(File Photo: Source for Photo: Jefferson Township first responders look over the scene of a school bus crash at the Mount Cobb, Pa. exit of Interstate 84, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Chad Sebring/The Times-Tribune via AP)

MOUNT COBB, Pa. (AP) — Bagpipers returning from a St. Patrick’s Day parade were taken to hospitals after their charter bus crashed into a tractor-trailer, officials said.

The bus was exiting westbound Interstate 84 in northeastern Pennsylvania shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday when it ran into the tractor-trailer, which had no one inside it, Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Mike Shaffer said, according to WBRE-TV/WYOU-TV.

Seventeen people on the bus had minor injuries, according to Pennsylvania State Police spokesperson Trooper First Class Robert Urban. The crash was not weather related and is under investigation, he said.

The bus was carrying the Greater Scranton Black Diamonds Pipe Band back from a parade in Milford, according to Bill Hetherson, the band’s business manager. The band expects everyone to make a full recovery. They cancelled group St. Patrick’s Day events on Monday but some might be able to play solo, Hetherson said.

HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that an Aliquippa man was sentenced last week in federal court to 10 years in prison for his role in a criminal organization distributing large quantities of cocaine and heroin in and around Beaver County.

Kijana Lowe, 27, of Aliquippa, previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to deliver and one count of conspiracy. The Office of Attorney General and the Drug Enforcement Administration, in connection with the Beaver County HIDTA Group and the Pennsylvania State Police, conducted the investigation and prosecuted the case jointly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

“I am grateful for the hard work and collaboration between our federal, state, and local partners which led to an upper-level drug trafficker being taken off the streets,” Attorney General Sunday said.

In November 2021, Lowe and several other members of the drug trafficking organization traveled to Allegheny County with nearly $300,000 to purchase 10 kilos of cocaine. Federal, state, and local law enforcement intercepted the exchange and recovered the 10 kilos, the cash, and two bags of heroin. Lowe and five others were charged.

Adelin Hernandez Amparo, 31, of the Dominican Republic, and Anthony Tusweet Smith Jr., 24, of Aliquippa, previously pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges. Amparo was sentenced in federal court to nearly 3½ years in prison, followed by two years of federal supervised release. Smith was sentenced to five years in prison, followed by four years of federal supervised release.

Santos Castro-Mota, 42, of Brooklyn, NY, is currently incarcerated and awaiting trial. Cases are pending against Luis David Paredes Sanchez, 25, of Philadelphia, and Guillermo Alexis Evangelista Estevez, 33; both men have fled.

Senior Deputy Attorney General Kara Cotter and Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted the case.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Military personnel search for Sudiksha Konanki, a university student from the U.S. who disappeared on a beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Monday, March. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Francesco Spotorno)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) A statement was released on Friday by the parents of the last person to allegedly see Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student who has been missing in the Dominican Republic. The parents of twenty-two-year-old Joshua Riibe are hoping that Konanki gets found and that their son has cooperated completely with clarifying facts as well as the search for her. Konanki was in Punta Cana with a group of several people before she went missing. 

(File Photo of the Beaver County Jail)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) A man from Koppel Borough was arrested after making disturbing notes to an unidentified female victim. Nineteen-year-old Dylan Bish was the suspect who wrote a note that was brought to police by the victim which involved a phone number on it in November. A second note was found which involved threats to kill her and threats of harassment because of his obsession with her in February. Bish has a $1 million bond and is now in the Beaver County Jail.

(File Photo of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Badge)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Brighton Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a woman from Zanesville, Ohio caused a single-vehicle crash in Brighton Township last Monday. Twenty-one-year-old Alexandra Wright hit the guide wire on the left of the road with her vehicle on I-376 East. Wright was transported privately after the incident occurred and sustained no injuries. No charges were filed against Wright. 

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Potter Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a man from Beaver crashed his motorcycle on I-376 East on Tuesday. Thirty-eight-year-old Stephen Zak’s motorcycle wobbled after he got into the left lane when passing another vehicle. A concrete barrier was hit by Zak before he stopped. According to police, Zak was transported to the Beaver Valley Medical Center for a suspected serious injury and no charges were filed against him.

(File Photo of Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Badge)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Shippingport Borough, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a man from Aliquippa was arrested on Friday for not restraining his dog after it attacked a dog owned by his neighbor multiple times. Fifty-nine-year-old Kevin Meredith of East Liverpool, Ohio complained that the Pitbull of thirty-one-year-old Tyler Tharp did not get restrained. According to police, Tharp was given a notice to comply because of improper confinement and control of the dog.

(File Photo of the Shell Cracker Plant in Monaca)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Monaca, PA) Shell Polymers Monaca will be performing activity for maintenance in their Ethylene Cracking Unit after flares and emission occurred on both Thursday and Friday. There was no immediate threat to the surrounding community, neighbors in the industry or those that were operating onsite. These teams onsite will try to minimize community impacts during this process. If you have any questions, please contact 844-766-5581. 

(Photo Provided with Release)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(New Sewickley Township, PA) According to a release from The New Sewickley Township Police Department, the identity was released for a deceased man that was killed after a brush fire occurred in Beaver County on Thursday. The identity of the man was released by police. He was eighty-six-year-old Charles Flook of New Sewickley Township. The fire that was around one acre was able to be handled. The cause of death for Flook is not determined at this time.