Environment & Science

The Bethlehem Parking Authority was granted $15,000 to buy two electric vehicles.

The meteorological winter of 2022-23 is now in the books as the 7th warmest on record in the Lehigh Valley, but a potent storm system is heading this way.

Forecasters say another system will target the Mid-Atlantic region on Friday, and it will likely bring another shot of frozen precipitation to the area.

Lower Saucon Township residents opposing the landfill expansion who received party status are permitted to ask questions of witnesses, present evidence, make arguments, and are allowed to participate in an appeal.

Our daily list of useful information, chosen to inform and enhance your day, includes news you can use and then some!

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory starting Monday night into Tuesday morning for the Lehigh Valley region. Hazardous conditions could affect the Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning commutes, according to the advisory.

Shipments of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line will resume Monday.

Scholl Orchards installed towering wind machines on its land in Kempton, Berks County, in a battle to ward off frost. It's necessary with warming winters to protect the trees from damage.

In October, months before the East Palestine derailment, the company also directed a train to keep moving with an overheated wheel that caused it to derail miles later in Sandusky, Ohio.

An unseasonably warm winter has people thinking their pollen allergies are already acting up. But other temperature-related causes can trigger allergy-like symptoms.

The box tree moth, a highly destructive, invasive insect, was discovered for the first time in Pennsylvania, in two cemeteries in Erie County. A quarantine has been issued.

The “Stanley Jr. Kids Wheelbarrow and 7-piece Garden Set" has been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after the paint on the hoe and rake were found to contain lead levels exceeding the federal content ban.

Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire. This week, they look ahead to the Autumnal Equinox.

SpaceX’s capsule Polaris Dawn splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico in the predawn darkness early Sunday. Returning to Earth were two SpaceX engineers, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman of the Lehigh Valley. Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk.

A Lehigh University graduate last year recorded a new species of mushroom at Wildlands Conservancy's South Mountain Preserve.

Monarch butterflies are starting to migrate through the Lehigh Valley. An annual tagging program, held at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, helps conservation efforts.

Called the Recovery in Nature initiative, two state departments have joined forces to create regional-specific partnerships to bolster substance use recovery efforts while strengthening all residents’ connection to nature.

While Tropical Storm Francine and its remnants will not be moving this way, it will play a role in the Lehigh Valley’s weather pattern for the next few days.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America released its report of the most challenging places to live with asthma. The release coincides with peak asthma season in September.

Early Tuesday, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who has a home in the Lehigh Valley, launched into space for a second time as part of a mission dubbed Polaris Dawn. The launch was visible in the area.

Awardees of the state Department of Education’s Environmental Repairs Grant program were announced Monday. It focuses on eliminating lead, mold, asbestos and other environmental hazards from school buildings.

Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire. This week should be a good one for viewing the planet Saturn.