State & Regional News

The proposal under consideration in Harrisburg would up Pennsylvania’s renewable energy goals from 8% now to 30% by 2030.

January is National Radon Action Month, and officials from the American Lung Association are offering a limited supply of free radon test kits for commonwealth residents, including those in the the Lehigh Valley.

Resources for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren are limited. A Pennsylvania nonprofit is working to change that in the new year.

“It’s really kind of this multifaceted device that is a toy — but it’s also more of a therapeutic tool, device or aid,” Lehigh Valley native Howard Romans said.

This New Year’s Day, tens of thousands of people across the country, including dozens in the Valley, will take a guided hike through a state park to mark the beginning of 2024.

Dozens of Lehigh Valley projects cashed checks worth nearly $19 million in fiscal year 2023 thanks to support from U.S. Rep. Susan Wild and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey. The Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation brought home $364.5 million in earmarks, which ranked in the top half of U.S. states.

Under the bill, gun owners could lose their license to carry if they try to take a loaded weapon onto a plane. This would be similar to losing a license for possessing a small amount of marijuana, one lawmaker said.

Executive Education Academy Charter has been waiting to appeal its application denial since 2021. Gov. Josh Shapiro's nominees were just confirmed by the State Senate earlier this month.

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s gift ban says he can’t take tickets from groups with “financial relations with the Commonwealth.” Team Pennsylvania was awarded $1.8 million in state contracts this year.

The most popular names have been a constant the past few years, according to the major health networks. But one trend that emerged in 2023 in the Lehigh Valley seems to be tied to sports — specifically, the success and popularity of the Philadelphia Phillies. Taylor Swift also may be having an impact.

The Swedish team transplanted uteruses from two women in their 50s to their daughters, and an Indiana group is recruiting women willing to undergo womb transplants in this country. It's the latest frontier in a field launched in 1954 with a successful kidney transplant. But one expert cautions against premature enthusiasm.

In the coming weeks, candidates will bombard your mailboxes with ads. It may seem old-fashioned, but the consultants who devise direct-mail campaigns have become sophisticated about knowing whom to reach and what to say.

U.S. Catholic bishops are wrapping up their annual meeting in Atlanta. They vowed to continue fighting the Obama administration over contraceptive health coverage. Plus, ten years after sexual abuse scandals were revealed, the bishops assessed whether they're doing enough to protect children. Host Michel Martin speaks with two religion reporters.

Eleven members of the Florida A&M University marching band were arraigned on felony charges Thursday, in the alleged hazing death of drum major Robert Champion. This comes after the university's president received a "no confidence" vote from the board of trustees. Host Michel Martin speaks with FAMU's President James Ammons.

In Iran on Tuesday, students and other protesters stormed the British Embassy in the capital Tehran, smashing windows, throwing firebombs and burning the British flag. The crowd had gathered at the embassy to protest new severe economic sanctions imposed by Britain, cutting off all banking with Iran. Renee Montagne talks with Washington Post reporter Thomas Erdbrink, who is in Tehran.

The former Massachusetts governor has been unofficially running for president for the better part of five years, and in that time, he has been asked about immigration over and over. Now some of Mitt Romney's rivals are arguing that his answers to the question have been inconsistent.

Congress had been hoping the deal supercommittee would, along with its deficit cutting plan, also deal with unemployment benefits and the payroll tax holiday. Now, with the supercommittee failed and folded, Congress will need to act in the final weeks of the year on these and other pressing deadlines.

When it comes to abortion, the former governor of Massachusetts appears to have changed his position, from being in favor of abortion rights to being opposed. But now some are asking if Romney ever supported abortion rights at all? Backers of abortion rights don't think so.

The U.S. Air Force says it will train more drone pilots in 2011 than fighter and bomber pilots combined. The distance between the pilot and the remotely controlled vehicle he flies is redefining what it means to be a pilot and creating some friction within the Air Force.

From health care to climate change to immigration, GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has found himself at odds with conservatives over the years. But will Republican voters overlook those issues if they think he can beat President Obama?

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Ancestry.com's World Memory Project allows people to sift online through hundreds of thousands of documents that previously required a painstaking manual search.

Companies are trying to bring down their spiraling health care costs by helping employees lose weight. At Dow Chemical, managers hope to set an example by hitting the corporate gym at midday, and the company offers weight-management classes on demand, at workers' convenience.