State & Regional News

Talks between Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Republican-controlled state Senate, and the narrowly Democratic-controlled state House fell apart last week thanks to a deadlock over whether to include private school vouchers in the spending plan.

Police say a gunman in a bulletproof vest has opened fire on the streets of Philadelphia, killing five people and wounding two boys before he surrendered to responding officers. The shootings took place over several city blocks, and dozens of spent shell casings were found.

O'Hanlon retired at Lafayette in 2022 after 27 seasons. His hiring at Cardinal O'Hara in Delaware County brings him back to the Philadelphia Catholic League, where he played high school ball in the 1960s.

Megan Ryan, the VP for enrollment at Muhlenberg College, said the college will not change its diversity goals following the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.

Earlier this month, the state Senate approved Sen. Lisa Boscola's bill, which would increase the fine and direct any fees collected towards bald and golden eagle conservation efforts across the commonwealth.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm watch for several counties in eastern Pennsylvania, including Lehigh and Northampton. The watch will remain in effect until 11 p.m. Sunday.

Changing their tune? Pennsylvania lawmakers consider replacing the state's official song.

Lehigh Valley prepares for a humid Sunday with the possibility of severe thunderstorms and damaging winds. Showers and thunderstorms are expected in the afternoon, with a line of storms forming and moving eastward. There is also a small chance for brief spin-ups.

Officials and residents of several New Jersey shore towns say the state’s law decriminalizing marijuana use is having an unintended effect: emboldening large groups of teenagers to run amok on beaches and boardwalks, knowing there is little chance of them getting in trouble for it.

Pennsylvania received $7.3 billion in state and local pandemic relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. That money came with an expiration date: Funds must be allocated by 2024 and spent by 2026. Any funds that remain unused by that deadline will be returned to the federal government.

This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell speaks with Celeste Dee, owner of Lehigh Valley-based Advantage Political Strategies. The two talk about judicial campaigns.

In his latest budget proposal, Governor Josh Shapiro wants to allocate nearly $500 million to chronically underfunded school districts — and that includes several districts in the Lehigh Valley. But lawmakers have concerns around the fairness of the funding distribution.

WWE was once a near-annual staple in Allentown and throughout the Lehigh Valley. But the company has not returned since a holiday tour stop in 2023.

Nonprofits catering to LGBTQ+ people in the Lehigh Valley are doing what they can to push back on recent executive actions, support their community and fight for their survival as organizations, their leaders say.

A police officer discharged his firearm in an armed confrontation with the victim, who shot himself during the encounter Saturday night in Wind Gap, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

A destructive storm system moving up the coast is expected to hit the Lehigh Valley on Sunday evening. The area likely won't see any severe weather today, but it is just bordering the potential to, graphics from the National Weather Service show.

Gerald C. Yob has been mayor of Freemansburg for 44 years. He served on borough council 12 years before that. Yob turns 96 in August, and plans on running for a 12th term as mayor.

PennDOT has plans to improve the pavement and add truck climbing lanes in both Lehigh and Northampton counties. But the future of a controversial interchange in Lehigh County has grown more clouded.

Bear Creek Mountain Resort near Macungie said it will end its 2024-25 ski season on Saturday, March 15, after being open 97 ski days — which it said was one of its longest ski seasons ever.

H.B. 827 was proposed by State Rep. Robert Freeman, D-Northampton. The bill aims to establish a tutoring program in which high school students could receive academic credit for being tutors

Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th District, was a member of a panel discussion about the home health care crisis. Advocates are urging lawmakers to increase reimbursement fees to home care agencies.

Lehigh Valley native Danielle Meyers, 22, is among 190 million women worldwide with endometriosis, a chronic, incurable tissue abnormality that causes a host of painful internal problems.