State & Regional News

The most popular names have been a constant the past few years, according to the major health networks. But one trend that emerged in 2023 in the Lehigh Valley seems to be tied to sports — specifically, the success and popularity of the Philadelphia Phillies. Taylor Swift also may be having an impact.

The Pennsylvania Department of State is starting a new office to help train county election workers, Pa. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. It also plans to update its guidance for logic and accuracy testing that could have caught issues with the Northampton County voting machines.

Lafayette College will host the 2024 vice presidential debate this coming September, drawing the world's eyes to its Easton campus. Nicole Hurd, the college's president, hopes it will be an opportunity to highlight the liberal arts school and the greater Easton community.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg passed nearly three dozen laws last week in a final burst of action as they held their last voting session of the year.

Nippon Steel is set to pay more than $14 billion to acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel in a deal that Rep. Susan Wild said is “really kind of heartbreaking."

Pennsylvania's gas tax– the highest in the nation in 2023 – will drop from $0.611/gallon to $0.576/gallon and will remain in place through 2024.

It might seem counterintuitive, but harvesting holiday trees year after year is better for the environment than using an artificial one, experts said, especially amid the proliferation of plastic piling up in landfills.

Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said these types of incentives will help to attract “the best and brightest” candidates to serve the city.

More than three dozen projects in the Valley were awarded grants, receiving about 7% of the total funding awarded. Statewide, $335 million in grants were announced Wednesday.

Driven by $8.1 billion in manufacturing, the Lehigh Valley's Gross Domestic Product grew to a record $50.2 billion in 2022. The region's economy now ranks above Vermont and Wyoming.

A computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration brought flights to a standstill across the U.S. on Wednesday, with hundreds of delays quickly cascading through the system at airports nationwide.

The busy road has been closed since early December, when heavy rain washed out a roadside rock facing and sent boulders onto the blacktop. A protracted closure is expected.

The new year arrives with a new political calendar, including amendments to the Pennsylvania Constitution, local municipal races and school board elections filling the 2023 ballot.

The ozone layer is a thin shield in the stratosphere that protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of the sun's ultraviolet radiation.

Lawyers for Jimmy Lai, a jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher, have asked for an urgent meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a leading member of his international legal team said Tuesday.

In the absence of information about why the Buffalo Bills player collapsed during a game, misleading claims about COVID vaccines quickly spread online.

The two leaders sparred over the history of U.S. support in Latin America at talks in Mexico City — but found common ground on migration, as well as fentanyl interdiction and the economy.

The company behind the iconic green and yellow farm equipment says it wants to make it easier for farmers and independent repair shops to fix problems with its tractors and other products.

Before the pandemic, the hajj pilgrimage drew millions each year to Islam's holy city of Mecca, home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times a day.

The Vatican opened a file on the disappearance of a teenage girl months after a new Netflix documentary aired on the case and weeks after her family asked the Italian Parliament to take up the cause.

Georgia, ranked No. 1, stopped Texas Christian's vaunted offense and ended their improbable season. The Bulldogs are the first team to repeat as champion in the college football playoff era.

Chef Rene Redzepi's house of Nordic gastronomy will close by the winter of 2024 and re-emerge as Noma 3.0, the Copenhagen eatery said on its webpage.