Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing the final northbound weekend closure on the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in Glenfield Borough and Robinson and Neville townships, Allegheny County, will occur Friday night, October 8 through Monday morning, October 11 weather permitting.

A full closure of the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in the northbound direction will occur from approximately 8 p.m. Friday night, September 17 continuously through 5 a.m. Monday morning, September 20 as crews conduct bridge and roadway concrete repairs, roadway patching, strip seal replacements, bridge jacking for steel repairs, bridge painting, and miscellaneous steel repairs.

To allow the work to occur, all northbound traffic will be detoured. Beginning at approximately 8 p.m. Friday night, the Pennsylvania State Police will begin a slow roll of northbound I-79 traffic at the Crafton/Moon (Exit 60) interchange and assist the contractor with reducing the roadway to a single lane of traffic. Police and the contractor will then close a single-lane of traffic on the southbound side of the Neville Island Bridge. Finally, at approximately 9 p.m. Friday night, another slow roll of northbound I-79 traffic will occur from the Crafton/Moon Run interchange. The police and contractor will guide all traffic to the detour route.

Posted Detour

• From northbound I-79, motorists will exit at the Coraopolis/McKees Rocks (Exit 64) interchange
• Turn left onto northbound Route 51 toward Coraopolis
• Once through Coraopolis, stay in the left-hand lane and follow the signs to Route 65 Sewickley
• Turn right and cross the Sewickley Bridge
• Turn right onto southbound Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard)
• Take the left-hand ramp to I-79 toward Erie/Washington
• At the split, stay straight toward North 79 Erie
• Follow the 79 North Erie sign by turning left onto Kilbuck Street
• From Kilbuck Street, take the ramp to northbound I-79 toward Erie
• End detour

Motorists on northbound I-79 may want to consider using I-376 (Parkway West) to I-279 (Parkway North) to avoid the detour route.

Police will assist motorists at key intersections during peak travel times. Motorists should expect delays.

Work on projects along the detour route will not occur this weekend.

Additionally, a lane closure will occur on southbound I-79 on the Neville Island Bridge during the weekend construction.

The $43 million I-79 Neville Island Bridge Rehabilitation Project includes structural steel repairs, full structure painting, bearing and deck joint replacements, deck repairs and overlays, bridge barrier repair, substructure concrete work and drainage improvements.  The project also includes concrete roadway reconstruction, guide rail replacement and preservation work on four sign structures. Additionally, preservation work will occur on the I-79 bridge over Deer Run Road, north of the Neville Island Bridge.  Motorists will see ramp closures and single-lane and shoulder closures in each direction on I-79 during daylight off-peak and overnight hours. Other traffic impacts include four northbound weekend closures in 2021 and four southbound weekend closures in 2022. The overall project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2023.

The Trumbull Corporation is the prime contractor.

To help keep motorists informed as work progresses, PennDOT has created an email distribution list for the I-79 Neville Island Bridge rehabilitation including traffic advisories and construction updates. Enroll by sending email addresses to stcowan@pa.gov. Please write “Subscribe – I-79” in the subject line.

Motorists can check conditions on more than 40,000 roadway miles, including color-coded winter conditions on 2,900 miles, by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA

(File Photo of Hopewell Police Cruisers)

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordanp

October 8, 2021- 7:46 AM

(Hopewell Twp., Pa.) Ohio United Presbyterian Church and Hopewell Township police are  asking residents to join  them on Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon  for a weekend of resolution and reconciliation. The national event is a collaborative effort to build bridges and break biases.  Police Sgt. Jill Banovski and Officer Jared Rogers  said a food drive to benefit the Little Free Pantry at the church  Non-perishable food items can be dropped off at the  church today from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. or at the Hopwell Twp. Police Department.

Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Sandy Giordano

October, 8, 2021-7:24 AM

(Beaver ,Pa.) Pennsylvania State Police in Beaver held a press  conference Thursday, October, 7, 2021,  at noon in regards to the murder of 46-year-old Sharon Beny0. Benyo’s body was found  at 8:15 AM  Wednesday, October 6, 2021, about 150 feet off of Route 51 in Chippewa Township by utility workers. Troopers stated that it is not known how long Benyo’s  body had been there. Chippewa Township Police secured the scene and called in Pa State Police who took over the investigation. A forensics team processed the crime scene and Troopers are now the lead  agency in the investigation.

Benyo had recently been released from a state prison and was trying to get her life in order according to multiple people. Benyo was previously in trouble in Beaver County back in 2019 when she bit a Beaver County Prison Guard at the Beaver County Jail

(Photo of Commissioner John F. Coleman provided by PA PUC)

(Harrisburg, Pa.) – October 8, 2021- 7:17 AM– The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today announced the election of Commissioner John F. Coleman Jr. to serve as the next Vice Chairman of the PUC, serving in that position through 2022.  The Commission vice chairman is selected annually by election among the Commissioners.

Vice Chairman Coleman is now in his third term on the PUC.  He was first appointed in 2010 and previously served as Vice Chairman of the Commission from 2011 to 2015.  During his tenure he has been nominated by three different governors—Governors Edward G. Rendell, Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf.

Vice Chairman Coleman is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Committee on Gas, and an inaugural member of NARUC’s Pipeline Safety Committee.

His commitment to public service also includes his current role as Vice Chairman of the Gas Technology Institute Public Interest Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority Board of Directors.

Vice Chairman Coleman is a certified Economic Development Professional with a strong background in business and finance, capital formation, community and economic development, and business startup and expansion. His professional experience, in addition to his many years of service to the PUC, has made him a valuable resource to the organization.

Prior to joining the PUC, Vice Chairman Coleman served 12 years as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the nationally accredited Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, the largest member-based business organization in Central Pennsylvania. In that capacity, he also served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Centre County Industrial Development Corporation, an entrepreneurial development and business finance corporation.

Vice Chairman Coleman is a graduate of Saint Francis University and the United States Chamber of Commerce Institute of Organizational Management at Notre Dame.

Keystone State News Connection

Emily Scott

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s parks and outdoor recreational spaces became havens for many in the state looking for safe activities during the pandemic.

A new report from Penn State professors aims to better understand residents’ relationships with parks and lay the groundwork for making parks and recreation services more inclusive and equitable.

The report surveyed 600 residents from across the state, in rural, suburban, and urban areas, about diversity, equity and inclusion in parks, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on these spaces. Although most respondents said they felt a sense of belonging in their community parks, people of color reported feeling less comfortable and less represented in parks than their white counterparts.

Sammie Powers, assistant professor of recreation, park and tourism management at Penn State Abington and the study’s co-author, said the answers can help build the foundation for creating more inclusivity in parks.

“I think we saw a lot more of a national awareness of the need to address some of these issues of systemic inequalities,” Powers observed. “I think we saw that translate into the park and recreation world, with a lot of folks asking these questions, ‘How do folks feel in our park spaces? Do they feel welcome in our parks and trails and facilities?’ ”

The Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society commissioned the report. Surveyed residents also said they would like to see more resources go toward increasing safety at local parks for communities of color.

On questions related to park use during the pandemic, Pennsylvanians said they felt safe being outside and using trails, but were less likely to feel comfortable with indoor facilities or attending in-person events.

Andrew Mowen, professor of recreation, park and tourism management at Penn State University and co-author of the study, said some of these findings could play an important role to ensure public health protocols are in place at Pennsylvania parks going forward.

“One of the key factors that came up was the importance of routine cleaning and maintenance, particularly at restrooms, as well as masking,” Mowen reported. “To have as much of that be as clean as possible, we need to invest in that.”

An upcoming report will pose similar questions around COVID-19 and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion among local officials.

October 8, 2021- 6:46 AM

(Collier Twp., Pa.) (AP Story) A federal official says a former neighbor of a U.S. Postal Service worker in Collier Twp. confessed that he fatally shot him while he was sitting in his mail truck along his route because he believed the mail carrier previously poisoned him and his family with cyanide. The acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania says in a release that 53-year-old Eric Kortz turned himself in Thursday for the shooting death of Louis Vignone in Collier Township. Kortz told authorities that he and Vignone used to be neighbors, and he believes Vignone and his family poisoned Kortz and his family with cyanide. Kortz has been assigned a public defender.

By Beaver County Radio News/Program Director Frank Sparks

October 8, 2021- 6:42 AM

(McKees Rocks, Pa.) A 35-year-old Brian Irby is dead after he was shot in the chest Thursday afternoon in McKees Rocks.

The shooting occurred in the 300 bock of Fair Oaks Street.

First responders found Irby with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was rushed to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.