State & Regional News

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.

A Pennsylvania think tank brings together medical providers and researchers to look at where the state's health care system can be improved. The panel, held by the Commonwealth Foundation, said cost, access, and attention to care are the most important issues to those who live in PA.

Albeit late, lawmakers passed a $47.6 billion plan for the fiscal year that started July 1, with much focus on education this year.

The U.S. Department of Energy held an online public meeting on Tuesday to find out how frontline communities in Appalachia are impacted by the growing ethane and petrochemical industries. Ethane is a byproduct of natural gas development and can be used to make plastics.

Gov. Tom Wolf is asking Pennsylvania's legislature to quickly approve a new statewide mask mandate for schools because his administration is worried that students returning to schools are going back to an unsafe environment.

The CDC reported a 62% increase in the number of children being admitted to Pennsylvania hospitals in the past week bringing the total number of children hospitalized statewide this month to over 1,600.

Two Haitian-led organizations in Reading are gathering money to send to disaster-stricken Haiti after the country was hit by an earthquake and a tropical storm within a week.

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.