Lehigh County News

Construction of a new Taco Bell was approved by the Whitehall Township Zoning Hearing Board on Tuesday night. The board also approved a zoning variance request, a zoning exemption, and tabled a discussion until May.

Skill games — those machines that look like slot machines in convenience stores and taverns across Pennsylvania — are a potential public safety threat because they deal in cash in places that generally have little or no security procedures in place, according to the state district attorneys association.

Incumbent Rep. Zachary Mako and Slatington Borough Councilman Zachari Halkias are each looking to win the Republican primary and face Democrat Joseph Lenzi in the November general election for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild leads the pack in spending. And along with Republicans Kevin Dellicker, Ryan Mackenzie and Maria Montero, the four have spent more than $660,000 through the first three months of 2024 in their efforts to win Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District seat.

Philadelphia Eagles Safety Reed Blankenship will visit the park as part of its Iron Menace Ride for a Cause event this Friday, which benefits the Eagles Autism Foundation.

Bethlehem native Glen Larimer has authored a book to honor his late father — local sports journalist Terry Larimer.

From April 20 through April 28, residents are invited to join or host a cleanup along a section of the D&L Trail as part of a trash collection competition. Winners will be announced May 3.

Christian Joel Gonzalez Santiago, 29, last month pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor, in the July 31, 2022, crash on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township.

A $1 million state grant funded Bethlehem Area School Board's purchase of the buses as well as the related infrastructure and job training to implement the changes.

The Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed for about six hours in both directions between the Lehigh Valley and Quakertown exits.

Residents of Afton Village in Center Valley spent Tuesday cleaning up after an intense storm rushed through parts of the Lehigh Valley on Monday evening. Most of the damage was limited to toppled trees. No injuries from the storm were reported.

Conditional-use approval is being requested for a 116-unit, age-restricted special care residential community on Rural Road in Whitehall Township. The 55-and-over community would consist of single-family attached and detached dwellings.

Residents near the area had been asked to shelter in place.

Some Lehigh Valley municipalities are dealing with a growing number of at-large, loose or abandoned animals. Salisbury Township is seeing a record-breaking year of dogs escaping from their homes.

WLVR’s Brad Klein speaks with Environment & Science Reporter, Molly Bilinski about the start later this month of the annual Bake Oven Knob Hawk Watch.

Maria Montero, an Easton resident, is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, the incumbent Democrat, in the Lehigh Valley's 2024 congressional race.

A wound care clinic, independent of the area hospitals, is now open in Salisbury Township. The office is staffed with physical therapists to treat a wide range of injuries.

Bill Bachenberg is accused in a $10 million lawsuit of hiring a cybersecurity company to analyze voting machines in Fulton County for voting irregularities but than stiffing it when it found no evidence of voter fraud.

Upper Macungie Police Department has a new K-9 named Nyala. She was introduced at the Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday.

Route 309's improvement plan will be displayed at the South Whitehall Township Municipal Building on Tuesday.

Called “Lehigh Valley Breathes,” the more than $100,000 project includes installing 40 PurpleAir monitors throughout the region. Officials plan to collect data for a year.

The rehab program, if completed succesfully by the accused person, could result in their charges being reduced or dropped before they even make it to court.