State & Regional News

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.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said he's long admired the Lehigh Valley's unique ability to build partnerships. It's a skillset he said he hopes to bring to other communities across the state to promote economic growth. Shapiro was keynote speaker at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. annual meeting in Bethlehem.

Fetterman, the state's lieutenant governor, engaged in a bruising battle with Republican celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz

Joe Emrick appears to lead the 137th District race. Anna Thomas is the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Joe Emrick.

A group of young changemakers are working hard to draw more Gen Zers into local politics, and to the polls. But in serving the interests of their country in the political field, they’re doing it behind the scenes instead of in a public-facing role.

With Election Day nearly upon us, our reporters fanned out across the region to find out where folks stood on issues that have defined American politics. This is what they heard.

Election Day is shaping up to be a classic fall day across the Lehigh Valley and the rest of the region. It's what will come later this week that's likely top-of-mind for weather watchers.

Lehigh Valley voters will help decide some of the nation's most closely-watched contests — Fetterman vs. Oz and Wild vs. Scheller. Here's a look up and down the ballots.

Oz took over a Bethlehem Township warehouse to rally voters along with Congressional candidate Lisa Scheller, with 48 hours to go in the race.

On Sunday, Nov. 6, clocks "fall back" at 2 a.m., and the sun will set in the Lehigh Valley at 4:52 p.m. Will Congress ever vote on the Sunshine Protection Act and make daylight saving time permanent?

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman thanked canvassers in Whitehall Township as they worked to turn out voters in the closely contested with Mehmet Oz for U.S. Senate.

A change to the state's corporate net income tax, will allow Pennsylvania to woo new businesses and help create jobs, local business leaders say.

Lehigh County's election drop boxes were the focus of a case that could have reverberated throughout the state, and may have had ramifications over how the rest of Pennsylvania handles election drop boxes. This is a deeper look at what happened in the courtroom during that hearing.

"Called to Serve" is a book featuring hometown heroes from the Lehigh Valley recognizing their sacrifices for the communities they served.