(File Photo)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News Correspondent

(Hopewell Twp., Pa.) Peoples Gas  and Hopewell firefighters were called to the Hopewell High School on Longvue Avenue around 8:30 AM Friday morning for reports of a gas smell. The school was evacuated due to a gas leak.  High school classes  are cancelled for the day.

Dr. Robert Kartychak, Hopewell School District superintendent reported that a  gas leak  at the high  school was detected around 8 a.m.  Students were bused to the junior high school and sent home for the day.

Stay tuned to Beaver County Radio as this story continues to develop.

(File Photo of Kail’s Official Photo provided by Kail’s Office)
(Monaca, Pa.)  Pa State Josh Kail (15th) announced on Friday that he and and other members of a  Washington County delegation of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives issued the following statement calling on President Joe Biden and his administration to seek Domestic Energy Solutions in Light of Ukraine Invasion.

Kail represents parts of Beaver and Washington County.

In the release that was sent out Friday morning stated:

“Our thoughts are with the Ukrainians as they face this senseless act of war by Russia.
“Less than 24 hours before the invasion, the United States and its allies bought over $700 million in Russian oil and gas products. The United States should be looking to domestic oil and gas producers to help solve our energy crisis, not the enemy. This search should start right here in Pennsylvania – the number two gas producing state in the country. We should not be reliant on dictators, despots or adversaries on the world stage when we have the ability to produce our own energy.

“With investments in infrastructure and constructive engagement with domestic producers, the United States can address skyrocketing energy prices now and in the near future. Our natural resources can solve our energy crisis and the energy crisis that now exists globally, especially with our European allies who have become dependent upon Russian oil and gas. Best of all, it can be done in a cleaner way than anywhere else in the world.

“We urge the White House to look right here at home for a way to solve our energy problem and work with our local producers in Pennsylvania.”

The Washington County delegation consists of Reps. Bud Cook (R-Washington/Fayette), Josh Kail (R-Beaver/Washington), Natalie Mihalek (R-Allegheny/Washington), Timothy O’Neal (R-Washington), Jason Ortitay (R-Washington/Allegheny), and Mike Puskaric (R-Allegheny/Washington).

(File Photo of Patterson Township’s New Fire Truck taken by Curtis Walsh Fall of 2021)

(Patterson Twp., Pa.) Beaver County 9-1-1 reported that a transformer exploded on Ross Hill  and firefighters were called to the scene at 5:30 a.m. for trees and wires down.   Firefighters were still on scene at 8:45 a.m.

(File Photo)

Story by Sandy Giordano, Beaver County radio News Correspondent

(Aliquippa, Pa.)  Aliquippa police and firefighters responded early Friday Morning to the scene of an accident on Route 51 in an area that is flooded  near the Henry Mancini Bridge in West Aliquippa. Crews were called out at  7:45 AM. Those involved in the accident sustained minor injuries.

(File Photo Courtesy of Pa. Media Services)
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Wolf administration is asking the state Supreme Court to keep the state’s mail-in voting law in place while the justices consider a lower-court ruling throwing it out. Lawyers for the Department of State in a Thursday filing argued the court should overturn a Commonwealth Court ruling that means the popular voting law may no longer be in effect as of March 15. That’s a week after the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral argument in the case. The state lawyers argue that eliminating mail-in voting ahead of the spring primary season “would, if anything, only exacerbate voter confusion and the danger of disenfranchisement.”

(AP Photo)
By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A new filing by top state elections officials argues it would be premature for the state Supreme Court to order Pennsylvania’s legislative elections this year to be held based on old maps of state House and Senate districts. The officials argued in a filing made Wednesday that House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff’s request to use the old maps “is without foundation in law or fact.” Benninghoff sued a week ago, asking the high court to throw out the new district plan and to declare that this year’s elections be run based on district lines adopted in 2013.

(AP Photo)
By JOHN DANISZEWSKI Associated Press
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — It has been a long time since the threat of nuclear weapons has been brandished by a world leader, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has just done so. He warned that he has the weapons available if anyone dares to use military means tries to stop the takeover of Ukraine. The threat may have been empty, a mere baring of fangs by the Russian leader. But it brought out thoughts of a nightmare scenario in which Putin’s ambitions in Ukraine could lead to a nuclear war through accident or miscalculation.

Keystone State News Connection

Emily Scott

With the end of the public-health emergency looming, a new report reveals millions of children in Pennsylvania and elsewhere are at risk of losing insurance, some for administrative reasons.

More than half of Pennsylvania children are insured through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). They’ve been able to maintain stability in their coverage thanks to the continuous-coverage requirement from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Laura Stephany, health policy manager for Allies for Children, said when the public health emergency ends, it will put many Pennsylvania kids at risk of losing insurance due to procedural policies such as the state not having an up-to-date address.

“If a family is low-income, and they don’t really have the best housing security because of the economic crisis that’s been going on for the past two years, they’re more likely to move around a lot and to be missed,” Stephany explained. “We really want to ensure that the most vulnerable families don’t fall through the cracks.”

The report was released by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families. The public health emergency is set to expire April 15 but could be extended past July. Since the start of the pandemic, 192,000 additional Pennsylvania children have enrolled in Medicaid coverage.

Tricia Brooks, research professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, said there are policies states can implement now to help minimize coverage disruption.

She urged states to slow down the process, to ensure efforts to prevent automatic disenrollment are thorough.

“States should start by maximizing the use of existing data sources to confirm ongoing eligibility for as many people as possible now to reduce the backlog of pending actions,” Brooks suggested.

Pennsylvania advocates recommended Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration utilize the 12-month period permitted by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services for the eligibility and renewal process. Phone calls, emails and text messages could also help reach families at risk of losing coverage.

(File Photo taken by Sandy Giordano of Aliquippa Police Chief John Lane)

Story By Sandy Giordano, Beaver County Radio News Correspondent 

(Aliquippa, Pa.) Ads have been placed in the Beaver County Times. New Pittsburgh Courier, and the PA Chiefs of Police Association’s website letting qualified police officer candidates know Aliquippa has openings . Police Chief John E. Lane  said, hopefully we’ll get a lot of applications. Cadets are graduating from the local academies in June, and 3 have expressed interest in Aliquippa.

(AP Photo)
By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sally Kellerman, the Oscar nominated actor who played Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in director Robert Altman’s 1970 film “MASH,” has died. Kellerman’s publicist says she died Thursday of heart failure in Los Angeles. She was 84. Kellerman had a career of more than 60 years in film and television. She appeared in the 1986 comedy “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield. She was nominated for an Emmy for a role on “The Young and the Restless.” But she would always be best known for playing straitlaced army nurse Major Houlihan. She was nominated for an Oscar for the role.