Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published December 28, 2023 7:42 A.M.
(New Brighton, Pa) A accident occured this morning at the Veterans Bridge along Route 65 in New Brighton. Two vehicles were seen with damage around 5:45am. Police responded to the scene. We do not have any additional details at this time.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
The latest report by AAA East Central shows that gas prices continue to trend downward during the end-of-the-year holiday stretch. This week’s $3.44 average is down from last week’s average of $3.46 by two cents, and down 27 cents from the average of $3.71 one year ago.
Beaver County remains above-average with their prices, clocking in with $3.50 per gallon of unleaded gas this week. Butler is at $3.44, while Pittsburgh stands at $3.47 per gallon this week.
Here’s the full list of average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$3.248 Altoona
$3.503 Beaver
$3.650 Bradford
$3.390 Brookville
$3.437 Butler
$3.416 Clarion
$3.349 DuBois
$3.338 Erie
$3.495 Greensburg
$3.458 Indiana
$3.448 Jeannette
$3.655 Kittanning
$3.465 Latrobe
$3.330 Meadville
$3.445 Mercer
$3.215 New Castle
$3.458 New Kensington
$3.404 Oil City
$3.478 Pittsburgh
$3.370 Sharon
$3.410 Uniontown
$3.597 Warren
$3.441 Washington
LAS VEGAS (AP) — For better or for worse, a wave of couples saying “I do” in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve could set a record for the city’s busiest wedding day ever.
That’s because 12/31/23 is known in the massive Las Vegas wedding industry as a “specialty date,” thanks to the repeating 1-2-3 1-2-3 pattern, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The icing on the cake? This specialty date falls on a holiday famous for blowout celebrations.
“It’s a double whammy,” said Melody Willis-Williams, president of Vegas Weddings, which operates multiple venues. “Anytime you get these specialty dates, they’re always hugely popular. But tie that in with New Year’s Eve and it’s a showstopper.”
The number to beat on New Year’s Eve is 4,492 — the single-day record for marriages in Las Vegas set on July 7, 2007. The second-most popular specialty wedding date on record with the county’s marriage bureau is Nov. 11, 2011, when 3,125 couples tied the knot.
Typically, New Year’s Eve has drawn somewhere between 450 to 550 couples to wed in Las Vegas since 2018, the Review-Journal reported.
But not this year for Vegas Weddings. The company is fully booked on midnight at its multiple venues, including its brown-brick chapel in downtown Las Vegas with a white steeple and red awning.
Willis-Williams said her company alone expects to wed more than 120 couples on New Year’s Eve. Five of those couples will tie the knot just as the clock is counting down to midnight.
Clark County Clerk Lynn Marie Goya said couples married on a specialty date in Las Vegas have described them as “magic dates” that are easy to remember.
“I think the celebration that has a group dynamic is really appealing,” Goya said. “When everyone is in line and they’re all getting married and excited about being in love, it just enhances their own experience.”
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
The heat wave experienced across Western Pennsylvania was a historic one.
According to a tweet posted by National Weather Service Pittsburgh late Monday night, the peak temperature of 60 degrees across the Pittsburgh area made it the 6th-highest Christmas temperature ever recorded dating back to 1871.
The highest Christmas day temperature ever recorded was back in 1895, when Pittsburgh had a reading of 67 degrees on December 25. The 66 degree holiday of 1982 was a close second.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
Late yesterday afternoon, Beaver Falls mayor Dr. Kenya Johns announced on her Facebook page that she will be running for Pennsylvania State Representative.
In her announcement, Johns stated that “this decision was not made lightly. It is important that in all that we do that we focus on what is best for the people and the community. I believe that I will represent our community proudly but I cannot and will not do this alone”.
Johns is running for State Representative following a two-year stint as mayor of Beaver Falls, becoming the first mayor of color and second female mayor of the city (after Faye Javens in 1962) following her election in 2021.
(File Photo)
Harrisburg, PA – In an ongoing effort to keep Pennsylvanians safe and informed, the Pennsylvania State Police released their annual Christmas holiday crash and enforcement report today, which included 198 arrests of people who drove under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Over the three-day period (Dec. 23-25), PSP investigated 404 crashes, where three individuals died, and 70 others were injured. Alcohol was a factor in 36 crashes.
Troopers also issued:
Table 1: Christmas Weekend Crash Data
| Year | Total Crashes | Fatal Crashes | People Killed | People Injured | Alcohol-Related Crashes | Alcohol-Related Fatal Crashes |
| 2023 (3 days) | 404 | 3 | 3 | 70 | 36 | 0 |
| 2022 (3 days) | 661 | 5 | 7 | 113 | 36 | 2 |
Table 2: Christmas Weekend Enforcement Data
| Year | DUI Arrests | Speeding Citations | Child Seat Citations | Seat Belt Citations | Other Citations |
| 2023 (3 days) | 198 | 1,036 | 22 | 123 | 2,853 |
| 2022 (3 days) | 116 | 451 | 11 | 110 | 2,248 |
More information on the 2023 Christmas holiday crash and enforcement report, broken down by troop, is available. These statistics cover only those incidents investigated by the state police and do not include incidents to which other law enforcement agencies responded.
With New Year’s Eve celebrations coming up, state police will once again be on the lookout for impaired, aggressive, and distracted drivers. PSP reminds people to plan ahead for a safe ride home, especially if your holiday plans involve alcohol.
For more information on the Pennsylvania State Police, visit psp.pa.gov.
(AP) Conditions were mostly nice this year for travelers flying ahead of and on Christmas, but some naughty disruptions again plagued those flying with Southwest Airlines.
For millions of people traveling over the holiday, this year was much better than last. Christmas morning put a bow on a relatively smooth weekend.
Only 157 flights within, into or out of the U.S. had been canceled and 2,111 were delayed as of late afternoon on Monday, according to the tracking website FlightAware.
For this holiday season, U.S. airlines prepared for massive waves of travelers by hiring thousands of pilots, flight attendants and other workers — in an effort to avoid the delays and cancellations that marred travel in 2022, culminating with the Southwest Airlines debacle that stranded more than 2 million people.
Still, Southwest experienced hiccups again over the weekend that the airline was looking to clear by Monday. Just 2% of the airline’s flights were canceled Monday, though 16% were delayed, which is 693 flights total, according to FlightAware.
On Saturday and Sunday, Southwest canceled 426 flights and delayed 2,689 flights, FlightAware data showed.
A Southwest spokesperson blamed the issues on dense fog in Chicago on Saturday and Sunday that prevented planes from landing and said some additional cancellations may be necessary Monday ahead of what was expected to be a full recovery on Tuesday.
Auto club AAA predicted that between Saturday and New Year’s Day, 115 million people in the U.S. would travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home by air or car. That’s up 2% from last year.
More than 2.6 million people were screened by the Transportation Security Administration on Thursday, according to TSA records. Data from the weekend is yet to be released.
Over Thanksgiving, a record number of people traveled through U.S. airports, topping pre-COVID numbers in 2019 with a single-day record of 2.9 million people screened by TSA on Sunday, Nov. 26.
Compared with the holiday season last year, more mild weather has helped keep air travel schedules on time.
But on the ground, road conditions were dangerous in parts of the country on Christmas Day, thanks to accumulating snow and ice in the Midwest and Great Plains. Most of Nebraska and South Dakota were facing blizzard conditions, and parts of eastern North and South Dakota were facing ice storms, according to the National Weather Service.
The busiest days on the road were predicted to be Saturday, Dec. 23, and next Thursday, Dec. 28, according to transportation data provider INRIX.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mason Rudolph’s dynamic play against Cincinnati helped keep the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season alive. The longtime backup quarterback could get a chance to do it again when the Steelers visit Seattle on New Year’s Eve.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Rudolph will “have the ball” to begin the week and will get the nod against the Seahawks if starter Kenny Pickett’s surgically repaired right ankle is not ready in time.
Rudolph threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-11 blowout win over Cincinnati, Pittsburgh’s biggest offensive outburst in a win in more than three years as the Steelers (8-7) snapped a three-game losing streak. Rudolph looked comfortable while throwing the ball deep to George Pickens, who had 195 yards receiving and two scores.
“I thought he did a really good job of being comfortable being himself, communicating with people regardless of the moments,” Tomlin said. “I thought that showed the confidence that he has in himself and I also thought that he remained aggressive throughout.”
Pickett hasn’t played since injuring his right ankle against Arizona on Dec. 3. He underwent “tightrope” surgery a couple of days later and returned to practice in a limited capacity last week. Tomlin declined to get into hypotheticals in terms of what boxes Pickett would have to check to get back on the field and is taking an approach similar to last week, meaning Rudolph will practice with the starters while Pickett works through his rehab.
“We’ll see what (Pickett’s) performance looks like (Wednesday),” Tomlin said. “Mason Rudolph has the ball as we stand here today.”
The Steelers have a narrow path to the playoffs that starts with wins on the road against Seattle (8-7) and Baltimore (12-3) along with a little help elsewhere. A loss to the Bengals would have all but eliminated them. Instead, Rudolph gave one of the NFL’s worst offenses a needed jolt by hitting Pickens for an 86-yard catch-and-run touchdown on Pittsburgh’s second snap and the Steelers cruised from there.
While Tomlin stressed he was confident Rudolph — one of the longest-tenured players on the team who has been third on the depth chart the past two seasons — could shake off rust quickly, “we feel better having tangible evidence of performance this week.”
Pittsburgh’s 34 points were its most in a victory since putting up 36 against Cincinnati in 2020. The 23-point margin of victory was also the largest since the Steelers beat Jacksonville by 24 that same season. Cincinnati’s lone sack was the only reason Pittsburgh finished with 397 yards instead of topping 400 for just the second time since 2020.
Rudolph said after his first win as a starter since 2019 that he hoped he’d get another shot but that it wasn’t his call. Maybe, but Tomlin’s more muted approach to Pickett’s availability compared to even a week ago offered a strong hint that barring Pickett making a massive leap over the next few days, Rudolph be on the field as Pittsburgh tries to win in Seattle for just the second time in franchise history.
The Steelers will be without inside linebacker Elandon Roberts, who sustained a pectoral muscle against Cincinnati. Tomlin is more optimistic about safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who could practice this week after injuring his knee in a loss to Indianapolis on Dec. 16.
(Dee-Ann Durbin/Associated Press)
Gift cards make great stocking stuffers — just as long as you don’t stuff them in a drawer and forget about them after the holidays.
Americans are expected to spend nearly $30 billion on gift cards this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. Restaurant gift cards are the most popular, making up one-third of those sales.
Most of those gift cards will be redeemed. Paytronix, which tracks restaurant gift card sales, says around 70% of gift cards are used within six months.
But many cards — tens of billions of dollars’ worth — wind up forgotten or otherwise unused. That’s when the life of a gift card gets more complicated, with expiration dates or inactivity fees that can vary by state.
Here’s what to know about the gift cards you’re giving — or getting:
LOVED, BUT LOST
After clothing, gift cards will be the most popular present this holiday season. Nearly half of Americans plan to give them, according to the National Retail Federation.
But many will remain unspent.
Gift cards get lost or forgotten, or recipients hang on to them for a special occasion. In a July survey, the consumer finance company Bankrate found that 47% of U.S. adults had at least one unspent gift card or voucher. The average value of unused gift cards is $187 per person, a total of $23 billion.
THE GIFT OF TIME
Under a federal law that went into effect in 2010, a gift card can’t expire for five years from the time it was purchased or from the last time someone added money to it. Some state laws require an even longer period. In New York, for instance, any gift card purchased after Dec. 10, 2022, can’t expire for nine years.
Differing state laws are one reason many stores have stopped using expiration dates altogether, says Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst at Bankrate.
USE IT OR LOSE IT
While it may take gift cards years to expire, experts say it’s still wise to spend them quickly. Some cards — especially generic cash cards from Visa or MasterCard — will start accruing inactivity fees if they’re not used for a year, which eats away at their value. Inflation also makes cards less valuable over time. And if a retail store closes or goes bankrupt, a gift card could be worthless.
Perhaps consider clearing out your stash on National Use Your Gift Card Day, a five-year-old holiday created by a public relations executive and now backed by multiple retailers. The next one is Jan. 20, 2024.
OR SELL IT
If you have a gift card you don’t want, one option is to sell it on a site like CardCash or Raise. Rossman says resale sites won’t give you face value for your cards, but they will typically give 70 to 80 cents per dollar.
THE MONEY TRAIL
What happens to the money when a gift card goes unused? It depends on the state where the retailer is incorporated.
When you buy a gift card, a retailer can use that money right away. But it also becomes a liability; the retailer has to plan for the possibility that the gift card will be redeemed.
Every year, big companies calculate “breakage,” which is the amount of gift card liability they believe won’t be redeemed based on historical averages. For some companies, like Seattle-based Starbucks, breakage is a huge profit-driver. Starbucks reported $212 million in revenue from breakage in 2022.
But in at least 19 states — including Delaware, where many big companies are incorporated — retailers must work with state unclaimed property programs to return money from unspent gift cards to consumers. Money that isn’t recovered by individual consumers is spent on public service initiatives; in the states’ view, it shouldn’t go to companies because they haven’t provided a service to earn it.
CLAIM IT
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have unclaimed property programs. Combined, they return around $3 billion to consumers annually, says Misha Werschkul, the executive director of the Washington State Budget and Policy Center.
Werschkul says it can be tricky to find the holders of unspent gift cards, but the growing number of digital cards that name the recipient helps. State unclaimed property offices jointly run the website MissingMoney.com, where consumers can search by name for any unclaimed property they’re owed, including cash from gift cards.
(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)
(Photo Curtis Walsh/BCR Archives)
Wastewater management operations at the site of the Norfolk Southern train derailment back in February are being reduced this week due to the Christmas holiday.
In a press release, the EPA states that limited on-site staff will be working along Taggart Road in East Palestine this week, and that the Norfolk Southern Family Assistance Center will be closed through New Year’s Day. The facility will reopen on January 2nd.
As of last Thursday, the EPA has tallied nearly 41 million gallons of wastewater and over 175,000 tons of solid waste shipped out of the derailment site.