Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing roadway improvement work on Route 551 (Wallace Run Road, Market Street, Fifth Street, Hollow Road) and Route 168 (Market Street) in various municipalities in Beaver County will begin Monday, May 13 weather permitting.

CARNEGIE, PA – Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced that Allegheny and Beaver Counties will collectively receive more than $13.7 million in federal funding to build, renovate, and modernize the public housing stock. This funding is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Capital Fund Program, which offers annual funding to all public housing authorities across America.

“I am proud to announce that HUD awarded more than $13.7 million to improve public housing facilities in Allegheny and Beaver Counties,” said Rep. Deluzio. “With housing costs out of reach for so many, investments like these can help make sure that public housing in Pennsylvania’s 17^th Congressional District is safe, up-to-date, and serving the needs of our community.”

Specifically, Allegheny County Housing Authority is slotted to receive $7,785,864 and the Housing Authority of the County of Beaver will receive $5,924,032. Eligible residents can apply for public housing through the Allegheny County Housing Authority or through the Housing Authority of the County of Beaver.

FILE – Violent insurrectionists loyal to then-President Donald Trump try to break through a police barrier, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Two men on opposite sides of the metal barricades during the riot at the U.S. Capitol are running for Congress on the same day. Derrick Evans served three months in federal prison on a felony civil disorder charge. He’s challenging Rep. Carol Miller in Tuesday’s West Virginia Republican primary. Harry Dunn was a Capitol Police officer who defended lawmakers from attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Dunn is part of a crowded field seeking the Democratic nomination for a congressional seat in Maryland. Their candidacies at least raise the possibility that they could serve alongside one another while holding starkly different views of the violence and destruction of Jan. 6.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign legislation to criminalize the misuse of a powerful animal tranquilizer called xylazine that is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths. Shapiro received the bill Wednesday after it received approval from the state House of Representatives and the Senate in the past week. Under the bill, Xylazine will be listed as a “schedule III” drug under Pennsylvania’s controlled substance law, formalizing an order that Shapiro issued last year when Pennsylvania joined a growing list of states that were moving to restrict access to Xylazine. It will remain legal for its intended use by veterinarians.

FILE – Norfolk Southern locomotives are moved through the Conway Terminal in Conway, Pa., June 17, 2023. Norfolk Southern shareholders will decide Thursday, May 9, 2024, whether to back an activist investor’s bid to take over the railroad’s board and replace management. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Norfolk Southern’s CEO will be under more pressure to improve profits after the railroad’s shareholders voted Thursday to elect three of the board members an activist investor nominated, but he won’t be fired right away.

Ancora Holdings had nominated seven directors as part of a bid to take control of the railroad’s 13-member board and overhaul its operations. The key support Ancora picked up from major investors, two major rail unions and proxy advisory firms wasn’t enough to persuade shareholders to elect Ancora’s entire slate.

Ancora executive Jim Chadwick blamed passive investors for failing to support the investors’ nominees. Chadwick promised to hold CEO Alan Shaw accountable and keep fighting to improve the railroad.

“For the passive investors: If anything should go wrong here and there’s another derailment and people die, this is on you,” Chadwick said. “You ignored the recommendation of the proxy advisors, the unions, the largest customer of the company. You gave us literally no support and we still won three board seats without you. What happens at Norfolk Southern now is on your firms and your conscience.”

The Norfolk Southern board members voted out included Chair Amy Miles.

Norfolk Southern’s stock price, which soared after Ancora announced its campaign to oust Shaw, immediately fell after the results of the vote were announced and finished Thursday down 2.5% at $226.33.

Shaw had argued that Ancora’s plan would cut the railroad too deep and jeopardize the improvements in safety and service Norfolk Southern has made since its disastrous February 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

Shaw’s plan calls for keeping more workers on hand during a downturn to make sure the railroad is prepared to handle the eventual rebound in shipments once the economy recovers and continuing to invest in safety improvements to prevent derailments. He received the backing of the rest of rail labor, several key regulators and a number of the railroad’s customers.

“Norfolk Southern has persevered through several challenges over the last year. We have met every challenge and never lost sight of where we are taking our powerful franchise,” Shaw said. “We are keeping our promises and delivering tangible results, and there is more to do.”

Ancora had argued that Norfolk Southern should implement the industry standard Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model that is designed to minimize the number of workers, locomotives and railcars a railroad needs.

The Precision Scheduled Railroad operating model relies on running fewer, longer trains on a tighter schedule and switching cars between trains less often to streamline operations.

Rail unions have said they believe Precision Scheduled Railroading has made the industry more dangerous and derailments more likely because inspections are so rushed and preventative maintenance may be neglected.

So the unions that backed Shaw celebrated shareholders’ decision to turn back this attack from “corporate raiders” that would have put pressure on all the major railroads to double down on dangerous cost cuts.

‘Today all railroaders can be assured that the progress they have witnessed in their quality of life, and the security they and their families count on from their paychecks are no longer at dire risk,” said Jeremy Ferguson, president of the SMART-TD union that represents conductors and is the single largest rail union.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that backed Ancora encouraged Shaw to keep improving safety and consider adopting some of the proposals the investors made to expand the railroad’s pilot program to let workers use an anonymous federal safety hotline to report concerns and abandon all talk of trying to cut train crews down to one person.

The leaders of the BLET union on Norfolk Southern — Dewayne Dehart, Jerry Sturdivant and Scott Bunten — said they were alarmed when Shaw said this spring that he would also implement a version of Precision Scheduled Railroading.

“Alan Shaw and his team showed real leadership after the East Palestine disaster and made major moves to make the railroad safer and more competitive,” the BLET union officials said. “However, changes in his team and strategy in recent weeks left many stakeholders and shareholders feeling uncertain about the railroad’s future direction.”

For now, Shaw and the chief operating officer he just hired in March, John Orr, will have more time to prove their strategy will work. NS paid CPKC railroad $25 million to get permission to hire Orr. But if they don’t bring Norfolk Southern’s profit margins in line with the rest of the industry, their jobs could still be in jeopardy.

“Your CEO has missed earnings estimates for six quarters in a row and destroyed a town in our own state,” said Chadwick, whose firm is based in Ohio. “And if this underperformance continues, we will hold you accountable. But we will work with you for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders.”

Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau said it’s clear Ancora is going to keep up the pressure on Shaw, and if results don’t improve then the investors may nominate additional directors next year to try to take control of the board.

Yale University management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld said Ancora will have an inconsequential minority on the board that won’t be able to push through major changes. He noted Ancora could have saved millions of dollars that it spent on the proxy campaign if it had just accepted a settlement the railroad offered weeks ago that would have given the investors three seats on the board.

Ancora had projected their plan would cut more than $800 million in expenses in the first year and another $275 million by the end of three years. Ancora said it didn’t plan layoffs, but wanted to use attrition to eliminate about 1,500 jobs over time.

Norfolk Southern has said its own plan to make the railroad more efficient will generate about $400 million in cost savings over two years and improve its profit margin. But analysts have said its profits might still lag behind the other major freight railroads because they are all working to get more efficient too.

FILE – Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Pa., speaks at a campaign event, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Scranton, Pa. Republican lawmakers on Tuesday advanced legislation for a $3 billion tax cut, their just-unveiled counterproposal to Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget plan as each side offers a competing vision for how to use a massive cash surplus sitting in the state treasury. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania will join the majority of states that ban motorists from handling a cell phone for almost any purpose while driving, as backers of the legislation hope to reduce distracted driving accidents and deaths after nearly two decades of pressing the measure.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office said Thursday that the Democrat will sign the bill, 18 years after he first introduced a similar bill when he served in the state House of Representatives. The ban will take effect a year after he signs it, which is expected in the coming days.

The bill also includes a provision long-sought by the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus as a bulwark against racial profiling. That provision requires bigger police departments, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police, to collect and publicly report data on traffic stops, including a driver’s race.

The bill passed both chambers of the state Legislature this week and will bring Pennsylvania into alignment with the law on motorists’ cell phone use in every one of its neighboring states. Currently, Pennsylvania’s restriction on cell phone use while driving applies only to texting.

Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe, had pushed for more than a decade to toughen Pennsylvania’s restriction on cell phone use while driving. Its passage is a “monumental victory” for Pennsylvania that will protect drivers, prevent crashes and save lives, Brown said in a statement.

Under the bill, police can ticket a driver who is handling their phone for almost any reason. Drivers can still use their phone to make phone calls or for other functions, such as listening to music, if they are using it hands-free with technology such as a docking station, Bluetooth or speakers.

The ban applies to motorists sitting in traffic or stopped at a traffic light, but does not include a driver who has parked on the side of the road or another place where the vehicle can remain stopped safely.

Other exceptions include for navigational use or alerting emergency responders. A first offense is punishable by a $50 fine and offenders who cause serious accidents could get more time in prison.

Shapiro called the bill “common sense.”

“I’ve met too many families that have an empty seat at the dinner table because of distracted driving. I’ve met too many people with injuries that they’re going to live with for the rest of their lives because they were hit by a distracted motorist,” Shapiro told WILK-FM radio in Pittston during an interview last month.

Crashes where a distracted driver was a contributing factor are down in Pennsylvania in the past decade, as crashes overall have declined, according to state data.

In some years, it was the second-leading cause of accidents. In 2022, it was the third-leading cause. That was behind speed and improper turning, but ahead of drinking alcohol, careless passing and tailgating.

Twenty-eight states already ban cell phone use while driving, according information from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Meanwhile, at least 23 states have laws on collecting data on traffic stops, the group said.

Rep. Napoleon Nelson, D-Montgomery, the chair of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, said caucus members were concerned that police could abuse a broad new power to pull over motorists and target racial minorities.

Collecting traffic stop data is important for accountability, Nelson said.

“I think this will be a significant win for transparency and help to continue building trust between community members and those who are sworn to serve and protect,” Nelson said in an interview.

Rep. Donna Bullock, D-Philadelphia, who worked for several years to get the provision into law, called it a “big step for Pennsylvania.” The Pennsylvania State Police recently began voluntarily collecting and reporting traffic stop data and some municipal police departments do as well, Bullock said.

But the methods of individual departments aren’t uniform, like they will be under the new law, Bullock said.

Data released last year by the state police and analyzed by the National Policing Institute showed no disparities between racial and ethnic groups for warnings, citations or arrests. But troopers were more than twice more likely to search Black and Hispanic drivers than white drivers, the report showed.

Under the forthcoming law, data that police must report includes the reason for the stop, details from a search of the vehicle and the race, ethnicity, age and gender of the driver who was stopped. Police forces that serve municipalities under 5,000 people are exempt from the requirement.

The data collection requirement takes effect in a year and a half. After the cell phone ban takes effect, drivers get a grace period of another year in which they only receive a written warning for violating it.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published May 9, 2024 1:21 P.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) A motorized cycle accident occurred on 7th Avenue in Beaver Falls near the entrance of Subway Wednesday. Numerous police officers were on scene Wednesday afternoon. Sources say a minor was life flighted from the scene after allegedly being struck by a delivery truck. A UPS truck was parked near a downed bike at the scene. Beaver County Radio reached out to Beaver Falls Police Thursday morning but are awaiting a response. We will update you with more details as they become available.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission has voted to restore rules to prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from favoring some sites and apps over others — for instance, by slowing or blocking certain content or by offering higher speeds to customers willing to pay extra. The move on Thursday effectively reinstates a “net neutrality” order the commission first issued in 2015 during the Obama administration. Under then-President Donald Trump, the FCC overturned those rules in 2017. The telecommunications industry opposed the latest change, as it has before, declaring it an example of unnecessary government interference in business decisions.

FILE – A Ford logo is seen on signage at Country Ford in Graham, N.C., Tuesday, July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

DETROIT (AP) — Federal investigators say they have “significant safety concerns” about a Ford SUV recall repair that doesn’t fix gasoline leaks that can cause engine fires. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is demanding volumes of information from the automaker as it investigates the fix in a March 8 recall of nearly 43,000 Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs with 1.5-liter engines. Ford says the SUVs have fuel injectors that will crack, allowing gas or vapor to leak near hot engine parts that can cause fires. But the agency says the recall fix does not proactively replace fuel injectors before they fail.

FILE – (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania election officials say the rate of mail-in ballots rejected for technicalities saw a significant drop in last month’s primary election. That is after state officials tried anew to help voters avoid mistakes that might get their ballots thrown out. Pennsylvania’s top election official, Secretary of State Al Schmidt, said counties reported a 13.5% decrease in mail-in ballots that were rejected for reasons the state had tried to address with a redesigned ballot envelope and instructions for voting by mail. That is compared to the 2023 primary election. The success of the mail-in vote could be critical to determining the outcome of November’s presidential election in Pennsylvania.