NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Pennsylvania man described by authorities as the lead defendant in a drug distribution and human smuggling case has pleaded guilty to federal crimes in Louisiana. Court records show that 47-year-old Carl Allison of Pittsburgh pleaded guilty Thursday in New Orleans. Sentencing was scheduled for March 28. The U.S. Justice Department said Allison faces a possible life sentence. An investigation began after a vessel owned by Allison became disabled last year in the Gulf of Mexico and was nearly capsized during a storm. U.S. Coast Guard officials found Honduran nationals and cocaine aboard the vessel, which was bound for the small fishing village of Cocodrie, Louisiana.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Preliminary designs are being released for an outdoor memorial to the 11 victims of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue attack. The plans call for the memorial to be adjacent to the Tree of Life synagogue, scene of the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Details remain to be determined, but the design includes a garden and 11 sculpted forms of open books, symbolizing the Book of Life in Jewish tradition. The design came after years of dialogue by family members of the victims. They consulted with representatives of other communities traumatized by mass-casualty attacks, and they heeded advice to go slowly and deliberately in planning the memorial.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published December 8, 2023 10:35 A.M.

(Baden, Pa) The Sheetz located along Route 65 in Baden planned their reopening for 8am Friday morning.
The location closed earlier this year to undergo an entire demolition and rebuild.
The new building features self checkout kiosks, indoor and outdoor seating, as well as 12 fuel dispensers.   

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published December 8, 2023 10:31 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) The Aliquippa School Board reorganized and hired new staff Wednesday night.
Tina Price Genes was reappointed board president and Nicole Bible was reappointed vice president.
Board meetings for the 2024 school year will be the second Wednesday for deliberation and third Wednesday for the voting meetings at 6 pm. Reorganization for the 2025 school year will be December 4, 2024 at 6 pm. All meetings are held in the JSHS Black Box Theater.
Several teaching positions were filled and their mentors were announced. Donjuneata Weir was hired as the JSHS nurse.
Katy Malone resigned from her position as an 8th grade math teacher effective 12/21/2023.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Photos by Curtis Walsh, Gary Miller, and Frank Sparks. Published December 8, 2023 10:16 A.M.

(New Brighton, Pa) Al’s Pizza in New Brighton celebrated the grand opening of their brick and mortar store yesterday. Beaver County Radio’s Curtis Walsh and Eddy Crow were broadcasting there as customers came to get pizza from the brand new shop in New Brighton.
The business offered a promotion of 2 free slices of Sicilian pizza for all who walked through the door Thursday, and many locals took advantage of the opportunity.
Beaver County Radio also brought out the infamous personality prize wheel to give out prizes to lucky winners. Before opening the shop, Al’s Pizza was growing a tastebud following by operating their food truck at places and events all over the county.
Al’s Pizza is located at 400 9th Street in New Brighton, in the building where the old Foodland was.
Photos from the event:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) and Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) celebrated the announcement of a $143,629,028 federal grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) for expansion of Amtrak passenger rail service on the Keystone West Corridor. This funding is from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and will allow for a second daily round-trip between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.

Additionally, the congressmembers announced a $500,000 grant from the Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) program to plan and develop how to expand both Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian and Keystone services along the entire Pittsburgh to Philadelphia corridor. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) will match 20 percent of the project’s total cost.

“I am thrilled to announce this massive $143.6 million federal investment in Western Pennsylvania’s long neglected passenger rail service,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio. “Our region deserves the best infrastructure—and that includes better rail service that gets people where they need to go.”

“For Pennsylvanians and communities across the eastern corridor, passenger rail has helped connect our communities and ensure people can visit their families, access jobs, and explore all that our Commonwealth has to offer. But for far too long, passenger rail in Pittsburgh has remained woefully inadequate and left our communities and economy disconnected” said Rep. Summer Lee. “After pushing the Department of Transportation for infrastructure investment to connect our communities within my district and across the region, I am so excited to help deliver this $143 million grant to immediately begin building a passenger rail to finally ensure there’s frequent and reliable service connecting Pittsburgh with Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Chicago by rail. This service will go a long way to ensure Pittsburgh is connected to the rest of Pennsylvania and the entire eastern corridor–bringing new life to our cities and creating hundreds of good-paying, union jobs along the way.”

More specifically, this investment will fund the project’s land acquisition, design, and construction efforts to improve signaling and safety improvements along Norfolk Southern Railway’s main line between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. This project will improve system and service performance of the Amtrak Pennsylvanian service with additional capacity and other upgrades, including the additional, second daily round trip.

(Beaver County, Pa) The following statement has been issued to county residents:

Area residents should have recently received a mailing from the Beaver County Emergency Services Center. In addition to emergency preparedness information and instructions to sign up for Beaver County emergency alerts, the booklet also includes important special needs response cards. Anyone that requires special assistance due to a hearing, mobility, or visual impairment is encouraged to complete and return the response card. All information provided is kept confidential by emergency officials. The response cards are vital in assisting a special needs resident should an emergency occur. The Beaver County Emergency Services Center updates their special needs information database annually. Accordingly, a new response card should be submitted every year, as long as special assistance is required.  If the mailing was not received or mistakenly discarded, both the booklet and the special needs response card is available online at https://www.newbrightonpa.org/public-safety.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing slide repair work on Tuscarawas Road (Route 4028) in Ohioville Borough, Beaver County, will begin Monday, December 11 weather permitting.

Slide repair work on Tuscarawas Road between Pleasantview Drive and Ridgemont Drive will occur from 7 a.m. Monday continuously through Friday, January 5. Traffic will be controlled by stop signs as crews repair a failed wall.

Crews from Liberoni Contractors will conduct the work.

Please use caution when traveling in this area.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.