Monaca, PA – The Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) hosted its commencement on May 2, adding 173 graduates to the area’s workforce. It joined the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges (PACCC) today in celebrating its graduates as part of the 7,530 students who graduated from one of the state’s 15 community colleges.

“Now we watch with enormous amounts of Titan Pride to see who [our students] will become, what they will do, and how they will choose to go for the gold,” said CCBC president, Roger W. Daivs during the 55^th annual commencement ceremony.

Based on current census and population data, it is estimated Pennsylvania’s projected skilled worker shortage could reach 820,000 in the coming years. To meet the state’s workforce needs and support continued economic growth, more workers will be required with appropriate credentials and training tailored to regional employer needs – an area in which community colleges excel.

Community college graduates continue to fill workforce needs in their communities with the vast majority receiving degrees in high priority occupation areas including the health sciences, early childhood education, teacher training, the trades, manufacturing, and information technology/computer science. At CCBC, those top five areas included nursing, radiologic technology, health sciences, business management, and air traffic control.

“At CCBC, we are committed to helping students achieve success on career pathways that enable our graduates to finish stronger than they started, find support along the way, and ultimately bolster the region’s workforce post-graduation,” stated CCBC provost Shelly Moore.

The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania conducted a survey of 70 of its hospitals in November of 2023 and found that one-third of registered nurse positions were vacant. The need is in sharp contrast to levels before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health sciences led the list of degrees granted this May at community colleges statewide. CCBC was a vital part of that effort with 59 nursing graduates, 18 radiologic technology graduates, and 12 students earning an associate degree in health sciences. The list of graduates included husband and wife nurses.

Pennsylvania’s 15 community colleges have over 245,000 students enrolled on their 80 campuses, providing real savings to students and families as they pursue additional credentials. On average, students save $30,000 on their education by starting at, or selecting, a community college for their degree or certificate. Those same 15 colleges partner with 2,170 employers for workforce training ensuring that students have the most up-to-date knowledge, and providing pathways to careers for them as well.

At CCBC, that included graduate Carter Denelle who earned his associate’s degree in professional pilot who had the unique honor of graduating from college before he graduated from high school. He combined college in high school with the aviation academy and additional dual enrollment courses to soar to success. He graduated from Beaver High School this month.

Community colleges are the state’s largest provider of public postsecondary education and workforce training and offer the lowest public postsecondary tuition in Pennsylvania. Additionally, 75 percent (75%) of the community colleges’ programs align with High Priority Occupations in fields such as healthcare, manufacturing and public safety. They award over 4,000 healthcare credentials annually on average, including 75 percent of all associate degrees in nursing in the state. It is estimated that about 55 percent of undergraduate students who are enrolled in a Pennsylvania college are enrolled at one of the 15 community colleges in the state.

AMBRIDGE, June 14 – New funding of $205,000 from the Pennsylvania Housing and Finance Agency will bring safer, more stable housing for residents in the 16^th Legislative District, state Rep. Rob Matzie announced today.

Matzie said the funding includes three separate grants awarded under the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement fund.

“Safe, affordable housing means a more secure life, greater access to community services and a better chance at finding a good job,” Matzie said. “Today’s funding is going to help ensure more folks in our district have those opportunities to put down roots and stay rooted in our community.

“The funds are also going to help residents with mobility issues get home modifications and repairs they need to stay safe.”

Matzie said the funding includes:

• $80,000 to Housing Opportunities of Beaver County for grants, workshops and counseling tools that promote housing stability and sustainable homeownership. (For Beaver and Lawrence counties.)
• $75,000 to The Salvation Army to help more residents obtain and maintain permanent housing and to address the lack of affordable housing options.
• $50,000 to Beaver County for a program to provide home modifications for households with mobility and/or safety challenges.

• Ensure that cell phones and other necessary electronics are fully charged.
• Drink plenty of water and have ice handy to use for cooling packs.
• Keep supplies in an emergency preparedness kit, including water bottles, non-perishable food, first-aid supplies, flashlights and a battery-powered radio.
• Avoid opening refrigerator and freezer doors. Food will stay frozen in a fully loaded freezer for 36-48 hours if the door remains closed.
• Seek a location with air conditioning when possible. Starting Monday, June 17, the city of Pittsburgh will activate cooling centers throughout the area. Reach out to your local municipality for up-to-date information on these centers.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Published June 14, 2024 2:10 P.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) On Thursday night, Dr. Phillip K. Woods  announced that the clubhouse will  open at the high school for the 2024-25 school year. Dr. Woods reported to Beaver County Radio that this exciting development is a collaborative effort  with the Greater Aliquippa Advisory Committee and aims to provide a safe, supportive, and enriching environment for the youth of the Aliquippa community.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published June 14, 2024 2:09 P.M.

(Monaca, Pa) Borough Manager Dave Kramer issued a press release concerning a boil water advisory for the entire borough until further notice. The notice was sent out because there was an outage at one of the water authority’s pump stations. The borough is continually monitoring water quality  to ensure they continue  to meet the safe drinking water standards.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing daylight bridge washing activities in Beaver County will occur Monday through Thursday, June 17-20 weather permitting.

Bridge washing operations requiring single-lane restrictions will occur in the following locations:

• The Koppel Bridge which carries Route 351 over the Beaver River in Koppel Borough and North Sewickley Township. Restrictions will occur from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
• The Eastvale Bridge which carries Route 588 over the Beaver River in the City of Beaver Falls and Eastvale Borough. Restrictions will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.
• The 7th Avenue Bridge which carries Route 18 over the Beaver River in the City of Beaver Falls and New Brighton Borough. Restrictions will occur form 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

Motorists should allow extra time if using the bridges.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is seen at the Senate Subway on Capitol Hill Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Police say Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was seen driving at a “high rate of speed” just before he rear-ended another car on Interstate 70 in Maryland. A state police report said Fetterman was at fault in Sunday morning’s crash. Police say both cars were towed and Fetterman, his wife Gisele and the motorist he hit were all hospitalized for minor injuries. Fetterman’s office has acknowledged the accident, saying he was treated for a bruised shoulder and discharged within hours. Court records show that Fetterman pleaded guilty earlier this year in Pennsylvania to a citation for exceeding the speed limit by 34 mph.

Danielle Smith – Keystone State News Service 

A proposed waiver would eliminate Medicaid issues by ensuring uninterrupted coverage for qualified children until they turn 6.

If approved by the federal government, the Section 1115 waiver would leverage Medicaid funding for various social programs, helping to insure about 145,000 Pennsylvania children without health insurance.

Patrick Keenan, policy director for the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, said the waiver is a request from Pennsylvania to change specific rules and includes four main options.

“One is ensure that kids have eligibility that doesn’t get interrupted because of paperwork, errors or other kinds of things,” Keenan outlined. “Second is increased kind of access to healthy foods for folks that have certain medical conditions where food can really be the best medicine.”

Keenan noted option three helps people find and keep stable housing that fits their health needs, and the last step helps people coming out of incarceration get connected to Medicaid immediately. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services applied for the waiver in January, and it is expected to be approved in the fall.

Keenan pointed out paperwork errors or missed documents have resulted in children being disconnected from coverage during the pandemic. He argued it is essential for children to have continuous coverage to avoid issues when needing to see a doctor.

“Kids receiving Medicaid, that can often mean that they lose their Medicaid coverage, and they don’t get the immunizations, they don’t get the well visits that they need,” Keenan explained. “Then the worst instances they break an arm or have some kind of other accident that requires emergency attention and don’t have health coverage when they need it the most.”

Keenan added his statewide organization assists about 10,000 Pennsylvanians annually with health insurance questions, medical bills, finding doctors and enrollment in Medicaid, CHIP and Pennie, the state insurance marketplace.

FILE – Construction crews bore beneath U.S. 221 in Roanoke County, Va., June 22, 2018, to make a tunnel through which the Mountain Valley Pipeline will pass under the highway. The hotly contested East Coast natural gas pipeline was given the go-ahead Tuesday, June 11, 2024, to start operating, six years after construction began at more than double its original estimated cost. (Heather Rousseau/The Roanoke Times via AP, File)

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A hotly contested East Coast natural gas pipeline was given the go-ahead Tuesday to start operating, six years after construction began at more than double its original estimated cost.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the 303-mile (500-kilometer) Mountain Valley Pipeline project across rugged mountainsides in West Virginia and Virginia over longstanding objections from environmental groups, landowners and some elected officials. Project developers told regulators on Monday that the pipeline was complete.

“We are pleased with the agencies’ decisions and the related communications regarding in-service authorization for the MVP project,” Natalie Cox, a spokesperson for the pipeline’s leading developer, Equitrans Midstream Corp., said in a statement Tuesday night. “Final preparations are underway to begin commercial operations.”

The $7.85 billion project has withstood weather delays, a maze of court and construction permit challenges and regulator scrutiny. It is designed to meet growing energy demands in the South and mid-Atlantic by transporting gas from the Marcellus and Utica fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Congress ordered that all necessary permits be issued for the pipeline last year as part of a bipartisan bill to increase the debt ceiling. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law last June. Among the key votes for last year’s sweeping legislation was U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia independent. Manchin has called the pipeline “a crucial piece of energy infrastructure” that is good for global supply and American energy security.

Last July, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the pipeline’s construction to resume after a federal appeals court had blocked the work despite congressional approval.

Environmental groups argued that Congress overstepped its authority and have challenged the pipeline over its potential impact on endangered species. They also say it causes climate-altering pollution from greenhouse gases and contributes to erosion that will ruin soil and water quality. Part of the route includes national forest land.

“By allowing MVP to advance despite all these serious hazards, the system meant to protect our communities, land and water has failed,” Jessica Sims, the Virginia field coordinator for the environmental group Appalachian Voices, said in a statement.

On Monday, the pipeline developers told FERC in a filing that multiple shippers were prepared to start the flow of gas along the pipeline, “which further heightens the need to prompt authorization to meet market demands.”

First proposed in 2015, the pipeline’s route includes 11 counties in West Virginia, six in Virginia and three compressor stations in West Virginia. It has been cited over the years for dozens of violations of environmental laws meant to control erosion and sedimentation.

Frustrated residents complained the pipeline altered pristine landscapes and muddied their clear springs that supply drinking water. In some places along the construction route, protesters locked themselves to heavy equipment or blocked access, bringing work to a temporary halt. In one Virginia county last year, heavy machinery was set on fire.

After the pipeline operators initially asked FERC in April to issue the final authorization by May 23, a segment of pipe burst in southwestern Virginia on May 1 during pressurized water testing conducted to check for leaks and flaws. The damaged section was replaced and the operators investigated the cause of the incident.

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in Virginia asked FERC on May 13 to hold off placing the pipeline in service until safety testing and remediation was completed. Mountain Valley subsequently pushed back the targeted in-service date to early June due to the ongoing construction.

Virginia attorney and activist Jonathan Sokolow was among critics who claimed the pipeline was not ready to begin operations. He said Tuesday on the social platform X that no public information was available on the results of any pipeline inspections that have been done since April 1, including the area where the pipe burst.

In a phone call with FERC earlier on Tuesday, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a unit of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said it had no objections if FERC were to authorize the pipeline operator’s request to begin service.

“We find that Mountain Valley has adequately stabilized the areas disturbed by construction and that restoration and stabilization of the construction work area is proceeding satisfactorily,” Terry Turpin, director of FERC’s Office of Energy Projects, said in a letter to Equitrans Midstream on Tuesday.

In March, Pittsburgh-based natural gas giant EQT Corp. announced an agreement to acquire Equitrans Midstream of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in an all-stock transaction.

FILE – Joey Chestnut, defending champion of the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, left, works to outpace former champion Takeru Kobayashi, right, July 4, 2009, in New York. Chestnut, a 16-time hot dog-eating champion, will face off with his frequent Nathan’s competitor, Kobayashi, in a live Netflix special on Sept. 2, 2024, the streamer announced Wednesday, June 12. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After organizers for Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog-eating contest said Joey Chestnut wouldn’t compete this year because of a deal with a rival brand, Netflix swiftly announced a new hot dog-eating competition that will feature Chestnut and his “fiercest rival.”

Chestnut, a 16-time hot dog-eating champion, will face off with his frequent Nathan’s competitor, Takeru Kobayashi, in a live Netflix special on Sept. 2, the streamer announced Wednesday.

The contest, titled “Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef,” will feature the two chowing down on all-beef hot dogs, likely in a nod to reports that Chestnut’s rival brand deal is with Impossible Foods, which makes plant-based hot dogs.

Major League Eating, the organization that oversees the Nathan’s contest, announced Tuesday that Chestnut’s deal was an “exclusivity” issue, saying that it was his decision to step back from the competition he has participated in since 2005. “We love him. The fans love him,” said George Shea, a Major League Eating event organizer, adding: “He made the choice.”

Chestnut disputed that he made the choice, saying on the social platform X that Nathan’s and Major League Eating made the decision, adding that it would “deprive fans of the holiday’s usual joy and entertainment.”

He also wrote that fans could “rest assured” that they would see him east again soon, adding: “STAY HUNGRY!”

Impossible Foods has not confirmed a formal relationship with Chestnut, but he said in a statement on Tuesday they support his choice to compete in any competition, adding “Meat eaters shouldn’t have to be exclusive to just one wiener.”

Following Netflix’s announcement, Shea said the streamer was “trying to recreate the Nathan’s contest to some extent and you just can’t do that.”

“Imitation is the best form of flattery,” he added.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams joined the conversation via X on Wednesday, urging Nathan’s and Major League Eating to “stop being such weenies.” “It would be ‘impossible’ to have this year’s Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest without Joey Chestnut,” he wrote. “Let’s find a way to squash this beef and bring back the champ for another 4th of July at Coney Island!”

In a Netflix news release announcing the competition, Chestnut said he was eager bring the competition to the streaming service.

“Through all of my years in competitive eating, Kobayashi stands out as my fiercest rival,” Chestnut said via the release. “Competing against him pushed me to be so much better. I know that fans have waited a long time for another chapter of our rivalry and I can’t wait for our massive showdown live on Netflix! It’s time to give the people what they want!”

Kobayashi, who has been rumored to be retired, said in the Netflix release that he is looking forward to facing off with Chestnut once more. The two have not competed since 2009.

“Retiring for me will only happen after I take him down one last time,” Kobayashi said. “This rivalry has been brewing for a long time. Competing against Joey live on Netflix means fans all over the world can watch me knock him out.”

The hot dog-eating competition is the latest of the streamer’s recent efforts to expand into live TV, and it highlights the company’s emphasis on sporting events, which will include Christmas Day NFL games starting this year and WWE’s “Raw” in 2025.