East Penn News

Candidates for East Penn School Board will participate in a forum tonight at the Univest Public Media Center organized by the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County. There are seven candidates on the ballot, vying for four seats.

Just five months after officially being in business in their recognizable bright yellow teardrop-shaped trailer, co-owners Melinda Schneck and Josh Elmer are expending Roasties Mobile Cafe into a brick-and-mortar coffee shop. It'll take root where the couple says its heart is: Macungie.

The League of Women Voters of Lehigh County will moderate and run the forums in partnership with Lehigh Valley Public Media. Participating will be school board candidates from Allentown, Parkland, East Penn and Southern Lehigh school districts.

The Coalition of Manufactured Home Communities of Pennsylvania held a get-together Wednesday to discuss the lot rental price jumps throughout the communities, and tell residents how they are combatting it.

Tracy and Joshua Dechant, charged with attempting to starve their teen sons to death, have 60 days to find a defense lawyer, a judge said.

Charles Bierbauer earned degrees in journalism and Russian from Penn State University and worked two decades at CNN, starting just a year after the network's inception. He grew up in Allentown.

Upset residents packed the last Upper Milford Township Zoning Hearing Board meeting to voice concerns against a zoning variance request at the TG Countryside ice cream shop. The applicants have withdrawn their request to turn it into a cigar lounge.

Two grieving mothers honor their sons killed in Lehigh Valley motorcycle crashes, urging drivers to be cautious and look twice for riders as fatalities surge on area roads.

Emmaus Borough Council voted Monday to authorize a $685,000 loan from Lehigh County. The borough will pay the county back at 0% interest over the next five years for radios the county purchased.

East Penn School Board voted Monday to pause work toward realigning grades 5-8. District officials will again study possible alternatives.

Next month, Wind Creek Event Center owner Jeff Trainer plans to open The Broken Record, a restaurant in Lower Macungie Township that will combine a broad range of food offerings with a music theme — and perhaps more.

At a Lower Macungie Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, officials praised a data center zoning ordinance under consideration in neighboring Upper Macungie.

Three African Servals escaped from Cricket Wildlife Center after a powerful storm last Wednesday damaged their enclosure. After dozens of reported sightings, two of the wild cats are back, leaving one left to capture.

Three Democrats will join the Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners in January. The trio appear to have become the first Democrats to be elected to the township governing body in more than a half century.

The show runs at 7 p.m. today, Nov. 7, and at the same time Saturday in Emmaus High School’s auditorium. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.

Filmmaker-turned-showrunner Jiah Peck debuts the entire first season of an original comedy series at the Emmaus Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

A Wednesday night storm brought damaging winds to the area, with gusts reaching up to 47 mph. The National Weather Service warned of damage to trees and utilities, and a wildlife center in Berks County suffered just that: A tree fell on an enclosure housing three African servals that have since escaped.

Mackenzie, along with officials from Wildlands Conservancy, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, on Wednesday morning hiked a portion of the property, lauding the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund that helped preserve it.

During a taping of "Business Matters" at WFMZ on Wednesday, Adam and Luke Jaindl, of Jaindl Land Co., gave an update on their project at Lehigh Valley Town Center in Lower Macungie Township.

At a workshop meeting Monday, Lower Macungie officials reviewed plans for a commercial development along Route 100, including the region's first Sprouts Farmers Market.

In a rare tie vote broken by the borough mayor, Macungie Borough Council members Monday moved ahead a measure raising salaries for the municipality's elected officials.

Democrat Sarah Fevig and Republican Patrick Leonard are running to represent Lehigh County's District 5 on its board of commissioners.