Lehigh County News

Officials with the Lehigh Valley's transit authority said its new ValleyRide system can track a customer's ride history and apply the best fare deal based on their usage.

A recent ruling from Pennsylvania's Supreme Court seemingly marks a major shift in how DUI cases can be prosecuted, with the court ruling that if a driver hasn’t been previously convicted, the state can’t punish them as if they were.

Changes in fare collection are coming this month for LANTA bus riders in the Lehigh Valley.

Cupid Foundations Inc. opened its design studio, CupidIntimates, on West Lehigh Street in Bethlehem in 1987. It's still designing original shapewear that it manufactures and sells in department stores and other national retailers.

Dry Goods, a Davenport, Iowa, subsidiary of the family-owned Von Maur Department Stores, sells apparel, shoes, jewelry and accessories.

Farmers markets add to the local economy, driving tourism, officials said. Supporting them is also important for farmland preservation and strengthening community, advocates say.

“Cutting Edge: Inventive Nineteenth-Century Quilts” opens Saturday, Aug. 9. The new exhibit explores over 30 unique quilts from Arlan and Pat Christ’s collection and will run through Oct. 26. Admission is free.

"I would love to have a weekend free of crash-related deaths, and I am certain families would appreciate their loved ones returning home safely," Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio said Friday.

More than a month past the budget deadline, Lehigh Valley state Sens. Jarrett Coleman and Nick Miller offered little optimism a deal was around the corner.

The proposal will be the subject of a committee-of-the-whole meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 in City Hall.

The gunman showed up uninvited at a gathering outside a borough home late on the Fourth of July, borough police said. He fled after shooting three people as well as apparently accidentally shooting himself in the leg, the police chief said. The 18-year-old is being charged with several assault and weapons crimes.

There are 51 stops on this year’s trail. In its eighth year, the trail is focused on celebrating local creameries across the state while driving business during the summer months.

Legislators worked to establish penalties for xylazine use and trafficking in an attempt to lessen its presence in Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply. Some say doing so made way for a new, unclassified veterinary tranquilizer to take its place — medetomidine.

The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.

In a move that Santander Bank said aligns with the financial institution's digital shift nationwide, seven Lehigh Valley branches will be sold to Community Bank. Branches will remain open and employees will be offered continued employment during the transition, which is expected to complete by the end of the year,

South Whitehall Township's board of commissioners voted Wednesday to purchase upgraded radios for first responders in the township through a five-year payment plan provided by Lehigh County.

Nearly a year after the Biden administration designated xylazine as an "emerging threat" to the United States, Gov. Josh Shapiro classified it as a schedule III drug, making unauthorized possession a crime in Pennsylvania. Experts say the move has partly served to clear the way for new illicit substances to enter the drug market.

Allentown's Redevelopment Authority is applying for up to $2.5 million that could be used to rehab 10 single-family homes for low-income residents.

Despite not being approved for human consumption, veterinary tranquilizers are infiltrating the illicit drug supply in Pennsylvania. Harm reduction specialists and health care professionals say these overdoses can't be approached solely with naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug.

Newhard Farms Corn Shed opened Tuesday for sweet corn sales. While it opened a few days later than in recent years, there's expected to be a good supply this season.

The bill would limit the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, beginning in 2026.

Xylazine, an animal-grade tranquilizer that's not approved for human use, has taken Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply by storm. Known on the streets as "tranq," it accounted for almost 1 in 4 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by 2023. Last year in Lehigh County, it was a contributing cause of death in 20 of the 112 deadly overdoses, or 17.9 percent of cases.