Parkland News

South Whitehall Township Vacancy Board appointed Public Safety Commission member Chris Peischl to a vacant seat on the Board of Commissioners. Peischl ran for the board in the 2023 election.

The South Whitehall Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved for SCS Engineers to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the waste collection program, partially to try to prevent future dramatic price increases.

Thomas Johns was sworn in to the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners on Tuesday after being elected on Nov. 7. Johns previously served on the board for eight years, from 2010 to 2018.

The Upper Macungie Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make newly-elected supervisor Jeff Fleischaker the chairman of the board at its meeting Tuesday.

South Whitehall Township Police Department no longer has any vacancies after six new officers joined the department Tuesday.

The North Whitehall Board of Supervisors on Tuesday granted approval for a new recreation center at Valley Youth House's Camp Fowler. It will be called the Carter Family Center.

As 2023 draws to a close, lehighvalleynews.com offers a retrospective of a variety of stories about people, places and things that make the Lehigh Valley special.

The South Whitehall Board of Commissioners held interviews for eight candidates for the vacancy on Thursday, but decided to delay the decision for another meeting.

The Winter Light Spectacular features 1.2 million lights in holiday displays, fire pits for s’mores, hot chocolate and live performances by princesses Anna, Elsa, Belle and Cinderella.

The 75,000-square-foot St. Luke’s Sportsplex features more than two dozen indoor courts and almost the same number outside.

Many local police departments are participating in National Night Out, a nationwide initiative to bring cops and residents together.

Upper Macungie Township Police Sgt. Dathan Schlegel gave out 2,106 traffic citations in 2023, according to the Lehigh Valley DUI Highway Safety Taskforce.

North Whitehall Planning Commission considered a plan to build a three-story, 40-unit apartment building at 3948 Portland St., the site of a former Lehigh Portland Cement Company building.

Upper Macungie supervisors recently waived a requirement to build a sidewalk along Hamilton Boulevard — even though the township's Vision Zero plan indicated there should be a sidewalk built in that area.

The Upper Macungie Planning Commission last week unanimously recommended final approval for a plan to expand XPO Logistics, a freight transportation company.

South Whitehall Township plans to put a referendum to create an open space tax on the May 20 primary in 2025.

South Whitehall Township commissioners discussed new rules for Covered Bridge Park following reports of “unsafe and unnecessary practices” in the park.

Lehigh Carbon Community College might end its intercollegiate athletics program as soon as this year if it can't find an athletic trainer before the 2024-25 academic year begins. That could change, but nothing is official yet.

Parkland School District is set to receive a large boost in funding in Pennsylvania’s new budget — $2.4 million to be exact.

The Wicked Chef, a fast-casual restaurant serving sandwiches, salads and sides, reopened July 2 after closing due to the pandemic.

Covered Bridge Park visitors have been grilling along the banks of and inside of Jordan Creek, taking township picnic tables into the creek and placing tables and chairs in it — all actions that have contributed to an increase in police presence.

North Whitehall Township now is projected to have a $1.6 million surplus by the end of the year, which would bring its total cash reserves to about $16 million.