In New Castle, 42-year-old Brian Davis of Wampum is charged with theft of services after running up a large unpaid bill with Yellow Cab of Pittsburgh. Davis contacted Yellow Cab for transportation to various places throughout Lawrence County and into Ohio. Yellow Cab says the trip cost $2,200 and says Davis couldn’t pay the bill. Yellow Cab contacted state police who arrested Davis.

The administration at Penn State wants the insurance companies of a charity founded by then assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky to help pay out settlements to his sexual assault accusers. WJAC-TV in Johnstown reports the university made the filing last week in Centre County Orphan’s Court. In the filing, Penn State says the Second Mile charity was in a position to stop and prevent Sandusky from abusing children but failed.

In Allentown, court documents show the Pennsylvania state police have paid $195,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a New York man who spent 29 days in jail after troopers mistook homemade soap for cocaine. Alexander Bernstein’s attorney tells the Morning Call his client has also settled claims against the company that produced the allegedly faulty drug test that troopers used during a November 2013 traffic stop.

In politics, Donald Trump is insisting that he has yet to settle on a running mate. Trump said during an interview with the Fox news channel that he has not made a final, final choice. Trump cites three persons as potential vice presidential candidates–Indiana Governor Mike Pence, former House speaker Newt Gingrich,and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie . Trump cancelled Friday’s scheduled press conference to make a formal announcement because of the attack in France.

 

 

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board yesterday decided unanimously to adopt a recommendation by Cyrus Pitre, effectively ending the 12-year process to create Lawrence Downs, a proposed harness racing track and Casino in Mahoning Township. The application sent in by Endeka Entertainment was officially denied yesterday after it was acknowledged that NewCastle Funding, the firm responsible for the finances of Lawrence Downs, had not held up its promises and made false claims in its ability to fund the project. Endeka had filed a civil lawsuit against NewCastle Funding and its prinicpal, Kurt Wise of Racine, WI. Lawrence Downs would have been the state’s only 1-mile track for harness racing, with nearly 1500 slot machines for public consumption had it been approved.

The SEIU Union of Nurses at Heritage Valley Health System is planning a strike after the breakdown of negotiations with Heritage Valley. Beaver County Radio spoke to Union President Molly Romigh about the issue in an interview this morning. She spoke about why this strike is taking place.

She then mentioned the details of the strike being planned for next week.

So what do the nurses hope for in terms of the future? Romigh explains:

When asked if she thought the strike would be enough to reinstate negotiations, she had this to say:

And she pointed out that the community has indeed been supportive of the nurses:

The support has even extended to social media, where several profile pictures have been changed to support Heritage Valley Nurses.

Beaver County solicitor Andrea Cantelmi is expected to take a smaller raise for her position, which she has held since the firing of Bernard Rabik on February 19. Her new salary is expected to be $115,000 based on her recommendation to the Beaver County Salary Board, roughly a $16,000 decrease from Rabik’s past salary. However, it’s a $23,000 raise from Cantelmi’s salary as deputy officer in 2015, where she made $92,918.

Cantelmi also asked for the office of deputy solicitor, her past position, to be re-named as assistant solicitor. Cantelmi is expected to hire an official assistant later this summer. Danielle Champ, a Beaver native and Duquesne University student, will be an intern for Cantelmi until August 23.

An Ambridge woman was charged by borough police after her two dogs were involved in a third incident with the public. The Times reports that Jennifer Krummert, who pled guilty to reckless endangerment for a prior incident in May, is now awaiting a potential violation hearing after these newest charges. One of the two dogs has been euthanized and the other has been quarantined. The incident involved Ambridge resident Shannon Garvey, who was attacked in the shoulder area by one of the two dogs last Wednesday, according to police reports. Garvey claimed she wants to start a registry for unsafe dog owners, similar to how Megan’s Law does with registered sex offenders.

FirstEnergy has submitted paperwork to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in its hopes to gain full control of the 2nd Unit at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station. Two companpies, Ohio Edison and Toldeo Edison, hold a combined 40% of the 2nd Unit, with both leases set to expire in June 2017.  FirstEnergy hopes to have the plans for full control approved by next April. It is reported by NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan, that no potential ownership changes will change the day-to-day operations of the Beaver Valley Plant.