State & Regional News

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 start of Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s annual hawk watch is just over a month out, and preparations are well underway. A tradition in its 64th year, volunteers count birds of prey as they migrate along the raptor "superhighway" in the Lehigh Valley’s backyard.

North Bethlehem Little League is hosting the Pennsylvania State Little League Intermediate 50/70 Tournament through Monday. The local team dropped its opening-round game on Thursday night, but remains alive in the tourney.

Tucked into the latest state budget agreement is tens of millions of dollars in new sales tax breaks for companies that build and run server farms known as data centers.

Pandemic pets are facing new challenges as their owners head back to work.

About 37% of ticks in Pennsylvania are the kind that carry Lyme disease, according to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania at East Stroudsburg University.

Gov. Tom Wolf is halting a package of election law changes pushed by the Republican-led state legislature, a move that has been widely anticipated.

In a 5-4 decision Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state of New Jersey cannot block construction of the PennEast natural gas pipeline on state lands.

Restaurants and bars will likely not be able to sell mixed drinks to-go this summer, despite many state lawmakers who support extending the pandemic-era rule.

Summer’s here and meteorologists forecast the Lehigh Valley may experience another heat wave in the coming days. Temperatures may push 90 degrees.

On June 24, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended its federal eviction moratorium through July 31. U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (D-Lehigh/Monroe) says there are federal dollars available for Lehigh Valley residents who need rental assistance.

Some lawmakers and environmental groups are calling on the Wolf administration to strengthen a proposed regulation that aims to curb emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane before the rule comes up for a final vote. But the proposal exempts tens of thousands of low-producing wells.

State lawmakers are still hashing out the final details of the next state budget, which is due by the end of the month. But an agreement on the spending plan could be reached in the coming days.

Pennsylvania House Republicans voted to prohibit schools and universities from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students — and to strip the state health secretary from being able to order certain emergency public health measures in the future.

In Allentown on June 21, education advocates, parents, and students marched to support Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed changes to the way the commonwealth funds its schools.