Free Republic

Over 150 snakes, including more than 100 venomous, and an alligator were discovered inside a Beaver County home on Tuesday. According to Penn Live, police were called to the scene after receiving a report of an unconscious man, but upon arrival, they found the body of a 23-year-old man who was pronounced dead. Although the cause of death has not been disclosed, officials have revealed that the man had a snake bite mark.

Shell Chemicals’ new cracker plant in Beaver County has exceeded its air permit limits for two months in a row, prompting a notice of violation from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The petrochemical plant near Monaca was officially pronounced to be in commercial operations last month, but start up activities began months earlier. In September, the facility had by far its worst air quality month, releasing 492 tons of volatile organic compounds from its high-pressure flare, according to data submitted to the DEP by Shell. The emissions ate up 95% of the annual limit included in Shell’s air permit....

Since the last midterm elections in 2014, the ranks of Democratic registered voters in Beaver County have shrunk by nearly 6,000, while the number of Republican voters grew by about the same amount. According to data compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections in the state, there were 55,553 registered Democrats and 41,129 registered Republicans in the county as of Monday. To put that in perspective, four years ago Democrats outnumbered Republicans 61,219 to 35,869, meaning the GOP has nearly cut its voter registration disadvantage in half. “I’m not surprised by those numbers,” said state Rep. Jim...

Dr. DiCenco says the numbers in a state health department alert about STD’s and HIV among 15-24 year olds in Beaver County are “quite concerning and we, in our practice, have seen an uptick in the number of Gonorrhea and Chlamydia cases.” The state alert says the cases of Gonorrhea among 15-24 year old men and women were up 34 percent in 2017 compared to 2016. HIV was up almost threefold. “The HIV rate increasing 300 percent is very concerning,” says Dr. DiCenco. So why are the numbers among young people rising? Students on the Carnegie Mellon Campus had these...

Despite the promise of creating 600 permanent jobs, the ethane cracker plant being built about 40 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh by car continues to face scrutiny from environmental groups. Shell Chemical Appalachia decided in 2012 that Beaver County would be the site of a new $6 billion plant to manufacture plastics. Shell chose the Beaver County location because of its proximity to natural gas supplies and because the majority of North American polyethylene — the most common plastic — customers are in a 700-mile radius of Pittsburgh. In a statement published on its website, Shell said it expects to employ...

If you’ve ever been to a public shooting range you might have experienced long lines to check in, buy targets and buy ammo. Well one shooting range in Pennsylvania is taking a more efficient approach to selling the ammo. The Beaver Valley Rifle & Pistol Club has installed a vending machine for ammo at their range. Also, the guy who installed it? He’s running for county sheriff. Sam Piccinini is a Republican candidate for sheriff who also owns the small ammo company that operates the machine.

BEAVER FALLS (KDKA) – Two teens wanted in connections with a fatal shooting in Beaver County earlier this month have been arrested. According to police, Todavia Cleckley and Marcus Velasquez, both 14, were arrested Tuesday night by the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force. The teens were wanted in connection with the shooting death of 22-year-old Kayla Peterson outside of her Beaver Falls home. Beaver County’s District Attorney tells KDKA that Facebook photos posted by two suspects after the homicide are also now part of the criminal investigation. D.A. Anthony Berosh said photos surfaced on Facebook after the killing. The...

BEAVER (KDKA) ― Beaver County District Attorney Anthony Berosh confirmed to KDKA-TV that his detectives are investigating after a peephole was found in a unisex bathroom wall in the lower level of the Beaver County Courthouse. Tony Amadio, the chairman of the Beaver County Board of Commissioners, said he learned of the peephole on Tuesday. "Yesterday morning when I came in about 8:30, District Attorney Anthony Berosh came to see me. He sat down in this very office and said, 'Tony, let's go take a walk.' "He says, 'I have some things I want to tell you and it's not...

Noble Not Guilty Of Disrupting Public Gathering BEAVER (KDKA) Hours after asking a judge to send them home because they were "frazzled," a Beaver County jury found John Noble not guilty of disrupting a public gathering when he brought a gun to a campaign rally for President Barack Obama. The judge also found Noble not guilty of disorderly conduct. Noble was accused of causing a disturbance by bringing a gun to the rally in Beaver County last year. Though he had proper permits to carry the firearm, a trooper arrested him for disrupting a public gathering. During the trial, Noble...

Trouble Brewing?(Fun and Games in the Great Socialist Cesspool of PA) By: Bob Bauder and Stephanie Waite - Times Staff 03/12/06 A three-month Times investigation revealed the Beaver Falls-based Beaver Initiative for Growth also has never been audited until this year, and has awarded lucrative contracts to campaign donors. The operations of BIG, which Veon and LaValle created 14 years ago, run contrary to accepted standards for economic development organizations and nonprofits alike, according to officials in those fields. In an arrangement one nonprofit observer described as "highly irregular," BIG's board of directors until recently had only two members: Veon...

Basically it's the developing story of a wealthy, 60-something doctor who was robbed and shot to death on the Ohio Turnpike; his 40-something blonde wife; her 20-something lover, who it appears is a drug dealer on the side; a large inheritance, and a high-priced local defense attorney. Definite Lifetime Feature Movie material. Link only due to copyright restrictions. http://www.wpxi.com/news/4531421/detail.html