(File Photo of Senator Elder Vogel, Jr.)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) According to a release from Senator Elder Vogel, Jr’s office, Vogel announced that a state grant of $563,970 was approved to both upgrade safety and fix an intersection in Center Township. The intersection of Beech Road and Route 8 will be getting new equipment for traffic signals thanks to the grant. The funding was provided by PennDOT’s Automated Red-Light Enforcement program. 

 

 

(File Photo of Police Lights)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Ambridge, PA) One person is in custody and one person is dead after a shooting occurred in Ambridge on Thursday night. At around 8:15 p.m., Ambridge Police went to the 200 block of Park Road. The identities have not yet been released of both the deceased person and the person in custody. According to Beaver County 911, both the Beaver County Detectives and Ambridge Police are investigating the incident. This is a developing story, and we will have updates as soon as they are available.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: This undated photo provided by the Denver Police Department shows Andrew Duarte who served as a Denver police officer from 2017 to 2022. (Denver Police Department via AP)

RED LION, Pa. (AP) — A procession with law enforcement officers is planned for the Friday funeral of a Pennsylvania police officer who was shot and killed while coming to the rescue of medical personnel and patients during an attack on a hospital intensive care unit last weekend.

Family members, friends and fellow officers are expected to attend the service for West York Patrolman Andrew Duarte at Living Word Community Church in Red Lion, Pennsylvania.

Duarte, 30, was killed while responding to a man with a gun who took hostages inside UPMC Memorial Hospital in York, Pennsylvania. The attacker, Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, also was killed and several others were wounded.

The 1 p.m. service is closed to the public but will be livestreamed by the church.

Accounts of nurses who survived the attack have been shared in Facebook posts, disclosing details about their injuries and treatment and how the events have haunted those who lived through it.

York County District Attorney Tim Barker said Archangel-Ortiz appeared to have had recent contact with the intensive care unit “for a medical purpose involving another person” but didn’t elaborate.

Born in Oakland, California, Duarte had served on the West York police force since 2022. Before that, he spent five years with the Denver Police Department in Colorado.

An obituary said he earned a degree in criminal justice and police science from California University of Pennsylvania and his interests included photography, guitar, hiking and traveling.

Survivors include his parents and his girlfriend.

(File Photo of Vitalant Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(New Castle, PA) According to a release from Vitalant, the company will provide Blood Drives in the month of March to people that are eligible. All blood types are needed, but O blood is needed the most. These blood drives can also help for those who have bleeding disorders. You can also have a chance to win two prepaid gift cards of $5,000 if you donate blood in the month of March. Everyone who donates will be automatically put in a drawing for the gift cards. You can contact 877-25-VITAL (877-258-4825) or either visit vitalant.org or the Vitalant app for more information. According to the release, here is the full schedule of dates, times and locations of the blood drives:

Beaver Falls

Thursday, March 6th

Concord United Methodist Church – Bethany Hall

285 Concord Church Road

9 A.M. – 2:30 P.M.

 

New Castle

Friday, March 14th

Harley-Davidson

4655 Route 422

7:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M.

 

Monday, March 24th

Shenango High School

2550 Ellwood Road

11 A.M. – 4:30 P.M.

 

Wednesday, March 26th

New Castle Fire Department – Multi-purpose Room

10 Margaret Street

7 A.M. – 1 P.M.

 

Thursday, March 27th

Holy Spirit Parish – St Camillus Church, McGurk Hall

314 West Englewood Avenue

7 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.

 

Monday, March 31st

New Castle School of Trades (Day)

4117 Pulaski Road

11 A.M. – 5 P.M.

 

Monday, March 31st

New Castle School of Trades-Evening

4117 Pulaski Road

10 A.M. – 3 P.M.

 

New Wilmington

Wednesday, March 5th

Wilmington Area High School

350 Wood Street

9:30 A.M. – 2 P.M.

(File Photo of Central Valley School District logo)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Center Township, PA) Central Valley School District officially named Shawn McCreary as its superintendent last Thursday at its board meeting. McCreary spoke with Giordano Wednesday and said: “My biggest concern is to provide a safe, nurturing culture in the district and to improve communications with the school district community.” McCreary also talked about upgrading the facilities in the district, specifically at the high school and middle school. McCreary graduated from Monaca High School and got his undergraduate degree from Geneva College. He earned his principal’s certification at Franciscan  University in Steubenville, Ohio. He also attended Point Park University to attain his letter of eligibility to become a school superintendent.

(File Photo of Police Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) An incident involving a dark sedan with two people allegedly talking with children near a bus stop on Tuesday in Beaver Falls is being investigated by The City of Beaver Falls Police Department. At about 8:30 a.m., a car that police suspect has an out of state registration was in the vicinity of 6th Avenue and 11th Street. Police are looking for a bearded black man and a white woman who was his passenger who were allegedly interacting with the children. The two people involved in this incident occupied the car. If you have any information about the car, please call 724-846-7001.  

(File Photo of the PennDOT logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) PennDOT announced that around $20.4 million will go to twenty-five municipalities across the state for thirty-one safety projects for Automated Red-Light Enforcement. This funding brings the total to around $162 million through a program supported by the Shapiro Administration. The Automated Red-Light Enforcement program works to increase safety at intersections with signals. Twenty-four applications were submitted by municipalities with requests of $33.5 million. According to a release from PennDOT, here are the projects that were approved:

Allegheny County

• Bethel Park Borough: $77,643 for a capacity and safety project at the intersection of Library Road (Route 88) and Kings School Road.
• City of Pittsburgh: $647,050 for the modernization of the traffic signal at the intersection of East General Robinson Street and Sandusky Street as well as a road diet with pedestrian safety improvements in the North Shore neighborhood.
• City of Pittsburgh: $335,982 for the construction of a new traffic signal at the intersection of Centre Avenue and North Dithridge Street located in the North Oakland neighborhood near the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon campuses.
• Richland Township: $235,000 for new traffic signal installation at the intersection of Gibsonia Rd (Route 910) and Community Center Drive.

Bedford County

• Bedford Township: $556,834 to modernize traffic signals at eight intersections, replace six flashing approach lights, install traffic signs on a rural road with curves, and install camera surveillance for the Belden Road bridge.

Bucks County

• Penndel Borough: $350,990 for traffic signal modernization at the intersection of Durham Road (Route 2049) and Lincoln Highway (Route 2037).
• Upper Southampton Township: $837,449 for traffic signal modernization along Street Road (Route 132) and the two closely spaced intersections of Davisville Road and Maple Avenue.
• Northampton Township: $760,100 to improve pedestrian safety and operational efficiency at the intersections of Buck Road (Route 532 and Middle Holland Road/Stoney Ford Road, as well as Buck Road and East Village Road/West Village Road.

Butler County

• Center Township: $563,970 to fully replace the traffic signal equipment at the intersection of Route 8 and Beech Road to meet modern day operational and safety standards.

Clearfield County

• Morris Township: $101,250 for a safety upgrade to the existing traffic signal at the intersection of Philipsburg-Bigler Highway (Route 53) & Ninth Street (Route 2043) Troy Hill Road

Delaware County

• Swarthmore Borough: $388,560 for a full modernization at the intersection of North Chester Road (Route 320) and College Avenue to upgrade traffic signal structures and equipment, including ADA facilities.

Lackawanna County

• City of Scranton: $104,004 to update the traffic signal for Washburn and Main Avenue to include high-visibility crosswalks and installation of no-parking pavement markings where parking is not permitted.

Lancaster County

• Mount Joy Borough: $296,969 to install two crosswalks and ten shared lane markings near the Mount Joy shopping center.

Lehigh County

• Upper Macungie Township: $317,600 to upgrade 13 intersections to camera or radar signal detections.
• City of Allentown: $1.9 million to redesign a 1.2 mile stretch of South Jefferson Street between Elm and Lehigh Streets, to reduce to two lanes with a central turning lane and install dedicated bike lanes.

Luzerne County

• Laurel Run Borough: $103,781 to implement a mid-block pedestrian crossing over East Northampton Street (Route 2007) at Giant’s Despair/Heritage Park.

Mercer County

• City of Sharon: $85,000 to update traffic signal equipment at 17 intersections.
• City of Sharon: $120,000 to increase overall vehicular and pedestrian safety at the intersection of North Sharpsville Avenue and Pitt Street.

Montgomery County

• Lower Merion Township: $630,921 for traffic signal modernization and pedestrian safety improvements at Lancaster Avenue (Route 30) and Church Road.
• Upper Hanover Township- $485,600 for full traffic signal modernization and minor widening at the intersection of Route 663 and Schoolhouse Road/Montgomery Avenue.

Philadelphia County

• City of Philadelphia: $1.5 million to continue the Slow Zone program and bring the speed management toolkit to two neighborhoods experiencing high rates of crash-related injuries and deaths. The Indiana project area is located in the Fairhill/West Kensington neighborhood in the area of Allegheny Avenue, Front Street, Lehigh Avenue, and Second Street. The Hestonville project area is located in West Philadelphia in the area of Lancaster Avenue, 52nd Street, Girard Ave, and 54th Street.
• City of Philadelphia: $2 million to continue the “Signal Integration” program and to focus this program on City Avenue, between Presidential Boulevard and 77th Street. which currently runs as adaptive response signal control. With updated signal integration via fiber, the corridor will be retimed and operated via ATMS.  Funds may also be used to supplement similar signal integration projects throughout the City.
• City of Philadelphia: $1.5 million to improve safety for transit users at intersections along SEPTA’s Trolley Modernization corridors. Proposed work will improve sight distance, reduce pedestrian crossing time, and allocate additional right-of-way time for transit. This project will be concentrated on remaining intersections with high crash clusters along Lancaster Avenue from 40th Street to 52nd Street, Woodland Avenue from 50th Street to Cemetery Avenue, and Baltimore Avenue from 54th Street to 61st Street.
• City of Philadelphia: $2 million to construct modern roundabouts at two or more locations citywide, replace geometrically over-capacity or overly complex signalized intersections having adequate existing right-of-way. Proposed locations are 11th & Wagner Avenue and 10th & Fisher Avenue.
• City of Philadelphia: $3.6 million for Roosevelt Blvd Parallel Corridor Intersection Modifications. The program will fund design and construction at several locations, which be determined by project viability, crash data, and funding gaps for projects currently underway. Possible corridors for intersection improvements include Castor Ave (from Van Kirk to Cottman) Rising Sun Ave (from Van Kirk to Cottman Ave), and Adams Ave (from Rising Sun to Roosevelt). Other corridors and intersections may be considered in the vicinity of Roosevelt Blvd, depending on need. This project will help to slow traffic at intersections, improve sight distance between drivers and pedestrians, and reduce pedestrian vulnerability by reducing pedestrian crossing times.

Schuykill County

• Butler Township- $20,280 for a purchase of four “Radar Sign Safety in a Box” kits to help reduce excessive speeds as well as the frequency and severity of motor vehicle accidents on Fairgrounds Road and Fountain Street.

Washington County

• North Strabane Township: $116,000 for installation of speed management devices along McDowell Lane and Demar Boulevard.
• Peters Township: $219,998 for traffic signal modernization at the intersection of Washington Road (Route 91) andGallery Drive to enhance safety and mobility using modern technology and design.

Westmoreland County

• Murrysville Borough: $374,850 to replace all the older style LED vehicular and pedestrian signal heads at 11 intersections. This project will also include new power supply units at each intersection.
• City of Greensburg: $141,875 to increase the safety and mobility at the intersections of South Main Street (Route 119) and Euclid Avenue/Mt.Pleasant Street; and E. Pittsburgh Street (Route 130) and Urania Avenue by installing radar detection and a left turn arrow.

York County

• West Manchester Township: $74,806 to improve intersection safety by installing left turn arrows and to install radar detectors and allow the application of Dilemma Zone Protection on the Route 30 mainline.

(File Photo of Gavel)

Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Acting U.S. Attorney Troy Revetti announced Wednesday that a resident of Crescent Township was indicted on a charge of possession of material depicting the sexual exploitation of a minor. Twenty-year-old Aidan Harding had this material on or around December 11th, 2024. This included videos depicting a minor’s sexual exploitation. Revetti also stated that Harding was charged by criminal complaint on January 27th, 2025 and was held without bond pending trial after being forced to do so on February 12th, 2025 during a detention hearing. According to Revetti, Harding could face a maximum of twenty years in jail, an up to a $250,000 fine, or both provided by the law. 

 

(File Photo of Police Car of the City of Aliquippa Police Department)

(Reported by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano)

(Aliquippa, PA) A black man is being sought by Aliquippa police after displaying a firearm in Aliquippa. Aliquippa Police went to Dale Street Extension on Plan 11 Wednesday. The suspect approached a juvenile with the firearm and asked if he had “work,” according to the child’s mother, who thought the man was attempting to rob him. The female described the suspect as a black man wearing a ski mask and a blue sweatshirt with a hood. The child is now safe. If you know anything about this incident, please call 724-378-8000.