(File Photo of a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Car)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Lawrence County, PA) Pennsylvania State Police in New Castle reported via release today that thirty-two-year-old Samantha Alwardt was not charged after causing a single-vehicle crash in Lawrence County late on Friday night. At 11:38 p.m., Alwardt was driving west on Shaffer Road in Slippery Rock Township and lost control of her vehicle because of road conditions and then hit a tree. Alwardt was not wearing her safety beat when the crash occurred and she refused EMS transportation even though she had a suspected minor injury. 

(Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Steve Mellon/Post Gazette (Pittsburgh) Caption for Photo: Sam Bigham, 23, who may become the state’s youngest mayor when he takes over as mayor of the Pittsburgh surburb of Carnegie, on the borough’s East Main Street on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025.)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Carnegie, PA) The new mayor of Carnegie is making history because Sam Bigham, who turns 24 years old next week, is the youngest mayor ever to serve in Carnegie Borough and is the youngest mayor that is currently serving in Pennsylvania. Bigham has spent time as a junior councilperson in Carnegie and has also interned for both Carnegie borough and state Representative Anita Kulik. The twenty-three-year-old was sworn in to his position last night. 

(File Photo of Police Siren Lights)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) A Pittsburgh Police officer was injured in a crash early yesterday during a search for a domestic violence suspect who escaped from police. This crash happened just after midnight at the intersection of Arlington Avenue and Josephine Street in the South Side Slopes neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The officer lost control of his vehicle and struck a pole when the airbags were deployed. According to public safety officials, he was originally unresponsive when the other officers found him, but regained consciousness and was speaking with medics on scene. He was transported to a hospital in stable condition. The Collision Investigation Unit was called to investigate this incident. 

(File Photo of two City of Pittsburgh Police Cars with two businesses in the background and a bystander walking in the Background)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) An aggravated assault investigation is underway and is ongoing after a man was found stabbed in Pittsburgh early on Sunday morning. According to a Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson, officers were sent to the 4000 block of Butler Street in Lawrenceville around 4:15 a.m. after a man walked into a business to call police and that man suffered a “small puncture wound” to his ribcage. He was taken to an area hospital in stable condition. Police do not know exactly where the man was stabbed at this time. 

(File Photo of a Police Siren Light)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) The Duquesne City School District announced yesterday that a Duquesne City student was allegedly grazed by a bullet following a shots-fired “incident” in Allegheny County. Allegheny County officials first told WTAE that officials were on the scene near Auriles Street after 2:30 p.m. following reports of shots being fired. According to a statement from the Duquesne City School District following response by police, Superintendent Sue A. Mariani said an “incident” happened during bus dismissal involving high school students. Officials on scene later told them the incident began after shots were fired near South Seventh Street earlier in the afternoon and they also stated that the situation has since been resolved, and there is no threat to the community. However, twenty-one-year-old Jamar Saunders of Turtle Creek, has now been charged with multiple offenses including attempted homicide in relation to the incident. 

(Credit for Photo: Courtesy of Kelly Nardone/Kelly Nardone Photography, Caption for Photo: Lincoln Kretchmar is sworn in Dec. 15 by Beaver County judge Deborah Lancos DeCostro as the new mayor of Beaver.)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver Borough, PA) Lincoln Kretchmar was officially sworn in as the mayor of Beaver Borough, which followed a closely contested election in which he defeated 21-year incumbent Tom Hamilton by a 13-vote margin. Judge Deborah Lancos DeCostro conducted a formal swearing-in ceremony for him at the Beaver County Courthouse on December 15th, 2025. His family owns Kretchmar’s Bakery in Beaver.

(Photo Provided with Release Courtesy of AAA East Central)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Pittsburgh, PA) Gas prices are six cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at about $3.10 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. As the new year begins, the national average for a gallon of gas fell by a penny over the past week to $2.81. The report states that the average price for a gallon of gas in Western Pennsylvania was around $3.40 and the average price that you can expect for a gallon of gas here in Beaver County is about $3.14. According to a release from AAA East Central and AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report, here are the average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline this week in various Pennsylvania areas:

$3.084      Altoona
$3.142      Beaver
$3.405      Bradford
$2.931      Brookville
$3.079      Butler
$3.070      Clarion
$2.970      DuBois
$3.021      Erie
$2.981      Greensburg
$3.087      Indiana
$3.101      Jeannette
$3.256      Kittanning
$3.004      Latrobe
$3.036      Meadville
$3.166      Mercer
$3.006      New Castle
$3.078      New Kensington
$3.056      Oil City
$3.099      Pittsburgh
$2.955      Sharon
$3.062      Uniontown
$3.547      Warren
$3.057      Washington

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Investigators work around Bristol Health & Rehab Center and surrounding rubble after a gas explosion the day prior on Dec. 24, 2025, in Bristol, Pa. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau, File)

(Philadelphia, PA – AP) Four people hurt when an explosion ripped through a Pennsylvania nursing home two weeks ago sued the facility and a natural gas utility on Monday, claiming their negligence was to blame.

Two workers at Bristol Health & Rehab Center LLC, a resident of the suburban Philadelphia facility and a contractor who happened to be there when the blast occurred on Dec. 23 filed the lawsuit. The defendants include PECO Energy Company, which provided natural gas to the complex, its parent company Exelon Corp., and Saber Healthcare Holdings LLC of Beachwood, Ohio.

The lawsuit filed in Philadelphia court claims the defendants “were aware of a gas leak in the building and failed to take the steps necessary to evacuate the building, fix the leak and protect the residents, workers and others that were exposed to the horrific blast.”

Zach Shamberg, Saber Healthcare Group chief of government affairs, said in an email Monday that the company is cooperating with the ongoing investigation and does not comment on litigation.

PECO communications director Greg Smore said in an email that as a party to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the company was not permitted to comment. The gas utility has previously said the cause is under investigation and it’s not known whether PECO’s equipment or natural gas were involved.

The explosion killed a resident and a worker and injured 20 other people. Officials have not said what caused it, but a PECO crew had been there to investigate a reported gas leak.

The lawsuit claims the gas leak “had been festering for days” and the gas odor came from the boiler room.

“Defendants’ decision not to immediately initiate evacuation procedures under these circumstances was reckless and outrageous given the population within the building, with many of the residents having limited mobility and unable to self-evacuate in the case of an emergency,” the lawsuit alleged.

A utility crew was responding to reports of a gas odor when the explosion happened, authorities have said.

Authorities reported acts of heroism in response to the explosion. About 100 residents were taken to other nursing homes nearby, officials said.

One of the people who died was Muthoni Nduthu, 52, a Kenyan immigrant who worked there. The other victim was a resident whose name has not been made public.

The force of the blast shook nearby houses for blocks in Bristol, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: People gather during a memorial procession in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, after a devastating fire in Le Constellation bar left dead and injured during the New Year’s celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss police said Monday they’ve identified all the people who were injured in the fire that tore through a New Year’s celebration in a crowded bar. They put the total at 116, more than two-thirds still in hospitals.

Authorities had previously given a figure of 119 injured, on top of the 40 people killed. But police said Monday that three people admitted to hospitals on the night of the disaster in Crans-Montana had been linked in error to the blaze at the crowded Le Constellation bar.

The injured include 68 Swiss citizens, 21 French nationals, 10 Italians, four Serbs, two Poles and one person each from Australia, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal and the Republic of Congo, according to a police statement. There were also four dual nationals: of France and Finland, France and Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, and Italy and the Philippines.

Police said 83 of the injured were still in hospitals. They didn’t give further details or specify their ages.

The severity of burns made it difficult to identify some victims of the fire that broke out at about 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, requiring families to supply authorities with DNA samples.

Authorities announced on Sunday evening that they had completed the identification of the 40 people who died, the youngest of them aged 14.

On Monday, Italian authorities flew home the bodies of five victims from the airport in Sion, the regional capital.

Officials stood quietly as Swiss police pallbearers carried the coffins through a line of firefighters and soldiers to an Italian Air Force C-130 cargo plane. Mourners hugged before relatives boarded the aircraft.

Investigators have said they believe festive sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling.

Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the bar managers. The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, according to the Valais region’s chief prosecutor.

(Photo Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Lottery)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Cranberry Township, PA) A Mega Millions lottery ticket worth $4 million was recently sold in Cranberry Township. According to the Pennsylvania Lottery, a ticket was sold that won $4 million in Friday’s drawing. The ticket matched all five white balls drawn, which were 6-13-34-43-52, but not the yellow Mega Ball 4. The Gordon’s Mini Mart on Rochester Road in Cranberry Township has won a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket. The Pennsylvania Lottery also states that winning tickets should be signed on the back immediately and that winners aren’t known until prizes are claimed and tickets are validated. Mega Millions winners have one year from the drawing date by checking at their local lottery retailer to claim prizes.