HARRISBURG, Jan. 24 – State Rep. Rob Matzie, D-Beaver, issued the following statement after today’s decision by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to deny an appeal from Aliquippa School District and force Aliquippa to compete in the 5A class next season.

“The PIAA decision is disappointing, but not surprising. While non-boundary private schools recruit players from all over the United States and rural co-ops exploit known – but never closed – loopholes in their policies, a small, struggling, urban school district is punished for striving for excellence by the very body tasked with ensuring fairness.

“It is becoming clearer by the day that the current composition and operation of the PIAA is in dire need of review and examination. The organization is out of touch with the stark differences in demographic and socioeconomic factors from district to district. Their ‘one size fits all’ approach simply doesn’t work and hasn’t for quite some time.

“I will continue my efforts to take a closer look at the PIAA and lead in bringing about much needed changes to ensure fairness for all schools and student-athletes.”

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published January 25, 2024 9:48 A.M.

(Aliquippa, Pa) Aliquippa police received a call that there had been a shooting  at approximately 3am this morning in the 1200 block of Main Street. State Police were called in to investigate and  were still  on scene at 8am. No further details were available.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published January 25, 2024 9:46 A.M.

(Ambridge, Pa) Ambridge Council on Tuesday night hired Rich Dobrosielski as the new treasurer. He will begin his duties on February 2, 2024. Kim Killian, is retiring.
Joe Askar was hired as the new solicitor.
Borough Manager Mario Leone ‘s contract was extended for 2 more years.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)

The Special Education Director at Hopewell Area School District announced her resignation at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Dr. Lynn Utchell had her resignation from Hopewell approved effective March 31st according to Superintendent Dr. Jeff Beltz, and Utchell will be taking a similar position at West Allegheny School District.

Terry Borkovic was hired as the new middle school volleyball coach at Tuesday night’s meeting, with Alexis Thompson as her assistant. Carl Plutkowas was announced as the Director of Transportation effective immediately.

The next work session is scheduled for February 13 at 7:00 PM.

NEW YORK (AP) — Todd Helton thought back to when he was a kid being coached by his father, Jerry, a minor league catcher in the 1960s.

“When I would go 1 for 3 — and it’s a bad day when you’re young — he’d say 1 for 3 gets you into the Hall of Fame,” Helton said.

Helton, Adrián Beltré and Joe Mauer were voted into Cooperstown on Tuesday, feeling elation and relief when they were rewarded with baseball’s highest honor.

Beltré was a no-doubt, first-ballot choice after batting .286 with 477 homers, 1,707 RBIs and 3,166 hits for four teams over 21 seasons. The third baseman appeared on 366 of 385 ballots (95.1%) cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Helton made it on the sixth try, voters taking time to warm to statistics inflated by the thin mile-high air of Denver’s Coors Field over 17 seasons, all with the Colorado Rockies. The first baseman got 307 votes for 79.7% after falling 11 short last year when Scott Rolen was elected. Helton started at 16.5% support in 2019.

“I was the most superstitious guy in the world,” Helton said. “I hadn’t been superstitious in 10 years until today.”

Mauer (293, 76.1%) joined Johnny Bench and Iván Rodríguez as the only first-ballot picks who primarily were catchers and at 40 became the youngest living Hall of Famer. He got 293 votes (76.1%), four more than the 75% needed, after batting .306 with 143 homers and 906 RBIs in 15 years, all with his hometown Minnesota Twins.

“Goes by way too fast,” Mauer said.

Beltré, Mauer and Helton will be inducted on July 21 along with Jim Leyland, elected last month by the contemporary era committee for managers, executives and umpires. There are 273 players among 346 people in the Hall, and just 60 of those players were elected on the first try.

Beltré becomes the fifth Dominican-born Hall of Famer after Juan Marichal, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero and David Ortiz.

“I’m proud of the fact that I was able to play for a long time and be able to compete at the highest level,” Beltré said. “I’m honored to be in the Hall of Fame. It’s something that I never even dreamed of.”

Reliever Billy Wagner was five votes short at 284 (73.8%) but up from 68.1% last year. He will appear on the ballot for the 10th and final time in 2025, when Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia are newly eligible.

Gary Sheffield got 246 votes for 63.9% in his final appearance on the BBWAA ballot, up from 55% last year and 11.7% in 2015. He is eligible for consideration by the contemporary baseball player committee, which next meets in December 2025.

Beltré, a four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner, played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004), Seattle (2005-09), Boston (2010) and Texas (2011-18). His 2,759 games at third base are second to Brooks Robinson’s 2,870 and his 636 doubles are 11th.

Helton, a five-time All-Star first baseman and the 2000 major league batting champion, hit .345 with 200 homers and 791 RBIs at home and .287 with 142 homers and 547 RBIs on the road.

“Pitchers get hurt — they say you can’t throw in thin air. And then hitters get dinked because they play Colorado,” Helton said. “I’m not embarrassed or anything about my home and road numbers. Going on the road after hitting in Colorado is hard. The ball breaks more and it’s a huge adjustment going through the season.”

Mauer was a six-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and the 2009 AL MVP. An All-Star in six of his first 10 big league seasons and the only catcher to win three batting titles, Mauer moved to first base for his last five years following a concussion on a foul tip off the bat of the New York Mets’ Ike Davis on Aug. 19, 2013, an injury that ended Mauer’s season. Concussion symptoms returned on May 11, 2018, when he had whiplash while diving for a foul ball at Anaheim. He tried to play through it for a week but missed 25 games and retired after the season.

He also had three knee operations.

“I feel effects of some of those things like that,” he said.

Voters included an average of seven names per ballot, up from 5.86 last year, and 24.4% of the voters checked the maximum 10 candidates, an increase from 13.9%. Just 10 eligible voters failed to return ballots.

Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramírez again lagged, hurt by suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez received 34.8% and Ramírez 32.5%.

Among other first-time candidates, Chase Utley (28.8%) and David Wright (6.2%) will remain on next year’s ballot.

José Bautista, Bartolo Colon, Adrián González, Matt Holliday, Victor Martinez, Brandon Phillips, José Reyes and James Shields all were under 5% and will be dropped.

(New Brighton, Pa.) The Borough of New Brighton posted on their Facebook Page on Wednesday  that The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority is repairing a water line in the area of Mercer Avenue and Third Street in the Oak Hill section of New Brighton. During this time, residents and merchants from Dewhirst Avenue to Fourth Street, on the football field side of Oak Hill, will experience limited or no water service.

 

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Another longstanding Pittsburgh building has changed its name.

The newly named Kamin Science Center will replace the moniker of the Carnegie Science Center, which has been the lone name of the North Shore facility since its opening in October 1991. The name change is the result of a $65 million gift to the Science Center from longtime patrons Daniel and Carole Kamin that was made public on Tuesday.

It is one of several Pittsburgh entertainment venues to change names in the last decade, following such changes at Acrisure Stadium, PPG Paints Arena, and the former KeyBank Pavilion.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Sport Clips, a haircut franchise with over 1,800 locations across the United States and Canada, will be opening a location in Chippewa in the near future.

Owner AJ Rodriguez made the announcement on Tuesday that the new store, which will be located at 2580 Constitution Boulevard, “offers our clients the expertise of well-trained stylists in a fun and clean environment where they can enjoy watching sports on TV during their haircut.”

Customers can receive a variety of styles and services, including  the “MVP Experience” that features a precision haircut, massaging shampoo, hot steamed towel, and neck and shoulder treatment.

An official opening date has yet to be announced.

 

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

An Ellwood City woman has been arrested for shoplifting at the Giant Eagle in Franklin Township.

State police received a call Tuesday evening at around 4:26 PM about an act of retail theft at the Giant Eagle located at 289 Route 288. It was at the scene that they learned that 30-year-old Kaitlyn Simmons of Ellwood City had taken two Red Bull energy drinks without paying for them.

Charges were filed against Simmons with the Magisterial District Judge.

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares advanced Wednesday after China’s central bank announced fresh measures to boost its slowing economy and stabilize financial markets.

The announcement late Wednesday pushed Hong Kong’s benchmark up 3.6%. Shares fell in Tokyo but rose in most other major markets. Oil prices advanced.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX gained 1.1% to 16,803.96 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6% to 7,429.36. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 7,505.18. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%.

The People’s Bank of China said it would cut its reserve ratio requirement by 0.5 percentage points as of Feb. 5, putting an additional 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion) into the economy. Chinese markets have languished in recent weeks, adding to concerns that investors had grown too gloomy as the country’s recovery from the pandemic-related shocks faltered.

Also Wednesday, the vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Wang Jiangjun, called for better protections for investors and for instilling confidence in the potential for gains in the markets, which have faltered in recent months.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.6% to 15,899.87, helped by gains in technology companies like e-commerce giant Alibaba, which surged 5.5%.

The Shanghai Composite index recovered from early losses, climbing 1.8% to 2,820.77.

Also Wednesday, Japan reported its exports rose almost 10%, supported by strong demand for machinery, vehicles and semiconductors. For the full year, Japan’s exports grew nearly 3% in 2023 while imports fell 7%, leaving a trade deficit of 9.2 trillion yen, preliminary customs data showed, a sharp drop from the 20.3 trillion yen deficit reported the year before.

But economists are forecasting that the revival in export growth will be short-lived.

“Looking ahead, we expect export growth to slow this year as pent-up foreign demand for Japanese goods eases,” Gabriel Ng of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.8% to 36,226.48 as investors renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan is edging toward a change in its longstanding lax monetary policies, which have flooded the markets with ample cash.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell 0.4%, to 2,469.69. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 7,519.20.

India’s Sensex lost 0.1%, while the SET in Bangkok advanced 0.2%.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 climbed to another record, gaining 0.3% to 4,864.60 as the earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies gathered pace.

The Nasdaq composite also climbed, up 0.4%. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%, a day after topping 38,000 for the first time.

Earnings season has kicked into gear, and more than 50 companies are scheduled to release results later this week, including Tesla and Intel.

Analysts have forecast companies in the S&P 500 will deliver weaker overall earnings per share than a year earlier, which would be the fourth such decline in the last five quarters, according to FactSet. But stocks have still rallied to records in anticipation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates several times this year.

Such cuts can boost prices for investments while relaxing the pressure on the economy and financial system.

Treasury yields have already eased considerably since the autumn on expectations for coming rate cuts, though critics warn traders may have gone overboard again in forecasting how many cuts will come and how soon the Fed will begin.

In other trading Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 48 cents to $74.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gave up 39 cents on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 38 cents to $79.93 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar slipped to 147.54 Japanese yen from 148.38 yen. The euro rose to $1.0901 from $1.0855.