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.
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Opening ceremonies for the 40th Musikfest were held on Friday evening. The nation's largest open-gate music festival will continue through Aug. 13 in south Bethlehem. -
Musikfest, a 10-day festival of music, food, refreshments and more, celebrates its 40th year beginning on Thursday.
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday morning for a seven-level, 731-space, state-of-the-art parking garage on Polk Street in South Bethlehem. It will greatly benefit those attending Musikfest, the 10-day, annual music festival that begins with a preview night Thursday.
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The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday night voted against a proposed zoning ordinance amendment by Lower Saucon Township Council regarding the controversial landfill expansion.
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The proposed 866,000-square-foot warehouse project in Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg is inconsistent with FutureLV, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission determined on Thursday night.
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Upper Macungie Township has filed an application with the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission for a zoning ordinance amendment for minimum lot requirements for distillery, microbrewery and winery use.
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St. Luke's Hospital's Anderson campus proposed expansion is a five-story, 308,000-square-foot project that would add 146 beds and a more than 32,000-square-foot Sterile Processing Infill Development at 1872 Riverside Circle
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The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission's Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday reviewed plans for proposed warehouses — in Bethlehem Township and Freemansburg Borough and another in Allen Township.
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Nearly 70 years after the late Ernest Kotsch Sr. purchased a grocery store at Third and Union streets in Whitehall Township, Kotsch's Market on MacArthur Road is closing its doors. An auction to sell the contents was held on Monday.
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The late Russell Gackenbach, of Allentown, took the first photos of the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
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Allentown School District's OneAllentown Back-to-School Bash was designed to show parents the caring nature of those who will prepare their children for their future.
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Improvements at aging Steckel Elementary School and Whitehall-Coplay Middle School will begin with window replacements.
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Lehigh Valley's Darian Cruz lost his Olympic bronze medal bout to India's Aman Sehrawat, 13-5, on Friday evening at the Paris Olympics. Cruz, the Bethlehem Catholic and Lehigh University champion, was representing Puerto Rico in honor of his grandparents who are native to the US territory.
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Bethlehem's Darian Cruz will wrestle for an Olympic bronze medal on Friday in Paris.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
