State & Regional News

During a visit to Bethlehem Monday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said the American public needs to know how a gunman was able to access a roof with a clear shot at former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally Saturday.

Gov. John Shapiro last month signed HB 1333 into law, which allows for recycled materials to be used in stuffed toys manufactured and sold statewide. In the Lehigh Valley, one toy manufacturer plans to launch a sustainable line.

The National Weather Service has extended an excessive heat warning now in effect until at least 6 a.m. Wednesday, with dangerously hot conditions and heat index values up to 106 degrees in the Lehigh Valley.

While many Lehigh Valley residents were shocked by an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, it was not exactly surprising in today's divisive, supercharged political climate, they said.

For almost a century, hikers have trekked the Appalachian Trail, the world’s longest hiking-only footpath. A thru-hiker documenting her trek on social media recently stopped in the Lehigh Valley.

Former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent hoped the attack on former President Donald Trump would lead to Americans softening the rhetoric that has consumed American election campaigns. A wounded Trump was whisked offstage as one spectator was shot and killed and two others were critically injured. “It’s a sad state of affairs for where our political system is right now,” said one Lehigh Valley lawmaker.

The Secret Service said it killed the suspected shooter, who attacked from an elevated position outside the rally grounds in Butler, north of Pittsburgh. One spectator was killed and two were critically injured after the attacker fired "multiple shots," according to the Secret Service.

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory and excessive heat watch for the Lehigh Valley and southeastern Pennsylvania. The heat advisory will be in effect from Sunday into Monday. Then the temperature really turns up, with heat indexes in triple digits.

The 2024 fundraising efforts comes on the heels of the most successful campaign the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley has ever had. It raised a record-breaking $25 million last year.

The position, budgeted for one year after the annual process turned contentious, focuses on creating and facilitating sustainability initiatives while capturing grant funding to cover the cost of related projects.

The Damar Hamlin emergency showcased the importance of having the right skills and tools on hand and acting as quickly as possible, officials say. Public interest in learning CPR has jumped in the aftermath.

The state's new law went into effect this week with the intent of protecting minors from pornographic content online, according to lawmakers.

"It causes me a lot of concern about how anything gets done. Is this just going to be two years of paralysis, which is a horrifying thought," said Wild, a Democrat who is still waiting to be sworn into her third full term representing the Lehigh Valley.

An Idaho magistrate judge on Tuesday reportedly issued a gag order in the Bryan Kohberger case, barring officials from talking publicly about many aspects of the case outside of court.

The two Pennsylvania Republicans are key figures in former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to the House Jan. 6 Committee.

This year, at least seven districts in Pennsylvania have dealt with public complaints and legal challenges related to LGBTQ issues.

A Democrat who promised to govern as an independent was elected speaker of the narrowly divided Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday on the strength of about a dozen GOP votes.

In 2020, Gender Queer was given a Stonewall Honor and an Alex Award and was headed for a fourth printing. By spring of 2022 it topped the ALA's list of most challenged books.

The lawsuit, which the parties first filed in 2014, argues Pennsylvania's funding of K-12 education is inadequate to the point that it violates the state’s constitution.

Buffalo Bills' safety Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after suffering cardiac arrest on the field Monday night. A cardiologist with Lehigh Valley Health Network explains what that is and how fast-acting physicians on the sidelines may have saved his life.

Workers earning minimum wage in 23 states and the District of Columbia got a raise over the New Year's holiday, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The new lawmakers from the Lehigh Valley joined more than 50 other new faces who were ceremonially sworn in to the General Assembly in Harrisburg.