Fire officials in Ambridge are commending community members for their help in saving a family from a blaze Sunday night. Borough Fire Chief Donald Larrick says nearby neighbor’s grabbed ladders to help get residents out of the home in the eight-hundred block of Eleventh Street. Larrick says six people, including four kids, were inside the residence at the time of the fire, but everyone was able to make it out.
Gas prices are two cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.79 per gallon. According to this week’s Triple-A East Central Gas Price report drivers in New Castle are paying 3.68 a gallon while the average price in Sharon is 3.73. Lower oil prices are causing pump prices to fall, with the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline dropping a nickel since last week to hit $3.61. The national average is 11 cents more than a month ago but 57 cents less than a year ago.
New Castle City Firemen were called to the scene of a house fire early yesterday morning. According to the New Castle News the fire broke out at a home on Delaware Avenue just after midnight. Woman and her two children were at home and escaped without injuries. Authorities said the blaze appeared to have started on the deck near the fire pit, then spread to the house and the garage. The American Red Cross assisted the family with lodging.
Governor Shapiro on Monday signed a bill aimed at increasing early cancer detection into law. The law requires insurance companies to cover the cost of preventative breast and ovarian cancer screenings for women identified as high-risk. The bill was initially introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward of Westmoreland County. Ward is a cancer survivor.
Home goods and décor retailer Tuesday Morning is set to close all remaining stores. The company is ending operations after filing for chapter eleven bankruptcy in February. The firm runs more than four-hundred-50 stores across 39 states, including an outlet on Wilmington Road in Neshannock Township. A message on the retailer’s website says gift cards will be accepted through May 13th.
A member of the Butler Area Schools board of education has resigned his post after being served a sexual violence protection order. The father of a 17-year-old says that Bill Halle had a sexual relationship with his child. Halle is not commenting on the matter and has not been charged with a crime.
The state House appears poised to pass landmark protections from discrimination for members of the LGBT-plus community. House Bill 300 was approved by the Judiciary Committee last week along a 12-9 party line vote. Republicans who object to the legislation say it would force doctors to perform gender reassignment procedures even if they object to doing so. If the bill passes the House, it will go to the Senate where its future is unclear. Governor Shapiro has said before that he would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.
Two Lawrence County Schools are set to receive a grant aimed at increasing the number of high school students enrolled in a dual-credit program, allowing them to get college credit while still in high school. The New Castle and Mohawk area school districts are both set to receive $75,000 the maximum funding amount per school. The Pennsylvania Department of Education announced that $6.7 million in grant funding has been awarded to 100 school entities to enable more high school students to enroll in dual credit programs across the Commonwealth.