State & Regional News

The offices that help Pennsylvanians keep their Medicaid benefits are facing persistent vacancies and a heavy workload. Advocates and staff fear people could lose coverage as a result.

The state Department of Health has set forth a 5 year plan to improve the health of PA residents. The plan includes everything from nutrition to health equity.

Allentown’s Cedar Creek Park was covered Thursday in lesser celandine, a low-growing, mat-forming flower that’s been flagged by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

It’s not unprecedented, but it is a little bit too early for the kind of warmth the Lehigh Valley will see next week, said meteorologist Bobby Martrich.

Pa. Governor Josh Shapiro wants to create a new bank account to fund the State Police without taking money away from road repairs.

Crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and fentanyl were confiscated. Cash and firearms were involved, as well.

The Pa. Chamber of Business and Industry had its own bracket: “Coolest Thing Made in Pa.”

A line of storms that spared the Lehigh Valley on Saturday raked the Philadelphia region and surrounding areas, with eight tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service.

The recall of the 42-volt Jetson Rogue hoverboards comes after a 10-year-old girl and her 15-year-old sister died in a fire last year. Investigators determined the hoverboard was the fire's point of origin, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The Lehigh Valley is under a severe weather threat Saturday that includes the possibility of tornadic activity in the region.

Pennsylvania's Democratic-controlled House of Representatives approved a measure that would raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026 in a close vote Tuesday. It has an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Construction crews have been working around the clock to build a temporary overpass that will allow for I-95 to reopen.

“Demand was obviously greater than supply of resources, there’s no doubt about that,” Lehigh County Board of Commissioners Chairman Geoff Brace said, attributing the need to a combination of aging housing stock and the lack of household income in the region.

While environmentalists and researchers said impacts on the region’s crops and water may be few due to the short duration of smoky days, it’s a largely understudied topic.

About 1.5 million people have lost Medicaid coverage in more than two dozen states as a post-pandemic purge of the rolls gets underway.

A trooper and a suspect both were shot and killed in a shootout in central Pennsylvania, just hours after a 2nd trooper was seriously injured after being shot by the gunman, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Chris Kiskeravage worked as a career firefighter in Easton and Allentown. He wanted to know more about the link between cancer and the firefighting profession. When he died June 9 at age 56, his body was donated to research, according to his family.

The word from Gov. Josh Shapiro came after he had joined President Joe Biden on a helicopter tour over the critical stretch of highway that's been closed to East Coast traffic since last weekend.

Lower Saucon Township was just awarded almost $510,000 in grant funding, to redevelop the ball fields off Easton Road.

The Museum Pass program offered by Allentown Public Library has grown to include partnerships with close to 20 museums, gardens and historic sites in Eastern Pennsylvania. It's exclusive to adult residents in Allentown.

Staff at the Lehigh Valley Transportation Study are reviewing more than 600 suggested projects for the region's Long Range Transportation Plan. Planners anticipate getting $4.3 billion in funding, which isn't enough to meet all the needs.

Regional and national news outlets Thursday left out an important detail about the return of the Canadian wildfire smoke — it was nowhere near the ground.