Lehigh County News

Since it's not a presidential or midterm election, the 2023 municipal primary election may have snuck up on folks. If that surprises you, here are some other things you may not know about how our local elections are run.

Gavin Holihan, the uncontested candidate for Lehigh County district attorney, has been endorsed by incumbent Republican Jim Martin and Democratic County Executive Phil Armstrong, among others.

Three candidates for the local office said they focused on juggling campaign tasks around full-time jobs in the lead-up to the primary election. All were driven by a desire to educate voters and help people understand county government and its services.

They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.

National issues are seeping into local races, turning elections into proxy partisan fights over race and gender.

Local elections rarely get the same level of participation as presidential races, but the outcomes often have greater impacts on voters' quality of life.

Like all the other major cities in the Lehigh Valley, Allentown is a patchwork of neighborhoods, some with good tree cover and some without any. Officials plan to use a mapping tool as a starting point to make planting trees city-wide more equitable.

Former journalist Ann Wlazelek pays tribute to her mother in a new book.

Debates in the South Whitehall commissioners race have taken place on the candidate's Facebook pages. The posts have primarily debated candidate Ben Long's positions and campaign style.

Concerts on the Grange is a two-day music festival that continues at 5:30 p.m. today, May 13, with tribute acts portraying The Doors and The Grateful Dead. Tickets, at $22 and $34, remain available on the SteelStacks website.

Determining it does not conform with FutureLV, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday night voted against a 547,500-square-foot warehouse project in North Whitehall Township.

A development project to create more than 400 apartments at the vacant Dixie Cup factory in Wilson Borough took another step toward fruition at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission meeting on Thursday night.

For the second time in three months, the Mackenzie campaign has demanded U.S. Rep. Susan Wild apologize for what it described as offensive remarks. The latest skirmish came after Wild challenged U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson's support for first responders.

Tourism is an integral part of the Lehigh Valley’s economic engine, officials said Thursday, accounting for millions of visitors each year and equating to billions in economic impact.

The mural, which would be adjacent to the Lehigh County Government Center, would depict birds in flight and join a slate of other murals that have recently gone up in downtown Allentown.

North Whitehall supervisors will host a conditional use hearing on Wednesday, June 5, for a revised plan of the controversial Rising Sun subdivision.

The state Department of Environmental Protection announced $980,000 in grants to promote environmental education and stewardship across the state. Two Lehigh Valley programs received pieces of funding.

The Allentown Parknership made its debut Wednesday at Arts Park. The new nonprofit was funded by a $500,000 gift from the Harry C. Trexler Trust.

State revenue generated by Wind Creek Bethlehem and Mount Airy Casino will help Bangor renovate a fire hall, Lower Nazareth Township purchase a new police vehicle and improve seating at a Freemansburg amphitheater.

In 90 seconds, flames will burn straight through an aircraft, members of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA) Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) Division said Tuesday as they hosted a Live Fire Mobile Simulator and training exercise at Lehigh Valley International Airport.

A proposal to develop the old Dixie Cup factory in Wilson Borough into 405 apartments advanced after review by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Comprehensive Planning Committee.

U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., predicted Lehigh Valley congressional candidate Ryan Mackenzie would carry Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District as part of a wider Republican sweep of Congress and the White House in November.