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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Second Harvest Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley received a $35,000 donation from The Giant Company. -
Tracy and Joshua Dechant, charged with attempting to starve their teen sons to death, have 60 days to find a defense lawyer, a judge said.
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Philadelphia Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley was inducted into the Whitehall High School Hall of Fame on Friday night.
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State Police, municipal police officers and members of the Lehigh County Sheriff’s Office took part in virtual reality training at the Jane Scheller-Wayne Woodman Community Service Center at Lehigh Carbon Community College on Wednesday.
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Cindy Jakoby, of Barto, was selected on Tuesday night as the 10 millionth fan in the 17-year history of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
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The Lincoln Leadership Academy Charter School in Allentown held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its $16.8 million school for fourth-to-eighth graders on Friday morning.
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Community Bike Works received more than $600,000 from the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study to fund its bicycle safety and repair program for students in the Lehigh Valley.
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The 173rd year of the Allentown Fair kicked off Wednesday night to large crowds enjoying food, live music, and the crowning of the 2025 fair queen.
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Commonwealth Charter Academy, a large, public, cyber charter school for all school-age children, plans to convert a nearly 47,000-square-foot, one-story building into office space for teachers and staff at 2200 W. Broad St.
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The taxiway expansion program is part of the LVIA’s new taxiway project for the proposed North Cargo Area Development Project.
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Parkland School District's Vision 2030 project to expand and renovate the high school and Orefield Middle School to address school overcrowding has increased by nearly $4 million from its original $210 million price tag.
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A developer’s plans to build a 150,400-square-foot warehouse along Route 100 moves on to Upper Macungie Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday night.
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How to assist the homeless and food insecure in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley was the central message the New Bethany Souper Day Fundraiser luncheon at ArtsQuest Center on Friday.
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Upper Macungie Township held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday for a $47 million Lifestyle Community Center to be built at Grange Park.
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In appreciation for the early intervention services he received at Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, Nazareth Area High School junior Brody Muthard, 16, has chosen to build a playground there for autistic children for his Boy Scout Eagle Scout project.
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Attendees at the Great Allentown Fair were entertained by two trampoline artists who performed high-flying acrobatics outside the Agri-Plex complex on Thursday.
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The oppressive heat did not deter folks from making their way to the 172nd Great Allentown Fair at the Allentown Fairgrounds on Wednesday. Great food and drinks, amusement park rides and a variety of events will take place at the fair through Monday, Sept. 2.
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Lehigh Valley residents were seeking jobs and advertising jobs at the Pennsylvania CareerLink/Workforce Lehigh Valley jobs tent outside the Crayola Experience on Tuesday morning.
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A bike repair station donated by the Whitehall Area Rotary Club was dedicated at the Ironton Rail Trail pavilion on Monday.
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An eight-year-old girl dealing with a congenital heart condition cut the ribbon at Lehigh Valley Zoo to announce the American Heart Association of Greater Lehigh Valley and Berks County annual Heart Walk in September.
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A self-storage project was advanced, and two others projects were tabled by the Whitehall Township Planning Commission.
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A Pride flag was vandalized after being stolen from the front porch of a rabbi's Lehigh Valley home. The recovered flag, in tatters, is flying once again. "What they did to the flag has an added measure of hostility and danger associated with it," the rabbi said.
