State & Regional News

Applications open Monday for the 2024 Lehigh Valley Greenways Mini Grant Program and are accepted until 4 p.m. March 8. The grants are earmarked for conservation efforts in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

More than 160,000 Pennsylvania students are enrolled in brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools, with the latter’s enrollment having ballooned in recent years.

Jay Bryson, chief economist for Wells Fargo’s Corporate and Investment Bank, told Lehigh Valley business leaders Wednesday that he expects the economy will lose some steam in the coming months, but avoid a recession.

Christopher Fitzgerald was shot and killed near the Temple University campus in Philadelphia while working as a university police officer in February 2023.

A 605-pound black bear harvested in the Lehigh Valley has ranked one of the largest in the state to be bagged during its most recent season, and was the sixth-heaviest bear in Pennsylvania for 2023.

The Ready to Learn Block Grant money can be put toward a variety of uses, including the expansion of a school district’s social and health services, and even professional development for educators.

Lawmakers announced the $40 million infusion that they said will support a new Northside Logistics and Cargo Complex. It will include a new dock facility and direct truck-to-aircraft loading apron at LVIA.

The team behind Lehigh University's "Community Mapping for Environmental Justice” project is creating an interactive map of litter in Bethlehem. Officials said the collaborative effort aims to improve the health and well-being of the entire community.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Registration is open for the Nurture Nature Center's Youth Climate Summit of the Lehigh Valley, a free event April 19 and 20. The summit aims to engage middle and high school students in climate change issues, as well as seek solutions.

The populist president was an ally of dictators like Cuba's Fidel Castro and loudly opposed the United States. Chavez claimed capitalism was destroying the world and tried to transform Venezuela into a socialist state.

Federal health officials warned that a dangerous group of superbugs has become increasingly common in hospitals. The bacteria are said to be resistant to virtually all antibiotics.

At his new venture, The Blaze, Beck has far fewer audience members soaking in his commentary than he did at Fox News. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. Fox helped amplify Beck's voice, whereas now, Beck projects his message on his own terms.

Despite all the advertising about absolute confidentiality in places like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, if you own a company in a tax haven, you are legally required to declare it to the IRS.

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.