Firefighters Injured at Former Blue Violet Cafe Scene

The featured image above shows the scene of the fire in Rochester. Photo by Keith Walsh-Beaver County Radio
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published August 18, 2022 11:55 A.M.

(Rochester, PA) Beaver County 9-1-1 reported firefighters were still still on scene at the former Blue Violet Cafe as of 11 AM that was a music venue, now an antique shop in Rochester. At least 2 firefighters had been injured, but no other injuries were reported.
Read the original report here: https://beavercountyradio.com/news/former-blue-violet-cafe-burns-in-rochester/ 

Southbound I-79 Neville Island Bridge Weekend Closure August 19-22

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing the second of four southbound weekend closures on the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in Glenfield Borough and Robinson and Neville townships, Allegheny County, will occur Friday night, August 19 through Monday morning, August 22 weather permitting.

A full closure of the I-79 Neville Island Bridge in the southbound direction will occur from approximately 9 p.m. Friday night, August 19 continuously through 5 a.m. Monday morning, August 22 as crews conduct deck and concrete pavement repairs, bridge painting, and steel repairs.

To allow the work to occur, all southbound traffic will be detoured. Beginning at approximately 8 p.m. Friday night, the Pennsylvania State Police will begin a slow roll of southbound I-79 traffic at the Mt. Nebo (Exit 68) interchange and assist the contractor with reducing the roadway to a single lane of traffic between the Mt. Nebo and Emsworth/Sewickley exits. At approximately 9 p.m. Friday night, another slow roll of southbound I-79 traffic will occur from Mt. Nebo interchange. The police and contractor will guide all traffic to the detour route.

Posted Detour

  • From southbound I-79, motorists will exit at the Route 65 Emsworth/Sewickley (Exit 66) interchange
  • Turn left onto Glenfield Road
  • Glenfield Road becomes Kilbuck Street
  • Turn right onto the ramp to North 65 toward Sewickley
  • From northbound Route 65, turn left onto the Sewickley Bridge
  • Turn left onto southbound Route 51 (University Boulevard) toward Coraopolis
  • From southbound Route 51, take the ramp to South 79 toward Washington
  • End detour

Additionally, a single-lane restriction will occur on northbound Route 65 at the on-ramp from Kilbuck Street. This will allow for better traffic flow for the detour route.

Motorists on southbound I-79 may want to consider using I-279 (Parkway North) to I-376 (Parkway West) 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 northbound I-79 on the Neville Island Bridge during the weekend construction. The northbound lane restriction will be lifted before 6 a.m. Monday.

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. Four southbound weekend closures will occur in 2022.

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 website.

Aliquippa School Board Approves Hiring for the 2022-23 School Year

Aliquippa School District file photo shown above
Story by Sandy Giordano – Beaver County Radio. Published August 18, 2022 7:55 A.M.
(Aliquippa, PA) Aliquippa School District Superintendent Dr. Phillip K. Woods told the board at Wednesday night’s meeting that  all teaching positions have been filled for the 2022-23 school year. School starts on Tuesday, August 25, 2022. The 2.0 overall GPA Athletic and Activity Policy was approved and  will be implemented  and monitored.
William Meyer and Dixie Johnson will be the district’s pre-k teachers. their salaries will be $43,566. Marina Littman was hired as the  high school  math teacher. Her salary will be $51,047. Amanda O’Neill was hired as the band director and music teacher at the high school. Her salary  will be $59,896. All fall coaches and volunteer coaches were approved by the board. Cassandra August resigned as the elementary guidance counselor effective August 10,2022.

Former Blue Violet Cafe Burns in Rochester

The image above shows the former Blue Violet Cafe post-fire.
Story by Sandy Giordano and Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Photos by Keith Walsh – Beaver County Radio. Published August 18, 2022 6:45 A.M. Updated 12 P.M.

(Rochester, PA) Firefighters were dispatched to the former Blue Violet Cafe building on Brighton Avenue for a fire in the building at 2:29am this morning. No injuries have been reported, the road was closed to traffic, and firefighters remained on scene throughout the day. Firemen on scene told Beaver County Radio that the fire is out but the building is expected to smolder for a while.  Adjacent buildings appear to have been affected by the fire as well.
Roads were closed in all directions between Brighton Avenue, New York Avenue, Adams Street, and Pleasant Street. An antique store was currently operating in the location of the former music venue.
Update 11AM: Beaver County 9-1-1 reported firefighters were still still on scene at the former Blue Violet Cafe as of 11 AM. 2 firefighters had been injured, but no other injuries were reported.

The Best of Beaver County for August 18, 2022 is KDKA Meteorologist Mary Ours

Mike Romigh, The host of “The Best of Beaver County”

(Beaver County, PA) The Best of Beaver County is easy to discover; it’s right on your radio!  Tune in this and every Thursday from 11 to 11:30 A.M.  for “The Best of Beaver County”, an innovative radio program on WBVP and WMBA presented by St. Barnabas. The show is hosted by Mike Romigh and is dedicated to shining light on the great things going on right here in local neighborhoods, and the people that are making it happen.  Find out what all the buzz is about by joining “The Best Of Beaver County”.

Mary Ours

This week Mike’s guest is current KDKA meteorologist Mary Ours. Mary is a graduate of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School and was raised in Beaver Falls. She has been at KDKA since 2019 following stints at WTOV and WJAC. She returns to “The Best Of Beaver County” for her second appearance following her first interview in November of 2020.

The show is presented on all platforms of Beaver County Radio, on-air at 95.7 and 99.3 FM along with 1230 WBVP and1460 WMBA and on-line at beavercountyradio.com.

 

You can also click on the Facebook Logo below at show time to watch the show streaming live on the Beaver County Radio Facebook Page.

You can also download our free apps by clicking on the proper store icon for your platform of a device:

Beaver Falls Business District Authority To Host “Sales Of Summer” Event On August 20

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“Beaver Falls was hustling and bustling and full of life–and it’s on the upswing to do that again.”

Those words from Bill Antonacceo of Antique Emporium set the stage for an event that highlight the growing number and variety of businesses in the city of Beaver Falls. He, along with fellow Business District Authority members Denise Donnelly (Carnegie Free Library & Clear Choice Enterprises) and Tammy Clark (This & That Consignments) joined Matt Drzik on the August 17 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about the “Sales Of Summer” event happening on Saturday, August 20 from 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM.

Dozens of local businesses from College Hill all the way down to the end of the city will be having sidewalk sales throughout the day, including many new businesses that have began in the last year or two from the ashes of the pandemic. There will also be food trucks up in the College Hill business plaza, an interactive “fire house” from the Beaver Falls Fire Department, and kids’ activities at the Neighborhood North: Museum Of Play. Plus, Beaver County Radio will be painting the streets with gold as “Solid Gold Saturday Afternoon” with JD Merkel will be heard through the streets of Beaver Falls from 12:30 until 5:00 PM.

For a full preview of the “Sales Of Summer” event, click on the YouTube feed below to watch!

Updates On Vicary Mansion & Brady’s Run Park Provided At Commissioners’ Work Session

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

One facility is in the middle of renovation, another is in need of such renovation, and both of them headlined the discussion at the August 17 work session for the Beaver County Commissioners at the Beaver County Courthouse.

The Vicary Mansion in Freedom has yet to start its renovations, as Brenda Applegate–executive director for the Beaver County Historical Landmarks & Research Foundation–is seeking a financial starting point for such plans and projects. Public Works Director Dan Colville had met with Applegate recently in regards to the situation.

“I’m certainly not comfortable making recommendations for what needs to be done on that building,” Colville told the Commissioners. “I think the RFP we need to put out is for an architect to look at that building and to give us recommendations on how it should be restored historically.”  The Vicary Mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places, further amplifying the urgency–but also the careful nature–of restoring the building.

While the Vicary Mansion is awaiting its beginnings for renovation, the outdoor courts and ice arena at Brady’s Run Park are drawing closer to its completion. “We started laying water on Monday for the ice arena’s floor,” said Parks & Recreation director Tony Caltury. “By week’s end we should be ready to go. We’re opening up for business weekdays; we have some contracted ice starting Monday, so we’ll be up and running for the season. The first Monday after Labor Day being the full opening with evening and weekend hours.”

Caltury also mentioned that the new Zambonis for the ice arena are set to arrive in mid-September, and that the outdoor courts have finished establishing the fenceposts and set the majority of the concrete at the site.

Beaver County EMS director Eric Brewer announced that the county received a grant for “about $400,000” to upgrade its 911 emergency centers. Commissioner Jack Manning spoke about a proclamation for the County to be in support of “Operation Green Light” for veterans seeking to transition into the workplace. The work session concluded with Monaca resident Susan Footeridge speaking on behalf of Fair Districts PA and Upper Beaver Valley Veterans’ Service Center president John Ramer requesting the Commissioners’ inquiry into their 2022-23 budget.

The next Commissioners’ work session is scheduled for August 24 at 10:00 AM.

U.S. midterms bring few changes from social media companies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Social media companies are sharing their plans for safeguarding the U.S. midterm elections, although they have offered scant details. Tech platforms like Facebook and Twitter are generally staying the course they were on in the 2020 voting season — which was marred by conspiracies and culminated in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said its approach to this election cycle is “largely consistent with the policies and safeguards” it had in place in 2020. TikTok announced an election center that will help people find voting locations and candidate information.

Youth mental health is in crisis. Are schools doing enough?

CECILIA, Ky. (AP) — This year’s back-to-school season will restore a degree of pre-pandemic normalcy. But many of COVID-19’s lasting impacts remain a troubling reality for schools. Among them: student mental health reached crisis levels last year. The pressure on schools to figure out solutions has never been greater. Districts across the country are using federal pandemic money to hire more mental health specialists, rolling out new coping tools and expanding curriculum that prioritizes emotional health.