Lehigh County News

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.

Whitehall Township's proposed budget includes the first real estate tax increase since 2019. Township commissioners are expected to vote on the spending plan next week.

The center was the target of attacks on drag shows

A special augmented-reality experience will be featured at many local businesses alongside dozens of artists and vendors. It's been postponed due to the weather.

LVHN will be one of the first hospitals in Pennsylvania to treat prostate cancer with noninvasive robotic technology. The procedure is said to be more accurate and lowers the risk of side effects.

Recent incidents of violence prompted several people to speak out on safety concerns at the Allentown City Council meeting on Wednesday night. They emphasized the need for action and community involvement.

The tripledemic rages on, but there are ways to lower your risk of infection. A health care administrator talks about what the industry and the public learned from the pandemic about preventing illness.

Lehigh County will be funding free walk-in mental health services administered by KidsPeace.

A spokesman for the center said the conservative attacks made them concerned about the safety of kids and parents.

South Whitehall commissioners unanimously appointed Capt. Stephen Brown and Lt. Eric Dotter at their meeting Wednesday.

The City of Allentown appointed both a new director of parks and recreation and director of finance during Wednesday's city council meeting

Allentown City Council formally thanked and recognized the emergency workers involved in the trench collapse rescue on January 11

Allentown police say Dieruff High School was locked down after they received information that a student brought the gun inside the school Wednesday.

DeSales University Homeland Security majors received first-hand knowledge of the challenges and requirements of the job at the third annual DeSales University Center for Homeland Security Conference on Wednesday.