* DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR BEAVER COUNTY UNTIL 10 AM THIS MORNING…LIMITED VISIBILITIES WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY DIFFICULT.
IF DRIVING, SLOW DOWN, USE YOUR HEADLIGHTS, AND LEAVE PLENTY OF DISTANCE AHEAD OF YOU. *
TODAY – AREAS OF PATCHY FOG THIS MORNING. PERIODS
OF RAIN. HIGH – 61.
TONIGHT – MORE RAIN LIKELY. SNOW MAY MIX IN.
LOW – 37.
GOOD FRIDAY – CLOUDY WITH SNOW SHOWERS, MAINLY
DURING THE MORNING. HIGH – 44.
SATURDAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF A
RAIN SHOWER. HIGH – 56.
EASTER SUNDAY – INTERVALS OF CLOUDS AND
SUNSHINE. HIGH – 43.
This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of when Beaver County’s first radio station, WBVP, was heard over the airwaves for the the first time on May 25, 1948. To mark the historical event, each week, another “70th Anniversary Moment” will be showcased on the airwaves and published on the station’s online feeds.
Through the years, many famous bands have been a part of WBVP, WMBA and sister F.M. radio station, WWKS. National acts like Tiny Tim, Tony Bennett, Motely Crue and Great white have been live on the air in the Beaver Falls studio. Many local bands have also enjoyed having their music air on the stations, or have been interviewed, like B.E. Taylor, Donnie Iris, The Granati Brothers, Sidewinder, Dawn Savage and The Neon Oranges, among many others, but the band that perhaps has had the longest and deepest relationship with the radio stations over the years is The Jaggerz.
In March of 1970, The Jaggerz ‘ hit song “The Rapper” spent 6 weeks on the Billboard Magazine top 10 list. It was one of three songs released by the group to crack Billboard’s top 100. The original group consisted of Jimmy Ross, Benny Faiella, Jim Pugliano, Donnie Iris, Thom Davies and Bill Maybray. They were all from in and around Beaver County.
The Jaggerz performing at the Holiday House in Monroeville in 1968. Courtesy of Jimmy Ross.
So, it only makes sense that in June of 1968, it was while listening to WBVP and driving through Beaver Falls, that the Jaggerz heard themselves for the first time being played on the radio. Jimmy Ross remembers the day well. “We had just recorded ‘Baby I Love You’ in Philadelphia, and on that day. Bill Maybray and I were driving up 7th avenue in Beaver Falls in a 1959 Chevrolet Biscayne sedan. We were heading to a rehearsal at Club Naturale and the song came on the radio. We pulled over to the side of the road to listen. It was the first time that we ever heard one of our songs on the radio”. Club Naturale was a popular bar and nightclub that was located at the corner of 7th Avenue and 9th street in downtown Beaver Falls. A few years ago, the building was razed and an empty, grassy lot is now on that corner.
Tony Scott, aka, Sam Nicotero, Donnie Iris and Jimmy Ross at WBVP in 1973. Courtesy of Jimmy Ross.
In 1973, Jimmy Ross and Donnie Iris joined WBVP show host Tony Scott, also know as Sam Nicotero, in the studio and presented him and the station with plaques to honor the station for being supportive of the band and its music. One of the plaques is still on display in the station offices at 1316 7th Avenue in Beaver Falls.
The tradition will continue this May, as The Jaggerz, now comprised of Ross, Faiella, Hermie Granati, Dennis McAbee, Paul Martello and Chris Patarini, will perform at the WBVP 70th Anniversary Gala to be held on May 25, 2018 in the Grand Ballroom of the General Brodhead Hotel in Beaver Falls.
“70th Anniversary Moments” is presented by Albert’s Heating, Cooling and Plumbing, Aliquippa Giant Eagle, The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, Beaver Valley Auto Mall, Beaver Valley Sheet Metal, Castlebrook Development, Freedom United Federal Credit Union, Hank’s Frozen Custard and Mexican Food, Laughlin Insurance Agency and Rochester Manor and Villa.
(Beaver County, PA) Join Frank Sparks , host of Teleforum, and Scott Tady, Entertainment Editor for the Beaver County Times, this Thursday for “Notes On Local Entertainment” . This week is special one hour show from The Beaver County Radio Sound stage that airs from 11:00 a.m. to noon on Beaver County Radio, 1230 WBVP and 1460 WMBA and Facebook Live.
The guys will welcome in the band Mule Factory, George Boe will be on the bass, Hap Wichryk will pay mandolin and Jennifer Ann will be standing in on guitar. Mule Factory will perform live for our listeners and for the Facebook Live audience.
The guys will also get you set for a huge weekend of Entertainment in Beaver County. They’ll touch on what local artists are playing where and also get you set up to plan your weekend with the happenings in and around Beaver County.
“Notes on Local Entertainment” is brought to you each and every week by Wooley Bully’s in New Brighton. Make sure to tune in Every Thursday from 11:30 A.M. to Noon for “Notes on Local Entertainment”.
Beaver County Commissioners chairman Dan Camp says a candidate will be interviewed Monday for the financial consulting position that would replace full time financial administrator Ricardo Luckow, who was fired. Camp says there is no timetable to hire a consultant. If a suitable candidate is not found, Camp said the commissioners will consider hiring a firm to do the financial work. Camp says, so far, firms contacted work on contracts as short as three months.
THE BEAVER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HELD A VERY SHORT WORK SESSION THIS MORNING…AND HAVE COME UP WITH NO SUCCESSOR TO THE FIRED RICARDO LUCKOW. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO’S GREG BENEDETTI HAS DETAILS. Click on ‘play’ to hear Greg’s report…
MONACA BOROUGH’S STREETSCAPE PLANS WERE UNVEILED TO RESIDENTS DURING THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING LAST NIGHT. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO WAS THERE. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…
A trial date has been set for a Rochester man accused of harassing people and sending unsolicited child porn. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro says 31-year-old Brent Cotman would allegedly call people repeatedly and send them unwanted messages via text and Facebook messenger. One victim says he called and threatened to rape and kill her children and even described what she was wearing. Two other victims called were minors. During an arrest in February detectives found 13 cellphones in his home. He’s being held on a 30-thousand-dollar cash bond. His trial begins July 9.
Pitt hires Duke’s Jeff Capel to rebuild basketball program
By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh is turning to Duke’s Jeff Capel to rebuild its reeling basketball program.
The Panthers hired the former Virginia Commonwealth and Oklahoma coach and longtime Duke assistant on Tuesday, tasking him with returning Pitt to prominence following two tough years under Kevin Stallings.
Athletic director Heather Lyke called Capel a “high-energy leader.” Capel will need it, taking over a team that finished 8-24 and 0-18 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Pitt’s search included interviews with Thad Matta and Tom Crean and overtures to Danny Hurley, who opted instead to become the head coach at Connecticut. Ultimately, the Panthers brought in the 43-year-old Capel, who spent the last seven seasons in the seat next to Mike Krzyzewski while developing a reputation as one of the top recruiters in the nation.
“Jeff Capel is one of the most dynamic coaches in the country,” Krzyzewski said. “He possesses championship-level experience as both a head and assistant coach, as well as distinct knowledge of the Atlantic Coast Conference that will benefit Pitt immediately.”
There’s nowhere to go but up.
The Panthers were the only team in Division I to go winless in conference play and at times, Pitt and its freshmen-laden roster lost eight ACC games by more than 20 points. Attendance at the once raucous Petersen Events Center when the team was coached by Jamie Dixon dropped dramatically as enthusiasm for Stallings waned. Pitt averaged just over 4,100 for home games this season, easily the lowest in the conference and a 50 percent drop from 2016-17.
“Pitt has a great tradition of success and I look forward to putting together a staff and team that will enable us to build on that tradition,” Capel said in a statement.
Capel went 175-110 in nine years at Virginia Commonwealth and Oklahoma before returning to his alma mater to become Krzyzewski’s right-hand man. The former Duke guard was viewed as an obvious candidate to replace the 71-year-old Krzyzewski once the winningest coach in men’s Division I history finally hangs up his clip board.
Capel has filled in for Krzyzewski at least once in each of the past three years, including a seven-game stint during the 2016-17 season while the Hall of Famer had surgery to have a fragment of a herniated disk removed from his back.
Duke went 4-3 under Capel, who also led the Blue Devils to single victories at Georgia Tech in 2015-16 and against Wake Forest this year while Krzyzewski was ill.
Capel starred at Duke in the mid-1990s and got into coaching in 2000, beginning his career as an assistant for his father Jeff Capel II at Old Dominion. He moved to VCU the next season and became head coach in 2002. It didn’t take him long to find success. The Rams qualified for the NCAA tournament in his second season.
Oklahoma lured Capel to a Power Five conference in 2006. He led the Sooners to the second round of the NCAAs in his second year and all the way to the Elite Eight in 2009 behind star forward Blake Griffin.
Capel’s tenure with the Sooners ended when he was fired in March 2011 as part of the fallout from an NCAA investigation that discovered former Oklahoma assistant Oronde Taliiaferro broke NCAA rules by failing to report that a player had received an impermissible extra benefit and by lying to investigators.
Capel was not implicated in the investigation and found a landing spot at his alma mater. He served as one of the top recruiters at Duke and helped the Blue Devils land several high-profile prospects, including several members of the 2015 team that won the national title. Capel also signed freshman forward and ACC Player of the Year Marvin Bagley III last year. Bagley guided Duke’s push to the Elite Eight this season before the Blue Devils fell to Kansas in the regional final.
The immediate expectations won’t be quite as high at Pitt.
The Panthers reached the NCAAs 11 times in 13 seasons under Dixon. For now, they’ll settle for something resembling a competitive team after the worst season in the program’s 113-year history.
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AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Durham, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
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More AP college basketball: collegebasketball.ap.org and twitter.com/AP_Top25
UPDATE: Police have released new details in an overnight stabbing that ended with a woman being critically injured and her estranged husband taken to jail. Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano has the story…
(Beaver County, PA) Join Frank Sparks , host of Teleforum, and 
