Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing waterline installation work on Beaver Grade Road (Route 3077) in Moon Township, Allegheny County will continue, Monday night, April 22 weather permitting.
Single-lane restrictions will occur on Beaver Grade Road at the intersection with Ewing Road weeknights from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. through early May. Crews from the Moon Township Municipal Authority will conduct waterline installation work.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A resident of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in federal court today for conspiring to commit and carrying out hate crimes against numerous severely disabled victims, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced today.
United States District Judge J. Nicholas Ranjan sentenced Tyler Smith, 34, of New Brighton, Pennsylvania, to 120 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Smith previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
“Today’s sentencing holds Tyler Smith accountable for the abhorrent and degrading assaults he and Zachary Dinell carried out against more than a dozen victims—simply because they were disabled,” U.S. Attorney Olshan said. “Hate crimes target and terrorize not just individuals but whole communities. Our hope is that today’s result brings some measure of closure to the victims’ families who have shouldered the crushing burden of Smith’s and Dinell’s conduct for so many years. This office and our partners at the FBI will continue to work every day to give voice to the voiceless and protect the most vulnerable members of our communities.”
“I hope today’s decision brings some comfort to the families impacted by this egregious crime,” said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek. “Today’s sentencing shows there is no room for hatred, and crimes against our most vulnerable citizens will be met with the force of justice. The FBI and our partners stand committed to safeguarding the rights and dignity of every individual.”
According to admissions made during Smith’s plea hearing, he and co-defendant Zachary Dinell were employees of an in-patient health care facility located in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. Residents of the facility suffered from a range of severe physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities, and required assistance with all activities of daily life, including bathing, using the bathroom, oral hygiene, feeding, and dressing. As members of the facility’s Direct Care Staff, Smith
admitted that he and Dinell were responsible for providing this daily assistance to residents. -more-
From approximately June 2016 to September 2017, Smith admitted that he and Dinell engaged in a conspiracy to commit hate crimes against a total of 13 residents of the facility because of the residents’ actual or perceived disabilities. Many of the victims required the use of a wheelchair. Smith and Dinell carried out assaults in a variety of ways, including by punching and kicking residents, rubbing Purell hand sanitizer in their eyes, spraying mouthwash in their eyes and mouths, and, in one instance, removing a resident’s compression stocking in a manner intended to inflict pain. Several of these assaults were recorded on Dinell’s cell phone. In one instance, Smith admitted jumping on top of a 13-year-old minor while the child was lying prone on his bed with the lights off, and while Dinell filmed the incident on his cellular phone. Smith further acknowledged that immediately after recording the video, Dinell texted the video to him.
As part of the conspiracy, Smith also admitted that he and Dinell exchanged graphic text messages in which they expressed their animus toward the disabled residents, shared photographs and videos of residents, described their assaults, and encouraged each other’s continued abuse of residents.
Smith further admitted that he and Dinell were able to avoid detection by, among other things, exploiting their one-on-one access to residents of the facility and the fact that the victims were non verbal and could not report the defendant’s alleged abuse. Due to their physical disabilities, the residents also were not able to defend themselves against the assaults.
Zachary Dinell previously pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment, followed by three years’ supervised release.
United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan and Assistant United States Attorneys Carolyn J. Bloch and Brendan J. McKenna prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation leading to the charges against Smith and Dinell.
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 22, 2024 9:38 A.M.
(Aliquippa, Pa) Aliquippa Police responded to a report of an unresponsive infant over the weekend. The call came in at 1:39 pm Saturday for police and paramedics to go to 235 Beaver Avenue in West Aliquippa. A 3 month old male was found unresponsive. The child was transported to Heritage Valley Beaver where he was later pronounced dead. Aliquippa Police turned over the investigation to state police, and the investigation is ongoing.
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Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published April 20, 2024.
(Beaver Falls,Pa) The 44th Annual Maple Syrup & Music Festival kicked off Saturday at Brady’s Run Park. The 2024 event features live music, a petting zoo, tons of vendors and of course, maple syrup. Festival goers waited in line for their serving of pancakes and sausage at the park lodge while canon blasts echoed from the war reenactors, popular tradition at the festival. Beaver County Radio’s Mike Romigh and Curtis Walsh broadcast live from the event as attendees won prizes from the Beaver County Radio prize wheel. The two day event continues Sunday at 8am.
Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing lane restrictions on I-376 (Beaver Valley Expressway) in Center Township, Beaver County, will occur Monday through Thursday, April 22-25 weather permitting.
Inspection activities on the bridge that carries I-376 over Raccoon Creek between the Center Township (Exit 42) and Aliquippa (Exit 45) interchanges will require single-lane restrictions daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, according to the following schedule:
Please use caution in the area.
Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is reminding motorists the closure of the Sewickley Bridge (Route 4025) in Moon Township and Sewickley Borough, Allegheny County will occur Friday, April 19 through April 29 weather permitting.
The Sewickley Bridge will close to traffic in both directions around-the-clock from 7 p.m. Friday, April 19 through 6 a.m. Monday, April 29 for expansion dam repair work. The bridge will reopen to traffic once the repair has been completed.
All bridge traffic will be detoured.
Detours
From Sewickley
From Moon Township
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published April 19, 2024 8:49 A.M.
(Aliquippa, Pa) Human remains were found in abandoned Aliquippa building Thursday. Aliquippa Police received a call at 11:49 a.m. Thursday, concerning the location of human remains at 100 Fifth Avenue. Once on scene, Aliquippa Police contacted state police who took over the investigation. DA Nate Bible said the remains were unrecognizable.
The coroner’s office is set to examine the remains Friday morning to try and determine the victim’s identity. A missing woman that left Towne Towers 2 years ago was brought up as the possible victim, although nothing will be confirmed until the autopsy is complete.
Beaver County Radio will provide more details when they are available.
Story by Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published April 19, 2024 8:40 A.M.
(Brighton Township, Pa) A box truck caught on fire on I-376 Thursday afternoon. Witness video shows a fully engulfed Rent a Center box truck on the shoulder of the road. The incident took place between the Beaver and Brighton Township exits. Beaver County Radio made calls to the State Police and Beaver Police and both responded that they had no information. We do not have any further details at this time.
Nick Schiralli, Denver Broncos assistant director of college scouting, left, talks with Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin as former Alabama players work at Alabama’s NFL football pro day, Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
PITTSBURGH (AP) — There used to be a time — say the vast majority of the franchise’s first 92 seasons — when the Pittsburgh Steelers would rely almost exclusively on the NFL draft to address whatever holes they might have on the roster.
Those days appear to be over.
The Steelers went through a very unSteeler-like March in which they signed Russell Wilson, traded for Justin Fields and gave inside linebacker Patrick Queen the biggest free-agent contract in team history.
It shortened Pittsburgh’s shopping list when the draft begins April 25. It did not eliminate the list entirely.
“Obviously, the more that you’re able to address in free agency it lessens narrow mindedness in draft prep,” longtime head coach Mike Tomlin said.
The “Tomlin-ism” translation: the Steelers could go several different ways with the 20th overall pick in the first round.
The offensive line could use an upgrade and the wide receiver group needs another big-time threat to line up opposite George Pickens. Queen’s arrival gives the Steelers at least one fixture at inside linebacker for the next three seasons, but after a trying season in which the position was essentially a rotating door because of injuries, finding another young player wouldn’t hurt.
And who knows, considering what Pittsburgh did during that dizzying stretch in which it signed Wilson to a team-friendly one-year deal, made the low-stakes acquisition of Fields and traded away Kenny Pickett less than two years after taking him in the first round, maybe the Steelers take another big swing at the most important position in the sport.
OK, so maybe that last one is probably a non-starter. Probably.
If the past few months have proved one thing, it’s that anything is on the table for a franchise trying to do things differently as it tries to end its longest playoff-victory drought since Franco Harris pulled in “The Immaculate Reception” 52 years ago.
NEEDS
The Steelers added depth along the defensive line by re-signing Montravius Adams and bringing in veteran Dean Lowry. Still, some fresh legs would help.
Cam Heyward is nearing the tail end of a brilliant career and turns 35 in May. Larry Ogunjobi will be 30 in June and has played more than 5,000 snaps. Keeanu Benton looked promising at times as a rookie, but Demarvin Leal could be trending toward “bust” territory after being a healthy scratch at times.
Broderick Jones shows all the signs of being the cornerstone offensive tackle the Steelers envisioned when they took him in the first round a year ago. Still, he’s going to need some help. Pittsburgh cut center Mason Cole and while Nate Herbig or James Daniels could be short-term options, the Steelers could use someone they can plug in and stop worrying about the position for a decade, something they haven’t had since Maurkice Pouncey retired following the 2020 season.
DON’T NEED
Pittsburgh has one of the best running back tandems in the NFL in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, both of whom topped 1,000 all-purpose yards last season.
The biggest question at the position as the draft approaches is whether the Steelers will pick up Harris’ fifth-year option. Tomlin has done nothing but praise Harris at every turn during his three seasons in the league, though Tomlin also did the same for Pickett before making a series of moves that all but guaranteed Pickett would want to go elsewhere.
Outside linebacker is also in relatively good shape. T.J. Watt is in the prime of a career that is tracking toward the Hall of Fame. Alex Highsmith looked every bit worth the hefty investment the team made him last summer and Herbig showed flashes during a promising rookie season.
PICK’EM
Given the number of quality wide receivers in the top end of the draft, it will be very tempting for general manager Omar Khan to make a splash at a position of need.
Yet given how well selecting Jones a year ago seems to be panning out, it’s far more likely they grab a bookend and select Jones’ former Georgia teammate Amarius Mims with their first-round pick. If West Virginia center Zach Frazier is there in round two, it might be difficult for the Steelers to resist someone who played just an hour down the road in Morgantown.
