Tom Shortell
Politics ReporterI cover all things politics for LehighValleyNews.com. As veteran reporter of the region, I previously covered the Slate Belt, Northampton County, Lehigh County and local courts during stints at the area’s two newspapers. I also penned the popular Road Warrior column at The Morning Call, keeping readers up to speed on transportation news. I graduated from St. Bonaventure University and have yet to find a pun I don't like. I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today. Contact me at toms@lehighvalleynews.com or 610-984-8209.
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The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission has proposed raising tolls on its eight toll bridges starting in 2026 to keep up with rising maintenance costs. -
U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, said Congress should intervene if the Trump administration fails to release details of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. The sex offender and financier's death in custody in 2019 has sparked years of speculation and conspiracy theories.
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U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, the Lehigh Valley's first-term Republican lawmaker, will hold his second telephone town hall Wednesday evening. It comes after Congress passed the controversial One Big Beautiful Bill and amid turmoil over the Jeffrey Epstein fallout.
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Allentown police allege Adam Makowka, 27, used a fire escape to enter Jerkera Battle's apartment and shot her to death with an AR-15. Makowka also is charged with trying to kill another man in the apartment.
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Last month's campaign finance report shows Roger MacLean had just $2,666 on hand, compared with the $200,403 that Josh Siegel had in the bank.
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Police are investigating after a 37-year-old man was found dead on the 1400 block of Gaskill Avenue in Salisbury Township.
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U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie is sitting on $1.19 million in his campaign coffers. Meanwhile, Democratic hopefuls Ryan Crosswell, Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine raised a combined $616,675 toward their own campaigns in the past three months.
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All three of the Lehigh Valley's state senators backed a bill that would make cities liable if they don't clear out homeless camps deemed to be public nuisances. However, House consideration of the measure seems unlikely, according to one lawmaker.
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The GEO Group, one of the world's largest private prison companies, publicly considered building a detention center in Upper Mount Bethel Township in 2010. The project instead went to Newark, where Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested earlier this year after seeking to tour the facility.
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The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.
