(File Photo)

(Brighton Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that a New Galilee man was injured yesterday morning in a one vehicle accident on Interstate 376 in Brighton Twp.
Troopers reported that upon arriving on scene at around 7:45 AM it was learned that 74-year-old William Wall was operating a 2012 Ford Escape Eastbound on the Beaver Valley Express Way when he lost control on the wet roadway. Wall’s vehicle slid off the the right side of the roadway and struck an embankment causing it to roll over.
The vehicle was towed from the scene and Wall was transported via ambulance to Heritage Valley Beaver for his injuries. There is no word on his condition.

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) The University of Pittsburgh held commencement for the class of 2022 yesterday at the Peterson Event Center for 2,200 graduates.
A crowd of around 10,000 family and friends attended as
former Buffalo Bills running back and Pitt alum Louis Riddick was the keynote speaker.

On Saturday, Pitt hosted a special graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 who were deprived of a ceremony because of the pandemic and 280 graduates made the walk across the stage.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing work to inspect the westbound I-376 (Beaver Valley Expressway) bridge over Bradys Run Park in Brighton Township, Beaver County, will occur Monday through Thursday, May 2-5 weather permitting.

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing asphalt repairs on Route 989 and Route 2006 (Lovi Road) in New Sewickley Township, Beaver County, will begin Monday, May 2 weather permitting.

(File Photo)

(Beaver, Pa) The Beaver County Commissioners approved a $1.68 Million project on Thursday at their regular meeting to make improvements in Brady’s Run Park in Brighton Township.
Stefanik’s Next Generation Contracting Company of Aliquippa will be creating three new tennis and pickleball courts. They will also be replacing one tennis court and two basketball courts and upgrading drainage.

(Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
By KRISTIN M. HALL AP Entertainment Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Naomi Judd, the Kentucky-born singer of the Grammy-winning duo The Judds and mother of Wynonna and Ashley Judd, has died. She was 76. The daughters announced her death on Saturday in a statement provided to The Associated Press. The statement said that they lost their mother to “the disease of mental illness.”It did not elaborate further. The Judds were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday. Led by Wynonna’s powerful vocals and Naomi’s harmonies, their hits included “Love Can Build a Bridge,” “Mama He’s Crazy,” and “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain.” The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Naomi Judd, whose family harmonies with daughter Wynonna turned them into the Grammy-winning country stars The Judds, has died. She was 76.
Her daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, announced her death on Saturday in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” the statement said. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi Judd died near Nashville, Tennessee, said a statement on behalf of her husband and fellow singer, Larry Strickland. It said no further details about her death would be released and asked for privacy as the family grieves.
The Country Music Hall of Fame will continue with a planned induction ceremony for The Judds on Sunday.
“Naomi overcame incredible adversity on her way to a significant place in music history. Her triumphant life story overshadows today’s tragic news,” said Hall of Fame CEO Kyle Young in a statement. “Her family has asked that we continue with The Judds’ official Hall of Fame induction on Sunday. We will do so, with heavy hearts and weighted minds. Naomi and daughter Wynonna’s music will endure.”
They had also just announced an arena tour to begin in the fall, their first tour together in over a decade.
The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. The red-headed duo combined the traditional Appalachian sounds of bluegrass with polished pop stylings, scoring hit after hit in the 1980s. Wynonna led the duo with her powerful vocals, while Naomi provided harmonies and stylish looks on stage.
They also made a return to awards shows when they performed at the CMT Music Awards earlier this month.
“Honored to have witnessed “Love Can Build a Bridge” just a few short weeks ago,” singer Maren Morris posted on Twitter on Saturday.
“This is heartbreaking news! Naomi Judd was one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known,” singer Travis Tritt posted on Twitter, noting that he had worked with Judd several times on screen and during performances.
“Country music lost a true legend…sing with the angels, Naomi!!! We’re all sending up prayers for the Judd family today,” singer Carrie Underwood wrote on Twitter.
After rising to the top of country music, they called it quits in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis C. Wynonna continued her solo career.
The Judds’ hits included “Love Can Build a Bridge” in 1990,”Mama He’s Crazy” in 1984, “Why Not Me” in 1984,”Turn It Loose” in 1988, “Girls Night Out” in 1985, “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain” in 1986 and “Grandpa” in 1986.
Born Diana Ellen Judd in Ashland, Kentucky, Naomi was working as a single mother and nurse in Nashville, when she and Wynonna started singing together professionally. Their unique harmonies, together with elements of acoustic music, bluegrass and blues, made them stand out in the genre at the time.
“We had a such a stamp of originality on what we were trying to do,” Naomi Judd told The AP after it was announced that they would be joining the Country Music Hall of Fame.
In an interview with the AP in March, Naomi Judd said she was already deep into preparation for the upcoming tour and was looking forward to the Hall of Fame induction.
“To have all the incredible opportunities that I’ve had, being reminded of all that just makes me very humbled and I just want to bask in the moment,” Judd said.
Wynonna Judd remarked that throughout their lives, their music had kept them together.
“Music is the bridge between mom and me, and it it bonds us together,” she told the AP. “Even in the not easy times.”
TheJuddsreleased six studio albums and an EP between 1984 and 1991 and won nine Country Music Association Awards and seven from the Academy of Country Music. They earned a total of five Grammy Awards together on hits like “Why Not Me” and “Give A Little Love,” and Naomi earned a sixth Grammy for writing “Love Can Build a Bridge.”
The Judds also performed at the halftime of the 1994 Super Bowl, along with Travis Tritt, Clint Black and Tanya Tucker.
The Judds sang about family, the belief in marriage and the virtue of fidelity. Because Naomi was so young looking, the two were mistaken for sisters early in their career. She was also known to prefer flashy stage outfits, full of sparkles and rhinestones, over casual boots and cowboy style clothing.
They first got attention singing on Ralph Emery’s morning show in early 1980, where the host named them the “Soap Sisters” because Naomi said she used to make her own soap.
After the success of “Mama He’s Crazy,” they won the Horizon Award at the 1984 CMA Awards. Naomi started her speech by saying “Slap the dog and spit in the fire!”
Naomi Judd was open about her health struggles, as well as severe depression and anxiety. In her memoir, “River of Time,” she described her diagnosis of hepatitis C, which she said she unknowingly contracted during her time as a nurse. She said that by 1995, her doctors had told her she was completely free of the virus.
In the memoir, she described feeling like she had lost her identity when she returned home after a 2010 reunion tour, isolating herself at her home and dealing with crippling panic attacks. She also said that she had been dealing with trauma from childhood sexual abuse. She was admitted to a psychiatric ward at a hospital and spent time in an outpatient treatment program.
Daughter Ashley Judd is an actor and humanitarian known for her roles in such movies as “Kiss the Girls,” “Double Jeopardy” and “Heat.”
Strickland, who was a backup singer for Elvis Presley, was married to Naomi Judd for 32 years.
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Follow Kristin M. Hall at https://twitter.com/kmhall

(Montgomery County, Pa. via AP)
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A former Pennsylvania attorney general who served jail time for leaking grand jury material and lying about it has been taken into custody on an alleged probation violation. A spokesperson for Montgomery County said Friday that 55-year-old Kathleen Kane is behind bars at the county jail. Kane was charged with drunken driving following a crash in Scranton last month. A Montgomery County judge then issued a bench warrant for her arrest. Kane was on probation from her 2016 conviction for perjury, obstruction and other counts for leaking secret investigative files to embarrass a rival prosecutor.

 

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

On Friday afternoon, a meet-and-greet event was held at Irvine Park in Beaver featuring Jeff Coleman, a candidate for the Republican Primary for the Lieutenant Governor seat in Pennsylvania. Coleman was joined at the event by State Representative Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington). Prior to the event, Coleman spoke with A.M. Beaver County’s Matt Drzik about what led him to run for the seat.

Coleman is a former State Representative himself, representing Armstrong and Indiana counties from 2000 until 2007. “My focus there–and still is–having civil  discourse,” Coleman said, “making sure that we’re fighting the good fights, but doing it in the right way.” When asked what those “good fights” were, Coleman talked about believing in the sanctity of life, lower taxes, smaller government, parental choice, and local control of schools among them.

“[I’m] a traditional conservative,” Coleman added, “but someone who really believes that you’ve got to do it in a no-drama way. The theatrics of politics often are what hurt the message for people who care about these issues.”

As to the particular decision to run for Lieutenant Governor, he sees the position as an opportunity for more civil debates and discourse: “I see the opportunity to turn the country and the state around when it comes to how we do battle.” Coleman wants “more debates, not less, more debates happening in the building and in the Capitol, less on social media…if we continue to go down this road, I think we’re in very bad shape; especially going into the next presidential election. I saw lieutenant governor as the only place you can really have that discussion.”

Coleman sees the Lieutenant Governor position as a “switchboard” for the different branches of the commonwealth’s government, adding “When there’s communication between those branches of government, you have a real opportunity for a functioning government.”

Coleman is one of nine current candidates for the Republican Primary in the race for lieutenant governor, which is set to be held May 17.

(Photo of 1300 block of 6th Ave. in Beaver Falls where shooting occurred Thursday afternoon taken by Frank Sparks) 

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News
(Beaver Falls, Pa.) Beaver Falls Police are searching for 20-year-old Gage Michael Smith, of New Castle, PA , in  connection with a shooting that occurred in Beaver Falls Thursday afternoon. According to a press release, from the Beaver Falls Police Department, officers were dispatched  to a shooting incident in the 600 block of 13th Street.at 4:20 PM.  As the officers were investigating, it was determined that Smith fired  several shots from a moving vehicle, and multiple vehicles were struck in the area. No one was shot in the incident. Smith  is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, firearm not to be carried without a license, , propulsion of missiles into an occupied vehicle, recklessly endangering another person, and simple assault.   A felony warrant has been issued by Beaver Falls PD, and police want to locate him. Police are also looking for a 2005 white Chevy Malibu  with PA registration LWY-5553 in connection with the shooting incident.
Smith is described as  a white male approximately  5 feet five inches tall, weighing around 150 pounds. He has brown hair and green eyes.
Police request that no resident  approach or attempt to apprehend Smith. Notify your local law enforcement if Smith’s whereabouts are known. You can call Call 724-775-0880 or 9-1-1.
Chief Johnson said this is an active investigation, and no further information is available.