Holiday decorations adorn the Grand Foyer of the White House for the 2023 theme “Magic, Wonder, and Joy,” Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden has chosen a White House holiday décor that she hopes will inspire guests to feel like kids again. “Magic, wonder and joy” is her theme. Guests will walk underneath the branches of a tree to enter. They will stroll along a hallway decorated with oversized holiday candy and other sweets. They will see Santa’s sleigh and reindeer suspended above the grand foyer. The first lady unveiled the décor on Monday. It also celebrates the 200th anniversary of the publication of the poem commonly known as ”’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” She plans Wednesday to unveil a holiday ice rink on the White House lawn.

East Palestine Train Derailment (Curtis Walsh)

Harrisburg, PA – More than nine months after the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine on February 3^rd, the Shapiro Administration is continuing to conduct precautionary tests of the soil and water in Beaver and Lawrence counties and ensure Pennsylvanians have the resources needed to recover and rebuild.

At Governor Shapiro’s direction, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Agriculture (PDA) continue to conduct environmental testing in Western Pennsylvania to ensure the health and safety of residents, with results posted publicly on DEP’s website. Pennsylvania agencies have not found any long-term contamination in Western PA related to the derailment in East Palestine.

Earlier this year, Governor Shapiro directed Norfolk Southern to distribute $1 million to communities in Western Pennsylvania to assist with community relief. The funding was a key part of the multi-million dollar commitment Governor Shapiro secured from Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw. Communities in Western Pennsylvania have put the funding to work, helping first responders, supporting the environment, and supporting local municipalities.

“Every step of the way, my Administration has made clear that we are focused on delivering the help our communities need, protecting the health and safety of Pennsylvanians, and holding Norfolk Southern accountable,” said Governor Josh Shapiro. “We organized independent water and soil sampling, and we put the results of that testing online so that our residents could see them for themselves; we delivered more than $1.4 million for first responders to ensure they could afford new equipment after their old equipment was contaminated from the derailment; and we ensured families were made whole for their losses, including Emily from Darlington, who was reimbursed for the eggs she couldn’t use or sell because of the derailment. My Administration will continue to work with our federal and local partners to support the people impacted by the derailment, and to hold Norfolk Southern accountable for any and all impacts on our Commonwealth.”

“In the time following the East Palestine train derailment, our state Departments of Agriculture and Environmental Protection have remained steadfast in monitoring soil, air, and water levels for contamination – thankfully we continue to see good results with no long-term contamination present from this tragedy,” said Sen. Elder Vogel. “The health and safety of residents in Beaver and Lawrence counties are a top priority as we continue to move forward and rebuild as a community.”

“I want to thank Governor Shapiro and his Administration for the response and support they offered, and continue to offer to the residents of Darlington Township and the surrounding region,” said Rep. Jim Marshall.

“The testing is necessary to continue the transparency that residents deserve,” said Rep. Robert Matzie. “The Shapiro Administration from day one included the legislative delegation, local and county officials of all decisions and requests and continued testing is no different and speaks to that commitment.”

Darlington Township has placed the $660,000 they received into a high yield savings account to support first responders and be prepared for any future emergencies.

Lawrence County sent $120,000 to Little Beaver Township and $115,000 to Enon Valley Borough. Lawrence County also directed $105,000 to the Lawrence County Conservation District, which will be used to fund a mini grant program. Eligible projects include clean water projects, healthy soil projects, and environmental education initiatives. The grant program applications close on December 1.

Norfolk Southern has also repaid Western PA fire departments and first responders an additional $400,000 since the Governor’s initial announcement in April, totaling over $1.4 million in reimbursements for equipment losses incurred as a result of the train derailment. Fire companies from Beaver, Lawrence, and Washington Counties responded to the derailment and the controlled vent and burn – and Governor Shapiro is working to ensure they receive any and all funding they need.

Governor Shapiro, along with local and federal partners, also secured an additional $544,700 reimbursement for Darlington Township from Norfolk Southern Corporation to repair East Palestine Road, which was damaged as a result of the derailment.

Governor Shapiro is making sure Pennsylvanians are not picking up the tab for Norfolk Southern’s derailment, which cost immense state and local resources. At Governor Shapiro’s request, Norfolk Southern will repay state agencies who responded to the derailment more than $1 million.

This funding will cover personnel costs for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), PA Department of Health (DOH) services including the Health Resource Center (HRC) which served hundreds of Western PA residents, and the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) work in Western PA, including independent testing and air monitoring.

The Shapiro Administration continues to conduct environmental testing in the area impacted by the train derailment to ensure the safety of the people, plants, and animals in the region. PDA sampled crops in Beaver and Washington Counties and found no contamination stemming from the train derailment. DEP is completing a third round of private well sampling within 2 miles of the derailment on the Pennsylvania side. DEP has also completed all of its soil sampling and surface water sampling. Pennsylvania agencies continue to see no contamination in Western PA related to the February train derailment in East Palestine.

Complete plant tissue test results appear along with final sample results from DEP’s soil and water testing on the interactive map launched in April on DEP’s website.

DOH is working with physicians and toxicology experts in Beaver and surrounding counties to convene a monthly online forum where health care providers discuss best practices to meet the complex social, emotional and physical health care needs of people with environmental health concerns primarily related to the train derailment.

DOH also continues to engage with federal partners and public health leaders —through a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) workshop — to ensure that the public health concerns of impacted residents are being heard and addressed.

Visit the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency’s (PEMA) dashboard for more information about resources available to Pennsylvania residents.

PITTSBURGH (November 28, 2023) – A multi-institution research team that included Pittsburgh-based Allegheny General Hospital (AGH), the academic flagship of Allegheny Health Network (AHN), has published a groundbreaking clinical study demonstrating that avoidance of aspirin in patients with left ventricular devices (LVADs) results in better health outcomes and fewer adverse cardiovascular events.

Heart failure specialists within the AHN Cardiovascular Institute enrolled more than 20 patients of 628 who participated in the international ARIES-HM3 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, which was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in November (doi:10.1001/jama.2023.23204).

Use of aspirin, in addition to warfarin (blood thinner) is considered the standard of care following LVAD implant procedures. However, many patients develop bleeding complications following surgery, requiring blood transfusions and hospitalizations.

The Abbott-sponsored study determined that LVAD patients who didn’t take aspirin daily following their heart pump implant experienced fewer bleeding complications and had fewer hospital visits, compared to patients who did follow a daily aspiring regimen.

Ventricular assist devices are mechanical implants that aid in cardiac circulation, supporting the function of a failing heart. It can be used as a temporary recovery aid, a long-term standalone therapy, or as a bridge therapy that supports heart-failure patients awaiting heart transplantation.

The implantation of the device is a significant procedure, typically requiring four to six hours of open-heart surgery. As with any significant surgery, LVAD implantation carries the risk of post-procedure adverse events.

The results of the trial have the potential to alter the standard course of treatment for patients living with heart pumps, according to Manreet Kanwar, MD, principal investigative lead of the trial at AGH and co-director of AHN’s heart failure division.

“The primary goal of the clinical trial was to understand if the exclusion of aspirin for heart failure patients with an LVAD would be safe, effective and even prove beneficial,” Dr. Kanwar said. “Our findings demonstrated that there was a notable decrease in adverse events including major, nonsurgical bleeding within the placebo group.”

As part of the clinical trial, 456 men and 133 women with a HM3 LVAD (heart pump) in advanced-stage heart failure were enrolled; half were placed on an aspirin regimen while the remaining patients received a placebo. All participants were also given warfarin, referred to as a vitamin K antagonist (VKA), throughout the study.

LVADs can enhance the quality and duration of life in advanced heart failure by taking over the work of the heart’s left ventricle. The heart’s left ventricle pumps blood full of oxygen out to all tissues of the body and is considered the “workhorse” of the heart. The LVAD device at the center of the study was the HeartMate 3 by Abbott Laboratories, which is currently the only commercially available LVAD device in the United States.

Nonsurgical bleeding events are a leading cause of death in LVAD patients. Aspirin as an antiplatelet agent is a mandated component of treatment along with vitamin K antagonists for LVADs, despite a lack of conclusive evidence of aspirin efficacy and safety under this scenario.

Trial researchers estimated that for every 100 patients implanted with LVAD, aspirin avoidance prevented 14.5 major bleeding events in the first year, resulting in a 47% decrease in days spent in the hospital and a 41% reduction in the cost of care for bleeding events. These findings suggest that avoidance of aspirin provides meaningful improvement in clinical outcomes in patients with advanced heart failure. Overall, there was a 6% improvement in cardiac event-free survival within the placebo group.

“On behalf of the entire Cardiovascular Institute at Allegheny Health Network, I would like to congratulate our VAD team for their tireless commitment to improving the health of our patients. This was the first medical therapy assessed in a LVAD randomized clinical trial, and we’re confident it will alter the practice of medication management for LVAD patients moving forward,” concluded Dr. Kanwar.

In October 2023, AHN Cardiovascular Institute at AGH also announced it was the first hospital in western Pennsylvania to participate in an international clinical trial for a new, first-of-its-kind heart failure treatment device, AccuCinch. The device aims to reduce the size of the heart’s left ventricle, improving the heart’s strength and blood-pumping function therefore mitigating heart failure symptoms.

TSA officers at Pittsburgh International Airport detected this firearm at the checkpoint on Nov. 25. (TSA photo)

PITTSBURGH – Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers at Pittsburgh International Airport prevented Gibsonia, Pa., man from carrying his loaded gun onto a flight on Saturday, Nov. 25. The .380 caliber handgun was loaded with seven bullets, including one in the chamber.

The good catch by TSA officers brings the total number of guns caught at the airport’s checkpoints to 40 so far this year, five more than the previous record of 35 firearms caught in 2019.

“There is no excuse for bringing a gun to the checkpoint,” said Karen Keys-Turner, TSA’s Federal Security Director for the airport. “Responsible gun owners do not bring their guns to a checkpoint. This was irresponsible on the part of this traveler during one of the busiest holiday travel periods of the year. Incidents such as this are dangerous, they disrupt our security screening operations and cause delays for other law-abiding travelers who just want to get on their flight to travel during the Thanksgiving holiday period. This man now faces a Federal civil penalty that could cost him thousands of dollars.”

The TSA officers at Pittsburgh “are good at their jobs and are very vigilant when it comes to helping ensure that no illegal or prohibited items are carried onto a flight,” Keys-Turner added.

Passengers are permitted to travel with firearms only in checked baggage if they are unloaded and packed in a hard-sided locked case. Then the locked case should be taken to the airline check-in counter to be declared. TSA has details on how to properly travel with a firearm posted on its website.

Bringing a gun to an airport checkpoint carries a federal civil penalty because TSA reserves the right to issue a civil penalty to travelers who have guns and gun parts with them at a checkpoint. Civil penalties for bringing a weapon into a checkpoint can reach up to $15,000, depending on the specific weapon and the circumstances. This applies to travelers with or without concealed gun carry permits because even though an individual may have a concealed carry permit, it does not allow for a firearm to be carried onto an airplane. This also applies to travelers who are enrolled in the TSA PreCheck® program, who will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges if they bring a gun to a checkpoint.

The complete list of civil penalties is posted online.

When a gun is detected in the checkpoint X-ray unit, the conveyor belt is stopped and the police are notified. Police remove the carry-on bag from the X-ray unit because TSA does not want its officers handling firearms. Police determine whether a traveler is arrested or issued a criminal citation. Meanwhile the remaining passengers in the checkpoint lane either wait for the issue to be resolved or they are shifted to another checkpoint lane, thus delaying dozens of passengers from getting to their gates.

FILE – Attendees visit the Meta booth at the Game Developers Conference 2023 in San Francisco on March 22, 2023. Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids and knew — but never disclosed — that it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only disabled a fraction of those accounts, according to a newly unsealed legal complaint described in reports from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A newly unsealed legal complaint claims Facebook parent Meta Platforms deliberately engineered its social platforms to hook kids. The complaint also alleges the company knew, but never disclosed, it had received millions of complaints about underage users on Instagram but only acted on a fraction of those accounts. The complaint has been described in Wall Street Journal and New York Times reports. The document, originally made public a month earlier in redacted form, was the opening salvo in a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of 33 states. Meta maintains the complaint misrepresents its work.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A new Pennsylvania law will require doctors to get a patient’s verbal and written consent before medical students can perform pelvic exams on someone who receives anesthesia. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the legislation into law last week, and a press conference commemorated it on Monday. The measure is part of a broader national effort to require informed consent for the examinations. At least 20 states have enacted similar measures. The Pennsylvania act will require health care providers to receive a patient’s verbal and written consent for a pelvic, rectal or prostate exam to be conducted under anesthesia. The law takes effect in January.

(Aliquippa, Pa) He said the authority reported that there has been no impact on water service in  Beaver County, referring to the threat that affected.  Independence and Potter Townships. He said attacks on our critical infrastructure are unacceptable.

Gas prices are five cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.623 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Beaver County is currently $3.73.

Immediately following the Thanksgiving holiday, the national average for a gallon of gas continues to fall. Since last week, pump prices have decreased five cents to $3.25.  Over the last two months, the national average has either fallen or remained flat with eleven states now having averages below $3 per gallon. Today’s national average is 26 cents less than a month ago and 30 cents less than a year ago.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by $1.56 to settle at $75.54. Oil prices fell due to the perceived easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East after the release of some hostages in Gaza. This comes ahead of Thursday’s OPEC+ meeting to decide on production cuts for 2024.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Staff. Published November 28, 2023 7:46 A.M.

(Ambridge, Pa) A Nuisance Bar compliance check at an Ambridge bar led to the discovery of drugs. State liquor control enforcement officers visited Game Time, located at 1101 Merchant Street, on Saturday, November 18.
During their inspection, in a portion of a licensed section of an office, officers found 60 grams of suspected cocaine and 22 undetermined black pills in a desk drawer.
The evidence was seized by State Police in Beaver. Ambridge Police also assisted in the investigation.