(Pa State Rep. Rob Matzie during a recent appearance on Beaver County Radio)

(Ambridge, Pa.) New job training and related resources are on the horizon for Beaver County residents re-entering the community after incarceration thanks to $10 million in new federal funding, state Rep. Rob Matzie announced.
Matzie, D-Beaver, said the funding under the First Step Act Initiative will support a statewide re-entry program to reduce recidivism and strengthen the region’s workforce.
“For people returning to the community after incarceration, a chance at a decent-paying job offers the best path back to building a new life,” Matzie said. “Unfortunately, many lack the training and skills needed to find those opportunities.
“With this new funding, the state will create a re-entry program that offers job training in areas that meet the specific needs of regional employers. Having specialized skills that make them attractive to employers – sometimes for the first time in their lives – empowers people, gives them a chance to return to their families and cuts the chances of their returning to crime. The entire community feels the impact of that success.
“Matzie said he will be working to ensure Beaver County reaps the full benefits of the new program.”

(Pittsburgh, Pa.)  A former resident of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of possession with intent to 40 grams or more of fentanyl, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
Michael Gamble, age 37, pleaded guilty to one count before United States District Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand.
In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that on Dec. 10, 2020, law
enforcement executed a search warrant upon Gamble’s residence. Law enforcement encountered Gamble sitting on a couch in the basement. A search of Gamble’s person resulted in the seizure of fentanyl and over $2,500.00. Between a cushion on a couch where Gamble was seated, law enforcement recovered a loaded handgun with an attached extended magazine. In a hidden compartment in the basement, officers recovered additional fentanyl. In total, law enforcement seized about approximately 90 grams of fentanyl.
Judge Wiegand scheduled sentencing for Feb. 9, 2023, at 10:00 a.m.. The law provides for a total sentence of life in prison, a fine of $8,000,000 or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Pending sentencing, the court remanded Gamble into the custody of the U.S. Marshals
Service. Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and the Drug Enforcement Administration
conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Gamble.

(Photo of new CCBC Women’s Basketball Coach Seairra Barrett provided with release)

(Monaca, Pa.)  The Community College of Beaver County has officially announces the appointment of Seairra Barrett as the next head coach of the CCBC women’s basketball team. She is eager to breathe new life into the program and make a positive impact on the community.
“We are very excited to have Seairra lead our women’s basketball program. Her experience and enthusiasm will help take our program to new heights,” said Tyler Care, director of student life and athletics administration.
Barrett comes to CCBC after a successful professional playing career in both Iceland and Finland. “I’m excited to be back home and I am looking forward to reinvigorating the women’s basketball program here at CCBC. I plan to recruit high character and high caliber players to play a fast and exciting brand of basketball,” Barrett said. “Our players will be visible in the community and will represent CCBC in the most positive way. I would like to thank Tyler Care and the rest of the search committee for entrusting me to lead this program.”
Barret is originally from Beaver County having played at Central Valley High School where she was a four-year letter winner, 1,000-point scorer, and two-time all-section. She was named Pittsburgh Post- Gazette Fab Five and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 10. She was also AP second-team all-state in Track & Field, all while being involved in several other academic groups.
Continuing her career, Barrett was an outstanding student athlete at California University of Pennsylvania. While playing for the Vulcan women’s basketball program, Seairra’s accomplishments were many, including female athlete of the year, freshman of the year, all-American, and member of the national championship team in 2015-16. Barrett earned her both a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s in Entrepreneurship.
CCBC’s 2022 Women’s Basketball season is set to kick off on Saturday November 5th at Penn State Beaver. The first home game, against Community College of Allegheny County, will be held on November 30th at 7:00pm in the Dome. For more information and the full schedule, go to
https://www.ccbctitans.com/sports/wbkb/2022-23/schedule

The featured image above shows a packed house in the South Side High School Auditorium
Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published October 5, 2022 11:15 P.M.(Hookstown, PA) Hundreds attended a school board meeting at South Side Area School District Wednesday evening in regards to a teacher placed on administrative leave. Daren Cusato was suspended from his teaching job at the district last Friday after refusing to use the preferred pronouns of at least one transgender student. Cusato stated that using the pronouns goes against his religious beliefs.  The majority who spoke at the meeting were in favor of the teacher and did not agree with LGBTQ requests such as shared bathrooms and gym locker rooms in addition to students choosing their pronouns. Some think there is a middle ground to find to make everybody comfortable.  Public opinions were heard for over two hours, including a short statement from Cusato. The board ultimately decided to hold an impromptu voting session to suspend the current directive policy from the district solicitor which protected the rights of transgender students and their pronouns.  With the policy suspended, Cusato can return to teaching and the board said they will work to figure out how to proceed with their student and teacher policies.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“We really feel we’ve got a lot of people out there that are really wanting to do something, to start their own businesses…and they just don’t know how to do it.”

The Beaver Valley Hub For Innovation & Entrepreneurship (BHIVE) held its first meeting–an open house for many community leaders–at the Carnegie Free Library in Beaver Falls on October 5. The library is being used as a temporary meeting space while the official, permanent site for the BHIVE is being constructed; the new location will be located two doors down from the library at 1317 7th Avenue (the old WIC offices).

According to BHIVE President John Hertneky, who emceed the late afternoon open house, the BHIVE was started “with the idea of creating areas for people who want to start their businesses…and entrepreneurs who are looking for information, mentorship, and coaching on how to start a business.” The hub was initially affiliated solely with Penn State University through its “Invent Penn State” program which created the LaunchBox & Innovation Network hubs.

While the LaunchBox program will be available through Penn State Beaver at the BHIVE, the BHIVE as a whole will incorporate several educational institutions. “We’ve engaged Geneva College and the Community College of Beaver County as partners in this, in terms of bringing in resources for training and mentorship, and for other resources,” Hertneky stated. “We’re really looking at this as a community project.”

The BHIVE will be free to those who want to use their services at their Beaver Falls location; those who want to use the facilities for an extended period will pay rent for the long-term usage. Hertneky said that the funding to pay for the building will come mostly from grants and private donations: “That in addition what we will be hopefully collecting in rent will essentially make us sustainable.”

Among those in attendance for the open house were State Representative Jim Marshall, Commissioners Jack Manning and Tony Amadio, Beaver Falls mayor Kenya Johns, and several other members of Beaver Falls City Council.

Regular meetings will be held at the Carnegie Free Library every Wednesday from 3:00 until 4:00 (revised from earlier declaration of 4:00 until 5:00) until further notice.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The good news about Brady’s Run Park was plentiful at the Beaver County Commissioners’ work session on October 5.

“We got word yesterday that the final hydroseeding of the tennis courts, basketball courts, and pickleball courts project at Brady’s Run Park,” Parks & Recreation director Tony Caltury revealed at the meeting. “So that should be about another week, and we’re looking to set an official grand opening next week; I’m looking at tentatively Tuesday or Wednesday.” The Commissioners agreed to Wednesday, as to avoid conflict with a previously scheduled meeting for next Tuesday.

Caltury also provided an update on the final piece of the outdoor court’s renovation–the deck hockey court: “We submitted a resolution to the law department that should be on next week’s agenda,” he stated. “The gentleman who will be doing this from Sport Court says it’s about a three-week lead time…but once it’s in, it should be a two-to-three-day process of installation.”

Futhermore, the new water line for Brady’s Run Park was delivered, according to Caltury. Public Works director Dan Colville confirmed that the line will be established in the grass area behind the parking lot of the Beaver County Ice Arena. The original plan, per Colville, was to install the water line near the Horse Arena or Brady’s Run Lodge, but that “they wanted to keep it centrally located.”

“I’m just excited about the water lines going into Brady’s Run Park,” Commissioner Tony Amadio exclaimed. “I knew we had the money now, but the actual fact that the water lines are delivered…it’s been a long time in coming.”

The next Commissioners’ work session is set for October 12 at 10:00 AM.

(File Photo)

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) A resident of Freedom, Pennsylvania, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on Receipt of Material Involving the Sexual Exploitation of a Minor as well as Attempted Sex Trafficking of a Child, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced today.
The two-count Indictment, returned on Sept. 27, 2022, and unsealed on Friday, named
Mark Kriss, 64, as the sole defendant.
According to the Indictment, on or about May 22, 2021, Kriss did knowingly receive a
visual depiction of a minor using any means and facility of interstate and foreign commerce, namely, the Internet and a cellular telephone, the production of which visual depiction involved the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and that depicted a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Further, Kriss knowingly attempted to solicit the child to engage in a commercial sex act.
Specifically, the indictment alleges Kriss was engaged in a text message conversation with the minor and asked the child to send him sexually explicit images of herself. Kriss received the images and also solicited the child to have sex with him for money. Kriss later picked up the child in a church parking lot before taking her to a motel room and sexually assaulting her.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of not less than ten years and up to life in prison, a fine not to exceed $250,000.00, and a term of supervised release of at least five years.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed would be based upon the seriousness of the offense and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.
Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin J. Risacher is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Northern Regional Police Department
conducted the investigation leading to the Indictment in this case.

(Harrisburg, Pa.) Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that Desirae Feitl has pleaded guilty to one count of Delivery of a Controlled Substance for her role in the mass distribution and trafficking of heroin and fentanyl from Philadelphia to Butler County. This drug operation transported an estimated kilo of heroin/fentanyl for resale in Butler County with a street value of up to $400,000. “The defendant profited from distributing dangerous drugs that perpetuate the opioid epidemic and devastate Pennsylvania communities,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “14 Pennsylvanians die from opioids every day, and we will not sit idly by while dealers traffic poison across Pennsylvania. My office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to hold those accountable who profit from drug trafficking.” The investigation, which utilized the 46th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, identified five individuals who operated a drug trafficking ring between January and October 2020: Desirae Feitl, Quinzal Powell, Jodi Shirey, Brandi Zediker, and Crystal Pakutz. Powell, 30, orchestrated the sale and distribution of more than 1,000 grams, or 50,000 doses, of heroin and fentanyl between Philadelphia and Butler counties. Within Butler county during this window of time, Feitl and Pakutz each sold approximately 256 and 820 grams, or 12,800 and 41,000 doses, of heroin/fentanyl, respectively. Shirey and Zediker acted as distributors for the heroin and fentanyl being sold by Feitl and Pakutz. On October 1, 2020, a search warrant was executed on a hotel room rented by Crystal Pakutz. During the search, a bag of fentanyl, a scale, empty stamp bags and other packaging materials were recovered. On October 15, 2020, Feitl was stopped and found to be in possession of seven bundles, or 70 bags, of fentanyl. A subsequent search of her residence produced 1121 stamp bags of fentanyl and approximately $10,000 in cash. An additional $221,000 was located in a storage locker rented by Feitl. On the same date, Powell was stopped during a traffic stop. A search of his vehicle produced 1150 stamp bags of fentanyl that were hidden under the center console. Desirae Feitl has pleaded guilty to one count of Delivery of a Controlled Substance. Sentencing is scheduled for January 2023. This case was a joint investigation with the Office of Attorney General Bureau of Narcotics Investigations and the Butler County District Attorney’s Drug Task Force. The Butler City Police, Butler Township Police, Penn Township Police, and Butler County Sheriff’s Department also assisted in various aspects of this case. Investigators believe that the drugs trafficked in these communities by the defendants may have led to some overdose deaths in Butler County. This case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Kara Cotter. As to the other defendants, all charges are accusations. The defendants are innocent unless and until proven guilty.

FILE – The logo of the Organization of the Petroleoum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is seen outside of OPEC’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, March 3, 2022. A cut in oil production is on the table when OPEC oil-producing countries meet Wednesday, Oct. 5. The OPEC+ alliance that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia is weighing a cut of a million barrels or more. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner, file)
By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries has decided to sharply cut production to support sagging oil prices. The move Wednesday could deal the struggling global economy another blow and raise politically sensitive pump prices for U.S. drivers just ahead of key national elections. Energy ministers meeting at the Vienna headquarters of the OPEC oil cartel cut production by 2 million barrels per day at their first face-to-face meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides a token trim in oil production last month, the major cut is an abrupt turnaround from months of restoring deep cuts made during the depths of the pandemic and could help alliance member Russia weather a looming European ban on oil imports.