State & Regional News

A special hourlong program livestreamed on LehighValleyNews.com Wednesday night. Panelists included Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure. The nonpartisan civic education group Keep Our Republic was a partner in the production.

The safety of a skin care procedure that draws patients’ blood and uses it in the healing process is coming into question. A Lehigh Valley nurse explains how to stay safe while receiving a vampire facial.

A report from the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion has former President Donald Trump with a 3-point lead over President Joe Biden in a head-to-head battle. That lead becomes a tie when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is included as an option.

More than a dozen wild birds in Pennsylvania have so far been confirmed to have the strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI. The threat to humans is low.

The spring migration count at Hawk Mountain began last month. One-day peak counts reach more than 100 birds in mid- to late-April, with this season’s count continuing through May 15.

The Democratic-controlled House passed legislation that would let counties get a head start counting mail-in ballots. But Senate Republicans are unlikely to pass it without an unlikely compromise on voter ID provisions.

After a lengthy battle with a local zoning office, neonatal kitten rescue Foxy's Cradle has found a new way to continue their mission to save young felines: a mobile kitten unit, which was unveiled at a Slatington fire rescue on Sunday, May 5.

Pennsylvania Master Naturalist is partnering with the Lehigh County Conservation District to host a Master Naturalist Volunteer training. The course aims to bolster local conservation efforts.

A Montour County environmental educator, arborist and musician is attempting to climb the tallest tree at the highest point in each of the Commonwealth’s 67 counties.

One person who consumed raw milk from Apple Valley Creamery in East Berlin and became ill, officials said. The milk is sold in three Lehigh Valley locations.

There are 51 stops on this year’s trail. In its eighth year, the trail is focused on celebrating local creameries across the state while driving business during the summer months.

Legislators worked to establish penalties for xylazine use and trafficking in an attempt to lessen its presence in Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply. Some say doing so made way for a new, unclassified veterinary tranquilizer to take its place — medetomidine.

The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.

As tariff talk raises concerns over the impact on the fireworks industry in America, retailers and production companies report this year is going well, but the future may not be so bright.

Nearly a year after the Biden administration designated xylazine as an "emerging threat" to the United States, Gov. Josh Shapiro classified it as a schedule III drug, making unauthorized possession a crime in Pennsylvania. Experts say the move has partly served to clear the way for new illicit substances to enter the drug market.

More than two years after the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, the former Northampton Community College and DeSales University student pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty.

The city is the third major city in the Lehigh Valley to become certified through Bird Town Pennsylvania, an annual designation focused on community-based conservation.

Despite not being approved for human consumption, veterinary tranquilizers are infiltrating the illicit drug supply in Pennsylvania. Harm reduction specialists and health care professionals say these overdoses can't be approached solely with naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug.

The bill would limit the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, beginning in 2026.

President Donald Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement and recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations have gained national and local attention. This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick look into the public's reaction to these raids.

After Monday brought rounds of thunderstorms and heavy rain, more severe weather is expected to target the region on Tuesday, forecasters say.

Xylazine, an animal-grade tranquilizer that's not approved for human use, has taken Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply by storm. Known on the streets as "tranq," it accounted for almost 1 in 4 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by 2023. Last year in Lehigh County, it was a contributing cause of death in 20 of the 112 deadly overdoses, or 17.9 percent of cases.