State & Regional News

PennDOT is tackling 37 major projects worth more than $700 million in Berks, Carborn, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties this year.

Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered Pennsylvania flags on all Commonwealth facilities, buildings, and grounds be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of the RM Palmer Company factory explosion.

West Reading's police chief announced two additional fatalities on Sunday evening, ending the search for two missing individuals. The search and rescue operation followed a chocolate factory explosion Friday night.

Reporter Julian Abraham spent the weekend covering the explosion that occurred Friday at a chocolate factory in West Reading.

As part of a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press obtained the data points underpinning several algorithms deployed by child welfare agencies to understand how they predict which children could be at risk of harm.

A chemical spill of a latex product late Friday in Bristol Township released contaminants into a Delaware River tributary, according to OEM officials.

Three people died and four remain missing in the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate-making plant in West Reading. The grim announcement Saturday night came after a day of hope spurred by a victim found alive in the wreckage early in the day.

Pennsylvania will again operate a water assistance program for low-income households behind in their water or wastewater bills, state officials announced last week.

While the report indicates positive trends, community advocates and leaders raised concerns about high rates of gun violence and educational outcomes. They called for more hyper-localized data to identify trends and correlations between issues impacting Black communities.

Thursday's March For Our Lives rally marks its fifth anniversary since its inception after a 2018 mass shooting at a Florida high school. Hundreds are expected at Thursday's rally in Harrisburg, which coincides with rallies this week in Florida, Michigan, California and Texas.

Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) and St. Luke's University Health Network released a list of 2022's most popular baby names picked by parents in the Lehigh Valley.

New Kid won the Newbery Medal, the Coretta Scott King Author Award, and the Kirkus Prize. But the book has been challenged in some school districts for content related to race.

Widespread sickness among children with respiratory illnesses this year is driving up demand for children’s pain relievers and fever reducers, leaving drugstore chains and smaller community pharmacies across the nation in short supply.

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced awards totaling $1.2 million in competitive grants to 33 career and technical centers and two school districts. The funds are to purchase new equipment to train students in “high-demand occupations.” Locally, career and technical schools in Lackawanna, Columbia, Montour, Susquehanna, Monroe, Northumberland and Lehigh counties, plus the Wallenpaupack Area School District in Pike County received money.

Pennsylvania’s top elections official is fully certifying results from the November vote.

Deposition transcripts released Wednesday by the Jan. 6 Committee revealed new details about the role that Pennsylvania Republicans played in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

PA Senator Bob Casey has released a year end review of the projects that the lawmaker has supported throughout the state this year — including funding he secured for the Little Lehigh housing development in Allentown.

The number of state lawmakers who are Black, Latino or of South Asian descent will rise as part of what House Democrats call the “most diverse class of freshmen legislators” in Pennsylvania history.

The extreme weather stretched from the Great Lakes near Canada to the Rio Grande along the border with Mexico. About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning, and temperatures plummeted drastically below normal from east of the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians.

Will it snow next week? How about the week after? Weather enthusiasts are constantly hanging on "one model run in a sea of model runs," making the job of the local meteorologist even more difficult in trying to convey the forecast.

The region could see wind chills as low as -15 degrees overnight as temperatures rapidly fall. The expected high winds could lead to power outages due to falling branches. PPL says it has 2,000 workers ready to respond.

Before his four Super Bowl championships and Hall of Fame career, Harris played at Penn State with Bethlehem native and Liberty High great Tom Donchez, who recalls his backfield mate fondly.