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                Stephanie Kasulka/LehighValleyNews.comWith SNAP benefits delayed in November and the holidays approaching, Lehigh Valley residents can help or get help. Here's where to find food pantries, volunteer opportunities, and donation info.
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                Micaela Hood/LehighValleyNews.comU.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, has organized a food drive while pinning the ongoing government shutdown on Senate Democrats. SNAP benefits that help feed millions of low-income Americans are hours away from expiring.
 
Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute now offers treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) with a new system that uses pulsed electrical fields to target problematic heart muscle cells instead of extreme heat or cold.
        
        
    Health & Wellness News
    
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                        A developer's request to split an expansion project at a retirement home complex was approved by Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners on Monday night.
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                        Experts say there’s confusion about how quickly heat and moisture can compromise everyday medicines like insulin, inhalers, blood thinners and common antibiotics.
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                        There are free summer meal sites for kids throughout the Lehigh Valley funded through the Summer Food Service Program.
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                        Lehigh County Board of Commissioners have Ok'd a four-year, $34.6 million contract with PrimeCare Medical to serve inmates in their corrections facilities.
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                        Haven House in Allentown is hosting The Art of Coping, an art exhibition showcasing the healing power of creativity. It features work from Lehigh Valley artists living with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and visual impairments.
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                        The bunch, joined by a dozen more people with signs at nearby intersections, lay along the sidewalk for a “die-in” at Third and Wyandotte Park along Route 378 North.
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                        Members of Easton's Blueprint Communities organization announced their first project, a mural at Chubby's honoring South Side's past, present, and future, on Monday afternoon.
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                        Northampton County and Northampton Community College will offer a free workplace safety training later this month aimed at employees of municipal governments, nonprofits and similar organizations.
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                        The funding, through the Livable Landscape program, was unanimously approved at the county council’s June 18 meeting.
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                        Legislators worked to establish penalties for xylazine use and trafficking in an attempt to lessen its presence in Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply. Some say doing so made way for a new, unclassified veterinary tranquilizer to take its place — medetomidine.
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                        Nearly a year after the Biden administration designated xylazine as an "emerging threat" to the United States, Gov. Josh Shapiro classified it as a schedule III drug, making unauthorized possession a crime in Pennsylvania. Experts say the move has partly served to clear the way for new illicit substances to enter the drug market.
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                        Proposed federal budget cuts would impact programs such as the free summer meal program for children in the Allentown School District.
 
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                        Bethlehem Health Bureau now has a mobile health clinic. The bus will bring healthcare to city residents closer to where they live.
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                        Youth bicyclists and their mentors traveled from across the country to learn and extend their network at the 2024 National Youth Bike Summit at Muhlenberg College this weekend.
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                        Temperatures could reach the low 90s on Monday, with widespread highs in the 90s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
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                        The Lehigh County funded Mid-Atlantic Rehabilitation Services, or MARS, opened a new substance abuse-related treatment center in Allentown on Friday.The FORT program (Families Obtaining Recovery Together) will join the slate of treatment options offered, making this groundbreaking program available to more Lehigh County residents free of charge.
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                        Senate Republicans blocked a vote on a bill that would guarantee access to assisted reproductive technology. The effort came a day after Democrats blocked a Republican effort to penalize states that attempt to ban invitro fertilization treatments.
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                        Allentown police Sgt. Chris Hendricks has worked for years to equip Allentown police vehicles with defibrillators. That work changed his life when he suffered sudden cardiac arrest June 10 during a chase.
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                        A bill aimed at saving local pharmacies with pharmacy benefit manager, or PBMs, reform was touted in Allentown this week. Pennsylvania State Representative Josh Siegel, who represents Lehigh County, joined State Representative Jessica Benham, who represents Allegheny County, at Allentown Pharmacy.
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                        A new report release by the American Heart Association shows the U.S. on trend to have a cardiovascular disease crisis within 30 years. A public poll shows people feel eating healthy is the way to avoid the crisis, but price points and access limit that ability.
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                        Northampton County is mailing out drug disposal pouches to residents. The effort is part of the Fake is Real campaign to fight the opioid epidemic.
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                        In his State of the County address Tuesday, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure offered a 'test' for residents to evaluate his government. His conclusion: "It may be as strong as it's ever been."
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                        Bethlehem native Julianna Rodrigues, who has a form of muscular dystrophy, was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Collaborative at Moravian University, on Tuesday morning.
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                        More than two dozen state legislators, including one from the Lehigh Valley, have co-sponsored HB2238, which would eliminate the use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in household products.