The 2026 NFL Draft Guide for Washington County Football Fans

 

At the NFL Draft Briefing & Brainstorming Session
 at Acrisure Stadium in February of 2025

The NFL Draft will take over Pittsburgh April 23 - April 25, bringing with it a mix of football-related activities, road closures, and other travel disruptions. The information provided here is for locals who are planning to visit the city for the draft activities. 

As a Washington County commissioner and a member of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, I have attended National Football League briefings in preparation for the league’s second biggest event next to the Super Bowl. According to the NFL's website, "the three-day event is expected to draw representatives from all 32 NFL teams, top player prospects from the most iconic football conferences in the nation and between 500,000 to 700,000 fans. The economic impact of previous Draft destinations has ranged between $120 million to upwards of $213 million..." In preparation for this event, the SPC published this guide to the draft: https://www.spcregion.org/2026/03/31/the-nfl-draft-is-almost-here-your-complete-transportation-guide-for-the-event/

The Pittsburgh skyline in April of 2026

While the actual draft-related activities are free, visitors should be prepared to pay dearly for lodging, parking, food, and drinks while visiting Pittsburgh. According to the Visit Pittsburgh website, you must register for free access to the Draft Campus by using the NFL OnePass app or by visiting NFL.com/DraftAccess at which point you will receive a QR code that will be scanned upon entry. If you do not have a smartphone, on-site registration will be available through the Fan Services staff. It must also be noted that attendees will pass through security screening when entering the Draft campus. The NFL Draft follows a clear bag policy consistent with NFL events and the policy can be viewed, along with the policy of prohibited items, by visiting NFL.com

Once you have a Draft Access pass, you will be able to watch a total of 257 draft picks spread over seven rounds at Point State Park and Acrisure Stadium. Click on the following link to see the complete 2026 NFL Draft round-by-round order; the compensatory draft picks; and the rules of the draft: https://operations.nfl.com/journey-to-the-nfl/the-nfl-draft/2026-nfl-draft/

Chase Mitchell courtesy of the
 Vanderbilt University website. 

In Washington County, the hotels are prepared for Pittsburgh’s over-flow of guests, and the city of Washington is hosting a pre-draft party from 4 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22 to honor Chase Mitchell, a prospective draft pick who is a Washington High School graduate and offensive lineman at Vanderbilt University. This event will be held at the Main Street Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Washington. Click here to read more about Mitchell https://vucommodores.com/roster/chase-mitchell/

Visitors will be able to walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge,
 which will be closed to vehicle traffic during the draft.

The Visit Pittsburgh website notes that the Draft Theater and Main Stage, where the televised pick selections will take place, will be located just outside of Acrisure Stadium on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. A Fan Festival will be held at Point State Park, and will feature interactive activities, youth programming, food, beverages and immersive NFL exhibits. Fans can use the Roberto Clemente Bridge (a.k.a. the Sixth Steet Bridge which will be closed to vehicle traffic) and the Gateway Clipper Fleet to travel between the two sites. Here is the link to the Gateway Clipper’s shuttle services page: https://www.gatewayclipper.com/shuttle-service/

For information about additional transportation services including city Football Flyer bus routes, light rail Pittsburgh Regional Transit services, and road closures you can visit the Airport Corridor Transportation Association page: https://actapgh.org/getting-to-and-around-the-2026-nfl-draft/ Another resource for transportation information is the Visit Pittsburgh’s link to the NFL Draft: Road Closures & Traffic Changes: https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/nfl-draft-pittsburgh/nfl-draft-central/nfl-draft-pittsburgh-transportation-guide/nfl-draft-road-closures-traffic-changes/

According to the SPC, Sheetz has partnered with PRT to make light rail and the Monongahela Incline completely free from April 23 through 25. The free-fare initiative covers all travel on the Red, Blue, and Silver lines with no tickets, transit cards or apps required to board. Fans can use the Gateway, Wood Street, Steel Plaza or First Avenue stations for rides to North Side Station. Riders should note that Allegheny Station will be closed April 22 through 25 and should plan to use North Side Station instead. 

Because of the planned road closures, Washington County residents might want to park their cars and  consider taking a bus into the city.

Jeff Kotula, Chairman of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Promotion Agency, recommends using Freedom Transit’s normal route, which includes various departing times from Washington County (Jessop Place Park and Ride; Beau Street Park and Ride; and Southpointe Park and Ride) between 12:05 p.m. and 5:25 p.m.  Freedom Transit has also added three return trips from Pittsburgh back to Washington at 10 p.m., 11:30 p.m. and 12:15 p.m. Click here to visit the Freedom Transit website for more information: https://freedom-transit.org/nfldraft/

Kotula pointed out that Freedom Transit is awaiting information from PRT as to where the bus stops will be located downtown, so be sure to check the Freedom Transit website for updates. Freedom Transit bus tickets, which cost $4 one way, can be downloaded from the Freedom Transit app. Cash is also accepted on the bus.

The Mid Mon Valley Transit Authority is also providing routes for the draft and Kotula provided this link for additional information: https://mmvta.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/NFL-Draft-Flyer.pdf

For those who can’t attend the draft, they can watch the picks on the NFL Network, ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and on NFL+ with Round 1 beginning on Thursday, April 23.

Here are some additional links to help you plan your NFL Draft experience:

 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s interactive NFL Draft Guide:

 https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/2026-nfl-draft-pittsburgh/

 

WESA FM’s Draft Guide

https://www.wesa.fm/pittsburgh-2026-nfl-draft

 

WPXI’s Draft Guide

https://www.wpxi.com/nfldraft/

 

 Larry Maggi is a retired trooper with the Pennsylvania State Police, a former Washington County Sheriff, and a member of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, serving over 209,000 constituents in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Larry Maggi

Washington County Commissioner

maggil@co.washington.pa.us

 

 

The Karate-Style Murder that Haunted Washington County 40 Years Ago

 

I saw things that I will never unsee and discovered details so explicit that I will never be able to forget the karate-style murder of three elderly East Washington women on June 21, 1985.

Although I typically write about my role as a Washington County Commissioner, I’ve been thinking about the 30-plus major crimes I investigated while serving with the Pennsylvania State Police from 1978 to 1998 with Troop B in Washington. Like you, I’ve watched many television shows and movies where technology, DNA analysis, and dramatic scenarios are used to solve and break cases wide open. However, I will give insight about the behind-the-scenes activities, hunches, knowledge of the area, investigative processes, hard work, and the luck needed to solve a major crime.

Coincidentally, we are coming up on the 40-year anniversary of a particularly heinous crime that was solved quickly due to hard work and luck.

Lucille Horner, 88; Minnie Warwick, 86; and 85-year-old Sarah Kuntz, were brutally murdered during the summer of 1985. Roland William Steele, 35, of Canonsburg, formerly of Collier Township, was eventually convicted of three counts of first-degree murder for their deaths, two counts of robbery, and two counts of theft by unlawful taking. He was sentenced to three separate death sentences for the first-degree murder convictions.

I remember this case well, because I had just been assigned to the criminal investigation unit for Troop B about a week before. On this particular Saturday, I reported to the State Police barracks, where the criminal unit was advised that three bodies had been discovered off a dirt road in a wooded and secluded area of Interstate 79 in Cecil Township, near the current location of Southpointe. Our investigative team proceeded to the scene along with Washington County Coroner Farrell Jackson and members of the Cecil Township Police Department.

A team of investigators processed the scene by taking photographs, measurements, and collecting any type of evidence that could help solve this crime. I was relatively new at this type of work, and I did what some of the more experienced investigators told me to do. The bodies of the victims were taken to the county morgue at Washington Hospital, where autopsies were conducted by Dr. Earnest L. Abernathy of Washington County. Without getting into the graphic details, it was determined that all three victims died from blunt force trauma that had been inflicted all over their bodies. It was as if human hands had delivered each deadly karate-type blow. Dr. Abernathy placed the time of deaths between approximately 12:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 1985.  

Like every murder case, all resources and manpower were used to investigate. After the scene was processed, the victims identified, and the cause of death determined, the team met to discuss the case and map out a course of action. Each investigator was given their assignment and duties and this is my recollection of the events and a brief synopsis of the facts and the processes that led to solving the case and the conviction of Steele.

Mrs. Horner, Mrs. Warwick, and Mrs. Kuntz had all attended a volunteer luncheon at the Club International at the Millcraft Center on West Chestnut Street in Washington at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 1985. They had driven together in Mrs. Horner’s beige four-door Dodge Dart. A witness later reported that on that afternoon she was looking out of her apartment window overlooking the Millcraft Center’s parking lot, when she saw an elderly woman standing next to a car talking to a bald, well-dressed African American man. She saw the man pointing to the rear of the car as if something was wrong with it. The two got into the car and the witness watched them drive away and pick up the two other ladies, who were waiting for them by the Millcraft Center. Another witness observed a man of the same description help the other two ladies into the back seat of the vehicle before driving away at approximately 2:30 pm. The bodies, which had been hidden under a pile of old tires, were discovered during the early morning hours of Saturday, June 22, 1985.

The first 48 hours in a homicide investigation is particularly important, as this time is used to gather as much information as possible by interviewing witnesses and collecting information for analysis and processing. Numerous investigators must work together and as quickly as possible because it is often a race against time. We stopped every vehicle near the crime scene for two days, we interviewed the owner of a local gas station who spoke to Steele who was driving Mrs. Horner’s car, and we arranged for witnesses to look at a photo lineup of suspects.

This is when I learned just how important it is to pay attention to every detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem. As we assembled during those early hours of Saturday, June 22, I was assigned to work with veteran criminal investigator Trooper Barry Beels. We left the barracks on Murtland Avenue to make the 1-mile trek to the Washington County Courthouse and as we drove down Ridge Avenue near Highland and North Lincoln streets in the City of Washington, Trooper Beels noticed Roland Steele walking down the empty street.

“There’s Roland Steele,” he said as we drove by. “I didn’t know he was out of prison.”

Trooper Beels knew Steele because he had arrested him before for criminal activity. He knew that Steele had subsequently been convicted, sentenced to jail, and had now, apparently, had been released. At this time, we didn’t have a description of the killer or any information that would lead us to believe that Steele could have been involved in the crime. Nothing more was said about Steele until witnesses were interviewed and details started to immerge that led Trooper Beels to make the connection between Steele and the witness accounts. The accounts included reports of a man (matching Steele description) giving Mrs. Warnick’s locket to a child at a gas station, and an account from a Collier Township woman who said a man matching Steele’s description had tried to lure her into her car by telling her she had a flat tire.

The keen observations of Trooper Beels and the witnesses are what cracked this case, leading to the swift arrest of Steele that weekend in McKees Rocks. I can’t stress enough how important it is for the average person to pay attention to what they see and hear and to report this information to investigators. We often think crimes are solved with high tech, DNA analysis, cell phone tracking, computers, and a myriad of other tools. While these are important, crimes are often solved with the help of observant people who remember the details of what they saw and heard or by the intuition of an investigator who was in the right place and the right time.

Steele’s trial was held at the Washington County Courthouse from January 10-22, 1986, and he was convicted by a jury after only 45 minutes of deliberation. Steele, a.k.a. the Karate Killer, was sentenced to death on March 25, 1988, and on April 1, 2009, Pennsylvania Governor Ed. Rendell signed an execution warrant, with his execution by lethal injection set for June 18, 2009. At the time, Steele who was being held in SCI Green, received a stay of execution. Today, the 78-year-old Steele remains on death row in the Pennsylvania State Correctional system. During his trial it was revealed that Steele had a black belt in karate, his motive to kill was robbery, and that in the past he had received the Carnegie Medal of Bravery for saving a young boy from being hit by a train. I heard through the correctional-facility grapevine that because of the notoriety of this infamous crime, Steele was given a misguided respect by his peers in jail.

When the murders occurred, I had already served 12 years on the state police force, and I thought I had seen all the savagery society had to offer. But this case was a brutal wakeup call for me and for the residents of Washington County. Now, forty years later, it’s still hard to fathom why anyone would use their strength to brutally bludgeon three loving, trusting, and helpless grandmothers.

A photo of me when I served with the Pennsylvania State Police.

Larry Maggi

maggil@co.washington.pa.us

Washington Mall: Big Plans & Big Memories

Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi looks at the old J.C. Penny entrance to the Washington Mall on February 20, 2025.

As a Washington County Commissioner, I’m pleased to announce that there are big plans for the old Washington Mall property.

The mall, which opened to the public on October 17, 1968, was a wonderful asset to our county for decades. But in recent years the mall hit hard times, formally closed in 2014, and has sat mostly abandoned at the intersection of Interstates 79 and 70 ever since. As Washington County grew and prospered, this former shopping destination proved to be a waste of prime real estate.   

We announced yesterday that federal stimulus funds through the county’s blight mitigation program are earmarked to raze portions of the building to make way for new development. This process took decades to negotiate and has been a long time in coming. Now, I look forward to seeing new businesses in this area.

It was a big deal when the $6 million mall opened 56 years ago on a 40-acre tract of land. It was the perfect place to meet with friends and neighbors as they strolled the halls and shopped.

On the day of the grand opening, it was such big news and our local newspaper the Washington Observer-Reporter sent photographers to snap the amazing photos I’ve included with this story. These pictures are proof that the Washington Mall was the place to be.

Observer-Reporter photo of the ribbon cutting on October 17, 1968

I remember eating hot dogs at Shorty’s, grabbing a famous stromboli at Pizza Boy, and enjoying a chocolate peanut butter ice cream cone, which was my favorite of the 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins. For special occasions, our family went to the old 21^st Amendment Restaurant and Lounge for great food.

Observer-Reporter photo October 17, 1968

In November of 1972, I took my wife to the theater for a first date to see a re-showing of the 1965 movie Dr. Zhivago. When our daughter Bronwyn came along, we took her to the mall to sit on Santa’s lap, and I would sneak over to do “Santa Shopping” at Toys ‘R Us.

I also remember taking my state police uniforms to Imperial Cleaners to have them dry cleaned. Then, when I was promoted to my new assignment as a criminal investigator, I went to the J.C. Penney store to buy new suits and sport coats.

Observer-Reporter photo October 17, 1968

When I left the state police barracks after my shift, I would often get prescriptions filled at Thrift Drugs, pick up items at G. C. Murphy Co., and grab a gallon of milk at Giant Eagle. Of course, I'd also get a treat at Best Yet Donuts, which was located in the middle of the mall.

Observer-Reporter photo October 17, 1968

Observer-Reporter photo October 17, 1968

But one of my favorite places to visit was National Record Mart, where I could spend hours flipping through records to add to  my collection. I’m really dating myself now, but I remember going to this store to buy a Creedence Clearwater Revival album, or as called the band - CCR.

Today’s Washington Observer-Reporter stated that only two tenants remain on the property: Grand China Buffet and Harbor Freight. It’s not certain if these establishments will remain once portions of the mall are razed. It was also reported earlier this month that a recreational vehicle dealer plans to set up shop at the site of the former Toys ‘R Us and Giant Eagle locations.

Although I have many fond memories of the old Washington Mall and I’m sad that it suffered a tragic fate, my hope is that it sees brighter days, is a beacon of local commerce, and that it is once again a destination for our residents and those who travel through Washington County. It’s progress like this that makes me proud to be a Washington County Commissioner. 

For more information about the project, please check out this link to today’s story in the Washington Observer-Reporter.

 

Commissioner Maggi with the Washington Mall in the background.

 

Larry Maggi

maggil@co.washington.pa.us

Here are more photos of the Washington Mall's Grand Opening:

Observer-Reporter photo October 17, 1968

Observer-Reporter photo October 17, 1968

The Trinity High School Band performed at the grand opening of the
Washington Mall on October 17, 1968. Observer-Reporter photo.

Free Fraud Alert System: An Easy Way to Protect Your Property

Recorder of Deeds Carrie Perrell spoke at last week's Commissioners' meeting about her efforts to keep your property safe.

She explained that her office has a system that allows you to monitor your property. If you are a Washington County property owner, click on this link https://landex.com/recordalert/washington and complete the form to enroll in a free fraud alert system.

Once you have completed this easy task, you will be registered with Landex to receive a text or an email notification if and when documents pertaining to your property are filed at the Recorder of Deeds Office. 

Carrie is to be commended for taking these extra measures to keep you informed about one of your most valuable assets - your property.

The Recorder of Deeds Office is located at 95 West Beau Street, Suite 520, Washington, PA 15301. Please call 724-228-6806 is you have any questions or concerns. 

Larry Maggi

maggil@co.washington.pa.us 

 

 

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my newsletter, or as they call it today - a blog.

Life is a journey and mine is one dedicated to public service.

As a lifelong resident of Washington County, I started out as a kid in Claysville, served with the U.S. Marine Corp and then as a trooper with the Pennsylvania State Police. I later served as the Washington County Sheriff and I'm currently a Washington County Commissioner, a member of the PennWest California Board of Trustees, a wrestling official, and a member of the American Legion and other veterans' organizations. Most importantly, I'm a husband, a father, and a very proud Pappy.

This blog will serve as a place to provide information to my constituents in Washington County, share memories, and write about my favorite place: Washington County.

Please check my Facebook Page for updates.

Enjoy the ride.

Larry

Larry Maggi

maggil@co.washington.pa.us