State & Regional News

President Donald Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement and recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations have gained national and local attention. This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick look into the public's reaction to these raids.

After Monday brought rounds of thunderstorms and heavy rain, more severe weather is expected to target the region on Tuesday, forecasters say.

Xylazine, an animal-grade tranquilizer that's not approved for human use, has taken Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply by storm. Known on the streets as "tranq," it accounted for almost 1 in 4 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by 2023. Last year in Lehigh County, it was a contributing cause of death in 20 of the 112 deadly overdoses, or 17.9 percent of cases.

Multiple media outlets report Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students as part of a deal with prosecutors to avoid the death penalty. A change of plea hearing is set for Wednesday. Kohberger’s trial had been set to begin in August

The funding comes from the commonwealth’s Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure program, a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Known as "tranq" on the streets, an animal tranquilizer named xylazine infiltrated drug supplies throughout Pennsylvania since 2019. Its presence in the Lehigh Valley has grown, with deadly consequences.

Life changed for Bethlehem's Moravian community as the Revolutionary War waged. "Suddenly, the world just descends," said one historian. This is the first in a recurring series exploring the Lehigh Valley's place in American history.

WLVR's Brad Klein talks with Bethlehem's Backyard Astronomy Guy, Marty McGuire about planetary viewing in this week's Watching the Skies. Leading into the first week of July, viewers can snag a better view of the planet Mercury just after sunset.

The Clean Trucks PA Coalition report identified more than 600 schools, childcare centers, playgrounds and parks near major roadways and trucking corridors across the state.

In the past four years, Lehigh and Northampton counties each saw a roughly 3% population increase, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.

“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.

The new route will fly from LVIA to Denver International Airport, with flights beginning June 15 with one-way fares as low as $59.

Lehigh Valley Health Network said Monday it has been the target of a cybersecurity attack by a ransomware gang known as BlackCat, which has been associated with Russia.

Some Pennsylvanians in Beaver County who live within or just beyond the evacuation area near the site of the train derailment are worried about the long-term effects of the event.

While Trader Joe’s has previously said it does not have any specific formula or demographic requirement for where it open new locations, the Lehigh Valley seemingly has not fit within its plans. Could that be changing?

The officer was a former Lehigh County corrections officer and son of an ex-Allentown police chief. Said an Allentown councilman who worked with the former chief: 'It's devastating to me.'

The ban says public school teachers may not wear any “dress, mark, emblem, insignia" that indicates they are part of "any religious order, sect or denomination.”

In the aftermath of the derailment, which released toxic chemicals into the streams and air around East Palestine, many are wondering how the country’s regulations around rail traffic could have allowed a train with 20 cars of hazardous material not to be considered a “high hazard.”

The extra payments that participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, have been getting during the COVID-19 pandemic are ending this month in Pennsylvania, leaving food banks bracing for a surge in demand.

Former president and humanitarian Jimmy Carter has elected to forgo medical treatment to spend his remaining time with his family.