State & Regional News

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.

A six-month investigation found the state’s “competency” review system is so broken it often extends incarceration, which can exacerbate mental health issues.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Veronica Degraffenreid has been Pennsylvania's Acting Secretary of State since former DOS Secretary Kathy Boockvar resigned in February.…

State health officials are ramping up efforts to get more people vaccinated in Pennsylvania where just over 50% are fully vaccinated.

Food insecurity is the lack of regular, reliable access to nutritious food, and it’s a problem in both cities and rural areas.

State senators have begun hearing testimony in that chamber’s latest round of election investigation hearings.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Elected officials met Friday to promote a plan to expand the existing passenger rail service statewide. For that to happen, Congress…

Sharon Serra was a federal law enforcement official working in Manhattan when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. At the time, the Northampton County resident was just about three years into her now decades-long career in law enforcement.

This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. President Joe Biden is expected to visit Shanksville, Somerset County, on Saturday, the site of the Flight 93 crash.

PALMER TWP, Pa. - Patrick Cartier of Palmer Township said two decades later, he still feels the trauma of 9/11. “I look at it like it’s a part of me,”…

Tuesday was the start for Pennsylvania’s K through 12 masking mandate. The order was issued last week by Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam, not Gov. Wolf. Sarah Anne Hughes, deputy editor for SpotlightPA, a nonpartisan investigative newsroom which has been covering these issues, recently joined us by phone to discuss the move by the Wolf administration.

The office of state Sen. Pat Browne announced Thursday the senator was injured in a motorcycle crash on Aug. 31.

Newly released FBI data show hate crimes in the U.S. hit a 12-year high in 2020.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - With a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy now in effect in Texas, and rampant speculation that a conservative U.S. Supreme…