Environment & Science

The box tree moth, a highly destructive, invasive insect, was discovered for the first time in Pennsylvania, in two cemeteries in Erie County. A quarantine has been issued.

The “Stanley Jr. Kids Wheelbarrow and 7-piece Garden Set" has been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission after the paint on the hoe and rake were found to contain lead levels exceeding the federal content ban.

Brad Klein reviews the week’s astronomical highlights with Bethlehem’s ‘Backyard Astronomy Guy,’ Marty McGuire. This week, they look ahead to the Autumnal Equinox.

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.

Testimony that will help a Northampton County judge decide if a lawsuit against the Bethlehem Landfill and Lower Saucon Twp. can move forward continued Friday, and will stretch into a third day.

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.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America released its report of the most challenging places to live with asthma. The release coincides with peak asthma season in September.

Early Tuesday, Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur who has a home in the Lehigh Valley, launched into space for a second time as part of a mission dubbed Polaris Dawn. The launch was visible in the area.

The Lehigh Valley will only see partial coverage during the April 8 solar eclipse. Those dedicated to seeing totality in its fullest are traveling outside of county and state bounds to do so.

DeSales University in Upper Saucon Township sent out a message saying it will reopen at 10 a.m. Thursday, but then reversed course and said the campus would remain closed due to the ongoing power outages.

The Lehigh Valley has posted nearly a month's worth of rain in the last three days, and well over eight inches since the beginning of March.

The school district informed the community it will dismiss all students early “out of an abundance of caution” ahead of the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.

A lab dedicated to the treatment of hematologic cancers is now open in Allentown. A generous donation helped the cellular therapy lab come into fruition at HNL Lab Medicine.

As severe weather rakes the East Coast, the National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement for the Lehigh Valley effective Wednesday afternoon. A nor'easter is also expected as a secondary low redevelops off the coast.

Monday's solar eclipse will not turn the skies in the Lehigh Valley pitch black, Moravian University astronomy professor Gary A. Becker said. Just a bit wonky. The ideal time in the Lehigh Valley to view the eclipse is 3:24 p.m.

Crews are set to get to work this year on a project to restore Bogert's Bridge after years of fundraising and design work.

The National Weather Service issued the flood watch starting from 6 a.m. Wednesday through 6 p.m. Thursday as the region undergoes several days of rain.

Township Manager Doug Bruce said the plans set forth in the Lehigh Valley Priority Climate Action Plan for Transportation Decarbonization will “set a precedent for other regions to follow.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry is alerting consumers of scammers selling sunglasses to view the eclipse on April 8 that do not protect one's eyes from potentially permanent damage.

The Lehigh Valley is not only looking at a cold, damp and dreary start to the week, there's rain in the forecast through Thursday. Elevated parts of the region could even see some snow Wednesday into Thursday.