State & Regional News

1 in 4 menstruating students in the Allentown School District have missed class time because of the lack of access to period products. Funding for free menstrual products for students was approved in the 2024-2025 state budget.

Joe Kovacs, a Nazareth-area native and Bethlehem Catholic grad, is competing in his third Olympic Games as a member of Team USA. The shot put finals are Saturday afternoon.

A 12-mile northbound stretch of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be closed for about six hours, between the Quakertown and Lehigh Valley exits.

The merger of Lehigh Valley Health Network and Jefferson Health is now complete. The two closed the deal Thursday morning, creating a regional hospital system that oversees 30 hospitals and more than 700 outpatient care sites.

A new complaint form is available online for Pennsylvanians — or those traveling through the Commonwealth — encountering issues with airline travel, Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Wednesday.

As part of a series of grants amounting to $30 million, the Lehigh Valley will see nearly $740,000 in funding for "Green Light-Go" improvement projects in Lehigh and Northampton Counties.

Deli meat company Boar's Head has recalled 7 million more pounds of meats potentially affected by a listeria outbreak less than a week after the initial recall.

Over the past few days, Lehigh Valley residents have complained of bad smells wafting through Bethlehem and surrounding areas. Residents have described the most recent heavy odor as a rotting smell.

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to launch a battleground tour next week with her yet-to-be-named running mate, with stops in seven swing states stretching from Pennsylvania to Nevada.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a new law that will regulate pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs. It's intended to save local pharmacies from closing and save patients money on prescription medications.

The most popular names have been a constant the past few years, according to the major health networks. But one trend that emerged in 2023 in the Lehigh Valley seems to be tied to sports — specifically, the success and popularity of the Philadelphia Phillies. Taylor Swift also may be having an impact.

The Pennsylvania Department of State is starting a new office to help train county election workers, Pa. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. It also plans to update its guidance for logic and accuracy testing that could have caught issues with the Northampton County voting machines.

Lafayette College will host the 2024 vice presidential debate this coming September, drawing the world's eyes to its Easton campus. Nicole Hurd, the college's president, hopes it will be an opportunity to highlight the liberal arts school and the greater Easton community.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg passed nearly three dozen laws last week in a final burst of action as they held their last voting session of the year.

Nippon Steel is set to pay more than $14 billion to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel in a deal that Rep. Susan Wild said is “really kind of heartbreaking."

Pennsylvania's gas tax– the highest in the nation in 2023 – will drop from $0.611/gallon to $0.576/gallon and will remain in place through 2024.

It might seem counterintuitive, but harvesting holiday trees year after year is better for the environment than using an artificial one, experts said, especially amid the proliferation of plastic piling up in landfills.

Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said these types of incentives will help to attract “the best and brightest” candidates to serve the city.

More than three dozen projects in the Valley were awarded grants, receiving about 7% of the total funding awarded. Statewide, $335 million in grants were announced Wednesday.

Driven by $8.1 billion in manufacturing, the Lehigh Valley's Gross Domestic Product grew to a record $50.2 billion in 2022. The region's economy now ranks above Vermont and Wyoming.

State Sen. Lisa Boscola said it's a fallacy if the U.S. Postal Service thinks it can save up to $7 million by shipping outgoing mail from the Lehigh Valley to Harrisburg for processing without cutting jobs. On Monday, she called on USPS to do further analysis of its plans.

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission at 11 a.m. on Wednesday is holding a meeting at its Allentown office to brainstorm and prioritize ways to decarbonize transportation across the region. Decarbonization is the process of reducing or eliminating carbon dioxide emissions.