State & Regional News

Few, if any, bridges in Pennsylvania insulate the steel beams in their decks, PennDOT Deputy Secretary Mike Rebert said Wednesday. High-intensity fires capable of destabilizing those bridges are rare, but do happen.

Democrats in Pennsylvania are optimistic that Republicans will finally agree to raise the state's minimum wage after years of debate. A Republican member of the state Senate's leadership team is leading a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, providing hope for a resolution, although challenges remain in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

The late William Jacob Heller founded The American Flag Manufacturing Co. in Easton in 1887, helping popularize the U.S. flag nationally. Heller is credited as being instrumental in having flags hung at schoolhouses throughout the nation.

Local experts say the Lehigh Valley is well prepared to knock down wildfires, but state data show those blazes are becoming much more common across Pennsylvania.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors reported home sales dropped 22% in May — normally a busy season. Increased interest rates and tight inventory in Lehigh and Northampton counties were driving the figures, according to GLVR.

State Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, is the architect of a bill that would allocate $100 million of federal American Rescue Plan funding for mental health programs. It passed the House last week and is under state Senate consideration.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners in April voted to remove the mail-in application process for antlerless licenses, as well as move up the sale to the fourth Monday in June.

Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based nonprofit that didn't exist in 2020, has become a power player in conservative politics ahead of the 2024 elections, including in the Lehigh Valley.

Spraying began 9 a.m. at Washington Crossing State Park. Black flies have been a recognized pest of humans and livestock in Pennsylvania since the 1970s.

Around 53-hundred mail carriers were attacked by dogs last year, according to the United States Postal Service. Pennsylvania is 4th on the list of top dog bites among postal workers.

PPL Electric Utilities this week filed its first distribution base rate request in a decade, seeking approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for an 8.6% increase in annual revenue — about $356 million.

From its founding via executive order at the start of the year, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiencies, or DOGE, intended to accomplish a number of lofty goals. But has DOGE lived up to its promise?

The Lehigh Valley’s position among the top three small rental markets highlights how much pressure local renters are feeling, but that’s just one side of the housing market continuing to squeeze budgets.

Thousands of federal employees are expected to go on furlough and millions more will be expected to work without pay after Congress failed to reach a short-term funding deal by Wednesday's deadline.

Four children and one adult were found dead following a fast-moving fire late Tuesday at a home in Carbon County, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Pennsylvania's counties, school districts and social service agencies are warning of mounting layoffs, borrowing costs and damage to the state’s safety net as the politically divided state government enters its fourth month of a budget stalemate.

Around 92% of respondents to a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety study said they’ve done something risky behind the wheel, like speeding, tailgating, racing, zigzagging or cutting others off.

The U.S. Justice Department has sued Pennsylvania and other states after they refused to turn over sensitive voter data. State and county officials have defended local election practices.

As a new round of scams make way through Pennsylvanians via phone call and text message, officials are warning residents to be cautious and instead report potential scams to the appropriate agencies.

Northampton County human services workers, members of SEIU Local 668, gathered outside the human services building in Bethlehem Township on Friday to denounce a possible department-wide furlough next month.

Safe Harbor Easton has announced that because of the state funding impasse, services soon could be impacted, but the public can help through donations and spreading awareness.

Two weeks after Iron Hill Brewery announced the closure of its flagship restaurant, the company shared Thursday that all locations are now closed.