WASHINGTON, D.C. — On May 17, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) met in his Washington office with Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw to discuss his concerns and issues stemming from the February train derailment in East Palestine, just over the state line from Pennsylvania’s 17^th Congressional District.

At the meeting in his office, Rep. Deluzio made clear to Mr. Shaw that Norfolk Southern needs to make whole all residents of Beaver County who have experienced harm to their health, property, farms, or businesses due to his company’s toxic derailment in February. He also called on the railroad to act as a positive partner in the community to help rebuild trust.

The Congressman also asked Mr. Shaw and his company to support legislation to make rail safer, such as the bipartisan Railway Safety Act that Congressman Deluzio leads in the House, which just saw its companion bill pass out of committee in the Senate with support from both parties.

Congressman Deluzio has been to Darlington Township, East Palestine, and Conway (the site of a major Norfolk Southern railyard) several times and has spoken with residents, local officials, and rail workers to discuss their ongoing concerns.

Along with The Railway Safety Act, which he introduced with Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) as a House companion bill to the Senate legislation, Rep. Deluzio has also sponsored the DERAIL Act to strengthen the overall safety standards for High-Hazard Flammable Trains, as well as the Assistance to Local Heroes During Train Crises Act with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) to support and reimburse the first responders who answer the call in the case of train emergencies.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio won their parties’ primaries for a vacant seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday, setting up a fall contest to join a high court that is at the center of cases on guns, abortion and elections in a presidential battleground state.

Each nominee won a two-way primary race. McCaffery defeated Deborah Kunselman, a colleague on the Superior Court, and Carluccio defeated Patricia McCullough, a Commonwealth Court judge who lost a primary for a high court seat in 2021. Party allies reported spending nearly $1 million to help her beat McCullough.

On the campaign trail, McCullough repeatedly boasted of being the “only judge in 2020 in the presidential election in the entire country” to order a halt to her state’s election certification.

McCullough was ruling in a Republican-backed post-election legal challenge that sought to tilt victory to Donald Trump in the presidential battleground state. The state’s high court quickly overturned McCullough’s order.

Democrats currently hold a 4-2 majority on the court, which has an open seat following the death last fall of Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat.

The court has handled a number of hot-button issues over the past few years.

It is currently examining a challenge to a state law that restricts the use of public funds to help women get an abortion as well as Philadelphia’s challenge to a state law that bars it and other municipalities from restricting the sale and possession of guns.

In recent years, the justices rejected a request to invalidate the state’s death penalty law and upheld the constitutionality of the state’s expansive mail-in voting law. The court also turned away challenges to the 2020 election result from Republicans who wanted to keep Trump in power, and ruled on a variety of lawsuits over gray areas in the mail-in voting law.

In one 2020 election case, justices ordered counties to count mail-in ballots that arrived up to three days after polls closed, citing delays in mail service caused by disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling spurred an outcry among Republicans, who challenged the decision in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nation’s highest court ultimately declined to take the case. The ballots — nearly 10,000 of them — were never counted in any federal race, including for president, because the election was certified while their fate remained in legal limbo. State elections officials said the votes weren’t enough to change the results of a federal election.

In lower court races, Republican Megan Martin and Democrat Matt Wolf each won a two-way primary for an open seat on the Commonwealth Court while Democrats Jill Beck and Timika Lane captured the nomination in a three-way race for two open seats on the Superior Court, which hears appeals of civil and criminal cases from county courts.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats maintained their narrow Pennsylvania House majority Tuesday by winning a special election and along with it continued control over how the chamber will handle abortion, gun rights and election law legislation.

Heather Boyd won a seat in the Philadelphia suburbs, beating Republican Katie Ford for a vacancy created by the resignation of Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel. Zabel quit the Legislature in March, shortly after a lobbyist accused him of sexually harassing her.

Boyd is a former congressional and state legislative aide. Her district was once Republican but has given solid margins to Democratic candidates in recent elections. Her win gives Democrats 102 seats, the minimum needed to control the agenda in the 203-member House. The state Senate has a Republican majority.

The Democrats’ victory in the Delaware County district means first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro will have at least one chamber to aid his agenda going into the final month of budget negotiations. The result could also affect a proposed constitutional amendment limiting abortion rights that legislative Republicans are one House floor vote away from putting before voters as a referendum.

Reflecting the stakes, President Joe Biden endorsed fellow Democrat Boyd on Monday, calling her “an experienced public servant who will protect a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, stand up for common sense gun safety laws and expand access to voting rights.”

Shapiro cut an ad focusing on the abortion issue for Boyd, who reported raising more than $1.3 million, including more than $1 million in in-kind advertising from the House Democrats’ campaign arm and the Democratic Party. Ford reported raising about $146,000, more than half of which came from the House Republicans’ campaign arm.

Boyd emphasized protection of abortion rights, drawing a contrast with Ford, who is personally against abortion but says she did not want to change existing state law. Republicans had hoped to regain the majority, in part, to advance the proposed constitutional amendment that says the Pennsylvania Constitution does not guarantee any rights relating to abortion or public funding of abortions.

Ford criticized Boyd, who has been a leading Democratic Party official in Delaware County, for not doing more in response when she learned about the allegations against Zabel. Boyd said she respected the lobbyist’s request for confidentiality about her claim that Zabel caressed her leg while they discussed legislation outside the Capitol in 2018 and did not stop when she moved away from him.

“Common sense says that if someone comes to you and says that they’re being sexually harassed, you do something about it,” Ford said during a televised debate. “You don’t just let it go.” Boyd responded that she did not endorse or support Zabel after hearing of the lobbyist’s account, and says she tried unsuccessfully to find someone to run against Zabel.

Republicans entered the 2022 election with a 113-90 advantage in the state House, but Democrats flipped a net of 12 seats in November, barely enough to claim majority status after 12 years and elect one of their own as speaker.

In a second House special election on Tuesday, Republican Michael Stender kept the central Pennsylvania seat in his party’s hands.

Stender, a Shikellamy school board member, firefighter and former EMT, was endorsed by former Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, the Republican who represented the district before winning a state Senate special election earlier this year. Stender beat Democrat Trevor Finn, a Montour County commissioner. The district also includes part of Northumberland County.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Though not a lot of people turned out for Tuesday’s primary in Beaver County, those who did so have finalized the matchups for local elections that will determine who will be running Beaver County for the next four years.

Only 26,571 ballots were cast from 111,347 registered voters during the May 16 primary in Beaver County; a voter turnout of just 23.86%. Broken down by party, 29.44% of Democrats submitted a ballot while 25.77% of Republicans submitted a ballot. By contrast, the voter turnout for the 2022 primary was 32.03%.

In the race for County Commissioner, incumbent chairman Dan Camp narrowly edged incumbent commissioner Jack Manning by a total of 8,754 to 8,634 in the Republican primary. Meanwhile, Democratic incumbent commissioner Tony Amadio finished with the majority of votes in the Democratic primary, garnering 10,301 votes to the 8,476 of challenger Julian Taylor. However, all four men qualified for the general election in November, where three of them will be voted as Beaver County Commissioners.

The Democratic primary for Recorder of Deeds was won by Sandra Gill, who defeated Michael J. Jackson 7,669 to 5,565. Gill will now face off with incumbent Ron Alberti, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, for the general election in November.

Most other primary races for row officers were uncontested, leading to many battles for the November election seemingly decided before any votes were cast. Those battles include (incumbents listed with “(I)” next to their name:

Treasurer
R- Sandie Egley (I)
D- Leonard Seanez
Sheriff
R-Tony Guy (I) [UNOPPOSED]
District Attorney
D-Nate Bible
R-David Lozier (I)
Prothonotary
R- Jodi Janicki Jones
D- Michael Rossi (I)
Coroner
R- David Gabauer (I)
D- Antonio Pitts
Controller
R- Maria Longo (I)
D- Tina Price Genes

The general election is set for November 7, 2023.

(Sandy Giordano/Beaver County Radio)
(Photo by Keith Walsh)

Beaver County Coroner David Gabauer has ruled that hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was what caused the death of Industry resident Kenneth Vinyard. The manner of death has been ruled accidental.

The 48-year-old Vinyard died while rendering aid to 20-year-old Rashaun Smith, who had been shot in the parking lot of the Walmart in Monaca back in November. The death led to a lengthy investigation of potential misconduct.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 16, 2023 7:15 P.M.

(Rochester, PA) Rochester Township Police reported Tuesday morning that they responded to an accident at 5:15 p.m. Monday night in the area of the Veterans Bridge on Route 65.  According to Sgt. Kevin Foltz northbound vehicle turned left on a yellow light in front of a southbound car causing the accident. Sgt. Foltz said both drivers were life flighted to a Pittsburgh hospital.

Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published May 16, 2023 7:18 P.M.

(Center Township, PA) Chipotle Restaurant has intentions of locating in the shopping area where Marshall’s and other businesses are located. A conditional use hearing will be held at the township building on Monday, June 19, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Published May 16, 2023.

(Aliquippa, PA) A large group gathered at the former site of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation Tuesday morning for a groundbreaking ceremony of a new steel mill set to be built on the site. 72 Steel LLC, a Chinese-American Company based out of Brooklyn, New York are in agreement with Chuck Betters to purchase the site and develop a new mill. The proposed mill would feature the newest and most advanced steel technology and environmentally friendly equipment.

72 Steel President, Jack Lin, gave a speech saying that 72 Steel wants to “rise to new heights”, and they’re on a “mission to revitalize economy”. He says that mission will start in Aliquippa. Lin noted that the development will be a driving force for other development in the surrounding area. He said this is the beginning of bringing steel back to the steel city.

Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker made a speech on the impact that the plant will have on the region, stating that he can’t wait for cars to drive through the old J&L tunnel, by people going to work with families in communities throughout the county.   Mayor Walker spoke to Beaver County Radio before the event started, and described the whole thing as “a blessing”, saying that he is “eternally grateful”. Not only is Aliquippa set to exit their Act 47 status soon, but having this announcement on top of that made for an emotional day for Walker. Walker also presented Aliquippa flags to both Jack Lin and Chuck Betters, quoting the towns motto “Why Not Us?”. Walker describes the flags as the “key to the city”.

72 Steel says they will be investing 218 million dollars into the mill and be able to produce hundreds of thousands of tons of steel per year. Chuck Betters announced he will invest 1.5 million into the project.  The deal between 72 Steel and Betters has not closed yet, with no exact timeline stated. If all goes well, the mill is expected to be operational by 2025. A large ceremony is set to take place upon completion, celebrating a return of steel to Beaver County.
Photos from the event can be viewed below: