State & Regional News

This week on Political Pulse, Tom and Chris discuss the latest trends emerging from science-based polls to break down local, state and national campaigns and issues.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild and state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, both seeking the Lehigh Valley's seat in the next Congress, each cast themselves as a moderate facing a radical in a debate Sunday.

SpaceX’s capsule Polaris Dawn splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico in the predawn darkness early Sunday. Returning to Earth were two SpaceX engineers, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman of the Lehigh Valley. Isaacman became only the 264th person to perform a spacewalk.

A Lehigh University graduate last year recorded a new species of mushroom at Wildlands Conservancy's South Mountain Preserve.

Monarch butterflies are starting to migrate through the Lehigh Valley. An annual tagging program, held at Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, helps conservation efforts.

What feels like a local housing crisis is actually a “global phenomenon” across all income levels, state Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Lehigh, said at a housing summit Friday.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on procedural grounds that a lower court should not have taken up the case because it did not draw in the election boards in all 67 counties.

Called the Recovery in Nature initiative, two state departments have joined forces to create regional-specific partnerships to bolster substance use recovery efforts while strengthening all residents’ connection to nature.

Folks of older age and those with mobility troubles may already have enough of a hard time getting where they need to go, so a local panel is brainstorming how to get federal funding to make day-to-day transportation a smoother ride for them.

Democrats said they wanted Vice President Kamala Harris to provide more details about her policies while Republicans acknowledge she presents a more serious challenge to former President Donald Trump.

Famed rockers Heart has canceled its headlining gig at Allentown Fair, and the rest of its recent tour, in light of singer Ann Wilson's cancer treatment.

Victaulic, the pipe-joining manufacturer based in Forks Township, will undertake a $100 million expansion project in Tioga County, Pa., that will create at least 214 new, full-time jobs and retain 1,611 more across the state, it was announced Tuesday.

The Climate Prediction Center is favoring warmer than normal temperatures for the Lehigh Valley, which has an average daily high of 86.4 degrees in July, according to data from the National Weather Service.

Owowcow Creamery announced it secured two brag-worthy titles: third-best ice cream shop in the U.S. and first place on the East Coast. The creamery has two locations in the Lehigh Valley.

With first lady Jill Biden set to visit the region Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police are warning of traffic delays in the Allentown and surrounding areas.

Zero tolerance on fireworks: “If we just kind of let people light things off, someone's going to get hurt or killed," Bethlehem Police Chief Michelle Kott said.

The National Weather Service's storm prediction center shows the Lehigh Valley falling in line with forecasts of high winds, potential hail and some severe thunderstorms Sunday evening.

About 120 workers at the distribution center in Palmer Township are represented by the United Auto Workers union. Leaders say the proposed deal increases wages 33% over the next five years.

Jill Biden, Susan Wild and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus will look to connect with Latino voters in Allentown as the PA-7 congressional race heats up.

A review of hundreds of decisions made by a powerful state oversight board sheds light on how Pennsylvania counties will be allowed to spend hundreds of millions of dollars from opioid settlements.

About three dozen Republicans jeered President Joe Biden throughout Thursday's night presidential debate while Democrats fumed that Trump was ignoring questions on child care and climate change.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off Thursday night in what will be the earliest televised presidential debate in American history. Given the two men's deep unpopularity and established public records, it will be difficult for either to move the needle in what's shaping up to be a close campaign.