(File Photo of the Ellwood City Medical Center logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ellwood City, PA) The former Ellwood City Medical Center has recently filed for bankruptcy for the second time in five years. This center was one of four medical facilities that was included in this bankruptcy, and in January of 2020, the Ellwood City Medical Center lost its State Health Department license and closed its doors after months of financial difficulties. This closure left hundreds of workers without their only trauma center that was nearby. These workers also were left without families and jobs in northern Beaver County and southern Lawrence County just as the COVID-19 pandemic started because of this closure. Ellwood City Mayor Anthony Court stated that the city is “working diligently” to attract a provider of urgent care there. The Ellwood City Medical Center, which has been vacant since 2020, was located at 724 Pershing Street in Ellwood City.

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry released its preliminary employment situation report for August of 2025 today. The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania during August of 2025 remained at 4 percent, which was unchanged over the month. August of 2025 was the 28th month in a row that the rate of unemployment in Pennsylvania was below or at the national unemployment average, which was 4.3 percent in the United States for August of 2025. That unemployment rate in the United States for August of 2025 went up by one-tenth of a point over the month.

(File Photo of the United States Department of Justice Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) According to Acting United States Attorney Troy Revetti, a man has been charged with wire fraud and computer fraud for allegedly stealing over $235,000 from a university in Western Pennsylvania. Following a United States request for extradition, United Kingdom authorities arrested Farouk Adekunle Adepoju on Monday, who is a Nigerian citizen residing in the United Kingdom. According to the indictment, Adepoju allegedly accessed a protected computer belonging to a construction company working for the university. Adepoju also created change of rules through that access that was unauthorized within the email account of an employee of that university and registered a domain that was spoofed to make himself as the identity of another employee. Adepoju sent emails that were fraudulent to university employees, requesting updates to the construction company’s payment information to a bank account that was fraudulent from the spoofed email account. The university sent a payment of approximately $235,266.80 to the fraudulent account, which has not been recovered and that university was relying on those emails. Adepoju is waiting for extradition to the United States before going to the Western District of Pennsylvania, where he will face a seven-count indictment. The charges for Adepoju are one count of computer fraud and six counts of wire fraud. Up to twenty years in prison is the maximum sentence for each wire fraud offense and up to five years in prison is could be possibly faced for the computer offense fraud for Adepoju’s alleged offenses.

(File Photo of Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that tomorrow night, weather permitting, the next phase of work for the Interstate 79/Route 910 Wexford Interchange project in change Franklin Park Borough and Marshall Township of Allegheny County will begin. According to a release from PennDOT District 11,  beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow night, the following restrictions will be in place to allow line painting operations to occur through 9 A.M. on Sunday:

• Northbound I-79 will be reduced to a single-lane of traffic with shoulder closures from just north of the I-79/I-279 split to Mingo Road
• Northbound I-79 interchange on and off-ramps at Route 910/Wexford (Exit 73) will be shifted onto the shoulders

According to that same release from PennDOT District 11, here is some more information about the next phase of work for the Interstate 79/Route 910 Wexford Interchange project in change Franklin Park Borough and Marshall Township of Allegheny County:

• When work is completed, the new traffic configuration will shift all northbound I-79 traffic to the left. Traffic in the far-left lane will be shifted onto the newly constructed shoulder. This long-term traffic shift will be in place through 2026.

Additionally, the following nightly restrictions will occur on Interstate 79 and the Wexford Interchange ramps Monday through Thursday, September 22-25, from 7 P.M. to 6 A.M. each night to allow barrier wall installation work to occur:

• Northbound I-79 will be reduced to a single-lane of traffic and shoulder restrictions will occur from approximately 1.5 miles north of the I-79/I-279 split to Mingo Road
• Northbound I-79 off-ramp to Route 910/Wexford (Exit 73) traffic will be shifted onto the shoulder
• Northbound I-79 on-ramp from Route 910 traffic will be shifted onto the shoulder

 

• Please stay alert and drive cautiously – safety is everyone’s responsibility.
• The $46.5 million I-79, Route 910 Wexford Interchange project will include new construction of a full offset single-point urban interchange (SPUI) at the I-79/Route 910 Wexford Interchange. The project limits along I-79 are from approximately 1.5 miles north of the I-79/I-279 split to Mingo Road and the limits on Route 910 are between Nicholson Road Drive and Brandt School Road/VIP in Franklin Park Borough and Marshall Township. Bridge work includes two new flyover structures over I-79, as well as sign structures and bridge preservation to the existing bridge carrying Route 910 over I-79. Other work includes traffic signal improvements, new highway lighting, minor ITS upgrades, drainage work, signing/pavement marking and guide rail updates, and other miscellaneous construction. During construction, three lanes of traffic in each direction are expected during peak travel times, as well as temporary ramps to maintain access for most of the project. Additionally, short-term lane and shoulder closures will be utilized. Beams for the new structures will be set during overnight traffic stoppages on I-79 northbound, while I-79 southbound will be detoured overnight using the existing southbound off- and on-ramps during beam setting. The project is anticipated to continue through the 2027 construction season. Golden Triangle Construction Company is the prime contractor.
• To help keep motorists informed, PennDOT has created an email distribution list for Interstate 79 traffic advisories and construction updates. Enroll by sending email addresses to nhaney@pa.gov. Please write “Subscribe – Interstate 79” in the subject line.
• Motorists can check conditions on major roadways 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. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional X alerts.
• Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Allegheny, Beaver, Lawrence counties at www.penndot.pa.gov/District11.
• Information about infrastructure in District 11, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D11Results. Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
• Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook, and Instagram.

(Photo Courtesy of the Allegheny County Police Department)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) Yesterday, the leaders from Sto-Rox School District had a school board meeting there to address safety because on September 2nd, 2025, a five-year-old boy with autism walked away from recess outside Sto-Rox Primary Center in their playground area, which caused a big search before he was found later that day. According to Sto-Rox School District Superintendent Sonya Coleman, there was one staff member and 17 students on the playground that day, and while a fence hasn’t been installed yet, students are still allowed to play outside for recess. Coleman also stated that Sto-Rox School District is going for the process of bidding presently for a fence and an exact timeline cannot be given for when this fence will go up. The board of Sto-Rox School District confirms that thanks to information conducted in an internal investigation, nothing wrong was done by the teacher that was present when that five-year-old boy with autism who is non-verbal walked away from recess on September 2nd, 2025.

(File Photo: Caption for Photo: police car lights at night in city with selective focus and bokeh background blur, Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto/z1b)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) An unidentified man died on Tuesday night after getting shot in a home in East Pittsburgh multiple times that night. According to Allegheny County Police, dispatchers were notified of a shooting along Ridge Avenue just after 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The man that was shot multiple times was pronounced dead at the scene and was found by first responders and officers inside a home along Ridge Avenue. If you have any information about this incident, call 1-833-ALL-TIPS. The investigation into this incident is being led by detectives from the Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit.

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) According to a release from AAA yesterday, this year’s AAA’s Your Driving Costs analysis shows that the total cost of owning and operating a new vehicle is $11,577, or $964.78 per month, a $719 decline from 2024. AAA recommends that buyers should consider the costs of this price decline, which include finance charges that are lower, a shift towards vehicle options that are more affordable, fuel prices that are reduced, and depreciation to choose the best model of vehicle and type of vehicle for their budget. According to that same release from AAA yesterday, here are categories driving the lower costs for 2025 and some car buying advice that AAA recommends:

Categories driving lower costs this year include:

• Finance Charges – Estimated finance costs have decreased to $1,131 in 2025, down 15 percent compared to $1,332 in 2024.
• Fuel Prices – The average fuel cost dropped to 13.00 cents per mile, a 12.8% decrease from last year, while regular grade gasoline for YDC vehicles averaged $3.151 per gallon, down from $3.539. Meanwhile, electricity prices for charging electric vehicles rose slightly to 16.7 cents per kilowatt hour, up from 15.9 cents in 2024.

Car Buying Advice

• Create a monthly or annual budget and factor in ownership and operating costs before making a purchase.
• Keep each transaction and negotiation separate from the other – the cost of the car, the finance rate, and the trade-in value.
• Obtain pre-approval from a financial institution (e.g., Bank, Credit Union, AAA, etc.) before discussing finance rates with the car dealer to ensure the best lending rate is available.
• There are quite a few options (online and in-store) available to consumers when considering where to buy a used vehicle besides a dealership. Visit a AAA branch, which may offer discounts for members.

(File Photo of Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Acting United States Attorney Troy Revetti announced yesterday that a resident of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania was sentenced in federal court to 46 months of imprisonment, followed by 15 years of supervised release, on his conviction of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. Thirty-eight-year-old Brandon Jennings got sentenced yesterday. According to the information presented to the Court, in and around March of 2021 and July of 2021, Jennings possessed 926 images and 803 videos depicting the sexual exploitation of minors, some of whom were infants, toddlers and prepubescent. Jennings also possessed child sexual abuse material with portrayal of sadomasochistic conduct or other depictions of violence. The investigation that led to the successful prosecution of Jennings was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Allegheny County Police Department.

(Photo of Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar Logo Courtesy of Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar, Logo Posted on letter on Facebook post from Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar on April 30th, 2025)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant & Bar in the South Side of Pittsburgh is now closed permanently. According to a Facebook post yesterday from Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar, they have “weighed difficult decisions over the past year about how to serve you best in an increasingly challenging business climate.” The Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar locations in Cranberry, Bethel Park and Gibsonia are still open, even though the South Side location of that restaurant located on East Carson Street closing has nothing to do with sixteen people getting detained and getting taken into ICE custody on August 7th, 2025 at the Cranberry and Gibsonia locations for Emiliano’s Mexican Restaurant and Bar. 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – The Alcoa and Arconic headquarters, left, sit on the Northside of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River, on Oct. 17, 2022. Aluminum maker Arconic is being taken private by Apollo Global Management in a deal worth approximately $5.2 billion, according to a statement from Apollo on Thursday, May 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

PITTSBURGH–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep 18, 2025– Alcoa Corporation (NYSE: AA; ASX: AAI), together with Eurasia Group announced yesterday the publication of a new white paper, “Competitiveness & Green Transition in the Aluminum Industry: Finding Synergies or Facing Trade-Offs,” which examines the intersection of economic competitiveness and the global green transition in the aluminum industry.

The white paper highlights how aluminum demand is rising across technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles and the transmission projects that support them. At the same time, the industry is working to reduce its own carbon footprint, as a critical player in the global energy transition.

“Aluminum is essential to the world’s low-carbon energy transition, and at the same time has opportunities to improve our own carbon footprint,” said Nicol Gagstetter, Alcoa’s Executive Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer. “This white paper offers a perspective on how the aluminum industry can improve its competitiveness relative to other industries while also addressing the requirements of decarbonization. Alcoa is pleased to play a part in furthering the industry’s conversation regarding competitiveness and the green transition while also providing the products and technologies necessary to achieve these aspirations.”