(File Photo)

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representatives Chris Deluzio (D-PA-17) and Summer Lee (D-PA-12) announced that Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) is receiving $5,300,000 in new infrastructure funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airport Terminal Program, created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“As Pittsburgh International Airport continues to grow, improving the passenger experience is critical,” said Senator Casey. “This funding not only gets passengers where they’re going faster but helps secure PIT’s role as a gateway to Southwestern Pennsylvania’s future economic success.”  

“I am proud to join with Senator Casey and my colleagues to announce this multimillion-dollar grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Pittsburgh International Airport,” said Senator Fetterman. “This funding is another great example of how the Biden administration is delivering wins for Pennsylvania infrastructure and the economy of our Commonwealth.”

 “Thrilled that the Infrastructure Law is delivering even more for folks in Western Pennsylvania,” said Rep. Deluzio. “This $5.3 million investment from the Airport Terminal Program will help make the new landside terminal building at Pittsburgh International Airport a reality—improving customer service and boosting our local economy.”

 “Two weeks ago, when Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg came to Pittsburgh to talk about the investment we brought home to fix the I-376 Eastern Parkway, we made our case for additional funding for Pittsburgh’s airport modernization,” said Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12). “I am glad that, just two weeks later, we were able to secure $5 million to build improvements to our airport. This funding will not just create more good union jobs, but will lead to a more connected, thriving region.”

The funding for Pittsburgh International Airport will be used to fund a component of the construction of a new 700,000 square foot landside terminal which will improve passenger experience by reducing the proximity between ticketing, security, and gates by half a mile and improve Pittsburgh International Airport’s ability to secure additional flights, including nonstop.

(File Photo)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News

(Ambridge, Pa.) Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano is reporting that the Ambridge Borough Council has approved Bronder Technical Services, inc. to perform the Merchant Street streetscape project in the borough that will begin at 8th Street and end at 12th St. Cost of the bid is $3,785, 168.94.

In other business Park benches and picnic tables for Henning Park will be purchased from Barco Products , Six picnic tables and 6 park benches  will cost $8,000.00 plus shipping.

A keycode agreement with the Beaver County Humane Society was also approved to allow access 24 hours a day as needed by the police department.

Council’s work session is Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 6:30 p.m.

FILE – In this Feb. 24, 2019, file photo, containers of Roundup are displayed on a store shelf in San Francisco. The Bayer Corporation has spent more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits that claim the popular weed killer Roundup causes cancer. But a single verdict in Philadelphia this year has topped $2 billion and thousands of cases are still to come. Bayer calls the recent verdict “excessive” and insists Roundup is safe. However, it has reformulated the consumer version to remove a pesticide called glyphosate. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When a Philadelphia jury awarded $2.25 billion in damages this year in a case that linked Roundup to a cable technician’s blood cancer, the verdict became the largest yet in the long-running litigation over the popular Monsanto weed killer.
Corporate parent Bayer had set aside more than $10 billion in 2020 to settle about 125,000 cases, many consolidated in California. And it won a string of nine individual lawsuits that started going to trial in 2021. But the tide changed last year when juries began handing down nine- and 10-figure awards to plaintiffs who had developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“They try to show that non-Hodgkin lymphoma is just something that happens randomly,” said lawyer Tom Kline, who represented the Philadelphia plaintiff with co-counsel Jason Itkin. “(But) the arc of the scientific literature has turned against Monsanto in the past seven years.”
Thousands of cases remain, including one under way in Delaware over a South Carolina groundskeeper’s cancer death. Bayer insists the weed killer is safe, but has reformulated the version sold to consumers to remove the pesticide known as glyphosate.
“Bayer will continue to try cases based on the overwhelming weight of science and the assessments of leading health and scientific regulators worldwide, including E.P.A., that support the safety and non-carcinogenicity of Roundup,” the Berlin-based company said in a statement, referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Kline argued that Bayer ignored known health risks from glyphosate to keep Roundup on the market, failing to even warn consumers to wear gloves and protective clothing when they used it. He and Itkin obtained a $175 million verdict in another Roundup case in Philadelphia last fall.
Their latest client, John McKivison, told jurors in January that he used the product for 20 years — at a former warehouse job, on a deer food patch he tended at his home near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and at the church and Little League where he volunteered. He said he mixed the concentrated version of Roundup into a spray bottle, which sometimes led to spills that soaked his skin.
McKivison’s cancer is in remission but he said he fears a relapse and at 49 spends his days “worrying, wondering and waiting.”
The jury awarded him $250 million in actual damages, then penciled in an additional “2 billion dollars” for punitive damages, the verdict slip shows. The jury foreman, a college librarian, declined to comment while other Roundup cases are still playing out.
Bayer, in a 174-page post-trial motion filed this month, called the jury award “excessive” and the ground rules in Philadelphia courts unfair. The company, for instance, said there was no evidence McKivison had suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in actual losses.
And the company continues to challenge the central claim that glyphosate causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma, pointing to studies that say it occurs at the same rate in Roundup users as the general population.
The Roundup lawsuits took off after a branch of the World Health Organization raised concerns about glyphosate in 2015, calling it “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
The EPA meanwhile says it does not pose an “unreasonable risk.” A U.S. appeals court in California has ordered the agency to review that 2020 finding, while Bayer hopes to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court that the EPA’s stamp of approval should invalidate the state court claims.
Bayer meanwhile hopes to reduce the McKivison award, noting that judges have slashed three other large verdicts. A $2 billion verdict awarded to a California couple who both got cancer was reduced to about $87 million. A $289 million verdict in the first Roundup trial was cut to $78 million and then about $20 million.
Bayer, in the post-trial motion, said the McKivison judge allowed “improper and abusive cross-examinations” and let their opponents make “the gruesome and false statement that the plaintiff is under a ‘death sentence.'”
Large jury awards in Philadelphia are nothing new and the city has the dubious distinction of often topping a list of ” judicial hellholes ” by the ATR Foundation, a tort reform group.
However, Kline said the city jury pool is changing along with its demographics as more young professionals settle there. He said half of the 12 jurors had attended college and a few, including the foreman, had graduate degrees. Ten of them had to agree Roundup was more likely than not a cause of McKivison’s cancer to find Bayer liable.
“We’re confident that the verdict is sound,” Kline said.
Bayer bought St. Louis-based Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, only to see its share price tumble in the years since.

(File photo)

(Brighton Twp.) Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will be a guest on ‘Live Mic” with Mike Romigh at 8:40 AM Thursday, February 15, 2024. Governor Shapiro will be discussing the budget, East Palestine, Marijuanna laws, raising the minimum wage, erasing medical debt, and whatever else comes up.

The interview will be on 99.3 FM, 1230 WBVP, and streaming online via our apps and website.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

A plan to renovate the Beaver County Airport Terminal in Chippewa is nearing approval, with the main roadblock being the final contractual numbers and obligations.

Solicitor Garen Fedeles stated at the Commissioners’ work session on Wednesday that the County is expected to pay $1.4 million into this project in conjunction with the Beaver County Airport Authority and the Community College of Beaver County. According to Commissioner Jack Manning, this is a project that the parties involved have been working on “for some time now.”

Commissioner Chairman Dan Camp explained that the County’s financial contribution will come from the general fund, with the other parties making up the difference. Camp stated that the Airport Authority “has no new source of revenue”, and that one of the only ways that they could generate more revenue is to create landing fees for the airport, which he feels would be an unnecessary “hindrance” to the students.

Camp also mentioned that the $1.4 million given to the project will be added to the yearly subsidy towards CCBC.

It was also announced at the work session that the list of letters to be sent out to municipalities who haven’t spent their ARPA money will be finalized soon, and that the Beaver County Snow Shovel Riding Championship that was scheduled for this weekend has been canceled.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published February 13, 2024 11:05 P.M.

(Beaver Falls, Pa) The Beaver Falls City Council met Tuesday evening for their first meeting of the month. Council approved the hiring of Police Officer Daniel Frederick. Frederick previously served with the Darlington Township Police Department. Officers James Brown III and Sierra Higby resigned.

A new firefighter, Nathan Abbott, was hired. He previously served with the Aliquippa Fire Department.

Rodney Austin was reappointed to the Beaver Falls Municipal Authority while Mike Brown was appointed to the Beaver Falls Recreation Board. A letter of retirement was accepted from Susan Yonlisky from her position with the city.

Council also approved for City Manager Mick Jones to apply for a CDBG grant for 2024.
The Council will meet next on February 27th.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sales slipped during the fourth quarter for Kraft Heinz as some customers, pinched by a bout of inflation, traded down to cheaper brands or did not buy as much.

A number of food makers, citing inflation, have raised product prices and that has helped preserve profits. But that can come at a cost to sales as some customers look for bargains elsewhere.

At Kraft Heinz, prices increased 3.7% and volumes slid 4.4%.

Last week PepsiCo, which makes snacks and drinks, experienced a similar trade-off after multiple price hikes and it posted a rare decline in revenue.

The Kraft Heinz Company on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $757 million, or 61 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for restructuring costs and non-recurring costs, came to 78 cents per share, edging past the 77 cents Wall Street was projecting, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

The processed food company with dual headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago posted revenue of $6.86 billion, which fell shy of the $6.97 billion that industry analysts were looking for.

For the year, the company reported profit of $2.86 billion, or $2.31 per share. Revenue was reported as $26.64 billion.

Kraft Heinz expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.01 to $3.07 per share.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are holding steadier Wednesday, a day after skidding to sharp losses on worries that high interest rates may stick around for months longer than hoped.

The S&P 500 was 0.3% higher in midday trading after tumbling 1.4% on Tuesday. A hotter-than-expected report on inflation forced investors to delay forecasts for when the Federal Reserve may begin cutting interest rates, potentially into the summer. Expectations for such cuts are a big reason stocks rallied to records recently.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was edging down by 10 points, or less than 0.1%, after dropping 524 points for its worst loss in nearly 11 months. The Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time.

The smallest stocks, which took the hardest hit from worries about higher interest rates on Tuesday, bounced back more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index jumped 1%.

Helping to keep things steadier was a calmer bond market. Treasury yields were easing after shooting upward a day earlier on expectations the Fed would keep rates high for longer. The central bank has already jacked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001 in hopes of slowing the overall economy just enough to grind high inflation down to its target.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.28% from 4.32% late Tuesday. It’s still well above its 3.85% level at the start of this month.

DaVita jumped 6.4% for one of the S&P 500’s larger gains after the health care company reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Most companies in the S&P 500 have been topping analysts’ forecasts for the last three months of 2023. Hopes for stronger growth in 2024 from a solid economy have been another reason the S&P 500 has set 10 records already this year.

Lyft shares were 32.3% higher after a wild ride in off-hours trading driven by a typo in its latest earnings report. The ride-hailing company reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected, but its press release also said it expects a key measure of profitability to improve by 500 basis points, or 5 percentage points. Later, it said that should have been 50 basis points, or 0.5 percentage points.

Lyft’s stock had rocketed up 60% in after-hours trading Tuesday following the typo.

Rival Uber Technologies rose 11.8% after its board authorized a program to buy back up to $7 billion of its stock. Investors tend to like such programs because they send cash directly to shareholders and can boost per-share profits.

Robinhood Markets gained 8.6% after it reported a profit for the latest quarter, when analysts were expecting a loss. The stock and crypto trading platform also said its total net revenue rose 24%, more than analysts expected.

Online vacation rental booker Airbnb slid 4.6% after it reported losing $349 million in the fourth quarter due to an income tax settlement with Italy. Analysts had been expecting a profit.

The company forecast first-quarter revenue that would meet or beat Wall Street expectations, however, Airbnb said the pace of bookings growth is likely to “moderate” from the fourth quarter into the first.

Akamai Technologies dropped 7.9% after it reported mixed results. Its profit for the latest quarter topped analysts’ forecasts, but its revenue fell short.

In stock markets abroad, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.8% following a better-than-expected report on inflation in the United Kingdom.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.8% after trading reopened there, but markets remained closed in mainland China for the Lunar New Year holiday. Stocks fell elsewhere in Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.7% and South Korea’s Kospi down 1.1%.

(Story by BCR Intern Isaiah Wise)

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that it will be closed on Saturday February 17, 2024, through Monday, February 19, 2024, in observance of Presidents Day. Customers are still able to go online and obtain vehicle information about products and services through PennDOT’s driver and vehicle services websites.

There is still a 24 hour driver and vehicle online service available seven days a week. If you need assistance with a driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewal, change of address, etc. you can do that by scheduling an appointment. There are no additional fees for using online services. 

If you are a motorist you can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com.  which is free and available 24 hours a day. They keep motorists updated about traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.