(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) released traffic enforcement and crash statistics for the New Year’s holiday today as part of the Shapiro Administration’s ongoing effort to protect travelers and keep Pennsylvania roadways safe. The PSP investigated 1,098 vehicle crashes from December 31st, 2025 to January 4th, 2026, and three of them resulted in fatalities. Impaired driving was identified as a factor in 69 of those crashes. Troopers arrested 378 individuals during that five-day holiday period for driving under the influence and issued the following 4,377 citations for speeding, 508 citations for not wearing a seat belt and 60 citations for not securing children in safety seats. According to a release in Harrisburg today from the PSP, here are the statistics from their recent enforcement:

Table 1: New Year’s Weekend Crash Data

Year	Total Crashes	Fatal Crashes	People Killed	Injury-Related Crashes	DUI-Related Crashes	DUI-Related Fatal Crashes
2026 (5 days)	1,098	3	3	158	69	1
2025 (3 days)	511	1	1	81	39	0

 

Table 2: New Year’s Weekend Enforcement Data

Year	DUI Arrests	Speeding Citations	Child Seat Citations	Seat Belt Citations	Other Citations
2026 (5 days)	378	4,377	60	508	12,384
2025 (3 days)	241	2,844	45	383	9,155

 

These statistics cover only those incidents that were investigated by the PSP and they do not include incidents to which other law enforcement agencies responded.

(File Photo of the Ellwood City School Board Building)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ellwood City, PA) The Ellwood City Council voted on Monday night 4-3 to not renew the contract of Ellwood City Borough Manager Kevin Swogger. The contract of Swogger ran out on December 31st, 2025.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) First Assistant United States Attorney Troy Revetti announced today that sixty-year-old Edward Dietrich of New Castle, has been sentenced in federal court on his conviction of violating federal narcotics laws. Dietrich was sentenced to six days in jail, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiring to distribute cocaine, fentanyl and heroin. Dietrich, who suffers from multiple serious physical and medical conditions, participated in a conspiracy that wanted to distribute large quantities of controlled substances in New Castle as well as in Detroit, Michigan. According to information presented to the Court, Dietrich primarily participated in the conspiracy by allowing fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine to be stored inside and distributed from his New Castle residence for months between August of 2023 and August of 2024, with him having received controlled substances as compensation for the use of his residence for that purpose.

(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Moon Township, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported via release today that thirty-eight-year-old Stephen Flambard of Tidioute, Pennsylvania was not charged after causing a single-vehicle crash in Moon Township on the early morning of December 2nd, 2025. At 1:56 a.m., Flambard was driving on I-376 West and hit a guide rail after driving from the lane of travel. Flambard was not injured as a result of this crash. The vehicle of Flambard also sustained damage that was disabling to its front end. 

(File Photo of Police Siren Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in Pittsburgh reported via release yesterday that charges were withdrawn from sixty-two-year-old Ernest Nero of Hookstown after he caused a single-vehicle crash in Pittsburgh yesterday evening. At 6:09 p.m., Nero was traveling on I-376 East onto exit ramp 72A and he veered off of the left side of the ramp, hitting his head on an impact attenuator. Nero was on route to the VA before he sustained blood loss, which caused him to black out, and he was evaluated by EMS before being transported to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital for further evaluation. The vehicle of Nero was also damaged.

(File Photo of the Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Badge)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Troop B of the Pennsylvania State Police is committed to collaborating with all of their
partners to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for the 2026 NFL Draft. Just before 9 A.M. yesterday, a State Police helicopter landed at Point State Park for
approximately eight minutes. This pre-draft exercise was a step that was crucial for public safety
planning, location layout familiarization, and communications testing.
Pennsylvania State Police plans to work with the City of Pittsburgh, and their local partners to continue additional
exercises and training in the Pittsburgh area leading up to the NFL Draft.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Joseph McGettigan III, Pennsylvania senior deputy attorney general arrives at the Centre County Courthouse for the second day of the testimony in the trial of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, Tuesday, June, 12, 2012 in Bellefonte, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Joseph E. McGettigan III, a Pennsylvania prosecutor who obtained criminal convictions against Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky and chemical heir John du Pont, has died at age 76.

McGettigan, who lived in the Philadelphia suburb of Media, died on Dec. 31, according to the funeral home Boyd Horrox Givnish Life Celebration Home of East Norriton.

He was a senior deputy attorney general when he served as a lead prosecutor in the trial of Sandusky on child molestation charges in 2012. During the closing argument, McGettigan showed jurors photos of eight of Sandusky’s victims as children, all of whom had taken the stand.

“He molested and abused and hurt these children horribly,” McGettigan said. “He knows he did it, and you know he did it. Find him guilty of everything.” Sandusky was convicted of 45 of 48 counts.

McGettigan was an assistant district attorney in Delaware County when he prosecuted du Pont, who was found guilty of third-degree murder but mentally ill in the death of Olympic gold medal-winning freestyle wrestler David Schultz at du Pont’s palatial estate outside Philadelphia in 1996. Schultz come to live and train at a state-of-the-art training center that du Pont had built on his property.

Du Pont died in a Pennsylvania prison in 2010 at the age of 72. Sandusky, 81, is currently serving a 30- to 60-year sentence in state prison.

McGettigan’s work as prosecutor, which also included a stint in Philadelphia, often involved murder and child molestation cases. More recently he had been a lawyer in private practice, including work on behalf of crime victims.

Survivors include his wife, Gay Warren; his mother, Ruth L. McGettigan; and six siblings.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) The office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday issued a warrant on Monday for the arrest of a husband and wife who were reportedly stealing from the federal government. Munir Chaudhri and Rachna Anwar are accused of coming to Sam’s Club on Mount Nebo Road to use stolen EBT card funds to buy goods for their businesses on the North Side of Pittsburgh. According to Sunday, the couple used the fraudulent cards 834 times at Sam’s Club, Giant Eagle and Tom Friday’s Market across four years, starting in 2021. Investigators state that the couple used 453 different EBT cards with a total theft of over $178,000.

(File Photo of the Highmark Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Highmark Inc. announced today that a significant enhancement to its health plans, effective January 1st, 2026, ensuring all diagnostic breast studies and breast MRIs will be covered at 100%, without any copay or deductible. This new policy applies to all health plans from Highmark across Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and Delaware, removing financial barriers for breast cancer diagnostics that are essential.