(File Photo of a Farmer’s Market Truck Carrying Farmer’s Market Truck)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Memorial Park Church in the North Hills of Pittsburgh is now calling on volunteers to help pack meals for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Meals will be donated to that food bank for distribution to families in need. Volunteers can show up at the church to help on Saturday, April 18, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. or Sunday, April 19, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Community members of all ages are welcome, and those interested can sign up online by clicking here.   

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Pope Leo XIV holds his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will accept the Liberty Medal in Philadelphia on the eve of July 4 in a remote broadcast from Rome but won’t travel to the U.S. during its 250th birthday celebrations this year.

Leo, the first American pope, will instead spend the Fourth of July on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, the arrival point for many desperate migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa.

He will be honored on Independence Mall on July 3 for “his lifelong work promoting religious liberty and freedom of conscience and expression around the world — ideals enshrined by America’s founders in the First Amendment,” the National Constitution Center said in a press release Monday.

The center awards the Liberty Medal each year to someone “of courage and conviction” who promotes liberty around the world. Past recipients include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the late civil rights leader.

Leo, born Robert F. Prevost, was raised in Chicago and attended Villanova University near Philadelphia, graduating in 1977.

He has a busy year of travel planned, including a grand tour of Italy and trips to four African nations. The Vatican has confirmed he will not travel to the United States this year, despite an invitation from President Donald Trump.

Leo has followed in his predecessor’s footsteps in highlighting the plight of migrants around the world.

Pope Francis had made Lampedusa his first trip outside Rome after his 2013 election, when he celebrated Mass there on an altar made of shipwrecked migrant boats and denounced the “globalization of indifference”— a mantra that increased tensions with the first Trump administration.

Francis visited Philadelphia during a six-day trip across the U.S. in 2015.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – This April 2, 2021, file photo shows bridges spanning the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. Republicans in Congress are making the politically brazen bet that it’s more advantageous to oppose President Joe Biden’s ambitious rebuild America agenda than to lend support for the costly $2.3 trillion undertaking for roads, bridges and other infrastructure investments. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The Heinz Endowments has recently pledged $750,000 to support Pittsburgh’s citywide comprehensive plan, which is known as PGH2050. The funding is facilitated through a partnership with The Pittsburgh Foundation and it is expected to save city taxpayers more than $1 million. PGH2050 is managed by the Department of City Planning and it serves as a long-term growth strategy for the city’s 90 neighborhoods. The initiative aims to coordinate efforts in climate resilience, economic development and housing over the coming decades. This grant is intended to ensure that planning decisions are informed by direct resident input and he project is now moving into its final phase, which involves extensive outreach to local stakeholders. 

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Penn Hills, PA) A mother from Penn Hills is now charged with homicide in connection with the death of her 3-year-old son. Lagomau Malu and Adam Chirico were charged last week after their son died at the hospital on Wednesday after he was found unresponsive along Dorothy Drive in Penn Hills that day. According to police, Malu admitted to hitting her son multiple times in the head and kneeled on his chest because he wet the bed. A forensic pathologist found the child died of a head injury and ruled his death a homicide. Malu and Chirico were both denied bail and are being held in the Allegheny County Jail. Preliminary hearings for the couple are scheduled for later this month.   

(File Photo of Police Siren Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported via release today that sixty-two-year-old Alireza Afshar of Pittsburgh was charged after a single-vehicle crash occurred in Findlay Township yesterday. Afshar was driving on I-376 West east of Enlow Road, and at 5:32 p.m, he drove his vehicle off of the road and that vehicle overturned. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Gavin Thunberg)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Baden, PA) Just before 8 p.m. yesterday, Baden Volunteer Fire Department, Station 47 and their first alarm were toned for a possible electrical fire in the Pinecone Village Apartment Complex on 5th Street. While enroute to the scene, police arrived and reported to Beaver County 911 that there was heavy smoke and there was entrapment. A second alarm was also added and the rest were requested to stage on Virginia Avenue. The floor was searched above and no fire was found. The incident was then held to the aparatus on scene. 

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Gas prices are stable in Western Pennsylvania this week at about $3.73 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.71, and that average jumped nearly 24 cents since last week. The last time the national average was in the $3.70 range was in October of 2023. Gas prices are also going up because of the conflict in Iran and the national average for gas has gone up 73 cents since that conflict began on February 28th. The report states that the average price for a gallon of regular gas in Western Pennsylvania was about $3.41 at this time a year ago and the average price that you can expect for a gallon of regular unleaded gas here in Beaver County is about $3.79. According to a release from AAA East Central and AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report, here are the average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline this week in various areas:  

$3.753      Altoona
$3.787      Beaver
$3.678      Bradford
$3.490      Brookville
$3.741      Butler
$3.751      Clarion
$3.668      DuBois
$3.769      Erie
$3.743      Greensburg
$3.775      Indiana
$3.781      Jeannette
$3.765      Kittanning
$3.735      Latrobe
$3.771      Meadville
$3.809      Mercer
$3.721      New Castle
$3.665      New Kensington
$3.781      Oil City
$3.765      Pittsburgh
$3.639      Sharon
$3.746      Uniontown
$3.799      Warren
$3.728      Washington 

(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A suspect in a shooting that happened on a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus on Saturday was arrested yesterday. According to Port Authority Police in Pittsburgh, eighteen-year-old  Michael Andrews was charged with aggravated assault, carrying a firearm without a license, reckless endangerment and person not to possess a firearm. He is now being held at the Allegheny County Jail. Police believe that Andrews shot a juvenile on the P1 bus near the Homewood Station on the East Busway over the weekend. The victim was taken to a hospital and is currently listed in stable condition. 

(File Photo of Handcuffs)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Moon Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported via release today that forty-seven-year-old Carol Santucci of Coraopolis was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Moon Township on Friday. At 5:50 p.m., Pennsylvania State Police initated a traffic stop on the 700 block of Aten Road and Santucci was found to be under the influence of alcohol during the stop.