Lehigh County News

A new study released by the nonprofit group TRIP found that about a third of the Lehigh Valley's local roads are in poor condition. About 26% of Pennsylvania's local roads earned the same rating.

Christopher Fitzgerald was a former Lehigh County corrections officer and is the son of former Allentown Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald. He was the first Temple University officer killed in the line of duty.

School directors unanimously approved the $78.9 million budget at their Monday meeting.

The federal tax and spending bill, dubbed by President Donald Trump as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” includes eliminating electric vehicle tax credits after this year. Advocates called on senators to put them back.

In addition to the Kline’s Island Sewer System, or KISS, regional wastewater plan, committee members advanced the Lehigh Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan to the full commission.

If later approved by state lawmakers, the minimum wage in Bethlehem in particular would jump to $11 and would be increased incrementally each year thereafter as part of State House Bill 1150, officials said Tuesday.

Police said Amir Sims-Watson, 17, opened fire on a group of pedestrians in Allentown before robbing a woman at gunpoint at Trexler Middle School. Two other teens are charged in the shooting.

With the Lehigh Valley under an extreme heat warning through Wednesday, area doctors are urging residents to keep hydrated and stay cool.

School directors voted 5-4 to remove Emily Gehman as school board president. School director Stephen Maund was subsequently elected to serve out the rest of Gehman's leadership term, which ends in December.

The U.S. Senate could vote on the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act this week. If passed, millions of Americans would lose access to Medicaid and SNAP benefits in order to fund border security and tax cuts to wealthy Americans.

Over the last three decades, more than 400 farms have been preserved in Lehigh County. The program aims to ward off development and protect open spaces.

Grant applications for the Municipal Opportunities for Retrofits and Energy Efficiency, or MORE, Program are open. Loans are also available through a Lehigh Valley lender.

Borough council debated the merits of a LERTA plan for the construction of apartments on 300 Furnace Street, a long-vacant former industrial site

Parkland School Board on Tuesday will vote on whether to accept district Director of Performing Arts Frank Anonia’s resignation, effective June 21, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Lowhill Township lost an appeal to a deemed approval for a warehouse plan on Betz Court. But about a week earlier, the state DEP preliminarily denied a permit for that same warehouse plan.

PennDOT announced its list of upcoming seasonal driver license, photo and other service centers, as well as road trip tips and travel construction delays.

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.

Three farms in Lehigh and Northampton counties were the latest to be included in the state’s Farmland Preservation Program. The program aims to ward off development and protect open spaces.

South Whitehall Planning Commission recommended final approval for Phase 1C of Ridge Farms, a development that would include housing, shops and outdoor eateries.

On Sunday morning, the Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ in Allentown will hold its reopening worship service for the first time since it closed in 2022.

The huge project came before the township again, this time for updates related to road usage.

The mural, by artist Mercedes Salazar, is a collaboration with Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance, Community Action of Development of Allentown, The Chamber Foundation and Allentown Mural Arts.