(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of New Dimension Comics)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Ellwood City, PA) New Dimension Comics, a comic book and collectables store in Ellwood City is celebrating 40 years in business by having a 40-hour sale at their location this Friday, July 3rd starting at 8 p.m. The doors will stay open until Sunday, July 5th at 12 noon. Over 400,000 books will be available to buy for just 40 cents each. Silver Age comics and other items are also ready to be sold to customers. Only the books worth $1 will be 40 cents each while the rest of them are marked with their respective prices, with some sections sorted. The store is normally only open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each week and is filled with comics for just $1 each. A brand new selection of 40,000 sorted DC Comics will also premiere at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, July 4th. Cookout treats and refreshments will also be served. New Dimension Comics opened in June of 1986 by Todd McDevitt in Ellwood City and has grown to 6 stores in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

(FIle Photo of the Department of Justice Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Washington D.C.) The Department of Justice (DOJ) has now filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Michigan and Minnesota accusing the states of refusing to provide the U.S. Department of Agriculture with data on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applicants. The DOJ states that the data was collected to ensure states properly enforced “their determinations of residents’ eligibility for SNAP, including household benefit levels.” The agency alleges that the USDA requested the last five years of SNAP applicant data from several states last year. After dozens complied, federal officials claimed that the USDA requested the data again from the four states in May of 2026. The DOJ is now seeking an injunction requiring the four states to turn over the data, claiming that failure to comply “creates the likelihood of ongoing, material waste, fraud, and abuse going undetected.”    

(File Photo of a Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Potter Township, PA) PennDOT District 11 announced that inspection work on the Route 18 Frankfort Road Bridge in Potter Township will occur tomorrow, weather permitting. 

From 9 A.M. to 3 P.M., there will be single-lane alternating traffic restrictions controlled by flaggers on the Route 18 Frankfort Road Bridge just north of the intersection with Raccoon Creek Road. Bridge inspection activities will be conducted by crews from Mackin Engineering and the Sofis Rigging Company. 

(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of Pitt Race International Complex)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Big Beaver Borough, PA) A group that is opposed to a proposed data center development in Big Beaver hosted its own town hall last night, drawing nearly 100 people to the Big Beaver Volunteer Fire Department. 

This meeting comes about a month after the data center company Switch⁠ held a community meeting about its plans for the former Pittsburgh International Race Complex property. 

Among the organizers was Dan Dennehy-Rodriguez with the Three Rivers Motorsport Preservation Society, which is a group formed by supporters of the former Pitt Race complex. 

According to Dennehy-Rodriguez, the goal of that town hall was to educate residents about data centers and help them better understand how the proposed development could affect the community. 

Switch is proposing a campus that consists of three data center buildings on roughly 400 acres of the former Pitt Race property, which is approximately the size of 300 football fields. 

Dennehy-Rodriguez stated that he hopes the concerns that were raised during the meeting reach both Switch and local elected leaders. 

Big Beaver officials voted in September of 2025 to amend an ordinance allowing data centers in the township. 

Several local officials were invited to attend this meeting and some council members were also present, but no representative from Switch attended. 

(File Photo of a United States Flag)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A United States flag has been on a year-long adventure around the world visiting U.S. territories as well as military cemeteries overseas and all 50 of the United States of America, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the country. The flag is on the last leg of its tour going through thirteen sites in Western Pennsylvania to represent the original thirteen colonies of the nation. It will be in Washington D.C., the nation’s capital, on the Fourth of July. This trip is part of Sojourn250, which was organized by the National Flag Foundation (NFF) and America250’s America Waves program as a way to bring people together in a “project of national unity” to honor the American flag and its people for the 250th anniversary, especially the veterans who gave their lives in service to the United States. According to a report from the Beaver County Times, here are the dates, times and locations where people can see the U.S. flag as it travels across the area for the Pittsburgh Regional Sojourn250:

July 1st

• 3-4 p.m. at the United Steel Workers headquarters, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, where Pittsburgh welcomes the flag in honor of the workers who helped to build the nation.

July 2nd

• 9-10:30 a.m. at Fort Ligonier, 200 South Market Street, where the flag will be raised at the Upper Fort.
• “To Rise and Fight Again,” a new American250 exhibit, opens at the fort on July 4th and continues through December 2026.
• 12-1 p.m. at Fort Pitt, Point State Park, 601 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh.
• 1:30-3 p.m. along Pittsburgh’s North Shore. An honor service and walk starting at the Fred Rogers statue and passing the memorials on the North Shore, ending with a flag raising just past PNC Park.
• 6-7:30 p.m. at Soldiers & Sailors Hall, 4141 Fifth Avenue. A flag raising along Fifth Avenue and a presentation of the colors at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Americana Concert, which starts at 7 p.m. The concert is free, but reservations are required (click here to reserve your spot); register for tickets at the orchestra’s website.
• 8:15-9 p.m., a sunset honor guard presentation on Mount Washington.

July 3rd

• 8-9 a.m. at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, 1158 Morgan Road in Bridgeville, recognizing those who gave their lives for our nation.
• 10-11 a.m. at Flag Plaza, 1275 Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh. Flag raising hosted by Scouting America and joined by sheriffs from around the region.
• 12-1:30 p.m., at Freedom Corner, Crawford Street in the Hill District, in recognition of the unfinished work of equal justice and democracy.
• 4-5 p.m. at Bakery Square, 6425 Penn Avenue. A Happy Hour celebration of Pittsburgh’s growing leadership in healthcare, life sciences, information technology, artificial intelligence and robotics.
• 6-8 p.m. at the Carrie Blast Furnaces, 801 Carrie Furnace Road, where a community picnic is planned honoring the workers who helped to power America.

July 4th

• 5:45-6:30 a.m. along Grant Street, where the Allegheny County sheriff will hand over the U.S. flag to the American Legion Riders for the trip to Washington, D.C.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today that a citizen of the Dominican Republic illegally residing in The Bronx, New York, has been sentenced in federal court to time served of approximately 35 months of imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution totaling more than $896,000 to dozens of victims on his
convictions for conspiracy to transport stolen money in interstate commerce and interstate transportation of stolen money. Forty-three-year-old Stalin Acosta Paulino was sentenced and he is expected to be deported to the Dominican Republic.
According to information presented to the Court, Paulino participated in a complex fraud with numerous other individuals then living in New York in which they traveled to various states, including Pennsylvania and Virginia, and stole cash from skilled gaming machines they had broken into. Paulino and his conspirators then transported the money that was stolen to the New York area.

(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced today that a resident of Butler has been sentenced in federal court to three years of probation and ordered to pay restitution of $711,253.10 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on
his conviction of willful failure to collect or pay over tax. Fifty-one-year-old Michael D. Funovits was sentenced, and according to information presented to the court, between 2016 and 2023, he failed to pay over to the IRS payroll taxes he collected on behalf of his businesses, PennRo Associates LLC and Penn Exteriors LLC.

(Credit for Photo: Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Gas prices are ten cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at about $4.23 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. Drivers are continuing to see relief at the gas pump as the national gas price average declines for the fifth week in a row. The national average for a gallon of gas is six cents less than last week at $3.86 per gallon. Crude oil prices have also continued to fall as the U.S. and Iran work toward a long-term deal to end the war between them. Despite the lower prices, demand could rise as a record number of Americans prepare to travel for the Fourth of July weekend, with 85% of them planning to drive to their destinations. The national average is 53 cents less than a month ago, but 58 cents more than a year ago. The report states that the average price that you can expect for a gallon of unleaded gas here in Beaver County is around $4.59. According to a release from AAA East Central, here are the average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline this week in various areas:

$3.942      Altoona
$4.592      Beaver
$4.280      Bradford
$4.089      Brookville
$4.366      Butler
$4.061      Clarion
$4.169      DuBois
$3.900      Erie
$4.026      Greensburg
$4.302      Indiana
$3.970      Jeannette
$4.512      Kittanning
$4.232      Latrobe
$4.176      Meadville
$4.342      Mercer
$4.341      New Castle
$4.433      New Kensington
$4.456      Oil City
$4.469      Pittsburgh
$3.758      Sharon
$4.503      Uniontown
$4.004      Warren
$4.393      Washington

(File Photo of the Cornerstone of Beaver County Logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Falls, PA) The Cornerstone of Beaver County has released the dates, times and locations of local cooling centers because of the extremely high temperatures this week. Extreme heat can put people and families at a higher risk for heat-related illnesses such as dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and it can exacerbate preexisting conditions like mental illness and lung and heart disease. According to the Cornerstone of Beaver County, here is a complete list of cooling center locations and their hours of operation:

The Cornerstone of Beaver County (TCBC)

Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

600 6th Street, Beaver Falls

724-846-6400

 

New Brighton Municipal Building

Monday – Thursday from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

610 3rd Avenue, New Brighton

724-846-1870

 

Uncommon Grounds 

Tuesday-Thursday from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m.

380 Franklin Avenue, Aliquippa

724-375-6141

 

YMCA of Beaver County

Monday – Friday from 5 a.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Saturday from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Sunday from 12 – 5 p.m.

2236 Third Avenue, New Brighton

724-891-8439

 

Koppel Volunteer Fire Department 

Monday – Friday from 8 a.m.- 6 p.m.

5525 5th Avenue, Koppel

724-846-5973