Midland Summer Gallery seeks artists

MIDLAND, PA – Area artists age 17 and older may submit up to three works for the 20th Summer Gallery, a juried art show and competition scheduled for the July 4th week in the atrium of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center.

Entry forms are available at the Museum of Ceramics in East Liverpool, Ohio.

Show sponsor Midland Arts Council will accept two-dimensional works on June 14, between noon and 2 p.m. at the front entrance of Lincoln Park. Works should be recent, must not exceed 36 inches in width or height, must weigh less than 50 pounds, and be ready to hang. Fees are $10 per piece, or $25 for three. The Council assists artists in selling their works and does not take a commission.

The exhibition, timed to coincide with Midland’s well-known July 4th celebrations, will be free and open to the public. Daily hours are 6 to 8 p.m. July 2-6, with the exception of July 4, when the public may visit from 1 to 7 p.m.

An opening night reception for artists and guests with announcement of awards is to be held 7 to 9 p.m. July 1. The public is welcome to attend, according to Evelyn Adams, Arts Council president. She may be reached at 724.643.9968.

Artists are to pick up their works July 7, 4 to 6 p.m.

Joyce Beatty of Chester, W.Va., this year’s featured artist, began entering works in the Summer Gallery four years ago. She was last year’s best of show winner with her colorful street scene painting titled “South of France.”

“I have to create something every day,” she said, “whether it is painting or cooking or whatever. Creating feeds my soul.”
Beatty took a serious interest in painting a number of years ago, working in oils and acrylics. She characterizes her style as “somewhere between realism and impressionism.” Old buildings are among her favorite subjects. She said the changing colors of the seasons excites her imagination; “Seasons” will be the theme of her featured exhibit. A founding member of the Top of WV Arts Council, she is a hanging artist in the Summit Art Gallery in Weirton and a member of the Steubenville Art Association. Among previous honors was having her works featured at the Hancock-Brooke Art Hop and Martha’s Gallery and the Sarah Miller House in Wellsburg, W.Va.
An interest in sculpting with air-dry and oil-based clays led her to use the media to create the heads of foot-hlgh Santa Claus figures that she produces for the Christmas season, each one unique in facial expression and costume.
Joyce Beatty shares her enthusiasm for art with a sister, Nancy Wright, who also exhibits her artwork and won an honorable mention in last year’s Summer Gallery.

People in Beaver County get ready to remember the upcoming 40th anniversary of a tornado that killed three people on May 31st, 1985

(File Photo: Caption for Photo: Tornado with dark storm clouds)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) May 31st, 2025 is the 40th anniversary of the deadly tornado in Beaver County that killed three people, injured over 100 and left about 200 homes destroyed or damaged. According to a Beaver County Times report, the tornado first touched down in Beaver County around 8:15 p.m. in Chippewa Township, west of McKinley Road and north of 37th Street. The tornado went for homes in North Sewickley Township on Gillen Road from the Beaver River in its path.

AAA: Fatal Teen Crashes are happening during the “100 Deadliest Days” between Memorial Day and Labor Day and tips to help teens stay safe

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) According to a release from AAA East Central, 13,135 people across the country were killed in a crash involving a teen driver between 2019-2023. More than three tenths of those people were killed between Memorial Day and Labor Day during the one-hundred days that are deadliest in that category in that span. That statistic is according to a AAA review of crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. According to that same release from AAA East Central, here are some tips that parents should do to help teens stay safe on the road:

  • Discuss with teens early and often the dangers of risky driving situations, such as speeding and nighttime driving.
  • Discuss with teens the dangers and consequences of distracted driving (i.e., texting, having multiple people in the car, etc.)
  • Stress the importance of buckling up. According to NHTSA, more than 50 percent of teen drivers who died in 2020 were not wearing seat belts.
  • Teach by example and minimize any risky behavior when behind the wheel.
  • Make a parent-teen driving agreement that sets family rules for teen drivers. Consider setting driving limits that are stronger than state laws and enforce those limits.

33 Pennsylvania high schools and 555 Pennsylvania students win awards for students getting peers registered to vote during the last school year

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – An early election ballot completion area is prepared at a collection location inside the North Park Ice Skating Rink Lodge area, Oct. 9, 2020, in McCandless, Pa. Pennsylvania’s state Senate approved a bill Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, to move up the state’s 2024 primary election by five weeks to March 19, aiming to avoid a conflict with the Jewish holiday of Passover and give voters more of a say in deciding presidential nominees. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release from the Pennsylvania Department of State, 33 Pennsylvania high schools won Governor’s Civic Engagement Awards. These awards were given because of efforts lead by students to register their peers that were eligible to vote during the 2024-2025 school year. Gold and Silver Level Awards were given to these schools for at least 65% registration for eligible students. 555 Pennsylvania students also won awards by helping their peers register to vote.

Free steering wheel lock devices will be offered at the Butler branch office of AAA East Central next week weather permitting

(Photo of AAA East Central Logo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Butler, PA) According to a release from AAA East Central, the company is partnering with Pennsylvania State Police to distribute free steering wheel lock devices to Kia and Hyundai owners. The Butler branch office for AAA East Central will host the event weather permitting from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4th. The locks are first-come, first serve and you must have your insurance card or vehicle registration before receiving them. The reason for this event is because there has been theft occurring more often for these Hyundai and Kia vehicles that were made between 2011 and 2022.

Proposal announced by group of Pennsylvania legislators for a program that will help to fix houses in Pennsylvania every year

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro arrives to deliver his budget address for the 2025-26 fiscal year to a joint session of the state House and Senate at the Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release from the Pennsylvania Senate, a bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators announced a legislative proposal for the PA Home Preservation Program. The sponsors for the legislation are: State Senators David Argall (R–Luzerne, Carbon, and Schuylkill Counties) and Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia County) in the Senate and State Representatives Lindsay Powell (D–Allegheny County), Brandon Markosek (D–Allegheny County), and Tim Twardzik (R–Schuylkill County) in the House. This program helps by letting houses get repaired around the state each year to reduce displacement of the community and disrepair. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro made a proposal during his budget address in February for an investment of $50 million to make a new repair program for housing statewide. 

 

State Representative Rob Matzie praises decision by PennEnergy to rescind its permit to withdraw 1.5 million gallons of water each day from Big Sewickley Creek

(File Photo of State Representative Rob Matzie speaking)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ambridge, PA) According to a release from State Representative Rob Matzie’s office, Matzie made a statement after PennEnergy rescinded its permit to withdraw 1.5 million gallons of water per day from Big Sewickley Creek. Matzie called the action the “best possible news for our community,” even though people had went against the petitions of PennEnergy at the beginning. Matzie also noted that PennEnergy made a choice to save the wildlife and water that is fresh in the creek.

House fire in Aliquippa still under investigation even after incident gets resolved

(File Photo of Fire Background)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Aliquippa, PA) The fire that occurred yesterday at a home at 652 Highland Avenue in Aliquippa is still under investigation. Aliquippa Firefighters issued information on a Facebook post Thursday that the situation has been resolved. The incident caused a closure of Highland Avenue at one point. According to Aliquippa firefighters, as of noon on Thursday, there was no threat to the area. 

More Rite-Aid stores in Beaver County and Pennsylvania will close after bankruptcy filings

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – A sign with the company’s logo stands outside a Rite Aid store in Salem, N.H., on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Philadelphia, PA) Rite-Aid continues to struggle with bankruptcy, and some of the stores of the company located in Beaver County will close because of it. According to bankruptcy filings from Rite Aid, the stores in Aliquippa, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Conway, Midland, New Brighton and Sewickley will close. These stores also include the Rite-Aid locations in Coraopolis, Cranberry Township, the store at the Pittsburgh International Airport and thirteen Pittsburgh locations.

A man charged in a 2013 Pennsylvania campus sex assault hires a lawyer to review possible plea deal

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Sexual assault suspect Ian Cleary departs from the Adams County Court House in Gettysburg, Pa., Thursday, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

GETTYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — An American who was extradited from France this year to face allegations of a 2013 campus sexual assault after the accuser went public with her story hired a private lawyer to review a potential plea deal, lawyers in the case said in court Thursday.

Ian Cleary, 32, of Saratoga, California, made his first in-person court appearance in Adams County, a half-mile from where the encounter occurred at Gettysburg College.

A plea had been in the works, according to Assistant Public Defender Joshua Neiderhiser, who has represented Cleary since he was brought back to the U.S. However, after speaking with his parents, Cleary agreed to hire a lawyer to review the case, delaying a possible deal.

“The initial purpose of my involvement is for a second opinion,” lawyer Steve Rice told Judge Kevin Hess, who was brought in from Cumberland County because an Adams County judge was the district attorney who declined to file charges when victim Shannon Keeler first went to authorities.

Keeler, in interviews with The Associated Press, described her decade-long efforts to persuade authorities to pursue charges, starting hours after Cleary, a third-year student, allegedly sneaked into her first-year dorm on the eve of winter break.

She renewed the quest in 2021, after finding a series of disturbing Facebook messages from his account that said, “So I raped you.” Keeler did not attend Thursday’s hearing, but her lawyer, Andrea Levy, said she remains ready to see the case through to the end.

“It has been 11 1/2 years Shannon has waited for this defendant to make an appearance in a Gettysburg courtroom face to face with a judge in this criminal charge, so this is an important day and a step forward in the process,” Levy said.

Cleary has been in custody since his arrest on minor, unrelated charges in Metz, France, in April 2024. He could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge.

He declined the opportunity to speak to the judge Thursday. Family members have declined to comment on the case, and none appeared in court for the hearing.

The next hearing is set for July 17.

Cleary, who grew up in Silicon Valley, left Gettysburg College after the alleged assault there and finished college near home. He then got a master’s degree and worked for Tesla before moving overseas, where he spent time writing medieval fiction, according to his online posts.

The AP published an investigation on the case and on the broader reluctance among prosecutors to pursue campus sex assault charges in May 2021. An indictment followed weeks later.

Authorities in the U.S. and Europe had been trying to track Cleary down until his capture in France.

The AP does not typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.