State & Regional News

Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered Pennsylvania flags on all Commonwealth facilities, buildings, and grounds be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of the RM Palmer Company factory explosion.

West Reading's police chief announced two additional fatalities on Sunday evening, ending the search for two missing individuals. The search and rescue operation followed a chocolate factory explosion Friday night.

Reporter Julian Abraham spent the weekend covering the explosion that occurred Friday at a chocolate factory in West Reading.

As part of a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press obtained the data points underpinning several algorithms deployed by child welfare agencies to understand how they predict which children could be at risk of harm.

A chemical spill of a latex product late Friday in Bristol Township released contaminants into a Delaware River tributary, according to OEM officials.

Three people died and four remain missing in the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate-making plant in West Reading. The grim announcement Saturday night came after a day of hope spurred by a victim found alive in the wreckage early in the day.

Pennsylvania will again operate a water assistance program for low-income households behind in their water or wastewater bills, state officials announced last week.

While the report indicates positive trends, community advocates and leaders raised concerns about high rates of gun violence and educational outcomes. They called for more hyper-localized data to identify trends and correlations between issues impacting Black communities.

Thursday's March For Our Lives rally marks its fifth anniversary since its inception after a 2018 mass shooting at a Florida high school. Hundreds are expected at Thursday's rally in Harrisburg, which coincides with rallies this week in Florida, Michigan, California and Texas.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said he's long admired the Lehigh Valley's unique ability to build partnerships. It's a skillset he said he hopes to bring to other communities across the state to promote economic growth. Shapiro was keynote speaker at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. annual meeting in Bethlehem.

The Storm Prediction Center has maintained a marginal risk (1 out of 5) for the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas Thursday, with the primary threat being damaging winds.

The 2024 Pennsylvania LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment is open now until August. It is a biannual survey that evaluates health needs and disparities among LGBTQ people in the state.

The 75-year-old Pen Argyl man was filmed tangling with riot police outside the U.S. Capitol Building as Congress tallied votes for the 2020 presidential election, according to federal prosecutors.

Judy Woodruff, former anchor of "PBS NewsHour," returned to Bethlehem on Tuesday for a pair of conversations about the war in Gaza. It's part of her "America at a Crossroads" project examining the deep divides in American politics.

City Council unanimously approved $25,000 for a housing market study and strategy for the Stefko-Pembroke area, highlighting demand there for affordable, market-rate rental and for-sale housing.

The time between Memorial Day to Labor Day is known as the '100 deadliest days,' according to AAA. The traffic safety non-profit says teen driving fatalities increase during that time, especially at night.

While monitoring continues, Lehigh Valley Breathes officials used the most recent project update to explain results from the research this spring at Lehigh University.

Forty-five lawmakers have co-sponsored a bill that would protect workers who make prefabricated structures used in government contracts in better-paying communities.

When all was said and done, May was the Lehigh Valley’s sixth consecutive warmer-than-normal month, with an average temperature of 63.4 degrees – or 1.4 degrees above normal. So what will summer bring?

During this year’s spring migration count, which runs from April 1 through mid-May, Hawk Mountain volunteers and staff tallied 1,001 birds of prey.

PennDOT officials have gone back and forth with the National Park Service as it seeks a special permit to begin repairs to Route 611 along the Monroe County-Northampton County border. A rockslide shut a 3-mile stretch in December 2022.

Protesters advocating for Palestinians hosted a dinner of "rubble and blood" outside the Americus Hotel in Allentown to challenge Democrats to change their policies related to Israel on Friday.