Lehigh County News

Lehigh Valley Voter's Guide: Local races for state senate and state representatives

The Lehigh Valley now has one-stop shop for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. St. Luke's University Health Network opened the first clinic of this kind in the country.

Mayor Matt Tuerk of Allentown plans to release his proposed budget this Saturday. Residents are waiting to see what it holds.

Alternative rock band Lit, which became famous in the '90s with their hit song "My Own Worst Enemy," will be playing at 7 p.m. this Sunday, Oct. 16. at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

Hurricane ravaged Florida continues to get help from Red Cross volunteers from the Lehigh Valley. One Lehigh County woman said she’s been asked to extend her two-week deployment, as more help is needed.

The U.S. Supreme Court has nullified a lower court's ruling that supported the counting of mail-in ballots that were missing a date on an outer envelope. But, the ruling will not affect the outcome of a Lehigh County judicial race that hinged on these ballots.

An incident at an Allentown daycare shines a light on the importance of preventing and detecting carbon monoxide poisoning.

Tuesday is National Coming Out Day in the United States, but Allentown’s Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center celebrated a day early.

Allentown fire officials, mayor, and more gathered to award firefighters and declare an education effort and focus throughout the month of October

For the 2022-23 season, vaccine providers are expected to supply as many as 173.5 million to 183.5 million doses of influenza vaccines to people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

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.

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