State & Regional News

The powerful animal tranquilizer is showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and is contributing to a growing number of overdose deaths, including in the Lehigh Valley.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation encourages Whitehall Township residents to review virtual plans for the replacement of the Fifth Street Bridge over Route 22.

A handful of organic farms across the Lehigh Valley are welcoming residents and visitors this weekend to help their own gardens get growing.

The PennDOT Workers' Memorial honors the 90 employees who died while on the job since 1970. The memorial is displayed along North Cedar Crest Boulevard in Allentown Thursday through Friday.

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh/Northampton, sponsored the bill. Any money collected will go toward bald and golden eagle conservation efforts.

Norfolk Southern’s CEO will be under more pressure to improve profits after the railroad’s shareholders voted Thursday to elect three of the board members an activist investor nominated, but he won’t be fired right away.

Pennsylvania election officials say the rate of mail-in ballots rejected for technicalities saw a significant drop in last month’s primary election. That is after state officials tried anew to help voters avoid mistakes that might get their ballots thrown out.

A special hourlong program livestreamed on LehighValleyNews.com Wednesday night. Panelists included Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure. The nonpartisan civic education group Keep Our Republic was a partner in the production.

The safety of a skin care procedure that draws patients’ blood and uses it in the healing process is coming into question. A Lehigh Valley nurse explains how to stay safe while receiving a vampire facial.

A report from the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion has former President Donald Trump with a 3-point lead over President Joe Biden in a head-to-head battle. That lead becomes a tie when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is included as an option.

A state advisory board is questioning the rigor of telemedicine appointments for marijuana cards and advertising by marijuana businesses.

“We don’t want to see any more individuals die from an opioid use disorder that don’t need to die,” said Barbara Durkin, director of Lackawanna/Susquehanna Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

Lehigh Valley Health Network is one of three hospital systems in the country chosen to participate in the study. Oncologists with LVHN are looking for patients to participate.

The annual tradition for many doubles as a science fair you can take part in.

Starbucks workers around the country are walking off the job starting Friday, in what will be a three-day strike. It will be the longest work stoppage in the year-old unionization campaign.

“I’m going to be second-guessing myself until the day I die,” Wolf, a two-term Democrat, said during a live public interview with Spotlight PA on Thursday.

Pennsylvania House Republican leader Bryan Cutler is seeking to wait until the May primary before holding special elections in two vacant districts.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, perhaps the most powerful politician ever from the Lehigh Valley, made his farewell address on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.

A website, Fallen Firefighters of New Tripoli, details the men's lives, contains their obituaries and displays several photos. Funeral services are set for Saturday.

Rep. Susan Wild and Sen. Bob Casey supported the bill, which offers protections for gay and interracial marriages. Sen. Pat Toomey missed the vote.

Bethlehem Police promised more than $1M of the money, for body-cams and retention bonuses. Some of the money will go to justice initiatives and safety programs.

Members of Pennsylvania’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board are publicly questioning the Wolf administration’s oversight of doctors and third-party certification companies.