HARRISBURG – Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Beaver/Butler/Lawrence) today announced state grants were awarded to schools in the 10^th Legislative District that will help schools upgrade their facilities to continue to provide critical food services to students.
The grants were made possible by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). The department awarded more than $946,000 in competitive grants to 44 elementary, middle and high schools in 23 counties to purchase new food service equipment for cafeterias.

Schools receiving funding include:

• Big Beaver Elementary School – $22,174 to be used for a convection steamer and gas oven.
• Central Elementary School – $22,174 for a convection steamer and gas oven.
• Mohawk Area Junior Senior High School – $3,933 for a heated holding cabinet.

“Studies have shown that outdated and poorly equipped food service facilities hindered staff efforts to prepare and efficiently serve healthy and appetizing meals,” said Bernstine. “These grants will allow schools to respond to the growing need to provide meals to our kids. We must provide children with nutritious meals to help them learn and grow.”

Funding for the grants is made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Grants are awarded to schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program. Schools use the grants to purchase or upgrade equipment such as refrigerators, freezers, stoves and dishwashers.

• Heating equipment and chimneys should be cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet (one meter) away from all heating equipment, including furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, and space heaters.
• Always use the right kind of fuel, as specified by the manufacturer, for fuel-burning space heaters.
• Create a three-foot (one meter) “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
• Make sure space heaters are in good working order and used in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
• Fireplaces should have a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Ashes should be cool before putting them in a metal container, which should be placed outside at least 10 feet away from your home.
• All fuel-burning equipment should be vented to the outside to avoid carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
• If you smell gas in your gas heater, do not light the appliance. Leave the home immediately and call your local fire department or gas company.
• Make sure smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are located throughout the home; test them monthly to ensure that they’re working properly.

(Frank Sparks/Beaver County Radio)

A pair of Beaver Falls hoops legends are getting recognized in a major way.

Per the Larry Bruno Foundation via their Facebook page, Alvin Gibson (Class of 1977) and Dwight Collins (Class of 1979) will be inducted into the Pittsburgh Basketball Club for 2022. The ceremony will take place at Chartiers Country Club on February 5.

Collins and Gibson become the fourth and fifth Tigers inducted into the PBC, following their former coach Frank Chan, along with former players Oscar Jackson and Ken Waggoner. Under Chan and with Collins, the Tigers won the 1979 Class 3A WPIAL Championship.

Collins is also a 2021 Circle of Achievement inductee into the Larry Bruno foundation, who said in their announcement of these two inductees “Anytime BFHS athletics are recognized in the Pittsburgh arena it’s something to be proud of…verifies the fact that our student athletes stack up against any in western PA and the entire state.”

(File Photo)

(Slippery Rock Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Butler are reporting that they were called to the scene of reports of gunshots being fired at The Grove Apartments on Harmony Road in Slippery Rock Twp. on Friday night at 9:00 PM.
Upon arriving on the scene it was learned that the shots were heard by multiple residents. A preliminary search for wounded victims was conducted in the area of the reported shots. During the search Troopers encountered a male in the vicinity who claimed to be in possession of a firearm and stated his intent to shoot Troopers. The male was subdued with non-lethal force and found to be unarmed.
Photos of the shooter have been making their rounds on social media and Troopers are asking anyone who can identify the unknown shooter to contact the Pa State Police in Butler and ask for Trooper OSCHE from the criminal investigation unit

(File Photo)

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing the long-term closure of the ramps from Route 65 and Deer Run Road to southbound I-79 at the Neville Island Bridge in Glenfield Borough, Allegheny County will begin Monday, January 31 weather permitting.

(File Photo)

(Brighton Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they were called the the scene of a single vehicle accident on Interstate 376 in Brighton Twp. yesterday at 9:53 AM.
Troopers reported via release that upon arriving on the scene and investigating they determined that 34-year-old Amy Minium of Hermitage lost control of the 2016 Jeep Cherokee that she was driving north bound near Chapel Road on I-376 while negotiating a right curve in the road. The vehicle left the roadway and struck the retainer cables in the median twice before coming to a final rest on the left shoulder and part of the left lane.
Neither Minium or her passenger 35-year-old Terrance Metz also of Hermitage were injured.
The vehicle became disabled due to the crash and had to be towed from the scene.

(File Photo)
DETROIT (AP) — Kia is recalling more than 410,000 vehicles in the U.S. to fix a problem that can stop the air bags from inflating in a crash. The recall covers certain Forte small cars from the 2017 and 2018 model years, and Sedona minivans and Soul small SUVs from 2017 through 2019. The electric Soul also is included. The Korean automaker says the air bag control computer cover can contact a memory chip and damage the electrical circuit. That could stop the air bags from inflating. Dealers will inspect the computer and either update software or replace it. Owners will be notified by mail starting March 21.

(File Photo)

(Aliquippa, Pa. ) Pa State Police in Beaver reported Sunday, January 30, 2022, that they have charged 29-year-old Charles Grag of Aliquippa with providing false identification to law enforcement after a traffic stop that was conducted on December 29, 2021 at 1:44 PM at the intersection of Englewood Street and Franklin Ave in the City of Aliquippa.
Troopers said via release that when they conducted the traffic stop on the 1999 Honda Civic that Grag was driving he told them his name was Charles Hileman.

No other information about the incident was released by State Police.

(AP Photo)
By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Howard Hesseman, who played the radio disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” and the actor-turned-history teacher Charlie Moore on “Head of the Class,” has died. He was 81. His manager Robbie Kass said Sunday that Hesseman died Saturday in Los Angeles due to complications from colon surgery. Hesseman, who had himself been a radio DJ in the ’60s, earned two Emmy nominations for playing Johnny Fever on CBS’ “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which ran for four seasons from 1978-1982. The role made Hesseman a counterculture icon at a time when few hippie characters made it onto network television.