Lehigh County News

Food flights throughout the area aren't just exclusive to dessert, cocktails, or pasta. Restaurants are cooking up a spin on typical entrees.

The Upper Macungie Community Center's proposed renderings are now public, as well as an estimated cost.

Officials gathered at the Lehigh Valley Zoo Thursday evening for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of Rothrock Red Panda Peak. It's the first time the zoo has had red pandas in residence.

A seizure survivor breaks her self-harm silence to raise awareness, so that others with the condition feel heard.

Sixth Street Shelter started providing services to unhoused people in 1984, with Thursday's block party doubling as a celebration of its four decades of work.

The North Whitehall Board of Supervisors hosted a conditional use hearing Wednesday for a revised plan of the Rising Sun subdivision, which would have 110 single-family homes on about 100 acres.

The 2024 Pennsylvania LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment is open now until August. It is a biannual survey that evaluates health needs and disparities among LGBTQ people in the state.

Scott Curtis led the FBI's investigation into allegations of corruption against former Mayor Ed Pawlowski, who's serving a 15-year federal prison sentence.

Steven M. Rosa, 30, was charged with homicide in the July 28, 2022, killing of Tywon Deleva Abner, 33, of Allentown just after 11 p.m. in the 500 block of West Allen Street.

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is finalizing its update to the regional Transportation Improvement Program, which details project spending until 2028.

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.

The funding comes from the commonwealth’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Known as "tranq" on the streets, an animal tranquilizer named xylazine infiltrated drug supplies throughout Pennsylvania since 2019. Its presence in the Lehigh Valley has grown, with deadly consequences.