Lehigh County News

With the strong possibility of more smoke this summer, the Valley's residents and event organizers are looking to the region’s leaders for guidance — but there’s no continuity or clear thresholds being imposed.

Dieruff High School junior Faith Gross competed against other aspiring actors at talent auditions in Orlando. Gross said she got three callbacks, including from a music producer.

Upper Macungie Township officials answered questions about the approval process of the warehouses on Air Products' land and the plan's design.

The entire Lehigh Valley will remain under a flood watch through Sunday after another round of severe storms hammered the region. Tonight's Heritage Day fireworks show in Easton is postponed again, the city announced. Bushkill Park in Forks Township and parts of the Slate Belt were flooded.

The disease, a relatively new and deadly threat to the American beech, has few treatment options and no known cure.

A couple of factors play into the slumping local market.

Lowhill Township supervisors denied a final plan for a warehouse owned by Core5 Industrial Partners, which is already in litigation with the township.

The Community and The Arts Clean Up aims to combine community service and engagement through a tournament-style competition – with prizes for the team that fills the most trash bags – followed by a gathering with live music and food.

The new service, run by Landline and American Airlines, connects typical airport gates in Allentown with gates in Philadelphia, like any regional jet.

Three new pickleball courts were recently installed at Laurys Firehouse Park in North Whitehall Township. The township Recreation Department is offering lessons there.

The South Whitehall Board of Commissioners is seeking applications to fill a vacant seat. The current commissioners will conduct public interviews with applicants at a special meeting on Dec. 28, then vote to appoint one of them.

The Upper Macungie Planning Commission reviewed a sketch plan for renovations and expansions to Trexler Travel Center on 5829 Tilghman St.

It might seem counterintuitive, but harvesting holiday trees year after year is better for the environment than using an artificial one, experts said, especially amid the proliferation of plastic piling up in landfills.

The Lehigh County Courthouse will be closed Thursday as officials deal with a small electrical fire that occurred early Wednesday morning.

The new position will appear on the ballot in 2025. The Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas had one of the higher caseloads for counties of its size.

Officials on Wednesday reviewed several preliminary transportation policy strategies for the Valley's priority climate action plan. The plan’s focus is to reduce carbon emissions from transportation, a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions across the region.

More than three dozen projects in the Valley were awarded grants, receiving about 7% of the total funding awarded. Statewide, $335 million in grants were announced Wednesday.

KidsPeace, which provides behavioral and mental health services to children, collected about 1,400 toys for its 12th annual Angel Tree holiday gift drive.

All but one township zoning amendment application were reviewed without issue by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

If ultimately completed, the combined health care system would operate 30 hospitals and more than 700 outpatient sites, with more than 62,000 employees, according to LVHN and Jefferson Health.

Driven by $8.1 billion in manufacturing, the Lehigh Valley's Gross Domestic Product grew to a record $50.2 billion in 2022. The region's economy now ranks above Vermont and Wyoming.

Verizon is bringing more choice for high-speed internet to the area as it expands Fios to previously unserved pockets of the Lehigh Valley.