Lehigh County News

Lawmakers in Harrisburg passed nearly three dozen laws last week in a final burst of action as they held their last voting session of the year.

Silk Lehigh Valley has to move from its location in the Hamilton Business Center after Allentown inspectors deemed the building an "immediate risk to human life” earlier this month.

Monsignor John P. Murphy headed St. Thomas More Church in Allentown for more than 40 years. He died Friday at age 86, according to the Diocese of Allentown.

Lehigh County Courthouse is expected to reopen a week after fire sprinklers damaged the building's electrical system Tuesday night.

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 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.

Check out searchable, unofficial returns for contested school board races in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

These are searchable, unofficial results as reported by the Lehigh County elections office on Tuesday night. Provisional ballots are not included. The vote will remain unofficial until certified in several days.

Republicans needed to win two of the four seats up for grabs on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners Tuesday to regain the majority.

The unofficial but complete results for the 2023 Parkland School Board election results are in: the Democratic slate, made of mostly incumbents, has swept all six seats.

Unofficial results showed Democratic incumbent Mark Pinsley leading Republican challenger Robert Smith Jr. by more than 6,200 votes with nearly all precincts reporting. Pinsley has made headlines for his unconventional audits through his first four years in office.

Buglio, a Democrat from South Whitehall Township, has served as coroner since being appointed by the county commissioners in April 2022.

Several county and municipal races in the Lehigh Valley were uncontested in the general election. That includes two of the highest-profile jobs in Lehigh and Northampton counties, as well as elected city representatives in Easton and Allentown.

North Whitehall Township's Zoning Hearing Board will hold a special meeting to discuss the zoning appeal for cat nursery Foxy’s Cradle on Nov. 20.

Some voters in Lehigh County said they came out to make their vote count in the school board elections. Others said they wanted to see what candidates would do for the community.

The three townships in the Parkland School District rejected an agreement to continue to give the district $5 from its Local Services Tax. The district will now lose an estimated $300,000 in revenue.

North Whitehall Township is hosting its second Veterans Day Luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 9. It will take place at the banquet hall of Schnecksville Volunteer Fire Company from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Voters are casting ballots in several races at the county and local levels in Tuesday's general election. School board seats and statewide judicial posts also are up for grabs. Check out our rundown and last-minute checklist to get up to speed.