A gas leak this morning in Beaver Falls has forced the evacuation of a building that houses senior citizens. Fire Chief Mark Stowe tells Beaver County Radio News that the leak happened at the Brodhead apartments at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 12th Street. Residents were bused to a church on Eighth Avenue until it is safe for them to return to the building, which will be ventilated.

Does the city of Beaver Falls seem a little brighter these days? Well, it should. Beaver Falls Street Department employees have been busy the last couple of weeks…replacing old bulbs with L-E-D ones on the lamp posts along Seventh Avenue. Beaver Falls Mayor George Quay tells Beaver County Radio newsman Pat Septak that the move will cut the city’s electric bill in half and the L-E-D bulbs will also give off considerably more light than the older bulbs.

Governor Tom Wolf said this afternoon he will allow an appropriations bill to complete this year’s state budget to become law without his signature. The Democratic governor said he does not believe the final budget is in balance, and so will not sign his name to it. But he said he will allow it to become law so the state can “move on to face the budget challenges” of next year. This means that schools will stay open through the end of the year. But he says that unless Harrisburg changes its ways, they won’t have adequate funds for next year. The budget bill will become law Monday, after Wolf does not act on it Sunday.

The Supreme Court today hears arguments in a challenge from faith-based groups – including Bishop David Zubik and a group of nuns in Pittsburgh – objecting to the Obama administration’s mandate to ensure their employees and students get cost-free birth control. Today’s arguments come on the sixth anniversary of the federal health care overhaul.