Cuba state media: Fidel Castro’s son has killed himself

HAVANA (AP) — The oldest son of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro killed himself on Thursday after months of treatment for depression, state media reported. He was 68.
Official website Cubadebate said that Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart had been in a “deeply depressed state.” A brief note read on state television said his treatment had “required a hospitalization regime then outpatient follow-up.”
The eldest son of Cuba’s former leader was known for his distinctive beard and resemblance to his father, earning him the nickname Fidelito or Little Fidel.
Castro Diaz-Balart had served as scientific adviser to the Council of State and was vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
His mother was Mirta Diaz-Balart, a woman from Cuba’s aristocracy who Castro married in his youth before beginning the revolutionary struggle that later brought him and his brother Raul to power.

Reports of a Bomb threat received by New Brighton High School

It was reported by multiple sources that a Bomb threat was received at New Brighton High School this afternoon, February 1, 2018. The Facebook Page I’m a New Brighton Lion posted the following statement from school administration:

 

From school administration:
A bomb threat was received by the New Brighton High School and we are presently investigating in coordination with the New Brighton Police Department. As a precaution we are moving our High School students to both the Elementary School and the Middle School so District Administration and the Police are able to search the building. All students are safe and they will remain in one of those locations until the police have cleared the building.

Tune into AM Beaver County tomorrow morning for more information on this developing story.

Pence coming to Pennsylvania to raise cash in US House race

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence is coming to help raise money in a congressional election in southwestern Pennsylvania widely viewed as a test of whether Republicans can stave off Democratic gains this year.
Pence is scheduled to appear Friday at a rally and fundraiser for Rick Saccone. He’s a 59-year-old Republican state representative and retired Air Force intelligence officer running in the March 13 special election to replace Republican Tim Murphy, who resigned last year in a scandal.
Saccone is facing Democrat Conor Lamb, a 33-year-old former federal prosecutor and ex-Marine who reported entering 2018 with more than twice the cash in his campaign account as Saccone, $412,000 to $200,000.
It is the first congressional race of the year and in a district won easily by President Donald Trump in 2016.

$1.7M to injured Sewickley Little League player hit by foul ball

$1.7M to injured Little League player hit by foul ball
SEWICKLEY, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania jury has awarded $1.7 million to a Little League player who was hit in the head by a foul ball in the dugout on the day before his 12th birthday.
His lawyer says Zachary Hoffman sustained a traumatic brain injury when he was struck at Chadwick Field in Sewickley in 2015. Alan Perer argued the dugout was not properly protected by a fence.
A jury on Tuesday found the Pittsburgh suburb and the Avonworth and Quaker Valley Athletic Associations responsible for the 14-year-old’s injuries.

Pennsylvania gas drilling fee revenue rebounded in 2017

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rebounding prices for natural gas and a growth in new wells exploring Pennsylvania’s vast Marcellus Shale reservoir are fueling a recovery in fee revenue for state programs and county and municipal governments.
The Independent Fiscal Office projected Wednesday that impact fee collections for 2017 will be just above $219 million, $46 million more than 2016’s low point of $173 million.
The rebound breaks a string of three years of declining revenue. The Independent Fiscal Office says the increase is largely due to the average annual price of natural gas on the New York Mercantile Exchange passing $3, which triggered a $5,000 per-well increase.
The office also says 812 new wells were started, making 8,634 wells subject to the fee. Pennsylvania is the nation’s No. 2 natural gas state behind Texas.

Police: 2 students shot inside Los Angeles middle school classroom, female student suspect in custody

AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two students were shot and wounded, one critically, inside a Los Angeles middle school classroom Thursday morning and police took a female student into custody, authorities said.
A 15-year-old boy hit in the head was transported to a trauma center in critical but stable condition, according to fire department spokesman Erik Scott. A 15-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the wrist was taken to a hospital in fair condition, Scott said.
Three other people, ranging in age from 11 to 30, suffered minor cuts and scrapes.
Police arrested the female student and recovered a gun after the shooting that happened just before 9 a.m. at Salvador B. Castro Middle School, west of the city’s downtown.
Television news footage showed a girl with dark hair wearing a sweatshirt being led out of the school in handcuffs a short time later.
Police cars blocked off an intersection near the school and parents gathered at the street corner, talking on their phones and awaiting word on their children.
Gloria Echeverria was waiting outside a line of police tape preventing people from approaching the school, waiting for news about her 13-year-old son.
“I’m just hoping it has nothing to do with him,” she said. “I’m just scared for all the kids — school is supposed to be a safe place for them, and apparently it’s not.”
Steve Zipperman, chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District police force, said the school’s campus remained on lockdown later in the morning but had been declared safe.
“We will attend to the needs of these students who witnessed this very carefully, with the understanding this is very traumatic,” Zipperman said. “We have our school mental health folks that are here to support the needs of the students.”
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Associated Press writers Christopher Weber, John Antczak and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Commissioner Chairwoman Sandie Egley Talks About Reassessment, Upcoming Events

It was a solo appearance today for Commissioner Chairwoman Sandie Egley, who represented the trio of Beaver County Commissioners on the first Thursday in February for “Ask The Commissioners”.

During the hour segment, Egley discussed a range of topics concerning the county, including the appeal process for holding off the reassessment of homes in Beaver County, the importance of the chemistry between her and Commissioners Camp and Amadio, and the upcoming events involving Beaver County over the course of the next few months.

If you missed it live, or if you want to watch it again, just click on the play button below to check out the Facebook Live video of February 1’s “Ask The Commissioners” segment.

“Ask The Commissioners” on Facebook Live is brought to you by NIRA Consulting Engineers.

Explosion at University Of Pgh

Beaver County Radio

Around 2:45 p.m, yesterday, The University of Pittsburgh had a small explosion in the Clapp, Langley and Crawford Hall complex on Fifth Avenue, according to University of Pittsburgh spokesperson Joe Miksch. The hall houses the biological sciences and neuroscience department.

The explosion was contained by a fume hood designed to limit exposure to hazardous materials, according to Miksch.

Students were evacuated temporarily as a precaution. The Halls are back open except for the first floor of the Chevron Annex building.

One student was evaluated for an eye irritation.

Truck Crash

Beaver County Radio

A man is hospitalized after his pickup truck went over a hillside in Shaler Township not far from Route 8.

His truck hit the front of someone’s lawn, went through a wooden sign, across the street and over the hillside last evening.

April Vinski, who called 911 before rushing to help, said “The noise was like an explosion,”
“I just hoped he wasn’t dead.” She & another man lifted the mangled windshield to get to the driver.

Emergency crews used ropes to extricate the driver before he was taken to the hospital.

Police do not think drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

Fox gets Thursday night football for 5 years, $3B

By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Fox and the NFL have agreed to a five-year deal for Thursday night football games.
Those games previously were televised by CBS and NBC, two of the league’s other network partners. Fox announced Wednesday that it will televise 11 games between Weeks 4 and 15, with simulcasts on NFL Network and Fox Deportes.
Fox, which has the Sunday afternoon NFC package, will produce all of the games under the deal, which is worth a little more than $3 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge of the terms of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league didn’t announce its value.
“This is a single partner deal, we are not splitting the package,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a conference call. “We had tremendous amount of interest from all the broadcast partners, all of whom wanted it exclusively. We felt this was the best opportunity for the NFL to grow the Thursday night package.”
Goodell added that the league is exploring partnerships with digital outlets, also in conjunction with Fox.
The NFL has broadcast deals “five years out” with its other partners — ESPN has the Monday night package — so five years on this agreement made sense.
“Fundamentally, Fox was built on football,” said Peter Rice, president of 21st Century Fox, nothing that 25 years ago, the NFC package “helped launch a fledgling network into what it is today.”
“These opportunities come along very, very infrequently,” he added. “You either have the rights to the most-watched content in media or you don’t. If you don’t take the opportunity, this won’t come up again for five years. We believe in buying the very best rights, and the best rights are the NFL.”
CBS and NBC each paid $450 million for the previous two-year package.
“We explored a responsible bid for Thursday Night Football but in the end are very pleased to return to entertainment programming on television’s biggest night,” CBS said in a statement. “At the same time, we look forward to continuing our terrific long-term partnership with the NFL on Sunday afternoons, with more than 100 games per season including next year’s Super Bowl 53.”
Fox could have a conflict if weather causes a World Series game to be postponed from Wednesday to Thursday. In recent years, Series Game 2 and 6 have been scheduled for Wednesday.
“In that hypothetical kind of a scenario, the World Series game would stay on Fox and our Thursday night game would become an FS1/NFL Network simulcast,” Fox spokesman Eddie Motl said.
Goodell noted that the Thursday night games are a place for innovation.
“One of the things we’ve taken into consideration with Thursday night in general is to evolve this package, to use it as an opportunity to learn, to understand where these various platforms are going, and what we can do to make it a more attractive experience for our fans,” he said. “We will look at that in that context, and the term will be consistent with what it will take to make sure that we continue to evolve that platform as well as the experience for our fans.”
That means streaming outlets, of course.
“We have accepted bids for digital partners,” Goodell said. “We have very healthy competition. In fact, I would say it’s unprecedented competition from a number of digital partners.
“As I say, we put our focus on the broadcast package first. … We are not required to go coterminous with the broadcasts. We can do any length of deal that we get to an agreement on with that digital partner. As I mentioned earlier, we will be doing this in cooperation with our Fox partners.”
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For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL