Category: News

70th Anniversary Moments – Rick Bergman.

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.

In April of 1984, WMBA General Manager, Diane Brown,  was looking to hire a new talk show host for the Ambridge radio station and ended up starting a talk show career that lasted nearly thirty years when she gave the job to Rick Bergman.  The host at the time of “Air Your Opinion”,  Barb Trehar, had recently moved on to work at KDKA radio in Pittsburgh.

Rick Bergman in the WBVP control Studio around 1990. Courtesy of Mark Radziewicz.

Stepping in to host “Air Your Opinion” as one’s first radio gig  on WMBA in that era was no small task.  The show was very popular and was a staple of the WMBA line up going all the way back to the station’s  start up in 1957.  Bergman was following a group of very talented and beloved hosts that had previously held court during the 9 A.M. to Noon time slot including Roy Angst, Nick DeSantis and Trehar.  Bergman, however, was up to task.  He blended an easy going, subdued style with a very quick wit and well read intelligence that was quite unique.  Bergman also offered a more liberal perspective on many social issues up for discussion on the airwaves and became a hit among many listeners.

In 1984, WMBA featured a line up that included Stan Presbysz serving as morning show host and Program Director.   Bergman then did “Air Your Opinion” from nine until noon.  Bob Conrad aired a news program during the noon hour.  Jaye Phillips and Debbie Smith hosted the popular “Yankee Trader” show from 1 until 3 P.M.  followed by a music show that aired until station sign off at dusk.

Rick Bergman did so well that he grabbed the attention of the competitors to the north in 1988, when WBVP and WWKS station owner, Ted Ruscitti, summonsed Bergman to meet him at the Sewickley Holiday Inn for a lunch meeting.  Bergman was hired and began a daily show called “Afternoon Talk” that aired on WBVP from noon until 7 P.M. The program featured a couple  of extended news blocks and live feeds from Channel 11, WPXI T.V. in Pittsburgh.

In addition to the attention received  from WBVP,  Rick Bergman had also shown up on the radar screen of executives  at KDKA radio and he was hired on at that station in 1987.  Bergman did part time work there as a weekend talk show host until 2013.

After leaving WBVP in 1993, Rick Bergman put his intellectual capacity to work and started a career as a public school teacher, where he continues to work to this day.

One of Bergman’s most cherished memories of working at WBVP and WMBA happened in the spring of 1986 when he received a press invitation to attend a press luncheon with President Ronald Reagan at the White House while working at WMBA.  As luck would have it, Reagan  opened up the forum for questions that day.  Rick hesitated at first, but after hearing another media representative quiz the president about the Iran Contra Affair, he got up the nerve to ask a question as well on the same subject.  Even though Bergman had hosted a daily talk show and had talked to thousands of people over the airwaves, this was different.  cameras could be heard in the background whirring away as he began to voice his question.  The eyes of Ronald Reagan bore down through his soul as the President’s  attention, along with everyone else’s in the room focused on Bergman’s query.  As Bergman tells the story, he nearly fainted, but did eventually ask a question and the President responded, but can’t remember much more.  The following day, a small reference to Bergman’s question and Reagan’s response was reported in a USA  Today follow up story about the press luncheon.

“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.

 

 

 

AUDIO: Warfield Is Officially Named Quip Head Coach, Emphasizes Responsibility

At Wednesday night’s meeting, the Aliquippa School Board officially announced former Aliquippa quarterback Mike Warfield as the new head coach for the football team, starting in 2018.

Warfield spoke with Beaver County Radio about what he plans to do different with the student athletes at his helm:

 

And when does the new actions begin to take shape?

 

Warfield takes over for Mike Zmijanac, who led the Quips to a PIAA championship in 2003.

LISTEN: Flag Plaza Gets Donation From PUSH Beaver County For New Flags

The flags flying high above Rochester and the Beaver River will soon have a newer sheen to them.

PUSH Beaver County announced late Monday that they have made a $4,000 donation to the local chapter of “Flags Across America” to upgrade the current American Flags being flown from Rochester. PUSH Vice President Nathan Kopsack spoke to Beaver County Radio about the reasoning behind making the donation:

 

So when can residents and passers-by start seeing the newest additions? Kopsack says the timetable isn’t a sure one:

 

PUSH Beaver County are the head sponsors of the Beaver County Boom, which will be held on Saturday, June 23.

First Full Day Of Spring Brings With One More (we hope!) Blast Of Winter!

* WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR BEAVER COUNTY UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING…ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 1 TO 3 INCHES EXPECTED. PLAN ON SLIPPERY ROAD CONDITIONS. *

TODAY – SNOW SHOWERS CONTINUING THROUGH THIS
AFTERNOON. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION 1 TO 3
INCHES. HIGH AROUND 40.

TONIGHT – CONSIDERABLE CLOUDINESS. LOW – 23.

THURSDAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGH AROUND 40.

Another blast rocks Austin, but unrelated to other bombings as first thought!!!

Another blast rocks Austin, but unrelated to other bombings
By PAUL J. WEBER and WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Emergency teams rushed Tuesday night to another reported explosion in Austin — this one at a Goodwill store — but police and federal authorities said the blast wasn’t related to recent bombings that have killed and injured people and caused panic across Texas’ capital for weeks.
Police and emergency response teams said an “incendiary device” exploded, injuring a man in his 30s. Nearby stores, shopping centers and restaurants were evacuated. But police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said a short time later that it was unrelated to the previous blasts.
Gary Davis, president and CEO of Goodwill Texas, stood outside a police barrier huddling with other Goodwill employees. He said the device was contained in a bag and detonated when a worker moved it.
“We put all the donations we get in a big cardboard box. He pulled something out in a bag, completely normal, and the device went off,” Davis said.
He added: “In this town, if an incendiary device goes off, everybody just scatters and panics. We’re all on edge.”
That incident came as investigators who have pursued a suspected serial bomber terrorizing Austin for weeks uncovered what seemed like valuable new leads.
Even before the report of Tuesday night’s explosion, it had already been a busy day. Before dawn, a bomb inside a package exploded around 1 a.m. as it passed along a conveyer belt at a FedEx shipping center near San Antonio, causing minor injuries to a worker. The Austin Police Department, the FBI and other federal agencies confirmed that the package center blast was related to four previous ones that killed two people and seriously injured four others.
That explosion occurred at a FedEx facility in Schertz, northeast of San Antonio and about 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Austin.
Later in the morning, police sent a bomb squad to a FedEx facility outside the Austin airport to check on a suspicious package that was reported. Federal agencies and police later said that package had indeed contained an explosive that was successfully intercepted and that it, too, was tied to the other bombings.
Authorities also closed off an Austin-area FedEx store where they believe the bomb that exploded was shipped to the distribution center. They roped off a large area around the shopping center in the enclave of Sunset Valley and were collecting evidence, including surveillance camera footage.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said that investigators have obtained surveillance videos that “could possibly” show a suspect, but are still poring through video.
“I hope his biggest mistake was going through FedEx,” McCaul, who has spoken to federal investigators and Austin police Chief Brian Manley, said of the bomber in a phone interview.
He added that the person responsible for the bombings had previously been “very sophisticated in going around surveillance cameras.”
“They’ve got a couple of videos that could possibly be the person but they’re not sure at this point,” McCaul said.
Before it exploded, the package had been sent from Austin and was addressed to a home in Austin, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.
In a statement, FedEx officials said the same person responsible for sending the package also shipped a second parcel that has been secured and turned over to law enforcement. A company spokeswoman refused to say if that second package might have been linked to the one reported at the distribution center near the airport.
The Schertz blast came less than two days after a bombing wounded two men Sunday night in a quiet Austin neighborhood about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the FedEx store. It was triggered by a nearly invisible tripwire, suggesting a “higher level of sophistication” than agents saw in three package bombs previously left on doorsteps, according to Fred Milanowski, the agent in charge of the Houston division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A criminologist at the University of Alabama said if a single perpetrator is behind the blasts, changing the means of delivery increases the bomber’s chance of getting caught.
“I think it would suggest that the bomber is trying to stay unpredictable,” Adam Lankford said. “But it also increases the likelihood that he would make a mistake.”
Authorities have not identified the two men who were hurt Sunday, saying only that they are in their 20s and white. But William Grote told The Associated Press that his grandson was one of them and that he had what appeared to be nails embedded in his knees.
In Washington, President Donald Trump said the assailant behind the bombing is “very sick.”
During an Oval Office meeting Tuesday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the president said, “This is obviously a very sick individual or individuals,” and authorities are “working to get to the bottom of it.”
Despite bombing tactics that have now shifted, investigators have repeated prior warnings about not touching unexpected packages and urged people to be wary of any stray object left in public. Austin police say they have now responded to more than 1,200 reports of suspicious packages in a little more than a week — without finding anything dangerous.
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Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin and Matt Sedensky in New York contributed to this report.