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.

The race featured two slates of Republican candidates and one Democrat. One slate of candidates took a pledge to enact policies regarding LGBTQ students and "woke" curriculum.

The Parkland School District budget that was voted on and approved Tuesday night includes a 2.5% property tax increase. The tax hike is district's highest in the past seven years, but is still the lowest millage rate in Lehigh County.

A new ArtsQuest festival that will bring three days of family-friendly music, games, food and amusements to Upper Macungie Township, announced in February as a paid-ticket event, now will be free, organizers announced.

The Borough of Emmaus has chosen to take the steps to treat its own water supply after spending over a year seeking a solution to the municipality's PFAS contamination issue

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.