Phil Gianficaro
General Assignment ReporterA native of northeastern Pennsylvania, I've been a journalist for more than four decades. I've reported on events like the pope's visit and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, local appearances by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, covered the Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals, and the Eagles in the playoffs. However, the stories that have touched me most involve ordinary folks in our community. A 12-year-old boy getting the better of cancer; Holocaust survivors sharing horror stories they know the world needs to hear again and again; a little girl from Bucks County who grew up to become Miss America. These are the stories I'm committed to finding and sharing with our readers. About me: Married with a son and a daughter in college. Golf when I can. Morning coffee's a must; Favorite quote from my late mother: "There are givers and takers in this world, which do you want to be?" Contact me at PhilG@lehighvalleynews.com or 267-222-0540.
-
Bethlehem's Austin Shaffer downed five ears of corn in just over four and half minutes to win the Aw Shucks Corn Eating Contest at Musikfest on Wednesday night. -
Allentown native and Bethlehem resident Darian Cruz begins his quest for an Olympic wrestling medal on Thursday at 5:21 a.m. The Bethlehem Catholic and Lehigh University graduate is in the 57 kilogram (125 pound) weight class.
-
Local state lawmakers joined members of the Legislative Latino Caucus in Allentown on Monday to celebrate how the new state budget. Specifically, they note the more than $1.1 billion in new funding for school districts, including about $526 million to correct inequities in public education.
-
While mid-afternoon rain on Friday forced postponement of Musikfest opening ceremonies, it did not deter folks from attending the festival — just as many food vendors expected.
-
The 41st Musikfest kicked off at SteelStacks with a preview night on Thursday. The 11-day, citywide festival features live music and a wide range of foods and drinks.
-
The 65-mile, day-long train ride will depart from Nesquehoning, Carbon County, to the Vosburg Tunnel, a 3,900-foot former Lehigh Valley Railroad tunnel north of Tunkhannock, Wyoming County.
-
The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the sale of PPL Tower in Allentown to Wilkes-Barre-based D&D Realty Group. The sale comes more than four months after PPL Corp. announced that its subsidiary, PPL Electric Utilities, had reached a tentative $9 million agreement to sell the building to D&D Realty Group.
-
North Bethlehem Little League is hosting the Pennsylvania State Little League Intermediate 50/70 Tournament through Monday. The local team dropped its opening-round game on Thursday night, but remains alive in the tourney.
-
Major renovations at Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehab, agricultural conservation and bridge maintenance are the major expenditures in Lehigh County’s five-year Capital Plan.
-
Darian Cruz, who starred at Bethlehem Catholic and Lehigh University, will honor his grandparents by representing their native Puerto Rico when he wrestles at the Paris Olympics next month.
-
Nazareth-based Martin Guitar will showcase new guitars, including an acoustic double-neck, at the National Association of Music Merchants trade show in Anaheim this week.
-
The fourth annual DeVonta Smith Celebrity Softball Game will be held on Saturday, June 28 at Coca-Cola Park.
-
Francis Anonia, a former Parkland High School performing arts teacher, was arraigned in Lehigh County Court on Friday morning on charges he used his cell phone multiple times to secretly record a male student in a school changing room in 2022. If found guilty of all 19 charges, he could face up to 88 years in prison.
-
South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners on Wednesday night voted 3-2 against a text amendment request that would have allowed for the building of a 8,000-square-foot restaurant at the Ridge Farms mixed-use housing development.
-
'I'm here to say I told you so': Whitehall traffic death, inaction, brings sorrow, frenzy at meetingAngry and frustrated family and friends of the late Edward Tomcics packed the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, imploring them to address the speeding epidemic on Water Street. Tomcics, 75, was struck and killed outside his home on Dec. 25. An investigation into the incident is underway.
-
Ten Lehigh Valley children with disabilities were presented with adaptive bikes or strollers at Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21. Each individually customized adaptive bike costs $3,500 to $4,000 and is not covered by insurance.
-
Less than a year after its celebratory opening, the Wawa drive-thru-only convenience store at 6216 Hamilton Blvd., Lower Macungie Township, closed on Jan. 5. No reason for the closure has been given.
-
Citing safety concerns, Lehigh Valley Mall management has notified LANTA that bus service may not be permitted on the mall grounds as of June.
-
A 76-apartment and retail development project on the site of the former SouthSide Boys & Girls Club on Fourth Street in Bethlehem is expected to be completed during the first half of 2025.
-
Ronald Diehl Jr., of Quakertown, is among 18 individuals nationally who will receive a Carnegie Medal for acts of heroism. In 2022, Diehl pulled a pilot from a crashed and burning plane in Salisbury Township.
-
There are those Christmases that remain clear and crisp as a cold Nebraska night. For an 11-year-old boy, this one in the late 1960s is near the top of the Christmas list.
-
Palmer Township's Aiden Hess, 20, is in need of a donor kidney. A rare condition necessitates his use of a dialysis machine for nine hours every day.
