Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published January 25, 2024 9:55 A.M.
(Aliquippa, Pa) The Aliquippa Quips filed an appeal with the PIAA on January 9th to prevent being moved to 5A. At the appeal hearing on Wednesday, Aliquippa lost the battle and will be moved into 5A classification for the upcoming football season. The Quips have won five state titles, most recently in 2023.
HARRISBURG, Jan. 24 – State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver, issued the following statement after today’s decision by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to deny an appeal from Aliquippa School District and force Aliquippa to compete in the 5A class next season.
“The PIAA decision is disappointing, but not surprising. While non-boundary private schools recruit players from all over the United States and rural co-ops exploit known – but never closed – loopholes in their policies, a small, struggling, urban school district is punished for striving for excellence by the very body tasked with ensuring fairness.
“It is becoming clearer by the day that the current composition and operation of the PIAA is in dire need of review and examination. The organization is out of touch with the stark differences in demographic and socioeconomic factors from district to district. Their ‘one size fits all’ approach simply doesn’t work and hasn’t for quite some time.
“I will continue my efforts to take a closer look at the PIAA and lead in bringing about much needed changes to ensure fairness for all schools and student-athletes.”
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published January 25, 2024 9:48 A.M.
(Aliquippa, Pa) Aliquippa police received a call that there had been a shooting at approximately 3am this morning in the 1200 block of Main Street. State Police were called in to investigate and were still on scene at 8am. No further details were available.
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published January 25, 2024 9:46 A.M.
(Ambridge, Pa) Ambridge Council on Tuesday night hired Rich Dobrosielski as the new treasurer. He will begin his duties on February 2, 2024. Kim Killian, is retiring.
Joe Askar was hired as the new solicitor.
Borough Manager Mario Leone ‘s contract was extended for 2 more years.
(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)
The Special Education Director at Hopewell Area School District announced her resignation at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Dr. Lynn Utchell had her resignation from Hopewell approved effective March 31st according to Superintendent Dr. Jeff Beltz, and Utchell will be taking a similar position at West Allegheny School District.
Terry Borkovic was hired as the new middle school volleyball coach at Tuesday night’s meeting, with Alexis Thompson as her assistant. Carl Plutkowas was announced as the Director of Transportation effective immediately.
The next work session is scheduled for February 13 at 7:00 PM.
NEW YORK (AP) — Todd Helton thought back to when he was a kid being coached by his father, Jerry, a minor league catcher in the 1960s.
“When I would go 1 for 3 — and it’s a bad day when you’re young — he’d say 1 for 3 gets you into the Hall of Fame,” Helton said.
Helton, Adrián Beltré and Joe Mauer were voted into Cooperstown on Tuesday, feeling elation and relief when they were rewarded with baseball’s highest honor.
Beltré was a no-doubt, first-ballot choice after batting .286 with 477 homers, 1,707 RBIs and 3,166 hits for four teams over 21 seasons. The third baseman appeared on 366 of 385 ballots (95.1%) cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Helton made it on the sixth try, voters taking time to warm to statistics inflated by the thin mile-high air of Denver’s Coors Field over 17 seasons, all with the Colorado Rockies. The first baseman got 307 votes for 79.7% after falling 11 short last year when Scott Rolen was elected. Helton started at 16.5% support in 2019.
“I was the most superstitious guy in the world,” Helton said. “I hadn’t been superstitious in 10 years until today.”
Mauer (293, 76.1%) joined Johnny Bench and Iván Rodríguez as the only first-ballot picks who primarily were catchers and at 40 became the youngest living Hall of Famer. He got 293 votes (76.1%), four more than the 75% needed, after batting .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs in 15 years, all with his hometown Minnesota Twins.
“Goes by way too fast,” Mauer said.
Beltré, Mauer and Helton will be inducted on July 21 along with Jim Leyland, elected last month by the contemporary era committee for managers, executives and umpires. There are 273 players among 346 people in the Hall, and just 60 of those players were elected on the first try.
Beltré becomes the fifth Dominican-born Hall of Famer after Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero and David Ortiz.
“I’m proud of the fact that I was able to play for a long time and be able to compete at the highest level,” Beltré said. “I’m honored to be in the Hall of Fame. It’s something that I never even dreamed of.”
Reliever Billy Wagner was five votes short at 284 (73.8%) but up from 68.1% last year. He will appear on the ballot for the 10th and final time in 2025, when Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia are newly eligible.
Gary Sheffield got 246 votes for 63.9% in his final appearance on the BBWAA ballot, up from 55% last year and 11.7% in 2015. He is eligible for consideration by the contemporary baseball player committee, which next meets in December 2025.
Beltré, a four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004), Seattle (2005-09), Boston (2010) and Texas (2011-18). His 2,759 games at third base are second to Brooks Robinson’s 2,870 and his 636 doubles are 11th.
Helton, a five-time All-Star first baseman and the 2000 major league batting champion, hit .345 with 200 homers and 791 RBIs at home and .287 with 142 homers and 547 RBIs on the road.
“Pitchers get hurt — they say you can’t throw in thin air. And then hitters get dinked because they play Colorado,” Helton said. “I’m not embarrassed or anything about my home and road numbers. Going on the road after hitting in Colorado is hard. The ball breaks more and it’s a huge adjustment going through the season.”
Mauer was a six-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 2009 AL MVP. An All-Star in six of his first 10 big league seasons and the only catcher to win three batting titles, Mauer moved to first base for his last five years following a concussion on a foul tip off the bat of the New York Mets’ Ike Davis on Aug. 19, 2013, an injury that ended Mauer’s season. Concussion symptoms returned on May 11, 2018, when he had whiplash while diving for a foul ball at Anaheim. He tried to play through it for a week but missed 25 games and retired after the season.
He also had three knee operations.
“I feel effects of some of those things like that,” he said.
Voters included an average of seven names per ballot, up from 5.86 last year, and 24.4% of the voters checked the maximum 10 candidates, an increase from 13.9%. Just 10 eligible voters failed to return ballots.
Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramírez again lagged, hurt by suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez received 34.8% and Ramírez 32.5%.
Among other first-time candidates, Chase Utley (28.8%) and David Wright (6.2%) will remain on next year’s ballot.
José Bautista, Bartolo Colon, Adrián González, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez, Brandon Phillips, José Reyes and James Shields all were under 5% and will be dropped.
(New Brighton, Pa.) The Borough of New Brighton posted on their Facebook Page on Wednesday that The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority is repairing a water line in the area of Mercer Avenue and Third Street in the Oak Hill section of New Brighton. During this time, residents and merchants from Dewhirst Avenue to Fourth Street, on the football field side of Oak Hill, will experience limited or no water service.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
Another longstanding Pittsburgh building has changed its name.
The newly named Kamin Science Center will replace the moniker of the Carnegie Science Center, which has been the lone name of the North Shore facility since its opening in October 1991. The name change is the result of a $65 million gift to the Science Center from longtime patrons Daniel and Carole Kamin that was made public on Tuesday.
It is one of several Pittsburgh entertainment venues to change names in the last decade, following such changes at Acrisure Stadium, PPG Paints Arena, and the former KeyBank Pavilion.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
Sport Clips, a haircut franchise with over 1,800 locations across the United States and Canada, will be opening a location in Chippewa in the near future.
Owner AJ Rodriguez made the announcement on Tuesday that the new store, which will be located at 2580 Constitution Boulevard, “offers our clients the expertise of well-trained stylists in a fun and clean environment where they can enjoy watching sports on TV during their haircut.”
Customers can receive a variety of styles and services, including the “MVP Experience” that features a precision haircut, massaging shampoo, hot steamed towel, and neck and shoulder treatment.
An official opening date has yet to be announced.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
An Ellwood City woman has been arrested for shoplifting at the Giant Eagle in Franklin Township.
State police received a call Tuesday evening at around 4:26 PM about an act of retail theft at the Giant Eagle located at 289 Route 288. It was at the scene that they learned that 30-year-old Kaitlyn Simmons of Ellwood City had taken two Red Bull energy drinks without paying for them.
Charges were filed against Simmons with the Magisterial District Judge.