Lehigh County News

WLVR's Brad Klein talks with Bethlehem's Backyard Astronomy Guy, Marty McGuire about planetary viewing in this week's Watching the Skies. Leading into the first week of July, viewers can snag a better view of the planet Mercury just after sunset.

The Clean Trucks PA Coalition report identified more than 600 schools, childcare centers, playgrounds and parks near major roadways and trucking corridors across the state.

In the past four years, Lehigh and Northampton counties each saw a roughly 3% population increase, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.

Check out a roundup of activities, places, and times to see the fireworks as the Lehigh Valley celebrates Independence Day.

The district will consider the addition of a new assistant superintendent role focused on special education programming.

In the spirit of Shakespeare, Saturday's celebration will feature entertainment for all ages, including musical performances by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, alpaca and ponies, and a student-led Latin band.

A regionwide wastewater plan and a hazard mitigation plan both advanced with staff review approvals by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday night.

The Lehigh Valley Greenways Mini Grant Program awarded grants to 12 organizations and municipalities this year.

A new study released by the nonprofit group TRIP found that about a third of the Lehigh Valley's local roads are in poor condition. About 26% of Pennsylvania's local roads earned the same rating.

Christopher Fitzgerald was a former Lehigh County corrections officer and is the son of former Allentown Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald. He was the first Temple University officer killed in the line of duty.

The North Whitehall Township Planning Commission reviewed updated plans Tuesday for a 110-home subdivision along Rising Sun Road.

The East Penn School District's board voted Monday to create a three-year LERTA property tax incentive for an 8.5 acre brownfield in Emmaus. The lot is set to become 144 apartments.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board on Monday accepted a letter of retirement from Director of Athletics Bob Hartman. Hartman has served in that role for 23 years. His retirement is effective in August.

Projects in Lehigh and Northampton counties were approved to get state funding by the Commonwealth Financing Authority on Monday, Feb. 24. Funding for the roadway upgrades in Northampton County alone amounted to more than $1.5 million, with a project in Lehigh County bumping that total to more than $2 million.

The U.S. Government's Medicare telehealth funding deadline is March 31. While many express concerns about its future, a local expert at St. Luke's University Health Network believes the program will be extended.

The federally funded Neighborhood Health Centers of the Lehigh Valley served about 10,000 people last year across its five locations across the region.

Flu rates are up nationally and especially in Pennsylvania. Lehigh and Northampton counties are among the Top Ten counties with influenza cases for this year's respiratory virus season, which runs through September.

Emmaus Borough Council awarded the contracts earlier this week. The project focuses on two of the borough’s wells, including one that’s been offline since PFAS contamination was discovered.

Tracy Dechant, 42, the twins' mother, and Joshua Dechant, 36, their stepfather, were arrested Jan. 26, days after emaciated 15-year-old twin boys were found in their Lower Macungie Township home.

LehighValleyNews.com hosted a roundtable discussion on traffic and traffic safety in the Lehigh Valley. It's part of The Road Ahead project.

Federal agents were at Northampton County Prison on Friday morning to apprehend an inmate upon his release. The man was alleged to be in the country illegally. The level of cooperation between ICE agents and the county has come under attack by U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie.

Citing its lease ending, south Bethlehem paint-your-own pottery shop will reopen in the lifestyle center where it first opened 15 years ago.