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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The Lehigh Valley housing shortage crisis will be examined by an engagement series called the Lehigh Valley Housing Supply and Availability Strategy. The first of the three-stage process will be held Feb. 5 at DeSales University.
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Letters of application for renewals of existing wastewater treatment plants and related discharges at Lehigh Township Municipal Authority-Pennsville and Lehigh Carbon Community College were approved by the LVPC Environment Committee on Tuesday morning.
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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.
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The fourth annual DeVonta Smith Celebrity Softball Game will be held on Saturday, June 28 at Coca-Cola Park.
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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.
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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.
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'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.
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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.
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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.
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Citing safety concerns, Lehigh Valley Mall management has notified LANTA that bus service may not be permitted on the mall grounds as of June.
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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.
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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.
