much our county and state have to offer when it comes to tourism and recreation but he says the state needs to do a better job of marketing itself. Gibbons says that travel, tourism and hospitality providers employ several hundred-thousand Pennsylvanians.

Debbie Frank, Aliquippa Elementary School Gifted Education Coordinator, announced this morning her class is selling doughnuts tomorrow from 8:20 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. Beaver County Radio News correspondent Sandy Giordano reports the class is holding the fundraiser so they can make a trip to Philadelphia in May. Doughnuts are $1 each. On Thursday, sugar cookies will be sold 2 for a $1 from 8:20 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. Anyone wishing to donate for the student’s trip must do so by April 30th, Frank said this morning. Please contact her at the school at (724) 857-7550 to donate.

A major retail outlet is closings its doors for good in Beaver County. Beaver County Radio’s Greg Benedetti is reporting that Sears is closing its department store and auto store at the Beaver Valley Mall in Monaxa next month. Store employees have been told that their last day to report to work will be May 7th, 2016.

A detective has testified at a bond hearing that a Pittsburgh man arrested for a third time on drug and weapons charges stemming from a police search three years ago is a suspect in a cookout ambush last month that killed five adults and an unborn child. Allegheny County Detective Steve Hitchings testified yesterday that Robert Thomas has been told he’s a suspect in last month’s shootings in Wilkinsburg.