FILE – Dot Skoko, owner of Dot’s Dollar More or Less shop in Mt. Lebanon, Pa., hands a customer a Mega Millions lottery ticket, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2022. The Mega Millions jackpot has reached an astounding $977 million for Friday night’s drawing after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The Mega Millions jackpot has reached $977 million for Friday night’s drawing after no tickets matched all six numbers drawn on Tuesday night. The winning numbers drawn on Tuesday were 24, 46, 49, 62, 66 and the gold Mega Ball was 7. The estimated jackpot was $893 million with a cash prize of $421.4 million. The cash prize for Friday’s drawing is $461 million. Four people won $1 million each in California, Texas, Virginia and Florida.

This selection of undated still frames from security video camera footage provided by Michael Grant shows a variety of oversized box trucks crashing through the historic Miller’s Run covered bridge in Lyndon, Vt. Over the years, truck drivers have failed to notice the height warning signs leading to the bridge. (Michael Grant via AP)

LYNDON, Vt. (AP) — One of Vermont’s historic covered bridges is under threat from modern technology. Box truck drivers relying on GPS designed for cars continually crash through Lyndon’s 140-year-old Miller’s Run bridge. That’s despite signs, including a flashing one, to deter vehicles that are too tall or too heavy from crossing. Drivers can face fines of $5,000 from the town, plus state penalties. But the bridge keeps getting whacked. Lyndon is far from alone. According to head of the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, last November, a tractor trailer truck seriously damaged a covered bridge in Princeton, Illinois, and a bridge in Ohio was damaged in a similar way a year earlier.

FILE – This Oct. 17, 2023 file photo shows the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County jail could significantly increase its mental health staffing and provide more training about use of force and restraint after five inmates alleged that the Pennsylvania facility treats those with mental illness unfairly, under proposed settlement filed Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

The Allegheny County jail could significantly increase its mental health staffing and provide more training about use of force and restraint. This after inmates alleged that the Pennsylvania facility unfairly treats those with mental illness. A court order filed Tuesday awaits a judge’s approval. It responds to a class action filed in 2020 in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania by five people incarcerated at the county jail. Lawyers say mental health care in the jail was “non-existent or wholly deficient” when the lawsuit was filed, impacting intake, medication, counseling and suicide prevention.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published March 19, 2024 1:13 P.M.
Photos by Keith Walsh – Beaver County Radio

(Beaver Falls, Pa) The Rabid Raccoon 100 took place over the weekend at Brady’s Run Park. Runners from all over traveled to Beaver County to participate in the main event, the 100 mile race, which consisted of 8 loops of the course.

The event was organized by Visit Beaver County and managed by Wolf Creek. Visit Beaver County stated the reason Brady’s Run Park was chosen for this years race was improved trail maintenance, an upgraded course with no road crossing, greater parking capacity, and close proximity to hotels, among other things.

The 1st place male and female winners of the 100 mile race received a large championship style belt, and all 100 mile finishers received a custom belt buckle.

Photos from the event:

Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published March 19, 2024 11:18 P.M.

(Beaver County, Pa) St. Barnabas has been nominated in 9 categories for 2024 Best of the Valley Awards in Beaver County!

The following categories and St. Barnabas owned business will be up for vote:  

• Grocery Store – Shop N Save
• Hospital/Medical Center – St. Barnabas – Medical Center
• Assisted/Senior Living – St. Barnabas Beaver Meadows
• Retirement/55+ Community – St. Barnabas Beaver Meadows
• Dental Clinic – St. Barnabas Dental
• Employer – 101-500 Employees – St. Barnabas Health System
• Employer – 500+ Employees – St. Barnabas Health System
• Home Health Care Services – St. Barnabas Health System Inc.
• Hospice – St. Barnabas Hospice

The voting process will take place from April 15th through the 29th and the winners will be revealed at an awards event in the summer.

The Best of the Valley is organized by USA Today and the Beaver County Times.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published March 19, 2024 8:26 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) An Aliquippa man’s preliminary hearing has been rescheduled.
David Askew faces a preliminary hearing in Beaver County Court on Thursday, April 18, 2024. He was charged and arraigned on animal cruelty charges last month after he struck Juan Hall’s pitbull Maize with a hatchet. Hall and his dog were at the corner of Main  Street and Maratta Road when the incident occurred.
Askew was released from jail after $100,000 bond was posted, according to court records.

The national average for a gallon of gas has been steadily rising over the past week, moving seven cents higher to $3.46, and gas prices are eight cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.715 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The current average for a gallon of gas in Beaver County is $3.70.

With the cost of oil crossing the $80 per barrel mark and gas demand popping as spring approaches, these seasonal increases are expected. Another critical factor is the arrival of more expensive summer blend gas in some markets, which tends to increase pump prices by 10 to 15 cents. Today’s national average of $3.46 is 19 cents higher than a month ago and two cents higher than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased slightly from 9.01 to 9.04 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks dropped by 5.6 million barrels to 234.1 million barrels. Higher gas demand, amid tightening supply, has pushed pump prices higher.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $2.16 to settle at $79.72. Oil prices jumped after Ukrainian drones hit Russian refineries. The extent of the damage is unclear, but repairs could curtail Russian petroleum product exports, including diesel, and lead Russia importing products it needs. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude stocks decreased by 1.5 million barrels to 447 million barrels last week.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to  six months of imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release, in connection with  his conviction for embezzling money from disabled veterans’ accounts and conducting a mail fraud  scheme to obtain pandemic unemployment assistance, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan 

announced today.  

United States Senior District Judge Nora Bary Fischer imposed the sentence on Corey Mizell,  51.  

According to information presented to the Court, Mizell previously worked as an agent  cashier at the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center. In January  2021, the sister of a deceased veteran called the VA Police after reviewing the balance in her  brother’s patient account. According to the sister, her brother was essentially bedridden due to his  disability and the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus could not spend the amount of cash withdrawn  from his account. The VA Police opened an investigation into the account activity and questioned  Mizell, the teller who conducted each withdrawal.  

Mizell initially informed the VA Police that someone must have misrepresented their identity  to him in order to fraudulently obtain the funds. Mizell also opined that he was an easy target for  such a scheme since he recently had become an agent cashier. The investigation revealed that Mizell  would call for authorization to withdraw funds from patients who were either on COVID lockdown  or who could not leave their room without an escort due to their disabilities. The U.S. Department  of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG) confronted Mizell after driving by his  residence to find the backyard and exterior of his home being remodeled.  

Following his interview with the VA-OIG, Mizell provided a written confession in which he  admitted to “fraudulently taking money…from accounts of veterans.” Mizell, also a wedding DJ,  attributed his conduct to losing income during the pandemic and unpaid bills. Mizell identified three  veterans from whom he took money, estimating the total amount stolen as $17,660, and resigned  from the VA in April 2021.  

Mizell omitted from his written confession that he also embezzled funds from a fourth veteran  and that he also fraudulently applied for and obtained pandemic unemployment assistance. A  separate investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General  

-more- 

revealed that Mizell filed an electronic application for pandemic benefits in April 2020. Despite  working for the VA since 2016, Mizell falsely stated that he was not a federal employee. Beginning  in May 2020, Mizell falsified that he was not working full time, when he was in fact working full  time as an agent cashier. After his resignation from the VA, Mizell certified on a weekly basis that  he was unemployed due to the pandemic. These falsifications allowed Mizell to collect pandemic  benefits totaling $38,400.  

In imposing Mizell’s sentence, Judge Fischer denied the defendant’s request for a non incarceration sentence, finding it striking that Mizell, himself a veteran, embezzled money from other  veterans. The judge further stated that Mizell did not just steal money from the government, but also  stole money from veterans and their families, with some of Mizell’s victims so disabled that they  could not even walk to his cashier window. Judge Fischer also ordered Mizell to serve the first six  months of his supervised release (following his imprisonment) at home on an electronic location  monitor, and to pay over $57,000 in restitution to the four veterans and the government.  

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted this case on behalf of the  government. 

United States Attorney Olshan commended the Department of Labor Office of Inspector  General and Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General for the extensive and  collaborative investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Mizell.