State & Regional News

Called the Recovery in Nature initiative, two state departments have joined forces to create regional-specific partnerships to bolster substance use recovery efforts while strengthening all residents’ connection to nature.

Folks of older age and those with mobility troubles may already have enough of a hard time getting where they need to go, so a local panel is brainstorming how to get federal funding to make day-to-day transportation a smoother ride for them.

Democrats said they wanted Vice President Kamala Harris to provide more details about her policies while Republicans acknowledge she presents a more serious challenge to former President Donald Trump.

Early Tuesday, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who has a home in the Lehigh Valley, launched into space for a second time as part of a mission dubbed Polaris Dawn. The launch was visible in the area.

This week on Political Pulse, Tom and Chris talk about public opinion polling at a state and national level — and what that means to voters.

A microcosm of Pennsylvania, Northampton County's urban areas, rural farms and middle-class suburbs make it a melting pot of different political stripes.

"I've never seen traffic in the Lehigh Valley and the aggressiveness that we've seen in the past couple of years like it is now. It’s absolutely [expletive] bananas," one Lehigh Valley lawmaker said.

St. Stephen's Evangelical Lutheran Church held a special service memorializing those lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and praying for first responders' safety.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff played off an enthusiastic crowd at Dieruff High School to promote his wife Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.

As cases of a potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness are on the rise, Lehigh Valley health experts are sharing what they see locally. They say there are ways to protect yourself and kill the biting pests.

Voter ID and earlier deadlines to register and apply for a mail-in ballot are being considered.

Concerns also were raised about election officials nationwide leaving jobs amid threats.

Some Republican state lawmakers are pushing to overhaul how appointments to an air quality advisory board are made in response to Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's attempt to join a regional cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gas emissions.

U.S. Rep Scott Perry (R-Cumberland/Dauphin/York), who is under Congressional scrutiny for his role in a plot to subvert 2020 election results in some states, is set to lead the House Freedom Caucus starting in January.

Clearfield County’s path to establish the largest immigrant detention center in the commonwealth is unencumbered pending the dismissal of a lawsuit against the county for violating the state's open meeting laws.

Children’s enrollment in Medicaid increased by 14% statewide during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released in November 2021. All 67 counties saw increases in children’s enrollment, according to the report, from Harrisburg-based advocacy group Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

More than half of the $18B coming to the state will go toward fixing roads and bridges.

Survivors of and advocates against human trafficking gathered in the Bethlehem Rose Garden on Nov. 9, 2021 for a candlelight vigil to raise awareness.

School districts will establish their own policies in January.

Fracking has been a dividing line between the 4 Democrats in the race.

The plaintiffs argue disparities in school funding violate the state constitution.

The House State Government Committee moved a bill forward along party lines Monday that would limit how county election departments can be funded.