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.
-
Hot temperatures and Jamaican-centric food teamed with cool music at the third annual OneEarth ReggaeFest at SteelStacks in Bethlehem on Saturday. -
Township commissioners on Monday approved a resolution requesting a grant of $154,402.17 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program for the Ironton Rail Trail Paving and Gates Project.
-
A Whitehall Township commissioner hopes to persuade Coplay Borough Council on Tuesday night to dedicate a street in honor of hometown football star Saquon Barkley.
-
The former Whitehall Township Police Department station has been vacant for three years and costing the township money as it seeks a buyer.
-
On July 1, the YMCA of Bucks and Hunterdon counties will merge with the Greater Valley YMCA in Pen Argyl to form the River Crossing YMCA.
-
Downed trees and power outages were the result of a powerful storm that pounded the Lehigh Valley on Wednesday night.
-
B Social, a state-of-the-art, multi-entertainment center and event venue, will hold its grand opening on July 15 at Saucon Square shopping center on Route 378 in Lower Saucon Township.
-
The Lehigh Valley ranks as the eighth-highest industrial market in the U.S., it was disclosed at a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission roundtable meeting on Friday.
-
US Rep. Susan Wild, D-7th District, and USDA Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small visited the Greater Valley YMCA in Pen Argyl on Thursday for the kickoff of its Summer Nutrition Program.
-
The City of Allentown held a Juneteenth Block Party celebration at Center Square on Tuesday, commemorating the last bastion of slavery in the U.S. in 1865.
-
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.
