October 7, 2021- 9:45 AM

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing drilling work on Todd Road (Route 3013) in Center Township, Beaver County, will begin Thursday, October 7 weather permitting.

Single-lane alternating traffic will occur on Todd Road from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through Wednesday, October 13 between Farm Lane and the northern terminus of the roadway. Flaggers will control traffic. Crews from Armstrong Drilling will conduct drilling operations.

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.

October 7, 2021- 6:54 AM

Pittsburgh, PA – PennDOT District 11 is announcing inspection activities on the Ambridge- Aliquippa Bridge and the Laughlin Memorial Bridge over Route 65 (Ohio River Boulevard) in Ambridge Borough, Beaver County will occur Thursday and Friday, October 7-8 weather permitting.

Single-lane restrictions will occur in each direction on Route 65 for bridge inspection activities according to the following schedule:

• Thursday, October 7 – Route 65 lane restrictions in both directions (not simultaneously) in the area of the Ambridge-Aliquippa Bridge from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Friday, October 8 – Route 65 lane restrictions in both directions (not simultaneously) in the area of the Laughlin Memorial Bridge from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Crews from the Pickering, Corts & Summerson will conduct the routine inspection activities.

Motorists should be prepared for changing traffic patterns. Please use caution when driving through the area.  Work zone safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways 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.

Keystone State News Connection

Emily Scott

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Major changes are on their way to the U.S. Department of Education’s Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which could have a big impact on some of Pennsylvania’s educators.

The program was created in 2007 and meant to provide student-loan relief to public-service workers, including teachers, paraprofessionals and professors, but it has long been plagued by bureaucratic issues that have made it difficult to qualify.

The changes announced Wednesday allow eligible borrowers to complete a waiver to count all payments toward the forgiveness program, regardless of the loan program or payment plan.

Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education, said the department is ready to right the wrongs inflicted on teachers across the country.

“We want to make sure that we’re doing everything in the agency to protect our borrowers, our students,” Cardona pledged. “We serve our students. We have to make that clear, not only in our talk, but in our actions. You’ve done so much to help our community. You were made a promise, and it’s now our turn to deliver on that promise.”

Pennsylvania has the second-highest average student debt in the country, according to The Institute for College Access and Success.

Under the program, the remainder of your student debt is forgiven once 120 monthly payments have been made while working full-time for a nonprofit or government employer.

Jessica Giordano, course director of the genetic counseling program at Columbia University, graduated in 2008, and when she checked in on her student-loan forgiveness in 2017, she was told she enrolled in the wrong loan plan and was not eligible.

Giordano said going forward, she hopes the forgiveness program is simplified.

“If you’re making your payments and been responsible and doing your work, I think it should just be streamlined and easy,” Giordano contended. “Because this complexity just makes it seem like the government doesn’t actually want to forgive the loans.”

Challenges still remain for the forgiveness program as the Pennsylvania Higher Education Association, which operates one of the Department of Education’s main student loan servicers, FedLoan, will not renew its contract with the federal government when it expires in December. According to the most recent data available from 2019, 65% of Pennsylvania college graduates have student debt.

(File Photo of Chippewa Twp Police Cruiser)

Story by Beaver County Radio News/ Program Director Frank Sparks

October 7, 2021-6:10 AM

(Chippewa Township, Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that the body of a 46 year-old Beaver Falls women was found along Pa Route 51 in Chippewa around 8:15 AM yesterday, October 6, 2021.
Troopers reported via release that Chippewa Township Police Department requested their assistance after the body of Sharon Benyo was found by a gas worker in field. State Police conducted forensic services and the scene was processed and is considered to be a homicide.
Benyo is the former wife of Beaver County defense attorney Gerald Benyo. She had recently been released from state prison and was trying to get her life in order.

Beaver County District Attorney David J. Lozier said that Beaver County Coroner David J. Gabauer  ruled Wednesday night that Benyo died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The state police are asking that anyone that has seen Benyo in the last 3 or 4 days  to please contact them. at 724-773-7400.

Part 1 of 4 In A Special Series Designed To Raise Awareness During National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

By Mark Peterson – Beaver County Radio. October 7, 2021 4:35 A.M.

(Beaver County, PA) October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Women’s Center of Beaver County has partnered with Beaver County Radio to produce and publish a four part series on issues associated with Domestic Violence.

Some of the most common questions that people have regarding domestic violence topics,  center around Protection From Abuse Orders, or P.F.A.’s.  Beaver County Radio spoke with Laura Peterson, a Legal Advocate with the Women’s Center Of Beaver County, recently concerning  P.F.A.’s. Ms. Peterson helped define the parameters about P.F.A.’s including who can get one and how one goes about attaining such an order.  Here is an excerpt from her recent interview on “A.M. Beaver County”:

The Women’s Center of Beaver County provides free legal advocacy services daily and makes one of their legal advocates available daily at the Beaver County Courthouse for those who have questions, or wishing to file a protection from abuse order, or more commonly referred to as a P.F.A.  For more information about meeting with a legal advocate from the Women’s Center of Beaver County, call 724-775-0131.

This is the first segment in a four part special series that is focused on domestic violence, as part of an overall effort to educate and raise awareness of the issue during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Thomas is shown during an interview in Johnstown, Pa., Wednesday, Jan.15, 2021. Thomas was charged Wednesday, Sept. 22, with violently raping a woman he knew through work, leaving her home only after she told him she would not call police, authorities said. (Todd Berkey/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)

October 6, 2021 at 1:22 PM

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — Officials in a rural western Pennsylvania county say the prosecutor’s access to his office and the courthouse are restricted after he was charged last month with violently raping a woman he knew through work. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas is charged with rape in an alleged attack on the woman in her Windber home. County Solicitor Michael Barbera says Thomas can no longer enter the building through side doors or after hours and no longer has access to a law enforcement database. The 36-year-old Republican said last week he plans a leave of absence to focus on his case. His lawyer says Thomas denies the allegations.

Photo Courtesy of Pa Media Services

October 6, 2021- 1:18 PM

Harrisburg – Governor Tom Wolf today announced the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) approved grants totaling $1,925,319 for 15 projects to increase the production of Pennsylvania-made malt and brewed beverages and enhance the Pennsylvania beer industry through promotion, marketing, and research-based programs and projects, and to enhance the Pennsylvania wine industry and increase production of Pennsylvania-made wines.

“Pennsylvania industries have to adopt new ways of doing business in the COVID-19 world, and these grants will provide substantial funding to help two vital parts of our agricultural community not only explore ways of improving production methods, but also boost marketing efforts that reach beyond our borders,” said Gov. Wolf.

Act 39 of 2016 created the Pennsylvania Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board within the department of Agriculture and authorized the PLCB to approve up to $1 million annually for development and marketing of the Pennsylvania beer industry. The Pennsylvania Fiscal Code also allows for unallocated beer grant funds to be made available in subsequent years. Since the first beer grants were approved in 2017, the PLCB has awarded $3.9 million in grants to support the Pennsylvania beer industry (not including this round).

The following seven beer projects totaling $925,319 were recommended for approval to the PLCB by the Pennsylvania Malt and Brewed Beverages Industry Promotion Board:

Act 39 of 2016 also expanded the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board and authorized the PLCB to approve up to $1 million annually for wine research and promotion. Since the first wine grants were approved in 2017, the PLCB has awarded $4.9 million in grants to support the Pennsylvania wine industry (not including this round).

The eight wine projects totaling $1 million, summarized below, were recommended for approval by the Pennsylvania Wine Marketing and Research Board:

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits – totaling nearly $18.7 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.

October 6, 2021- 1:13 PM
By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are falling and the number of new cases per day is about to dip below 100,000 for the first time in two months. All are encouraging signs that the summer surge is waning. Government leaders and employers not wanting to lose momentum are looking at strengthening and expanding vaccine mandates. Los Angeles is poised to enact on Wednesday one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates. And Minnesota’s governor is calling for new vaccine and testing requirements for teachers and long-term care workers. Health experts say there are still far too many unvaccinated people.

(Story by Beaver County Radio News/Program Director Frank Sparks) 

October 6, 2021- 7:22 AM

(New Brighton, Pa.) New Brighton Borough Street Department is reporting that leaf collection will begin in New Brighton Borough on Monday, October 11, 2021 and in Daugherty Township on Monday, October 18, 2021 and in Pulaski Township on Monday, October 25, 2021. Leaf collection will continue in all three communities through December 3, 2021 weather permitting.
Leaves should placed at the curb along the edge of the street for collection. Leaves that are bagged or that contain any tree branches, brush, stones, garbage/rubbish, grass clippings, or garden debris will not be collected. In the Borough of New Brighton leaves will be collected according to the posted street sweeping schedule.

Leaf collection in Daugherty Township will follow the following schedule:
Mondays: William Penn Way & Crescent Heights Plan, Rt. 65 (from Valley Avenue to Stuber Road), North Avenue, Franklin Plan, and McGuire Street.
Tuesdays: Gulbranson Heights Plan, Daugherty Highlands Plan, and Hillcrest Drive.
Wednesdays: Mercer Heights Plan, Klein Plan, Stuber Road, McCreary Plan, Cardinal Drive, Robin Trail, and Rt. 65 (from Stuber Road to Wises Grove Road).
Thursdays: Allendale Road, Wallace Drive, Harold Street, Inman Drive, Hogue Drive, and John Street.

Call the Daugherty Township Municipal Building at (724) 846-5337 to schedule a collection on state routes not listed above.

Leaf collection in Pulaski Township will follow the following schedule:
Mondays: New England Hill and Blockhouse Run Road area.
Tuesdays: Sunflower Road – North to 36th Street.
Wednesday: West Side of Rochester Road from Sunflower Road to 52nd Street.
Thursdays: East Side of Rochester Road from Sunflower Road to 52nd Street.
Fridays: Tree branches will be collected that have fallen from storms. Branches must be tied together into manageable bundles and not contain any other type of lawn debris.