(File Photo of Former Pennsylvania State Representative Jim Marshall)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) Former Pennsylvania State Representative Jim Marshall announced on Beaver County Radio’s “Driving in the Fast Lane” with Frank Sparks this morning that he will be running for Beaver County State Commissioner in 2027. Marshall said that he is not running on his agenda and he wants to provide services for the residents of Beaver County, but he also wants to “have the opportunity to help people.” A year from now is also when Marshall will be circulating petitions. Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning has chosen to not run for re-election for his current position. Marshall currently works at M:7 Enterprises as their Vice President of Business Development. Marshall served eighteen years as the 14th House District Representative before retiring.

(File Photo of a Foggy Day)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT is reminding drivers to stay alert when traveling in low visibility conditions such as fog. Fog that is increasing on roadways creates dangerous conditions for both drivers and pedestrians. Drivers are advised to drive slowly to allow enough reaction time as slower moving cars and pedestrians may be more difficult to see during conditions that are foggy. If the fog becomes so dense that you cannot see, it is best to pull completely off of the road and turn on you hazard lights to make your vehicle more visible. Pennsylvania Law requires moving vehicles to have their headlights turned on when traveling in unfavorable conditions. This includes fog, rain, and other conditions where the visibility is low. People need to be sure to use low beam headlights as high beams will create a glare and make it more difficult to see the road ahead.

According to a release from PennDOT District 11, to prevent commute disruption, PennDOT offers the following safety tips for driving in fog:

·       Allow additional time to get to your destination.

·       Check your vehicle’s headlights, taillights, and turn signals to ensure they are working properly.

·       Along with low beam headlights, use windshield wipers and defrosters to maximize visibility.

·       Use roadside reflectors or the right edge of the road as a guide.

·       Be patient and avoid passing other vehicles or changing lanes.

(File Photo of Police Siren Lights)

Noah haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Darlington Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver reported via release yesterday that twenty-seven-year-old Micah Ronald Barnes of Pittsburgh was arrested after a vehicle pursuit that ended in a crash yesterday afternoon in Darlington Township. This happened at 2:38 p.m. along the 100 block of Taggert Road. Before the crash occurred, Barnes escaped police units from East Palestine in a vehicle as officers tried to conduct a traffic stop in Ohio before he traveled to Beaver County. After losing control on the wet roads there, Barnes crashed that vehicle into a tree and then ran away on foot. Barnes was ultimately located and was seen missing one shoe near East Palestine Road and patrol units from PSP Beaver took him into custody. Barnes was taken to the Beaver County Jail to be arraigned on criminal charges of fleeing and eluding a police officer, accidents involving damage to unattended vehicle or property, recklessly endangering another person, evading arrest or fleeing on foot, reckless driving, careless driving, and multiple traffic offenses. According to the East Palestine Police Department, Barnes and 24-year-old Jaiden Curtis-Tillman, also of Pittsburgh, were both arrested after a chase and crash during a suspected drug delivery. Curtis-Tillman is being held in the Columbiana County Jail and he is charged with obstructing official business. Curtis-Tillman also escpaed on foot in an effort to escape arrest and he was taken into custody after he was removed from the vehicle, even though Barnes was able to escape before his arrest. A drone was also utilized by the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office as one of the methods to find Barnes.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Pittsburgh Marriott North at Cranberry Woods, Posted on Facebook on April 18th, 2025)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) A hospitality investment platform based in Birmingham, Alabama is acquiring a hotel in Cranberry Township. Highline Hospitality Partners announced yesterday its acquisition of Pittsburgh Marriott North. Highline Hospitality Partners confirms that this transaction is its 17th hotel acquisition overall, but this is its first investment in Pennsylvania and officials from that company state that they plan to pursue renovations on guestrooms in the coming years although the hotel is “well maintained.” The Alabama company has also engaged Avion Hospitality to manage the hotel that has 298 rooms with around 12,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, to include a 7,500-square-foot ballroom and amenities like a full-service restaurant, grab-and-go market, indoor pool and fitness center.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This photo provided by Pittsburgh’s Public Source shows an excavator working at an Alcoa mine site near Jarrahdale, Western Australia, March 28, 2025. (Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source via AP)

(AP) Pittsburgh-based Alcoa will pay the Australian government a settlement the company put at $36 million for “unlawfully” clearing tracts of endangered forest without approvals between 2019 and 2025.

The metals giant began mining bauxite — the raw ingredient for aluminum — from beneath Australia’s Northern Jarrah forest in the 1960s, but its footprint has swelled in recent years, drawing new scrutiny from regulators and the public.

Senator Murray Watt, Australia’s environment and water minister, said the payment — $55 million in Australian dollars — settles a longstanding question of whether Alcoa should enjoy exemptions from federal environmental processes.

“We are committed to responsible operations and welcome this important step in transitioning our approvals to a contemporary assessment process that provides increased certainty for our operations and our people into the future,” Alcoa President and CEO William F. Oplinger said in a statement. “We’re proud of our more than 60 years as a leading Australian aluminum producer and the role we are now playing in support of critical minerals production.”

“It’s well and truly the largest amount that’s been paid by way of an enforceable undertaking around the environment laws nationally,” Watt said in an interview with Australian broadcasters Feb. 18.

Alcoa maintains it has complied with federal law but agreed to the payments to “acknowledge historical clearing.”

The agreement includes an 18-month exemption for the company to operate while seeking those approvals.

Last year, Pittsburgh’s Public Source traveled to Australia to investigate Alcoa’s plans for the forest, environmental effects and community concerns.

Alcoa, a global metalmaker valued at $16 billion, mines about 34 million metric tons of bauxite annually to generate 9 million tons of alumina. Much of this is sourced from its vast mine sites in the Northern Jarrah Forest near Perth. The endangered forest is a recognized biodiversity hotspot and hosts threatened species including black cockatoos and a variety of marsupials.

The company runs a rehabilitation program to restore former mined sites, but a prominent botanist who once tried to aid those efforts now maintains it’s ineffective, and a growing chorus of Australian scientists join those criticisms.

Advertisements the company sponsored last summer promoting its rehabilitation program drew the attention of an ad standards watchdog, which issued a report stating “the advertisement was inaccurate and likely to mislead or deceive target consumers.”

Alcoa is still tussling with regulators in the state of Western Australia.

A proposal there to massively expand its operations drew some 60,000 public comments upon submission to the Environmental Authority last summer. Local governments encompassing the mining and refining sites and multiple First Nations representatives were among the critics. The decision is still pending, though Alcoa wrote in a statement to Public Source that the company responded to the “comments received from government entities” and remains “committed to working toward the decision by the end of 2026.”

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Photo Courtesy of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) Cathryn Calhoun will be the speaker at the 41st Annual Tabernacle Baptist Church Black History Forum on Sunday, February 22nd at 4 p.m. This will take place at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaver Falls. Calhoun is the director of education and community engagement at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, which is located in Pittsburgh. According to Calhoun, she’ll spotlight Wilson’s compelling background and reveal how he eventually earned the title as “theater’s poet of Black America.” Attendees will be offered light refreshments at the end of the event highlighting the history of the late Wilson at Tabernacle Baptist Church. 

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported via release today that a person was arrested for driving under the influence in Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning. At approximately 10 a.m., Pennsylvania State Police went to the eastbound Squirrel Hill Tunnel along 755 I-376 East after a single-vehicle crash occurred. Throughout the investigation of this crash, the operator of the vehicle displayed signs of impairment.