State & Regional News

Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state’s law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect: emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it.

Pennsylvania received $7.3 billion in state and local pandemic relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. That money came with an expiration date: Funds must be allocated by 2024 and spent by 2026. Any funds that remain unused by that deadline will be returned to the federal government.

Speakers accuse public school officials, teachers' unions of trying to "sexualize children" or indoctrinating them. Some called for restricting LGBTQ books. Protestors traveled from the Lehigh Valley and beyond to stand against the Moms for Liberty's "extremism" and in support of LGBTQ people.

House Bill 1257 was signed into law as Act 74 of 2022. Effective September 9, 2022, it made some noteworthy changes to the state fireworks law residents should be aware of.

Experts say this latest round of Canadian wildfire smoke in the Lehigh Valley will not be the last, and that millions should prepare for this new normal.

Monday was the first time in decades there were no pink envelopes for Pennsylvania hunters looking to buy antlerless licenses. Here's how the launch of online sales went.

High school seniors in Pennsylvania would be required to fill out a form that determines eligibility for financial aid for postsecondary programs under a bill passed by the state Senate.

Public school advocates worry vouchers will divert money from public education into charters or private schools.

Former state Sen. Pat Browne, one of Governor Josh Shapiro’s cabinet nominees, has officially become Secretary of Revenue. He represented the Lehigh Valley for nearly three decades.

The top Republican in Pennsylvania’s Senate said Monday that hearings will begin this week as he committed to carrying out a “full forensic investigation” of the state’s 2020 presidential election.

A report from Stanford University found enrollment in public schools in the United States fell by more than one million students last fall.

Dabney Grguras, an assistant manager at a restaurant outside Pittsburgh, regularly works more than 40 hours a week — sometimes a lot more. Putting in 55 hours isn't unusual. One week, she spent 68 hours on the job.

The latest Franklin & Marshall College poll shows Pennsylvanians, including those who say they’re politically conservative, still hold an overwhelmingly negative view of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Mental health Therapist Susan Grubb of Elizabethtown, Dauphin County, is the only woman from Pennsylvania featured in “Women Who Shine” by Kate Butler.

Newly released numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor, show the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.6% in July.

The rapid fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban surprised a lot of Americans and has led some to seek ways they can help support the Afghan community.

As the delta variant sweeps through, Pennsylvania reported more than 3,400 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, an increase of nearly 50% in one day and the biggest spike since May.

The acting head of the state’s Department of Human Services, Meg Snead, visited Bethlehem Wednesday to detail a billion-dollar federal program to help renters in counties with substantial or high levels of transmission of COVID-19, like Northampton County.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing from former Justice Department leaders who knew about an effort by former President Donald Trump to use the DOJ to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results.

Pennsylvania’s shortage of at-home nurses for children with complex medical needs has left parents to fend for themselves.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration is trying a two-pronged approach to keep K-12 school environments safe from a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.