Contract negotiations will continue this morning between the Central Valley School District and the teachers union in the hopes of averting a strike. The Central Valley Education Association issued a written strike notice to the district earlier this week. Contract talks resumed at 10:00 this morning. No word on whether there was any progress made.
A judge has ruled two Pittsburgh constables “abused their power” when they handcuffed a woman and dragged her by her legs out of her home over an unpaid parking ticket. The judge yesterday convicted Christian Constantini and MIchael Lowman of simple assault, reckless endangerment, official oppression and conspiracy. Both remain free on bond pending their December sentencing.
Math scores on Pennsylvania’s new and more difficult PSSA exams dropped sharply this past year, both for Beaver County students and students throughout the commonwealth. Education officials say there was also a drop in English scores. Education Secretary Pedro Rivera cautions against comparing this year’s scores to last years because the new exam is “fundamentally different.”
Pennsylvania’s budget impasse appears to be headed into a fourth month after Governor Tom Wolf yesterday vetoed a shot-term spending plan backed by Republican lawmakers. Top GOP leaders say Wolf is holding schools and social services hostage in the budget talks. Both sides plan to meet again today.
Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush will propose ending the ban on U.S. oil exports in a campaign appearance today at Rice Energy’s headquarters in Canonsburg in Washington County. Bush also has been a vocal supporter of the Keystone XL pipeline project.
Center Township Police are asking for the public’s help in finding the person who called in a bomb threat against Center Grange Primary School. Center Township Police Chief Barry Kramer tells WBVP-WMBA News that during the open house at Center Grange Primary School last Thursday night, a man called the Beaver County 9-1-1 Center, claiming there were bombs inside the school. Police evacuated and searched the building but nothing was found. Since that time, police have released the audio from the 9-1-1 phone call that was made that evening. So far, no arrests have been made.
A suspect has been arrested following a series of suspicious fires in and around Beaver Falls. 31-year-old Zachary Metcalf of Beaver Falls was picked up early this morning by Beaver Falls police. Metcalf faces several charges, including 9 counts of arson. Beaver County Radio was there as Police Chief Charles Jones and Fire Chief Mark Stowe held a joint news conference this morning to make the announcement.
A man who drowned in the Ohio River over the weekend has been identified. The Beaver County Coroner’s office says 81-year-old William Gallagher died as a result of an accidental drowning. Monaca Police say Gallagher fell into the river around 2:30 Saturday afternoon. Police have not released any information regarding the circumstances of Gallagher’s death.
Police are investigating the death of an infant found over the weekend in the girl’s parents’ car in a Baden parking lot. Police tell KDKA-TV the couple told them they tried to take their daughter to a hospital but ran out of gas. Both have been arrested on bench warrants unconnected to the child’s death.
Another round of fires this weekend in Beaver falls, and all of them are considered suspicious. One of the fires started last night near the corner of 18th Street and West Avenue. Firefighters say the house was vacant. Another fire broke out about six blocks away in the 22-hundred block of Short 10th Avenue in White Township. On Saturday, firefighters were called out to a home at the corner of 21st Street and 13th Avenue. That house was also vacant. Beaver Falls Fire Chief Mark Stowe tells Beaver County Radio that brings the number of suspicious vacant house fires in the city to 13.