Lehigh County News

Since it's not a presidential or midterm election, the 2023 municipal primary election may have snuck up on folks. If that surprises you, here are some other things you may not know about how our local elections are run.

Gavin Holihan, the uncontested candidate for Lehigh County district attorney, has been endorsed by incumbent Republican Jim Martin and Democratic County Executive Phil Armstrong, among others.

Three candidates for the local office said they focused on juggling campaign tasks around full-time jobs in the lead-up to the primary election. All were driven by a desire to educate voters and help people understand county government and its services.

They have been working without a contract since last summer and say they are overworked and short-staffed.

National issues are seeping into local races, turning elections into proxy partisan fights over race and gender.

Local elections rarely get the same level of participation as presidential races, but the outcomes often have greater impacts on voters' quality of life.

Like all the other major cities in the Lehigh Valley, Allentown is a patchwork of neighborhoods, some with good tree cover and some without any. Officials plan to use a mapping tool as a starting point to make planting trees city-wide more equitable.

Former journalist Ann Wlazelek pays tribute to her mother in a new book.

Debates in the South Whitehall commissioners race have taken place on the candidate's Facebook pages. The posts have primarily debated candidate Ben Long's positions and campaign style.

Concerts on the Grange is a two-day music festival that continues at 5:30 p.m. today, May 13, with tribute acts portraying The Doors and The Grateful Dead. Tickets, at $22 and $34, remain available on the SteelStacks website.

Two Allentown officers alleged they faced retaliation after trying to report their colleagues to superiors.

The inaugural Lehigh Valley Nonprofit Impact Conference at Wind Creek Event Center on Wednesday attracted 300 participants designed to bring nonprofit and community leaders together.

Covering 187 acres in Salisbury and Upper Saucon townships, the sanctuary has seven different trails, and is the conservancy’s ninth nature preserve in the Lehigh Valley.

Bethany Church, citing membership declines following a change of pastors and the COVID-19 pandemic, is opting to sell one of its locations to the hospital network.

The plan, estimated to cost more than $300 million over the next decade, seeks to overhaul and upgrade aging water and wastewater infrastructure across more than a dozen Lehigh County municipalities.

Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne testified on the floor of the state senate that some protected tax information about the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone could not be disclosed even to state lawmakers or publicized as otherwise required by state law.

A land developer's request of the DEP to have Lowhill Township amend its sewage plan was viewed unfavorably during a project review by a committee of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

The stage is set for the transformation of the overgrown former foundry site at 300 Furnace Street into 144 apartments in four buildings.

With the zoning update set to be reviewed, legal battles over prior warehouse proposals continue

Pennsylvania law requires voters deposit only their own ballot and prohibits people from returning other voters’ ballots — including a spouse's — to a drop box on their behalf. Enforcement is another issue.

An Allentown resident living with disabilities recently met with Congresswoman Susan Wild to talk about what congress can do to improve services for people like him.

Cedar Crest College held ribbon-cutting ceremonies at its $2.5 million, all-weather turf softball field on Friday.