Helicopter crash kills a pilot and a line worker near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Jim Thorpe, PA) According to a report from WYOU, a helicopter crash near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, has left two people dead yesterday. The crash occurred near the 300 block of Maury Road close to Penn’s Peak in a wooded area. WYOU confirms that the two people that passed away from this helicopter crash yesterday were a line worker and a pilot, who have not been identified at this time. It is not clear what led to this crash occurring, but this crash is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.

After a name change from the Carnegie Science Center to the Kamin Science Center, the Kamin Science Center building in Pittsburgh is revealed

(Photo Courtesy of the Kamin Science Center)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The reveal of the new building with a rebrand of its new name occurred yesterday for the Kamin Science Center in Pittsburgh, previously called the Carnegie Science Center. The reason that the Carnegie Science Center was changed to the Kamin Science Center was because Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin made a donation of $65 million in 2024 to this center filled with scientific activities and experiments. This donation was the largest gift in the history of the previously known Carnegie Science Center since its original founder, Andrew Carnegie, made his original contribution to the now Kamin Science Center.

Two separate men, both of Aliquippa, get taken into custody because of bench warrants

(File Photo of the City of Aliquippa Police Department)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) Thirty-nine-year-old Eric Bruce of Aliquippa was noticed by officers in the area of Wade Street and Maratta Road in Aliquippa on the evening of July 15th, 2025. Bruce had an active bench warrant of the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office. Bruce was turned over to the sheriff’s department of the City of Aliquippa Police Department after getting taken into custody. Fifty-seven-year-old Johnny Hill, Jr. of Aliquippa, who had a bench warrant out of the Beaver County Sheriff’s office, was found by the City of Aliquippa Police Department on the afternoon of August 10th, 2025 in the area of Sheffield Avenue and 5th Avenue in Aliquippa. Hill got taken into custody and got put in the Beaver County Jail. 

Forbes releases list of “definitive ranking of America’s richest people 2025” which is a list of 400 that includes eleven Pennsylvanians, three of them from the Pittsburgh area

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Twenty dollar bills are counted on June 15, 2018, in North Andover, Mass. The number of Americans who do not have a bank account fell to a record low last year, as the proliferation of online-only banks and an improving economy is bringing more Americans into the traditional financial system, according to a report Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

(Jersey City, NJ) Forbes released their “definitive ranking of America’s richest people 2025” list on Tuesday. This list includes 400 people, whose net worth an estimated $6.6 trillion. This list includes eleven people from Pennsylvania with four of them as someone and their families and three of those eleven Pennsylvanians from the Pittsburgh area. They are: #280, Edward Stack and his family at an estimated $5.4 billion, who own Dick’s Sporting Goods, the sporting equipment and goods store which is based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, #291, Thomas Tull, at an estimated $5.3 billion, who owns a minority stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Yankees and is the founder of Legendary Entertainment, a production company, and tied at #347 with three other people, Maggie Hardy, at an estimated $4.3 billion, who is both the CEO and the owner of 84 Lumber who is also the owner of Nemacolin. Even though they do not live in Pennsylvania, two natives of Pittsburgh made it on to Forbes’ “definitive ranking of America’s richest people 2025” that was released on Tuesday. David Tepper, who grew up in the Stanton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh and is the owner of the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers and the founder of Appaloosa Management earned #41 at an estimated $23.7 billion and Mark Cuban, who grew up at Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania, who is a minority owner of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks, earned #246 at an estimated $6 billion. The link to the full list of Forbes’ “definitive ranking of America’s richest people 2025” released on Tuesday can be found below:

Click here to see the full list of Forbes’ “definitive ranking of America’s richest people 2025

Retired Duquesne Light Company worker charged for allegedly sending over 200 emails to management that were threatening

(File Photo of the Duquesne Light Company Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) A worker who retired from Duquesne Light Company got charged yesterday for allegedly sending over 200 emails to management that were threatening. According to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, fifty-eight-year-old Stephen Neal of Sharpsburg is facing six charges of harassment. According to the criminal complaint against Neal, Neal has allegedly sent more than 200 harassing and threatening emails to Duquesne Light’s management since July of 2025. The reason Neal allegedly sent these emails were because a monthly disability benefit was given to Neal after he retired from Duquesne Light Company in March of 2025 and Neal blamed Duquesne Light Company for that benefit reportedly ending in July of 2025. This benefit was managed by a third party and was offered by Neal’s union. According to information provided to KDKA-TV, Lincoln Financial Group suspended Neal’s benefits after his doctor failed to provide the insurance company with documentation of disability or a treatment plan.  One of the emails that Neal allegedly sent to Duquesne Light Company management stated: “It’s pure evil how we kill our own people and high titles they can do unjust (sic) without any consequences and think they are going to get away with it? I think the corrupt union and mismanagement of LBTQ discrimination won’t win.” It was told by Duquesne Light Company to police that they had given Neal directions on whom to speak to about his benefits ending and that they have no control over the decision. Neal allegedly continued sending the threatening emails despite being told Duquesne Light Company was not responsible and them requesting that he stop sending them emails. A professional threat assessment was then requested by Duquesne Light Company, who screened each alleged email from Neal.

The Cornerstone of Beaver County Hosts 9th Annual Party with a Purpose: “Bingo with Elvis” Fundraiser To Help End Homelessness in Beaver County

(Photo Provided with with Release Courtesy of the Cornerstone of Beaver County)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) According to a release on Tuesday from the Cornerstone of Beaver County, the Cornerstone of Beaver County will host its 9th Annual Party with a Purpose: BINGO With Elvis” fundraiser on Saturday, October 11th, 2025 at 6 p.m. at Monaca Turners, which is located on 1700 Old Brodhead Road in Monaca. The doors for this event open at 5 p.m. on October 11th, 2025. This event includes twelve games of bingo, a cash bar, a 50/50 drawing, raffle baskets, cash and merchandise prizes and performances between bingo games by Jamie Harris, an Elvis Presley tribute artist who is based in Pittsburgh. Tickets for this event start at $35 and you can purchase these tickets either by going online at CornerstoneBeaver.org or you can purchase tickets by either calling 724-846-6400 or by emailing amclaughlin@cornerstone.org. CornerstoneBeaver.org is also where you can visit for more information and how you can find out about sponsorships, which are also available for purchase for this event, in which organizations and businesses that wish to support a worthy local cause while showing off their brand. All proceeds and sponsorships from this event goes to the Cornerstone of Beaver County, which seeks to both end and prevent homelessness in Beaver County.

Rifle recovered in the search for Charlie Kirk’s killer as FBI releases photos of person of interest

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This undated combination of images provided provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows a person of interest in connection with the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Orem, Utah. (Federal Bureau of Investigation via AP)

OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they have recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible.

The shooter appeared to be of college age and blended in on the university campus where Kirk was killed Wednesday, said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. It remained unclear how far the shooter has traveled, though law enforcement officials say nearby woods where the rifle was found have been secured.

Even as law enforcement officials revealed new details about an attack they called targeted, much remained unclear nearly 24 hours later, including the sniper’s identity, motive and whereabouts. Two people detained Wednesday were released after neither was determined to be connected to the shooting, but by Thursday officials expressed confidence they had tracked the shooter’s movements on campus in the run-up to it.

Later Thursday, the FBI released two photos of a person of interest in connection with the shooting as investigators appealed to the public for information. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt.

Law enforcement recovered a Mauser .30 caliber bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus along what they suspect to be the shooter’s path as they fled the scene, according to information circulated among law enforcement and shared with The Associated Press. Besides the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine. The weapon and ammunition are being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or the motive.

Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was killed in broad daylight while speaking about social issues at a Utah Valley University campus courtyard. The circumstances brought renewed attention to the escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The killing drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.

The attack was captured on grisly videos circulating on social media that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

Trump said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump’s second Republican administration, Vance wrote.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, he took questions from an audience member about gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

Then a shot rang out.

The shooter, who Gov. Spencer Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.

Madison Lattin was watching a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she heard the bullet hit him.

“Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.

She saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. She and others ran. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede.

When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she wept, she said, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to fight for the truth.

Trump calls Kirk a ‘martyr for truth’

About 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.

Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media and praised the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later, he released a video in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom.”

Utah Valley University said the campus was evacuated after the shooting and will be closed until Monday.

Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.

Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

Condemnation from across the political spectrum

The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.

“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.

In a joint statement, the Young Democrats of Connecticut and the Connecticut Young Republicans called the shooting “unacceptable.”

“There is no place in our country for such acts regardless of political disagreements,” they said.

The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade in June to demand Hamas release hostages and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a Pennsylvania campaign rally last year.

AAA Hosting Event to Replace Peeling License Plates in Butler, Pennsylvania on Septmber 16th, 2025, Weather Permitting

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Butler, PA) According to a release from AAA East Central, AAA East Central and its partners are hosting an event to replace peeling license plates for free next week, weather permitting. This event is being planned for Tuesday, September 16th, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at AAA Butler at 138 Clearview Circle in Butler, Pennsylvania. AAA and the Pennsylvania State Police are partnering up for this event where officers will go through examinations of license plates and attendees of this event can place orders for new license plates if necessary. Vehicle owners can be both fined up to $100 and can be pulled over for having a license plate that is deemed illegible in Pennsylvania.  According to PennDOT, a registration plate is deemed illegible when one or more characters cannot be recognized from 50 feet or if the plate shows any blistering, peeling, discoloration, or loss of reflectivity. When an authorized PennDOT or law enforcement representative determines that a plate is illegible, motorists can request replacement registration plates.

The First Annual Beaver Valley Catholic Prayer Breakfast on September 12th, 2025 is a morning of hope and spiritual renewal to benefit Catholic education

(Photo Courtesy of the Beaver Valley Catholic Prayer Breakfast)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) The 2025 Beaver Valley Catholic Prayer Breakfast will be held tomorrow, Friday, September 12th, 2025 at 7 a.m. at Saint Monica Catholic Church in Beaver Falls. The tickets for this first annual event are $50 for each ticket. The keynote speaker for this event is Father Scott Seethaler. Pennsylvania State Representative Roman Kozak will be the guest speaker for this event. The master of ceremonies for this event will be Dan LeRoy. The theme of this first annual event is “Finding Unity in Hope” with prayer and discussions about evangelization, fellowship and spiritual renewal being held at the event besides the breakfast, which starts at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow at Saint Monica Church’s Founder’s Hall right next to the church of Saint Monica Catholic Church. A Mass will follow the breakfast and discussions at 9 a.m. inside Saint Monica Catholic Church to continue 2025 as the Great Jubilee Holy Year of 2025 as the Jubilee Year of Hope. Saint Monica Catholic Church is also one of the six churches designated as a Jubilee Year of Hope site to travel to in the Diocese of Pittsburgh during 2025 as the Great Jubilee Holy Year of 2025. The Angel Fund of Beaver County will receive all the proceeds from this event, which will benefit Catholic education of students in Beaver County and beyond. For more information and to buy tickets for this event, visit the link below or contact 724-846-7540.

Beaver Valley Prayer Breakfast Tickets, Fri, Sep 12, 2025 at 7:00 AM | Eventbrite

President Donald Trump says he’ll posthumously award conservative activist and ally Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom while rifle of his assassin was found

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Well-wishers pay their respects at a makeshift memorial at the national headquarters of Turning Point USA shown after the shooting death of Charlie Kirk, the co-founder and CEO of the organization, during a Utah college event Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

OREM, Utah (AP) — The sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighborhood after firing one shot and has not yet been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they recovered a high-powered rifle.

The shooter appeared to be of “college age” and is believed to have blended in on the university campus where Kirk was shot, authorities said as they investigated the latest act of political violence to befall America.

“I can tell you this was a targeted event,” said Robert Bohls, the top FBI agent in Salt Lake City.

Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was killed with a gunshot from a distant rooftop at the Utah Valley University campus, where he was speaking Wednesday. Federal, state and local authorities were working what they called “multiple active crime scenes.”

“This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Wednesday. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.”

Two people were detained Wednesday, but neither was determined to be connected to the shooting and both were released, public safety officials said.

The circumstances of the shooting drew renewed attention to an escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The assassination drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.

Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A shot rings out, and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.

Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City. According to a person familiar with Vance’s plans but not authorized to speak about them publicly, the Vances will visit Utah instead of attending an outdoor ceremony to commemorate Sept. 11 in New York.

Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up the second Trump administration, Vance wrote.

“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”

Trump announced Thursday he’ll posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Trump said he remained shocked by the horror of Kirk’s assassination praised his ally’s impact on conservative politics. “Charlie was a giant of his generation, a champion of liberty and an inspiration to millions and millions of people,” Trump said.

Kirk was taking questions about gun violence

Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, he was taking questions from an audience member about gun violence.

“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”

The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”

“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.

Then a shot rang out.

The shooter, who Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.

Madison Lattin was watching only a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she heard the bullet hit him.

“Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.

She said she saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. She and others ran. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede.

When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she wept, she said, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to be determined and fight for the truth.

Trump calls Kirk a ‘martyr for truth’

About 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.

Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media and praised the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later, he released a video in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom.”

Utah Valley University said the campus was evacuated after the shooting and will be closed until Monday.

Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.

Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”

Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”

Condemnation from across the political spectrum

The shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.

“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.

In a joint statement, the Young Democrats of Connecticut and the Connecticut Young Republicans called the shooting “unacceptable.”

“We reject all forms of political violence,” they said. “There is no place in our country for such acts regardless of political disagreements.”

The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade in June to demand Hamas release hostages and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a Pennsylvania campaign rally last year.

Update:

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Orem, UT) According to BBC News, the rifle of the assassin of Charlie Kirk was recovered in a wooded area where authorities believe the assassin of Charlie Kirk fled. Kirk was killed by a shooter who shot him once during a debate that Kirk’s nonprofit political organization hosted yesterday. Kirk was thirty-one years old and is survived by relatives including his wife Erika Kirk and his two young children, his daughter who is three years old and his son who is one year old.