Lehigh County News

It's Earth Month, and there are many opportunities to get involved. Here are the events scheduled in the Lehigh Valley.

Allentown's climate action plan survey is live. When completed, the city will be the third of the Lehigh Valley’s major cities to create a climate action plan.

The Whitehall-Coplay School Board is considering a request to start a varsity girls wrestling program.

In addition to the coroner’s office, the Coopersburg Police Department, the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and the Lehigh County Crash Team also are investigating.

During National Library Week, local libraries celebrated their community role amid uncertainty. A federal order to shut down the Institute of Museum and Library Services threatens essential funding for many library programs.

A pedestrian died early Sunday after he was hit by a tractor-trailer in Coopersburg, according to authorities.

The temporary closure of Water Street in Whitehall Township to address traffic calming measures is close but undetermined, Mayor Joseph J. Marx Jr. said.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who joined Congress in January, has been a vocal advocate for President Donald Trump while quietly testing the limits of his support in the battleground district of PA-7.

The Allentown School District said it's working with BusPatrol and the City of Allentown to analyze the data it receives. Violations also have been high in neighboring municipalities.

A 21-year-old Allentown man died from injuries sustained after his car veered off the roadway and landed on Interstate 78.

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.