Lehigh County News

A Tuesday evening webinar cosponsored by the Bethlehem Area Public Library and Bethlehem Food Co-Op focused on how residents can meaningfully participate in the city’s efforts to fight climate change.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its plant hardiness map, showing a warmer Lehigh Valley. The region has moved into a warmer zone from the one where it was placed more than a decade ago. Experts say it has consequences for plant seasons and species.

Upper Macungie's Board of Supervisors adopted the 2024 budget on Thursday. The property tax millage rate will stay at 0.64, but the refuse and recycling fee will increase by $30.

The bill will be reworked by the Lehigh County Human Relations Advisory Council and legislators after conflicting amendments prevented it from moving forward

Almost 11,000 birds of prey were counted this year during the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s annual autumn hawk watch as they made their way along the raptor "superhighway" in the Valley’s backyard.

South Whitehall Township residents will not have to pay more in township taxes next year, but the waste collection fee will soon increase.

Northampton Community College, Lehigh Carbon Community College and 13 other institutions have yet to receive operating funds authorized in the fiscal-year budget lawmakers approved over the summer.

The North Whitehall Township Board of Supervisors approved the implementation of a four-day work week for municipal staff after a ten-month trial period.

Vice President of the board David Kennedy announced his resignation at Wednesday’s meeting. He said he is moving out of the township to be closer to his grandson.

Amtrak officials previously said passenger rail between Allentown and New York City could be restored as soon as 2024. However, a $300,000 study exploring the proposed connection is more than a month overdue.

Lehigh Valley Zoo officials this week publicly announced the birth of a bison calf, adding to the population boom of new animals at the zoo this year.

A survey undertaken by the Borough of Emmaus resulted in residents not wishing to implement a costly quiet zone for nighttime trains.

The Southern Lehigh Public Library Board of Directors voted to create a fact-finding committee related to the Lower Saucon Township proposal to join their library over continuing their partnership with the Hellertown Area Library

Catasauqua, East Allen Township, Hanover Township, North Catasauqua and Northampton Borough have spent years crafting a joint development plan on how to best steer development within their borders. Allen Township, though, isn't participating.

Building projects that would address overcrowding in the Parkland School District will cost between $169 million and $391 million, according to a presentation at the school board meeting this week.

There is $1.5 million in funds to be distributed to those in need by Community Action Lehigh Valley.

The water main broke late Tuesday and service has been restored to residents. Officials say the thoroughfare will reopen later today.

Paraprofessionals can get certified for free while continuing to work in their schools.

The Parkland School Board renewed a sports medicine and school health needs agreement with St. Luke's after state Sen. Jarrett Coleman urged them not to. He suggested the health network should find better ways to spend the money.

Making healthy choices easier and more accessible is the goal of a new project in Allentown. The city has teamed up with Lehigh Valley Health Network and a company called Blue Zones to improve the well-being of those who live there.

The Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas has appointed Curtis Dietrich to the Lowhill Township supervisors after ruling last week that he was unlawfully holding the position.

Pennsylvania State Police on Monday night said the driver, a 47-year-old man from Allentown, was not struck by gunfire, as state police initially reported. A trooper fired two rounds after a traffic stop Friday night at South Third and West Union streets. The driver was ordered to Lehigh County Jail.