Health & Wellness News

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.

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.

The funding, through the Livable Landscape program, was unanimously approved at the county council’s June 18 meeting.

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.

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.

Proposed federal budget cuts would impact programs such as the free summer meal program for children in the Allentown School District.

The $2.75 million payment to the federal government resolves allegations that a pharmacy technician stole controlled substances on about 40 occasions and the health network failed to institute proper controls.

Despite not being approved for human consumption, veterinary tranquilizers are infiltrating the illicit drug supply in Pennsylvania. Harm reduction specialists and health care professionals say these overdoses can't be approached solely with naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug.

A generous donation from a Lehigh Valley native and others funds free swim lessons for children and adults in the River Crossing YMCA's Safety Around Water, or SAW, swim education program.

The bill would limit the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, beginning in 2026.

Xylazine, an animal-grade tranquilizer that's not approved for human use, has taken Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply by storm. Known on the streets as "tranq," it accounted for almost 1 in 4 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by 2023. Last year in Lehigh County, it was a contributing cause of death in 20 of the 112 deadly overdoses, or 17.9 percent of cases.

The funding comes from the commonwealth’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

JOSHWAY, a local youth-focused nonprofit organization, is holding the community event Saturday. Registration is required.

Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley received a $35,000 donation from The Giant Company.

A vibrant new mural by artist Matt Halm now brightens Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital’s Allentown campus. It was created with help from patients, staff, and volunteers.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at David and Jackie Jaindl Family Birth and Newborn Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

One of more than 300 indoor pickleball locations nationwide will plant roots in Whitehall Township. The Lehigh Valley's first Pickleball Kingdom is expected to open in mid-November.

The machine is available 24/7 and is located outside the Lehigh Conference of Churches at 457 W. Allen St. in Allentown.

Community Bike Works received more than $600,000 from the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study to fund its bicycle safety and repair program for students in the Lehigh Valley.

In an email, Allentown School District said mold spores were found in several elementary school classrooms. Remedial action has been taken, the district said in a release, and the classrooms will be tested ahead of the first day of school.

Allentown received $1.5 million in grants from the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study to address transportation safety and carbon emissions in the city.

Two baby kangaroos from a Central Pennsylvania farm entertained residents at Fellowship Community retirement community in Whitehall Township on Friday.

Administrators of the Northampton County-owned Gracedale nursing home shared a new strategic plan Thursday. One key priority: recruiting new nurses and nurse aides to fill hundreds of open positions.

Six entrepreneurs pitched their projects to judges during StartUp Lehigh Valley event at Musikfest Cafe on Tuesday night.