State & Regional News

Few, if any, bridges in Pennsylvania insulate the steel beams in their decks, PennDOT Deputy Secretary Mike Rebert said Wednesday. High-intensity fires capable of destabilizing those bridges are rare, but do happen.

Democrats in Pennsylvania are optimistic that Republicans will finally agree to raise the state's minimum wage after years of debate. A Republican member of the state Senate's leadership team is leading a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, providing hope for a resolution, although challenges remain in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

The late William Jacob Heller founded The American Flag Manufacturing Co. in Easton in 1887, helping popularize the U.S. flag nationally. Heller is credited as being instrumental in having flags hung at schoolhouses throughout the nation.

Local experts say the Lehigh Valley is well prepared to knock down wildfires, but state data show those blazes are becoming much more common across Pennsylvania.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors reported home sales dropped 22% in May — normally a busy season. Increased interest rates and tight inventory in Lehigh and Northampton counties were driving the figures, according to GLVR.

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, is the architect of a bill that would allocate $100 million of federal American Rescue Plan funding for mental health programs. It passed the House last week and is under state Senate consideration.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners in April voted to remove the mail-in application process for antlerless licenses, as well as move up the sale to the fourth Monday in June.

Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based nonprofit that didn't exist in 2020, has become a power player in conservative politics ahead of the 2024 elections, including in the Lehigh Valley.

Spraying began 9 a.m. at Washington Crossing State Park. Black flies have been a recognized pest of humans and livestock in Pennsylvania since the 1970s.

Around 53-hundred mail carriers were attacked by dogs last year, according to the United States Postal Service. Pennsylvania is 4th on the list of top dog bites among postal workers.

The National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory starting Monday night into Tuesday morning for the Lehigh Valley region. Hazardous conditions could affect the Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning commutes, according to the advisory.

Shipments of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line will resume Monday.

Scholl Orchards installed towering wind machines on its land in Kempton, Berks County, in a battle to ward off frost. It's necessary with warming winters to protect the trees from damage.

In October, months before the East Palestine derailment, the company also directed a train to keep moving with an overheated wheel that caused it to derail miles later in Sandusky, Ohio.

An unseasonably warm winter has people thinking their pollen allergies are already acting up. But other temperature-related causes can trigger allergy-like symptoms.

As interest in the education field continues to decline, the report recommends systemic changes. A hearing of the state Senate Education Committee to examine the issue is set for this week.

Advocates see the sudden reduction of benefits as a looming health and welfare crisis.

Pennsylvania House Democrats are putting their freshly minted majority status to work in shutting down Republican efforts to make changes to legislation designed to let victims of childhood sexual abuse file otherwise outdated lawsuits.

Pennsylvania counties make their own policies on drop boxes, fixing mail ballots, and more, creating an uneven landscape that gives people additional voting options based on where they live.

“It’s clear that our safety culture and our investments in safety were not enough to prevent this accident," CEO Alan Shaw said. "We’re going to learn from it. We’re going to improve. And we’re going to make Norfolk Southern a safer railroad.”

Kevin Dellicker, a Republican who ran for the Lehigh Valley congressional seat, said federal investigators should look into the improper release of his military records.

The chamber will return this week to focus on providing legal relief to sexual abuse survivors, but leaders are still debating what permanent rules to govern the chamber should look like.