Lehigh County News

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's “PA Pumpkin Palooza: Where Gourds Go Glam” contest has been extended to Oct. 23. Winners will be announced on Halloween.

Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong proposed his $520 million spending plan in August, and commissioners appear ready to approve it without major changes.

Incumbent Daniel Buglio is pitting his quarter-century of work across various roles in the office against Dr. Joseph Zitarelli, who says a “medical expert” should hold the position.

More than 1,336 acres across the commonwealth were preserved. Here are the Lehigh Valley farms now safe from development.

A seat on the Upper Macungie Township Board of Supervisors is up for election on Nov. 7. The candidates are Democrat Jeff Fleischaker, an attorney, and Republican Greg Wheeler, an emergency medicine doctor.

Barktoberfest at Grange Park will be held this Sunday after the forecast predicted rain all afternoon Saturday.

An incorrect set of instructions was included with mail-in and absentee ballots mailed to Lehigh County voters on Oct. 9. The error with the first ballot mailing has been corrected for subsequent mailings.

The Upper Macungie Planning Commission will discuss a plan for a manufacturing facility at 110 PA Route 100. A 150,000-square-foot warehouse has been proposed at the same site.

Western Lehigh Services, a commercial landscaping and snow management firm, is planning expansion into a new location in Lower Macungie Township.

A proposal for a 150,000-square-foot warehouse may move forward in a compromise between Upper Macungie Township, warehouse developer Prologis and nearby hotel Fairfield Inn & Suites.

Josh Siegel wants to pursue a housing plan utilized in Montgomery County, Maryland, to create 1,500 apartment units in the region. His transition team includes a committee tasked with responding to Trump administration directives.

This week on Watching the Skies, WLVR's Brad Klein talks about Lehigh Valley entrepreneur Jared Isaacman's second bid to lead NASA.

The pickup truck lost control near 12th and Vultee streets in Allentown and hit a fire hydrant, utility pole and the Lehigh Valley Logistics building at 1801 S. 12th St., according to state police.

Nearly 800 students at Southern Lehigh's Joseph P. Liberati Intermediate School spent a week learning to write, address, and mail handwritten letters through the Dearist literacy program — sending holiday messages to local seniors, veterans and nonprofit groups.

"Too many families are discovering that their gift was emptied by a scammer before it was ever used. We should not allow criminals to take advantage of this season of generosity," State Sen. Lisa Boscola said.

The Whitehall-Coplay School District held its third annual Zephyr Holiday event at the Burlington store in Whitehall. Twenty-four elementary and middle school students from challenged families were given $200 gift cards to shop for holiday gifts for family members. Members of area law enforcement accompanied the children during the event.

The Lehigh Valley is projected to have significant increases in employment and population up to 2050.

The zoo held a ribbon-cutting at the Fred & Anne Jaindl Family Barnyard and St. Luke's Children's Hospital Playground Wednesday, marking the completion of phase one of its Children's Activity Area project. The two spaces now are officially open to the public.

Alfeni Romero-Tavares, 23, and Joel Garcia-Paulino, who turns 23 on Thursday, Dec. 4, both of Allentown, had preliminary hearings on felony counts of homicide and conspiracy to commit homicide and a misdemeanor charge of tampering with evidence.

The winners, a married couple from Berks County, have served as Berks County 4-H leaders for more than 30 years as well as helping with the Lehigh County 4-H Livestock Club.

In addition to board officer elections, four new school directors were sworn in Tuesday after having won their seats last month.

Celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who now leads the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is scheduled to speak Friday during the Lehigh Valley Healthcare Summit. Local transgender advocacy groups are urging officials to cancel it.