(File Photo of Handcuffs)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Aliquippa, PA) Aliquippa Police have arrested four separate individuals over the last two weeks. Thirty-seven-year-old Christina Tanner was arrested on April 1st after allegedly crashing into a house and two other vehicles. Tanner had charges filed against her for driving under the influence. Fifty-four-year-old Terry Johnson was also arrested on April 1st and received filed charges for driving under the influence. Thirty-year-old Ahmed Elkhatib was arrested on March 31st after an alleged incident of domestic violence and is now in the Beaver County Jail for harassment and simple assault. An indirect criminal complaint was filed against thirty-eight-year-old Shawn Murphy for a violation from protection of abuse. Murphy was arrested on March 28th.

(File Photo: Caption for Photo: PennDOT, PSP, PTC, Construction Industry Highlight National Work Zone Awareness Week)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Aliquippa, PA) A way to a road in Aliquippa has been reopened after it experienced levels of high water on Saturday. The closure occurred because of rainfall on a part of Kennedy Boulevard before the Franklin Avenue and Monaca Road interchange. Police are reminding residents to be careful in the area near Waugaman Street and Cesina Sausage.

(File Photo of Fire Background)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(West Aliquippa, PA) A fire occurred in West Aliquippa on Friday and the State Police Fire Marshal is still investigating its cause. A person that did not get accounted for was brought up from initial reports of a house on Allegheny Avenue catching fire. According to Aliquippa Fire Chief Tim Firich, the fire was in the basement and all three floors of the home. Firich also stated that the missing person was found at a neighboring house by the Aliquippa Police Department.

(File Photo of the Vanport Bridge on I-376 West)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Vanport Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a man from Monaca was charged after causing a single-vehicle crash on the Vanport Bridge on I-376 West on Saturday. Twenty-six-year-old William Reef-Thomas did not have control driving on the bridge and hit a concreted barrier on the right side after his car slid from the left lane. According to police, Reef-Thomas was charged for driving on roadways that were laned for traffic.

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Darlington Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a man from Petersburg, Ohio was charged after causing a single-vehicle crash in Darlington Township on Sunday. Thirty-five-year-old Thomas Newman became disabled after driving too fast close to 485 Crescent Drive. Newman also drove through a fence after he lost control of his car. According to police, Newman escaped the scene and received a citation for numerous violations after reporting the incident to police.

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(North Sewickley Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver report that a woman from Leetsdale was charged after causing a single-vehicle crash in North Sewickley Township on Sunday. Twenty-six-year-old Kasandra Moon was near 1149 Mercer Road and hit both some mailboxes and a utility pole with her car because she fell asleep during her drive home. Moon had no injuries, but police gave her a charge for driving carelessly.

(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Badge)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(North Sewickley Township, PA) A suspect was shot and killed by police after leading them through both Ohio and the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Friday. According to police reports, an unidentified man stole an Ohio State Highway Patrol Cruiser and crashed it going eastbound on I-76. At this time, no threat was identified to the public. The investigation for this incident is being handled by the Pennsylvania State Police Troop D Major Case Team.

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) A suspect named Tyrik Jones is guilty of first-degree murder after four days of conversation at his murder trial ended on Friday in Beaver County. Jones killed Rebecca Miller on a trail close to Geneva College in January of 2024. No comment was made by the defense attorney of Jones about the guilty verdict. Jones was also not guilty of two related charges of rape during the same case. The sentencing for Jones will occur on May 23rd.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – A health worker administers a measles test on Fernando Tarin, of Seagraves, Texas, at a mobile testing site outside Seminole Hospital District, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in Seminole, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

(AP) A second school-age child who was hospitalized with measles is the third measles-related death in the U.S. since the virus started ripping through West Texas in late January.

The child died Thursday, according to state health officials. The child was 8 years old, according to a statement from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A spokesperson for UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas, confirmed the child was unvaccinated and being treated for measles complications.

The U.S. now has more than double the number of measles cases it saw in all of 2024, with Texas reporting another large jump in cases and hospitalizations on Friday. Other states with active outbreaks — defined as three or more cases — include New Mexico, Kansas, Ohio and Oklahoma. The virus has been spreading in undervaccinated communities.

The multi-state outbreak confirms health experts’ fears that the virus will take hold in other U.S. communities with low vaccination rates and that the spread could stretch on for a year. The World Health Organization said last week that cases in Mexico are linked to the Texas outbreak.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.

How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?

Texas’ outbreak began more than two months ago. State health officials said Friday there were 59 new cases of measles since Tuesday, bringing the total to 481 across 19 counties — most of them in West Texas. The state also logged 14 new hospitalizations, for a total of 56 throughout the outbreak.

More than 65% of Texas’ cases are in Gaines County, population 22,892, where the virus stated spreading in a close-knit, undervaccinated Mennonite community. The county now has logged 315 cases since late January — just over 1% of the county’s residents.

New Mexico announced six new cases Friday, bringing the state’s total to 54. New Mexico health officials say the cases are linked to Texas’ outbreak based on genetic testing. Most are in Lea County, where two people have been hospitalized, and two are in Eddy County.

A child died of measles in Texas in late February — Kennedy said age 6 — and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult on March 6.

How many cases are there in Kansas?

Kansas has 24 cases in six counties in the southwest part of the state as of Wednesday. Kiowa and Stevens counties have six cases each, while Grant, Morton, Haskell and Gray counties have five or fewer.

The state’s first reported case, identified in Stevens County on March 13, is linked to the Texas and New Mexico outbreaks based on genetic testing, a state health department spokesperson said. But health officials have not determined how the person was exposed.

How many cases are there in Oklahoma?

Cases in Oklahoma remained steady Friday: eight confirmed and two probable cases. The first two probable cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks, the state health department said.

A state health department spokesperson said measles exposures were confirmed in Tulsa and Rogers counties, but wouldn’t say which counties had cases.

How many cases are there in Ohio?

Ohio reported one new measles case Thursday in west-central Allen County. Last week, there were 10 in Ashtabula County in the northeast corner of the state. The first case was in an unvaccinated adult who had interacted with someone who had traveled internationally.

In central Ohio, Knox County officials reported two new measles cases in international visitors, for three cases in international visitors total. Those cases are not included in the state’s official count because they are not in Ohio residents. A measles outbreak in central Ohio sickened 85 in 2022.

Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.?

Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, and Washington.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases. The agency counted six clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025 as of Friday.

In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles. So far in 2025, the CDC’s count is 607.

Do you need an MMR booster?

The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

People at high risk for infection who got the shots many years ago may want to consider getting a booster if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. Those may include family members living with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of underlying medical conditions.

Adults with “presumptive evidence of immunity” generally don’t need measles shots now, the CDC said. Criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, lab confirmation of past infection or being born before 1957, when most people were likely to be infected naturally.

A doctor can order a lab test called an MMR titer to check your levels of measles antibodies, but health experts don’t always recommend this route and insurance coverage can vary.

Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says.

People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. That also includes people who don’t know which type they got.

What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

How can you treat measles?

There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

Why do vaccination rates matter?

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.

The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.