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(Chippewa Township, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they have charges 34-year-old Raymond Cox of Industry with Driving under the Influence of a controlled substance after an incident that took place at the Get Go in Chippewa on Thursday, March 11, 2022.
Troopers said via release that Cox backed the 1995 Ford F-350 truck he was driving into a 2020 Hyundai Sonata that was sitting at a gas pump while 81-year-old Gerard Sommer was pumping gas into it causing major damage to the side and rear of the vehicle. Cox then fled the scene in an unknown direction. No Injuries were reported and no further information was released about the incident.

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(Pittsburgh, Pa.) PennDOT is announcing inspection activities on the ramp that carries traffic from the Fort Duquesne Bridge to northbound Route 65 in the City of Pittsburgh will occur today from 9 AM to 3PM.
To allow the inspection to occur, a traffic shift will occur on the southbound Route 65 ramp to northbound I-279 below the ramp.

The Larson Design Group will conduct inspection activities. Both ramps will remain open to traffic during the inspection

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(Pittsburgh, Pa.) PennDOT is announcing lane restrictions on Route 65 in Conway and Economy boroughs that will occur today through Wednesday, March 21-23 weather permitting.

Single-lane restrictions will occur from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day on Route 65 between 11th Street and Economy Way. One lane in each direction will remain open during the work. Crews from Team Fishel will conduct subsurface utility location work.

Motorists are advised to use caution, allow extra time, and expect changing traffic patterns when traveling through the area.

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(Pittsburgh, Pa.) A federal judge has denied the request for a change of the venue for the trial of Robert Bowers who is accused of killing 11 people at the Tree of Life, in Squirrel Hill in 2018.
Bowers attorneys filed a nearly 3,900-page change of venue motion alleging that media coverage of the attack and other community rallies would make it impossible to pick an impartial jury for Bowers and that he wouldn’t get a fair trial.
A seven-page opinion from U.S. District Judge Robert Colville denied the request saying that it has been more than three years since the attack and media attention has lessened.

(File Photo of Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro appearing at a press conference last week. Pa Media Services File Photo)
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrat Josh Shapiro is rolling out the first tax proposal of his candidacy for governor. Shapiro said Friday he would use surplus state cash and federal pandemic aid to eliminate 11% state taxes on cell phone bills, send payments to car-owning households and expand Pennsylvania’s rent and property tax rebate program. Shapiro’s plan comes out as high gas prices have made cutting gas taxes a hot topic. Shapiro says households could get a $250 payment for each passenger vehicle. Shapiro’s proposal to expand the property tax and rent rebate program would roughly triple the cost, by an estimated $424 million, and possibly expand the number of applicants by about 60%.

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a crash on a highway in Philadelphia killed two Pennsylvania state troopers and a civilian. Pennsylvania State Police say the crash took place early Monday in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95. It was not immediately clear what happened. Television news video shows a wrecked patrol SUV and debris on the highway. Gov. Tom Wolf issued a statement saying he and his wife were saddened by the deaths. State police said more information would be released later. The section of highway was closed while investigators combed through the scene.

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(Koppel Boro, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver have charged a Koppel man after an incident that occurred in Koppel on March 4, 2022 at 9:25 PM in Koppel Boro.
Troopers reported via release that they responded to a residence on 5th Ave in Koppel for a report of a male that shot a shotgun in the area. Once troopers arrived on the scene 50-year-old Samuel Crangi of Koppel admitted to them that he fired one shot into the air from a shotgun. There were no injuries reported and Crangi has charges of reckless endangerment as charges are pending at the local magistrates office.

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(Darlington Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver have charged a New Brighton man after they responded to a report of a one vehicle crash on Taggert Road in Darlington Township near the Pa Ohio Border on Saturday March 12, 2022 at 2:47 AM
Troopers said via release that after arriving on the scene it was determined that a 2012 Acura MDX that was being driven by 28-year-old Alex Bobin of New Brighton , was traveling at an unsafe speed causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and hit a tree causing severe disabling damage to the front of the vehicle. Troopers said in the release that Bobbin had fled the scene before their arrival and then contacted State Police in Beaver the next day and told State Police that the accident occurred and that he was the only occupant of the vehicle.
According to the release Bobin was cited with not driving a vehicle at a safe speed.

Keystone State News Connection

March 21, 2022

Emily Scott

As Pennsylvania residents are feeling pain at the pump amid the Ukraine-Russia crisis, clean-energy advocates say it is a prime example of why the country needs to find more sustainable energy sources beyond oil and gas.

The rise in gas prices is connected to the ban on the importation of Russian oil as a result of Vladimir Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

Rep. Joe Webster, D-Montgomery, said although Russian oil makes up only about 4% of daily oil usage in the U.S., it still has a global impact. Webster argued the volatility of the market combined with nations using it as a tactic against Putin speaks to the need for the U.S. to move toward energy sources such as solar and wind.

“If you realize fossil fuels are the funding source for Putin’s war in Ukraine, in the short term and in the long term, solutions to our crisis right now and the gas prices begin with reducing our reliance on fossil fuels,” Webster contended.

Some Pennsylvania lawmakers have proposed suspending or reducing the state’s 57.6 cent per gallon gas tax, the highest in the nation. Opponents countered it would not address the larger reasons for the rise in gas prices, such as the nation’s dependence on importing crude oil.

Webster said passing Build Back Better’s clean-energy provisions is one step on the federal level that could be taken. In Pennsylvania, he said the adoption of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a multistate cap-and-invest program to cut carbon emissions, could help.

“What oil and gas companies have done for 100 years in Pennsylvania is leave the trash in our woods,” Webster pointed out. “Their cost of business should include cleaning up their waste products. By using RGGI, we force the market to sort of pay for that carbon left in the air or the spill left in the ground.”

The state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee will hold a joint hearing with the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee on March 29 to discuss RGGI’s economic impacts. Some lawmakers have been resistant to RGGI, saying it would hurt the state economy.