Lehigh Valley Local News

Easton City Council approved a resolution that will let the city seek a $750,000 grant to help in the rehabilitation of the Heil Park Pool on South Side.

Councilman Santo Napoli is proposing — and five of his six colleagues are co-sponsoring — a measure that would raise the city’s deed-transfer tax by half a percentage point, doubling its revenues.

Four surplus male bison from the Lehigh Valley Zoo will be donated to the Wildlife Restoration Foundation for transfer to a member of the InterTribal Buffalo Council in New York. The recent loss of the dominant male bison at the zoo necessitated the transfer.

Circle Jerks, whose 1980 album "Group Sex" is considered to be a landmark in hardcore punk, will perform at 7 p.m. March 31 at Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Gorilla Biscuits and Negative Approach, two other hardcore band from the 1980s, will open the show.

The House passed a bill Wednesday night to end the nation's longest government shutdown, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for his signature after a historic 43-day funding lapse that saw federal workers go without multiple paychecks, travelers stranded at airports and people lining up at food banks to get a meal for their families.

The U.S. Mint has ended production of the penny, a change made to save money and in recognition of the growing irrelevance of the 1-cent coin. The last pennies were struck Wednesday at the mint in Philadelphia, where the country’s smallest denomination coins have been produced since 1793.

Specifics for the plan are still under wraps as Upper Macungie Township is processing the application. The proposal would develop the data center at the former Air Products headquarters on Hamilton Boulevard.

Billions of dollars for Pennsylvania’s public schools and social services will soon start flowing after months of delay, as lawmakers on Wednesday approved a $50 billion spending plan to break the state’s budget impasse.

Community Bank announced in June it would assume seven Santander Bank branches in the Lehigh Valley by the end of 2025. In November, the company announced that acquisition is now complete.

At a Lower Macungie Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, officials praised a data center zoning ordinance under consideration in neighboring Upper Macungie.

Jaime Vlasaty will continue as chief of schools until June 2030. Critics claim she is responsible for lackluster academics, low morale and staff turnover in the district.

"The Vault" is Lehigh Valley Public Media’s collection of original PBS39 programming through the years, plus community content made in the Lehigh Valley. Several programs are in PBS39's Friday night lineup through the end of the year.