Category: News

VIDEO: Rochester Carol Sing & Light Up Night Moves Back Indoors To Celebrate The 2022 Christmas Season

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

After one year of absence and another year of taking things outside, the song and celebration of Rochester’s welcoming of Christmas returns to its familiar annual indoor habitat.

The 6th Annual Community Christmas Carol Sing and Light Up Night returns to Rochester High School on Sunday, December 4, presented by the Beaver Valley Choral Society and the Rochester Area School District. The day will center around a collection of traditional Christmas carols sung by the BVCS and those in attendance, in conjunction with the Rochester High School Chorus and Band.

BVCS director emeritus Ray Rotuna and artistic director/principal conductor Sharon Burchill joined Matt Drzik on the November 29 edition of A.M. Beaver County to preview this year’s event, which will be held inside Rochester High School after the outdoor celebration of the previous year. Attendees will be directed to the school’s natatorium by the “town crier” of the festivities, and they’ll be encouraged to sing traditional Christmas carols with the BVCS and Rochester students. “That was one of the goals of this community event,” Burchill said, “to get people singing, and to bring the carol sings back.”

There will also be a presentation of “The Night Before Christmas” featuring Larry Brosius and Diane Brosius in full time-appropriate regalia, the return of Santa’s Workshop and the Candyland Garden, and drawings for gift cards from Santa’s Elf Bag. Kids can write letters to Santa and Christmas Cards to deployed soldiers, enjoy festive drinks and holiday cookies, and meet Tucker The Reading Dog from the Rochester Library. Plus, Beaver County Radio will be broadcasting live from the Carol Sing & Light Up Night, with the Personality Prize Wheel free to spin for a chance at awesome prizes!

The event is free, but the BVCS and RASD are asking that a donation of a non-perishable food item be brought for the Frye Transportation bus, which will be filled with food to be donated to the Families Matter Food Pantry.

To watch the full preview with Ray and Sharon, click on the Facebook feed below!

Labatt Blue Releases Limited Edition Pittsburgh Penguins Promo Packs Honoring Mike Lange

(Photos provided with release)

(Buffalo, NY) L­abatt Blue today unveiled its limited-edition Pittsburgh Penguins packaging. These unique can designs feature phrases made popular by famed Penguins announcer Mike Lange.

Hockey enthusiasts and fans of the brand can pick up a 30-pack of 12 oz cans of Pittsburgh Penguins themed Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light or 15-pack of Labatt Blue at major retail locations and convenience stores throughout Pittsburgh. Individual 24 oz cans will be available at convenience stores.

“Penguins hockey means so much to Pittsburgh and Labatt beer drinkers,” said Corey Berger, associate brand manager, Labatt. “Through this program, we connect fans to their favorite team while they’re pre-gaming or cheering from their couch.”

In addition to the cans, a QR code on the outside package directs consumers to a Labatt Team Fan page, where fans can enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to a 2022/2023 Pittsburgh Penguins home game.  Eight winners will be selected randomly.

Over the last few years, Labatt has created custom NHL cans for teams including the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and the Philadelphia Flyers. “The team designs are unique making these cans collectible,” said Berger.

City of Beaver Falls Fire Crews Respond to Electrical Fire

(Photo taken by Frank Sparks)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News
(Beaver Falls, Pa.) Beaver County 911 reported that The City of Beaver Falls Fire Department was dispatched to an apartment building fire at 1311 8th Avenue at 6:23 PM Monday evening.

Beaver Falls Fire Chief Mark Stowe reported Tuesday morning that  two occupants escaped  from the fire in the three story frame structure. Upon arrival, firefighters discovered heavy smoke in a ceiling  on the porch making its way through the walls causing heavy smoke on the second and third floors. Chief Stowe explained that old buildings have walls in them with void spaces and fire is able to spread quickly.
Firefighters from Beaver , New  Brighton and Chippewa Township assisted at the scene.
The Red Cross is assisting those tenants displaced by the fire.

Arrest Warrant Issued For Man Who Shot Wife While Driving and Leaving Her on The Side of I-579

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Pittsburgh, Pa.) An arrest warrant has been issued for 37-year-old Kevin Crew of Northview Heights. Crew is accused of shooting his wife in the leg while they were driving along I-579 in Pittsburgh after they got into an argument in their car. Crew allegedly pulled out a gun while his wife was driving and shot her, he then told her to keep driving. She pulled the car over and got out. Crew then got into the driver seat and left his wife on the off-ramp.
Police were called to the scene around 1:30 PM and that is when they found the woman and discovered that she had been shot in the leg. She was taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition.
Crew is being charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and firearms violations.

Steam Generator Fails Causing Flaring Safety System to Activate At Shell Cracker Plant

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Potter Twp., Pa.) Shell Polymers Monaca reported on their Facebook Page yesterday that they experienced an issue with the steam generator at the Shell Cracker Plant in Potter Township that resulted in flaring in the site’s ground flare system. Flaring was expected to continue throughout last evening as equipment was returned back to normal operation. The company explained that the primary purpose of the flares is to enable a safe response to equipment malfunctions and the system is working as designed. Shell apologized for any inconveniences and said they are working diligently to minimize the duration of flaring. Shell went on to say that the safety of their workers, the community and environment are top priorities for the Cracker Plant.

Penn Hills Ambulance Driver Dies in Accident After Suffering Cardiac Event

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(Pittsburgh, Pa.) First responders were called to Fifth Avenue and Morewood Avenue in Shadyside just before 11 PM Sunday night for a crash involving the driver of a Penn Hills ambulance.
When crews arrived on the scene it was learned that the driver went into cardiac arrest and he was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. A passenger suffered head trauma, facial lacerations and a possible concussion. The Allegheny County Medical examiner will release the driver’s  identity and exact cause of death. Police said there were no patients in the ambulance at the time of the crash.
The driver of a separate vehicle had stomach pain and was also taken to a hospital in stable condition.

Truck Crashes into Home on Mercer Ave. in New Brighton

(Photo taken by New Brighton resident Jamie Hickman. Used with permission)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff
(New Brighton, Pa.) A Ford pick-up truck slammed into a home at the corner of 3rd Street and Mercer Ave. in the Oak Hill section of New Brighton around 1:30 AM early Monday morning. There is no word on what occurred that caused the truck to land into the living room of the home.   The investigation is ongoing. We have reached out to the New Brighton Police Department to get more information but have not heard back as of 11 AM Monday morning.  The resident of the home heard a noise while in bed and felt the house shake. She then came downstairs to discover the truck in her living room. No one in the house was injured.

As of early this morning the truck was still lodged in the house and the home owner is waiting to see the extent of the damage.

‘We the People’ is the White House’s Theme for the Holidays

A sugar cookie replica of Independence Hall and a gingerbread replica of the White House are on display in the State Dining Room of the White House during a press preview of holiday decorations at the White House, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says first lady Jill Biden drew inspiration from the nation’s founding documents to decorate for the holidays. The first lady’s theme is “We the People.” The White House says the holiday décor represents what unites Americans during the holidays and throughout the year. A copy of the Declaration of Independence is on display in the library. The gingerbread White House includes a sugar cookie replica of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. New this year is a wooden menorah built by White House carpenters and located on the State Floor.

Pennsylvania Campaign Wildcard Fetterman Turns to Governing

FILE – Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and wife Gisele arrive to vote in Braddock, Pa, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. When Fetterman goes to Washington in January, one of the Senate’s new members will bring along an irreverent style from Pennsylvania that extends from his own personal dress code — super casual — to hanging marijuana flags outside his current office in Pennsylvania’s state Capitol. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — When John Fetterman goes to Washington in January as one of the Senate’s new members, he’ll bring along an irreverent style from Pennsylvania. It’s one that extends from his own personal and very casual dress code to hanging marijuana flags outside his current office in the state Capitol. Pennsylvania’s unique lieutenant governor just flipped the state’s open Senate seat to Democrats and may be the only senator ever to be declared an “American taste god” as GQ magazine once did. He’ll be the country’s tallest senator, and might be its most tattooed as well. But Pennsylvania’s sitting Democratic senator, Bob Casey, says he expects Fetterman will navigate the clubbiness of the Senate just fine.

Brighton Twp. Police Officer Charged with Insurance Fraud and Making False Reports

(File Photo)

Story by Beaver County Radio Staff)
(Beaver, Pa.) A Brighton Township police officer has been charged with attempted theft in connection with a false insurance report.
51-year-old Donald Sanders was arrested after investigators say that an investigation into him began in September. Police Chief Howard Blinn requested support from the Beaver County Detectives Bureau after he was tipped off about the incident. The witness told police that they were traveling with Sanders’ son in his car while on their way home from a vacation on April 22 when they struck a deer in West Virginia causing significant damage to the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the Sanders household.
Sanders then changed the insurance from liability to comprehensive and filed a false police report that said the accident occurred in Brighton Twp. Which officials were able to prove as false because of photos from the witnesses phone. Sanders was charged with felony insurance fraud and a misdemeanor count of making false reports to law enforcement officials.