File Photo: Source for Photo: Kenny Pollard, 75, holds a photo in his home from a vacation that he and his wife, Elizabeth, took to Clearwater Beach, Fla., approximately 10 years ago. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

(Unity Township, PA- AP) The remains of a woman who fell into a sinkhole were recovered Friday, four days after she went missing while searching for her cat, a state police spokesperson said.

Trooper Steve Limani said the body of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard was sent to the Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office for an autopsy after rescuers used machinery to bring her to the surface.

Limani told reporters Pollard was found at about 11 a.m. approximately 30 feet (9 meters) underground, some 12 feet (4 meters) from the opening of the sinkhole. Limani said Pollard apparently fell onto a cone-shaped pile of debris created by the crumbling mine, then rolled or otherwise moved toward the southwest to where her body was recovered.

The autopsy may help determine whether Pollard was killed by the fall, Limani said.

The announcement came in the fourth day of the search for Pollard, who had last been seen Monday evening, looking for the cat near a restaurant half a mile (0.8 kilometers) from her home in the village of Marguerite.

Axel Hayes, Pollard’s son, said a state trooper told him and other family members that her body had been found.

“I was hoping for the best, I really was,” Hayes said in a phone interview. “I was hoping she was still alive, maybe in a coma or something. I wasn’t expecting all of this.”

Mike O’Barto, who chairs the Unity Township Board of Supervisors, said the tragedy was deeply felt among his friends and neighbors.

“Unity Township is a tight-knit community. We are made of several coal mining towns. And of course, Marguerite’s one of them,” O’Barto said. “And when people suffer, we all suffer. The people of Unity Township are sad today.”

Pollard’s family reported her missing around 1 a.m. Tuesday as the temperature in the area dropped below freezing.

The search focused on a sinkhole that began as a manhole-sized gap and may have only recently opened above where coal was mined until about 70 years ago. Hunters and restaurant workers who were in the area in the hours before Pollard’s disappearance told police they hadn’t noticed the sinkhole.

Police said they found Pollard’s car parked about 20 feet (6 meters) from the sinkhole with her 5-year-old granddaughter inside. The cat, Pepper, has not reappeared, Hayes said.

The effort to find Pollard — which a fire official said lasted about 80 hours — included lowering a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole, although it detected nothing. Crews removed a massive amount of soil and rock to try to reach the area where they believed she fell into the chasm about 30 feet (9 meters) deep.

Pollard grew up in Jeanette, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Unity Township, where she lived for much of her adult life. She previously worked at Walmart and was married for more than 40 years.

File Photo

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) Two separate fires, one in Beaver Falls and one in Chippewa, were both handled on Thursday by some Beaver County fire departments. The Beaver Falls Fire Department went to the 600 block of 16th Street in Beaver Falls when they were called for a building fire at 2:30 a.m. and were assisted by departments from New Brighton, Rochester, Big Beaver Borough, and New Sewickley. They worked for three hours to extinguish both a porch and two floors of a large duplex building. Then at 9 a.m., the same day, the Beaver Falls fire Department got calls about another fire throughout an occupied building on the 700 block of Achortown Road in Chippewa. The Chippewa Township Volunteer Fire Department assisted them until everyone put out the fire shortly following noon the same day. All occupants evacuated safely and no firefighters were injured while operating at either scene.

(File photo of Federal Court Building in Pittsburgh)

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a drug trafficking charge, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
James Louis Peronis, 60, pleaded guilty before Senior United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab on December 4, 2024, to one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
In connection with the guilty plea, the Court was advised that, beginning in May 2021, local, state, and federal law enforcement conducted a joint investigation into Peronis related to cocaine trafficking. During the investigation, law enforcement determined that Peronis would obtain kilogram quantities of cocaine in Ohio and distribute those drugs in Pennsylvania. On July 1, 2021, law enforcement conducted a traffic stop of Peronis as he entered the Western District of Pennsylvania from Ohio, with a consensual search of Peronis’s vehicle resulting in the seizure of nearly two kilograms of cocaine.
Judge Schwab scheduled sentencing for April 15, 2025. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than five years and up to 40 years in prison, a fine of up to $5 million, or both. Under the federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
Law enforcement operating under the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program in
Beaver County conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Peronis.

Rescue workers search through the night in a sinkhole for Elizabeth Pollard, who disappeared while looking for her cat, in Marguerite, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press

A Pennsylvania coroner’s office said Friday that investigators believe they have located the body of a woman who was last seen four days earlier near a sinkhole above a shuttered coal mine.
Sean Hribal, a deputy coroner in Westmoreland County, said searchers believe they have found the remains of 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard.
A coroner was dispatched by law enforcement shortly after 11 a.m. to Unity Township, where crews have been excavating the abandoned coal mine in an effort to locate Pollard.
Axel Hayes, Pollard’s son, said in a brief phone interview Friday that he had not heard from authorities and planned to call his father, Kenny Pollard, to let him know.
Elizabeth Pollard was last seen searching for her cat Pepper on Monday evening near a restaurant a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from her home. Pollard’s family reported her missing around 1 a.m. Tuesday as the temperature in the area dropped below freezing.
The search her focused on a sinkhole with a manhole-sized surface gap that may have only recently opened up in the village of Marguerite, above where coal was mined until about 70 years ago.
Police said they found Pollard’s car parked about 20 feet (6 meters) from the sinkhole. Pollard’s 5-year-old granddaughter was found safe inside the car.
Hunters and restaurant workers who were in the area in the hours before Pollard’s disappearance told police they hadn’t noticed the sinkhole.
The effort to find Pollard included lowering a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole, although it detected nothing. Crews removed a massive amount of soil and rock to try to reach the area where they believed she fell into the chasm about 30 feet (9 meters) deep.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Santa Claus waves during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 28, 2019, in New York. Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. However, Macy’s said the jolly old man will still appear at the end of the televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Some of the members of the Cabinet of Governor Josh Shapiro celebrated an event in Harrisburg on Tuesday to commemorate the 35th annual Holiday Wish Program. Dr. Val Arkoosh, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, talked about how the special giving program works. According to Arkoosh, families and adults that are older that are chosen by people from the Commonwealth who specifically needed items which included bed sheets, a single bed, towels, a Christmas tree and warm clothes this year received them in a special way for the holiday season from the National Guard.

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Secret Service Acting Director Ronald L. Rowe Jr. responds to questions from Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, during a hearing by the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump on the Secret Service’s security failures regarding the assassination attempts on President-elect Trump, in Butler, Pa. on July 13, 2024, and West Palm Beach, Fla. on Sept. 15, 2024, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The acting director of the Secret Service said Thursday that the agency is “reorganizing and reimagining” its culture and how it operates following an assassination attempt against Donald Trump on the campaign trail.

Members of a bipartisan House task force investigating the attempt on Trump’s life pushed Ronald Rowe on how the agency’s staffers could have missed such blatant security vulnerabilities leading up to the July 13 shooting at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. At one point, the hearing devolved into a shouting match between Rowe and a Republican congressman.

Rowe promised accountability for what he called the agency’s “abject failure” to secure the rally in Butler, where a gunman opened fire from a nearby building. Trump was wounded in the ear, one rallygoer was killed and two others were wounded.

Another assassination attempt two months later contributed to the agency’s troubles. That gunman waited for hours for Trump to appear at his golf course in Florida, but a Secret Service agent thwarted the attack by spotting the firearm poking through bushes.

The task force has been investigating both attempts, but it was the July shooting that dominated Thursday’s hearing. Its inquiry is one of a series of investigations and reports that have faulted the agency for planning and communications failures. The agency’s previous director resigned, and the Secret Service increased protections for Trump before the Republican won the November election.

Rowe was repeatedly asked by flabbergasted lawmakers how problems so obvious in hindsight were allowed to happen.

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat, said it was “just wild to me” that at a time of tech advances, the Secret Service was using text messages and emails to communicate in real time about threats.

He also asked Rowe why so many things went wrong that day “yet nobody said anything.”

Rowe said the agency used to have a culture where people felt comfortable speaking up.

“I don’t know where we lost that,” he said. “We have to get back to that.”

Rowe said the agency is putting a much stronger emphasis on training — something previous investigations found was lacking — and on doing more regular reviews of events to see what went right and where improvements can be made.

“We are reorganizing and reimaging this organization,” Rowe told lawmakers. He said the agency needs to identify possible leaders much earlier in their careers instead of just promoting people to command positions because they have been around a long time.

The hearing was largely cordial, with members of Congress stressing the bipartisan nature of their work and praising Rowe for cooperating with their investigation even as they pushed him for explanations.

But at one point, Rowe and Rep. Pat Fallon, a Texas Republican, faced off — shouting over each other as other members pleaded for order.

Fallon pulled out a photo of President Joe Biden, Trump and others at this year’s Sept. 11 ceremony in New York and asked Rowe why he was at the event, suggesting it was to burnish his prospects at getting the director job permanently. Trump has not yet named his pick to lead the agency.

“I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11. Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” Rowe shouted.

“You wanted to be visible because you were auditioning for this job that you’re not going to get!” Fallon later shot back.

Rowe roared back: “You are out of line, Congressman. You are out of line!”

“You’re a bully,” Fallon said.

This was the task force’s second public hearing and the first time that Rowe has addressed its members in public. The panel has until Dec. 13 to release its final report.

Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican, said the agency’s conduct during the July shooting seemed almost “lackadaisical.” He said some of the issues that went wrong that day were ”really basic things.”

“It speaks of an apathy or a complacency that is really unacceptable in an organization like the Secret Service,” Green said.

The task force conducted 46 transcribed interviews, attended over a dozen briefings and reviewed over 20,000 documents. Members also visited the site of both assassination attempts and went to the FBI’s laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to look at evidence.

Rowe said Thursday that the agency’s internal investigation, whose findings were released last month, identified failures by multiple employees. He noted that the quality of the advance work — the people who scope out event locations ahead of time — did not meet agency standards. He vowed accountability for those who fell down on the job.

Many of the investigations have centered on why buildings near the rally with a clear line of sight to the stage where Trump was speaking were not secured in advance. The gunman, Thomas Crooks, climbed onto the roof of one of them and opened fire before being killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.

Rowe pointed to the failure to protect the building as the most glaring oversight that day.

He also was asked about the morale of agents and new hires. Rowe said applications are actually up this year — the agency made a net gain of about 200 agents during the past fiscal year, meaning both new agents were hired and veteran agents retained.

(File Photo of Aliquippa Quips Football Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Aliquippa, PA) On Wednesday, two standout Aliquippa football players, Tiqwai Hayes and Arison Walker signed their letters of intention to play college football. Hayes, a running back for the Aliquippa Quips, who received offers from Pitt as well as other well-known colleges from the programs in the Power Four Conferences, committed to Penn State University last year after eclipsing more than 7,000 yards through his senior season, one of the best in the history of the already standout Aliquippa football program. Hayes will also graduate this December as one of the first students to do so, as well as leaving Aliquippa with a grade point average of 4.1 to go along with his commitment to Penn State, in which Hayes found them to be a standout school. Walker, a senior Aliquippa Quips defensive back, chose St. Francis University of Pennsylvania after a longer decision in which he confirmed that both God and his family helped with making. Walker comes from a football family, and two of his relatives played Division I football, as Larry Walker was a four-year defensive back for Albany, while DJ Walker is playing at Ohio University as a red-shirt freshman.  

 

Shell release

(Monaca, Pa.)  Shell Polymers Monaca will hold its seventh annual smoke detector handout event on Thursday, December 12, at Beaver Valley Mall. Join us at the water fountain, starting at 6 p.m. Two items will be provided per household. Devices will be allocated on a first-come, first serve basis, and the team will be onsite until all available smoke detectors are distributed.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between the Center Township Fire Department and Shell Polymers Monaca. Since its inception in 2018, the annual event has grown significantly, reflecting Shell’s commitment to community safety. This year, 350 life-saving devices will be offered to local households. Over the past six years, the Center Township Fire Department and Shell Polymers Monaca have distributed more than 2,500 smoke detectors to families across Beaver County.