Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing a lane closure on the Rochester-Monaca Bridge, which carries Route 18 over the Ohio River, in Rochester and Monaca boroughs, Beaver County will begin on Tuesday, May 28 weather permitting.

The right-hand turning lane from the Rochester-Monaca Bridge to Pleasant Street in Rochester Borough will close to traffic beginning Tuesday, May 28 at 7 a.m. and remain closed around-the-clock through 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 4 to allow crews to conduct dam replacement work. Traffic will still be able to turn right onto Pleasant Street from the through-lane.

This $6.69 million project includes bridge preservation work on the Rochester-Monaca Bridge between Atlantic Avenue in Monaca Borough and Pleasant Street in Rochester Borough. Preservation work includes expansion joint replacement, zone painting, concrete deck overlay, downspout repair and replacement, steel and concrete repairs, as well as sidewalk, deck, barrier, and fence repairs, pavement marking upgrades, and other miscellaneous construction activities. Motorists will see a full 67-day closure and detour of the bridge via the Monaca-East Rochester Bridge between June and August 2024. Bicycle and pedestrian access will be maintained during construction. This project is expected to be completed in late 2024.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

• Increased the company’s fleet electrification from 8% in 2022 to 11% in 2023. In 2023, the company added eight more 100% electric Ford F-150 Lightnings to its fleet, making DLC’s Lightning fleet the largest in southwestern Pennsylvania.
• Strengthened local communities through charitable giving and volunteerism, including nearly $2 million donated to 464 organizations in 2023 — 86% of which are diverse led. DLC employees also participated in 89 volunteer events in the community, contributing to 4,320 volunteer hours.
• Enabled customers to participate in energy efficiency programs that helped reduce 100,680 MWh across all customer segments. These measures led to a reduction of 78,650 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is equal to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 15,878 gas-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year or 182,909,597 miles. (From the EPA GHG Equivalence Calculator as of Dec. 31, 2023.)
• Named a StormReady institution by the National Weather Service, which highlights the company as an industry leader in best practices when planning for and responding to severe weather and water events. At the time of recognition, DLC was one of only two electric utility companies in the U.S. to receive this distinction.

FILE—(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
Danielle Smith – Keystone State News Service

For Pennsylvanians on the hunt for employment opportunities, the Keystone State offers a favorable landscape. The state’s jobless rate stayed at a record low 3.4% in April, better than the national rate of 3.9%.

Maisum Murtaza, research associate at the Keystone Research Center, said the positive trend has been ongoing for months, with the rate hovering between 3.2% and 3.4% over the past year. He pointed out the job market is recovering from the COVID years and workers are starting to gain a bit more power in the labor market.

“A low unemployment rate that persists like that gives workers more levers in the job market individually and together as well as creating more buying power,” Murtaza explained. “We’ve also seen in conjunction with the low persistent unemployment rates, last 12 months, real wages have started to go up.”

Murtaza noted inflation has started to come back under control and the persistence of the effect is helping the labor market recover. The number of nonfarm jobs rose to a record high of more than 6 million, an increase of 2,600 jobs over March and the ninth consecutive monthly increase.

Murtaza reported Pennsylvania added 81,000 jobs to its overall employment over the last 12 months, with education and health services leading the way.

“Over the last 12 months, that industry has gained over 58,000 jobs,” Murtaza outlined. “The largest percent gains in the last 12 months were, of course, with education and health services. Leisure, and hospitality, which is still recovering, because that was probably the industry hit hardest during the COVID years. ”

Murtaza added government employment is in third place in terms of the highest percentage growth in employment over the last 12 months.

Pennsylvania mirrors a national trend of historically low unemployment rates for Black workers, despite a recent minor uptick, suggesting a positive overall trend with the blip likely a temporary fluctuation in the data.

FILE – Commuters wait to drive through the Holland Tunnel into New York City during morning rush hour traffic in Jersey City, N.J.,, Wednesday, March 8, 2023. A study published Wednesday, May 22, 2024, says U.S. vehicles hit a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people continue to hang on to their rides largely because new ones cost so much. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

DETROIT (AP) — Cars, trucks and SUVs in the U.S. keep getting older, hitting a record average age of 12.6 years in 2024 as people hang on to their vehicles largely because new ones cost so much.

S&P Global Mobility, which tracks state vehicle registration data nationwide, said Wednesday that the average vehicle age grew about two months from last year’s record.

But the growth in average age is starting to slow as new vehicle sales start to recover from pandemic-related shortages of parts, including computer chips. The average increased by three months in 2023.

Still, with an average U.S. new-vehicle selling price of just over $45,000 last month, many can’t afford to buy new — even though prices are down more than $2,000 from the peak in December of 2022, according to J.D. Power.

“It’s prohibitively high for a lot of households now,” said Todd Campau, aftermarket leader for S&P Global Mobility. “So I think consumers are being painted into the corner of having to keep the vehicle on the road longer.”

Other factors include people waiting to see if they want to buy an electric vehicle or go with a gas-electric hybrid or a gasoline vehicle. Many, he said, are worried about the charging network being built up so they can travel without worrying about running out of battery power. Also, he said, vehicles are made better these days and simply are lasting a long time.

New vehicle sales in the U.S. are starting to return to pre-pandemic levels, with prices and interest rates the big influencing factors rather than illness and supply-chain problems, Compau said. He said he expects sales to hit around 16 million this year, up from 15.6 million last year and 13.9 million in 2022.

As more new vehicles are sold and replace aging vehicles in the nation’s fleet of 286 million passenger vehicles, the average age should stop growing and stabilize, Compau said. And unlike immediately after the pandemic, more lower-cost vehicles are being sold, which likely will bring down the average price, he said.

People keeping vehicles longer is good news for the local auto repair shop. About 70% of vehicles on the road are 6 or more years old, he said, beyond manufacturer warranties.

Those who are able to keep their rides for multiple years usually get the oil changed regularly and follow manufacturer maintenance schedules, Campau noted.

FILE – Fans wait in line outside Graceland Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Memphis, Tenn. The granddaughter of Elvis Presley is fighting plans to publicly auction his Graceland estate in Memphis after a company tried to sell the property based on claims that a loan using the king of rock ’n’ roll’s former home as collateral was not repaid. A public auction for the estate had been scheduled for Thursday, May 23, 2024, but a Memphis judge blocked the sale after Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough sought a temporary restraining order and filed a lawsuit, court documents show. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill, File)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge on Wednesday blocked the auction of Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, by a company that claimed his estate failed to repay a loan that used the property as collateral.

Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction that had been scheduled for Thursday this week. Jenkins’ injunction essentially keeps in place a previous restraining order that he had issued after Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough filed a lawsuit to fight off what she said was a fraudulent scheme.

A public notice for a foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate in Memphis posted earlier in May said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owes $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan. Keough, an actor, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley, last year.

Naussany Investments and Private Lending said Lisa Marie Presley had used Graceland as collateral for the loan, according to the foreclosure sale notice. Keough, on behalf of the Promenade Trust, alleged in her lawsuit that Naussany presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023.

Neither Keough nor lawyers for Nassauny Investments were in court Wednesday.

“Lisa Maria Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments and never gave a deed of trust to Naussany Investments,” Keough’s lawyer wrote in a lawsuit.

Kimberly Philbrick, the notary whose name is listed on Nassauny’s documents, indicated that she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, the court filing said.

Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction in 1982 as a tribute to Elvis Presley, the singer and actor who died in August 1977 at age 42. It draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A large Presley-themed entertainment complex across the street from the museum is owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published May 22, 2024 8:25 A.M.

(Brighton Township, Pa) The Brighton Township Police Department is asking anyone with information regarding vandalism and graffiti damage to the boys restroom at Hardy Field that occurred between Saturday 5/18 to Sunday 5/19 is requested to contact them. They add that all information can be kept confidential.

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published May 22, 2024 8:22 A.M.

(Center Township, Pa) Center Township Police are looking to identify the three females caught on surveillance cameras at the Kohl’s store in Center. The three individuals are said to have entered Kohls on May 5th and walked out with approximately $1500.00 in merchandise. They were viewed getting into an older model white SUV possibly a Ford. Anyone with information is told to contact the non-emergency number at 724-775-0880 and ask to speak with a Center Township Police Officer. Photos of the individuals can viewed on the Center Township Police Department Facebook page.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 22, 2024 8:20 A.M.

(Hopewell Township, Pa) Hopewell’s newly named football Head coach John Rosa will be resigning. ROsa is headed to Winchester Thurston High School in Pittsburgh, PA to be their athletic director, but he hasn’t officially resigned yet. Superintendent Dr. Jeff Beltz told Beaver County Radio that Rosa and the coaching staff are conducting spring workouts that will continue through the summer months.

The question residents are asking is “Who will be the next football coach? Athletic Director and former trainer Donnie Short is retiring at the end of the current school year.

Wednesday, May 22 –McDonald’s is giving away FREE 6-piece Chicken McNuggets when ordered on the McDonald’s app. The offer is valid for one day only at participating restaurants across the US – no purchase necessary.

This is just the first of many deals McDonald’s has in store for fans this summer season – more special offers are planned on top of McDonald’s everyday affordable prices. Fans can stay in the loop on exclusive local deals simply by downloading the MyMcDonald’s Rewards app.