Lehigh County News

While the political news cycle can change on a dime, some clear stories appear in store for 2026, including the Lehigh Valley's congressional race.

For the first time, all three of the Lehigh Valley’s cities have a sustainability manager or coordinator, a role dedicated to sustainability initiatives and fighting the worsening impacts of climate change.

The rebate is meant to help seniors, widows and widowers and residents with disabilities who paid property taxes or rent in 2024.

Griddle 145, which since 2011 has operated on MacArthur Road, will close Wednesday, Dec. 31, the restaurant announced in a Facebook post today, Saturday, Dec. 27.

Gregg A. Henritzy was pronounced dead at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 25 in the emergency department at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.

Families of children who are patients at Lehigh Valley Health Network were treated to a toy giveaway on Tuesday morning.

Days before Christmas, the Michael Ann & Saquon Barkley Hope Foundation teamed up with The Salvation Army and Ashley Furniture to help Allentown families recently displaced by fires. The effort provided beds, toys and essential items to children and parents.

Influenza cases are rising rapidly across the Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania, with local hospitals reporting a sharp uptick in patients and state data confirming sustained growth in flu activity.

While the penguins were taken off exhibit, barnyard birds and waterfowl at Lehigh Valley Zoo were shuffled to different enclosures so visitors could still view them.

Thousands were in the dark in Lehigh and Northampton counties as thunder rumbled and lighting flashed Friday afternoon in parts of the Lehigh Valley. Wind gusts reached more than 50 mph.

Another energized, entertaining and successful annual meeting and awards show of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce had ended.

An attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press argued that a motion to unseal court dockets tied to a drug bust should be allowed to continue in Lehigh County Court. LehighValleyNews.com, lehighvalleylive.com and the Morning Call have joined in the effort to make the records public.

The new 68,000-square-foot store and on-site fuel station at 3300 Lehigh St. will open at 8 a.m. Nov. 21 and afterward operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, the chain said in a release.

Current conditions, along with the continued drying of fine fuels, "could support the rapid spread of any fires that ignite, which could quickly become difficult to control," the National Weather Service said.

With an unusually politicized Supreme Court retention question on the ballot Tuesday, Lehigh Valley voters overwhelmingly backed Democratic candidates.

Brenda Rodriguez, 52, of Palmerton, is the final of three defendants to be sentenced in the Dec. 7, 2024, shooting death of her husband, Hector Garcia Gomez, in the parking lot of Loco Hot Deals, 1155 MacArthur Road.

Mackenzie, along with officials from Wildlands Conservancy, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, on Wednesday morning hiked a portion of the property, lauding the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund that helped preserve it.

These are the complete but unofficial election returns reported by Lehigh County for the Nov. 4, 2025, general election.

Democrat Sarah Fevig may have spent a record amount for a single county commissioner candidate in her campaign. Meanwhile, Zach Cole-Borghi handily defeated his opponent despite the specter of criminal charges.

There were several contested school board races in Lehigh and Northampton counties for Tuesday's general election. Here are the unofficial returns as reported by the counties.

Mark Stanziola defeated prosecutor Patricia Mulqueen in the race for Lehigh County judge. The judgeship is a new one approved by state lawmakers and brings to 11 the number of Common Pleas Court judges in Lehigh County.

People came to the polls mindful of the state Supreme Court retention vote — and with a wide variety of issues on their minds, from the federal government shutdown to abortion policy and access to health care.