Enforcement of ‘hands-free’ law begins in June
By Jon Andreassi Staff writer jandreassi@observer-reporter.com
Nearly 2,000 Pennsylvania drivers were cited last year for distracted driving, and the rules surrounding mobile device use are about to get stricter come June.
Last year Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Senate Bill 37, or Paul Miller’s Law, which prohibits the use of any handheld device while on the road.
Shapiro’s office issued a press release earlier this month reminding that April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
According to the release, data from the state Department of Transportation showed that there were 11,262 crashes involving a distracted driver in 2023, with 6,700 injuries and 65 fatalities. The agency believes that distracted driving data is underreported due to drivers being reluctant to admit they were using a device.
Cellphone use was already prohibited for commercial drivers, and it is currently il-
legal to use headphones while driving and text while driving.
Rocco Gagliardi, spokesperson for state police Troop B, said it is difficult for police to enforce the texting-while-driving rule as it exists.
“The law we had in place, you have to prove you were
sending communications,” Gagliardi said, adding that drivers could easily claim they were just using navigation features on their phone.
Under the current restrictions, 1,934 drivers were cited in Pennsylvania in 2024, according to the Administrative
Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC).
Of those, 21 were filed in Washington County. Fayette County had eight people cited for distracted driving, and Greene County, five.
Paul Miller’s Law states that “no driver shall use an interac-
tive mobile device while driving a motor vehicle.”
Gagliardi said the language of the new law may seem simple, but applies across a broad range of circumstances.
An “interactive mobile device” is not limited to just cellphones, but any electronic device. Also, the device cannot touch any part of the body.
Gagliardi said troopers often encounter drivers resting their phones on their legs.
“They don’t want you having this phone anywhere near you. Not in your hands, not on your legs,” Gagliardi said. “To double down on that, you can’t reach for the device in a manner that requires the driver to maneuver from the seated position.”
That means if your phone falls to the floor on the passenger side of your car, you should leave it there until reaching your destination.
Also, the law still applies at red lights and in standstill traffic.
“You still are considered in operation of the motor vehicle,” Gagliardi said.
There is an exception in the law allowing drivers to make emergency calls to 911, and drivers will still be able to make hands-free calls using bluetooth or features like Apple CarPlay. Tom Kolencik, public information officer for Uniontown police, said distracted driving does not come up much as an issue for their department.
“It’s more of an open road thing. It does seem to me that people aren’t on their cellphones talking and texting as much. It seems they are paying attention,” Kolencik said.
Still, officers will be keeping an eye out as the new law goes into effect.
“It will definitely be something that we will be looking for to deter accidents,” Kolencik said. When enforcement begins on June 5, police will only be able to issue written warnings for the first year. Beginning June 5, 2026, driver’s caught violating the law will be fined $50, plus court costs.
“Enforcement is not always just a citation. We can enforce the law through education and warnings,” Gagliardi said.
Upper St. Clair plans community day
Upper St. Clair Community Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 17. This year’s theme is Saddle-Up, St. Clair!
Events include a Fun Run/ Walk, Hottest Dog Contest, Toddler Trot, Baking Contest and Community Foundation Duck Race. In addition, attendees can watch the parade, tour Gilfillan Farm and the Log House, and visit the many activity/food booths representing organizations from throughout the USC community.
This year marks the return of the Fun Run/Walk, which had been a highlight of the annual event for many years but had been sidelined since the pandemic. Participants can choose between a 3-mile or a 1-mile course starting at the high school stadium. The cost is $5 to participate or $15 with an official USC Community Day T-shirt.
The Fun Run/Walk kicks off at 9 a.m. and is immediately followed by games, music, and the opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Throughout the day, activities will be located on the high school campus,
along McLaughlin Run Road from the activity center to the library, and at the Log House and Gilfillan Farm.
Parking is available on the high school campus, at Eisenhower Elementary and Fort
Couch Middle School. Complimentary shuttle bus service will be provided throughout the day.
First established in 1978, Community Day is a collaborative effort between the Upper St. Clair School District, the Township of Upper St. Clair, community groups and local businesses.
Upper St. Clair High School Student Council plays an important role in the planning and coordination of the annual event. Students choose the theme and design the T-shirts; set up the tables and chairs in the booth area; coordinate the parade, opening ceremonies, Toddler Trot, run/walk and the live music in the baseball field; promote the day and its events; run an information station throughout the day; oversea the shuttle and reserved parking areas; and clean up at the end of the event.
Youngsters enjoy festivities, including the parade, during last year’s community day in Upper St. Clair.
METROCREATIVE Beginning June 5, drivers will be prohibited from using cellphones under a new bill signed into law last year by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Running the gauntlet
BP successfully navigates Section 5A to claim banner
By Eleanor Bailey Almanac Sports Editor
ebailey@thealmanac.net
South Fayette manager Ken Morgan summed up Section 2 baseball in Class 5A of the WPIAL as a “gauntlet” that enables the survivors to prevail in the playoffs, which commence May 12 and culminate in the championships to be held May 27-28 at EQT Park in Washington.
“For years, it seems like this little southern belt section has been a gauntlet. It’s good preparation for the postseason if you’re fortunate enough to get there.”
As of April 30, only Bethel Park (8-3, 13-4) had clinched a playoff berth in the division that includes Peters Township (6-4, 11-6), Upper St. Clair (5-4, 7-5), South Fayette (5-5, 9-6), Trinity (4-6, 7-8), Chartiers Valley (3-6, 6-10) and Moon (3-6, 3-10). Only the top four teams qualify for the postseason.
“It’s a shame someone from this section has to miss the playoffs,” said BP manager Patrick Zehnder.
With their 8-1 triumph at Chartiers Valley on April 28, the Black Hawks sealed their 36th section banner in program history.
Bethel Park has reached the WPIAL finals 12 times and the PIAA championships six times. Under Zehnder they have captured two state crowns but no district banners although they competed in the 2021, 2023 and 2024 WPIAL finals.
“We expect to be in contention to earn WPIAL and PIAA championships,” Zehnder said. “We know the road is never easy.”
The 2025 campaign has been a challenge. The balanced division has yielded 11 splits in meetings between the teams. Seldom have there been sweeps. The Black Hawks went 2-0 against arch rival USC as well as Moon and were working on a sweep of CV. They were leading, 2-0, when storms on April 29
postponed the completion of the contest for the following day.
While BP leads the league in sweeps over opponents, the victories have been by one- or two-run margins.
“Absolutely,” Zehnder said. “Playing close games against so many quality teams week in and week out definitely prepares us for the playoffs where every game is close.”
Zehnder noted that the Hawks have been in extra-inning games. They have been up early and down early.
“Pretty much every situation you can be in, we have experienced it in our regular season.”
While the Black Hawks entered the season as favorites because they returned seven starters from last year’s WPIAL runner-up squad that finished 16-8-1 overall after falling to Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs, they experienced several setbacks to key personnel this spring.
Starting left fielder and pitcher Ryan Walsh was lost for the season when he had a rib removed because of a blood clot in his lung. The senior, who suf-
Lebo duo doubles up for WPIAL runner-up honors
By Eleanor Bailey Almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.net
Luca Ritivoi and Mark Summers took a little break from the singles scene recently. Mt. Lebanon’s No. 1 and No. 2 tennis players joined forces a few weeks ago and immediately embraced success.
After claiming the Section 4 championship, the duo finished runner-up in the WPIAL during the Class 3A doubles tournament.
“We’re normally singles players,” explained Summers. “The combination worked out well for us. Definitely,” he added.
For Ritivoi, it was a refreshing change of pace. He is one of the top-ranked singles players in the region and has focused on tournaments and “competitive practices” to improve that aspect of his game for the past few years.
“(Playing) doubles is fun. Exciting,” he said. “It’s more fast-paced and more action-packed.”
brother, Adam, for the win in 2023.
“They were pretty overpowering and a lot more consistent than us,” Ritivoi said.
“It was a good match and well-played by them,” Summers added.
Summers said that teamwork enabled the Blue Devils to advance through the section and district tournaments as well as earn them a spot in the PIAA doubles championships to be held May 23-24 at the Hershey Racquet Club.
“We’ve played well together,” he said. “We know each other well and in our games. Mine and Luca’s games suit each other really well.”
The duo said they will regroup. They hope to challenge for a state title.
“We are going to practice on what we didn’t do well,” Summers said. “We didn’t serve as well as we had to in order to win WPIALs and we have to volley a lot better. Keep practicing and getting better is how we get ready for states.”
fered a knee injury his sophomore year, is a Virginia Tech recruit.
“No one puts more time into caring for their body than Ryan does, and he has suffered multiple big ‘freak’ injuries over the last four to five years that could have derailed his dreams of playing bigtime baseball,” Zehnder said.
“He continues to battle through that adversity with the mental toughness and attitude that few people have of any age. He has every excuse to feel sorry for himself and let it affect the way he interacts and leads others, but he continues to make the best of the way things have turned out for him. When he is on the other side of this, he will be an unstoppable force.” Zehnder predicted.
The Black Hawks could be unstoppable in the playoffs if several other players continue to bounce back.
Dylan Paul, the team’s No. 2 pitcher, has battled arm issues since the Peters Township series, a 6-4, 1-6 split back in mid-April. The Hawks hope Paul can at least “swing” the bat because he has been one of the team’s top hitters in the playoffs last year.
By Eleanor Bailey Almanac Sports Editor
ebailey@thealmanac.net
Jonah Jasek and Steven Duing
claimed WPIAL gold medals in comeback fashion during the Class 2A doubles tournament played April 22-23 at Bethel Park High School.
The South Park juniors rallied after dropping the first set in a tiebreaker and defeated the tandem of Landon Harclerode and Tyler Quinn from Valley in the finals, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4. In the third set, they trailed, 3-2, before winning four of the last five games.
“It was a tough match, but we kept each other positive,” said Duing. “After the tiebreaker we wanted to be more aggressive and start playing more to win.”
Ritivoi and Summers certainly breezed through the competition.
They opened WPIAL championship play with pro set wins against Greater Latrobe’s Blaise Bukovac and Eli McKeever, 10-1, and North Allegheny’s Ronit Ginde and Shivum Telang, 10-7.
Ritivoi and Summers outlasted the Fox Chapel duo of Mason Friday and Frank Siegel in the semifinals. After dropping the first set, the Lebo tandem won straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.
They ran into a roadblock in the championship played April 23 at Bethel Park High School when they faced seasoned veterans Zidaan Hassan and Logan Memije.
The Gateway duo claimed their second straight doubles title, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, against Ritivoi and Summers. It was the third doubles title for Hassan, who combined with Memjie’s older
Jasek added that the pair “played hesitant in the first set” before recovering for the victory, which South Park head coach Dawn Kempton dubbed “hard-fought.”
Kempton reminded Duing and Jasek to relax and return to what has worked for them in the past.
I told them to go have some fun, enjoy it and then let them do their thing,” she said. “They knew they needed to be more aggressive and go to the net more. They have played together for 5-6 years and they feed off each other.”
Duing and Jasek entered the tournament as the No. 1 seeds. They made it to the championship match by beating Quaker Valley’s Will Meagher and Matthew Henry, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals. They opened tourna-
Rivitoi added, “I think we just need to work on finishing points that we should have, and I think it will be good from there. We had our chances, but (a WPIAL title) wasn’t meant to be.”
A WPIAL team title might be as the Blue Devils are seeded No. 3 in the Class 3A tournament after winning a section title. North Allegheny and Gateway are seeded first and second respectively. First-round action began April 28 with Lebo defeating South Fayette, 4-1. The Blue Devils were scheduled to host Sewickley Academy on April 30 in the quarterfinals. (Results unavailable at presstime.)
While the dates, times and sites for the semifinals were yet to be determined, the Class 3A team championships are set for May 7 at the Janet L. Swanson Tennis Center on
ment action with pro set wins against the tandems of Silas Morris and Tommy Shrum from Greensburg Salem (10-2) as well as Zack Masters and Sean Perez from Beaver (10-0). Duing and Jasek were bronze medalists in 2023. Prior to that, South Park won its only other doubles title in 2021.
“Winning the WPIAL title, is rare. It’s special,” said Kempton, whose daughter, Nicole was a WPIAL girls singles champion in 2022. In 2025, however, it’s been routine for the Eagles. South Park has won WPIAL championships in football and boys soccer. Additionally, Anna Duncan captured a district crown in wrestling at 124.
ELEANOR BAILEY/THE ALMANAC
Mark Summers (left) and Luca Ritivoi (right) combined to claim runner-up honors during the WPIAL Class 3A doubles tournament. The Mt. Lebanon duo dropped straight sets to Zidan Hassan and Logan Memije in the finals.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jonah Jasek (left) and Steven Duing (right) combined to win the Class AA doubles title. The South Park juniors defeated Landon Harclerode and Tyler Quinn from Valley, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4, for the championship.
PHOTOS: ELEANOR BAILEY/THE ALMANAC
Owen White brings the heat to the plate. During Bethel Park’s 4-3 victory over Moon, White struck out seven and scattered three hits in 2 ⅔ innings.
Evan Stanhoff applies the tag on Joshua Longwell to prevent Moon from scoring the tying run in the top of the fifth inning of a 4-3 Bethel Park victory during Section 5A baseball action. Offensively, Stanhoff drove in two runs with a double in the first frame and a single in the bottom of the fourth inning.
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