Lehigh County News

A crowd gathered — and cheered — as Luani the otter at Lehigh Valley Zoo made his Super Bowl LVII pick during the 12th annual Otter Bowl a day before the big game between the Eagles and Chiefs.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said police recovered a semiautomatic handgun from the man, as well as shell casings believed to have been fired from the weapon. No officers were hurt, but a projectile nicked an officer's bulletproof vest, Martin said.

Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio said the official pronouncement will be completed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Police are stepping up DUI enforcement for Super Bowl weekend. Each year, there’s a spike in the number of car crashes immediately following the Super Bowl than what is typical for a Sunday night.

Some spoke about the need for recovery houses, and others spoke about the potential harm it could bring to the children.

Monkey Knife Fight 2023, described as “the hardest charity ride you'll ever love to hate” is happening on April Fools' Day, and that is no joke.

Parents aren't the only ones frustrated. One bus driver says students acting out causes drivers to quit, creating high turnover rates. A number of school districts are negotiating new bus driver contracts.

Students gathered to cheer for the Emmaus High School graduate who joined the Eagles at the start of the season. The team is in Arizona getting ready to play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

Michelle Graupner, a South Whitehall Township Democrat, hopes to become Lehigh County's second clerk of judicial records.

St. Luke's University Health Network opened 6 pediatric specialty labs across the Lehigh Valley. The labs are designed to make children and their caregivers feel more at ease when receiving services.

The Parkland School District has been designated as a Great Pennsylvania School through a new initiative of the Pennsylvania School Board Association to recognize high-quality districts across the state.

More than 100 businesses, officials, organizations and environmental advocates statewide — including two from the Lehigh Valley — signed a letter to Shapiro arguing his economic development plan, “Pennsylvania Gets It Done,” fails to prioritize sustainable industries and instead doubles down on fossil fuels.

LANTA and UGI Energy Services have signed a three-year deal that will provide the transportation authority with compressed natural gas collected from landfills in eastern Pennsylvania.

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission last week released a draft of its Priority Climate Action Plan, a document almost a year in the making aimed at tamping down the region’s carbon emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change.

Five farms, three in Lehigh County and two in Northampton County, were the latest to be included in the commonwealth’s Farmland Preservation Program, along with more than a dozen others across the state.

Francis Malofiy of law firm Francis Alexander on Tuesday filed a complaint for a class action lawsuit on behalf of 12 families who all say they were falsely accused of child abuse by LVHN doctors.

After months of debates, amendments and rewrites, a wide-spanning non-discrimination law has been passed, covering all of Lehigh County.

South Whitehall Township recently launched Transportation PLAN, a comprehensive transportation planning initiative.

A Lehigh Valley resident was recognized as a “Volunteer of the Year” for 2023 by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, a statewide nonprofit that focuses on litter cleanups and community improvements.

Tuesday served as a preview of the political campaigns to come as candidates filed paperwork to appear on the April primary ballot. Voters will decide races for president, Congress and the General Assembly among others this year.

Whitehall Township commissioners selected new member Rob Piligian after several votes during a meeting Monday night, just shy of the deadline to do so.

A change.org petition opposing the new mascot chosen by the Whitehall-Coplay School District has attracted more than 1,200 signatures. The mascot, named Big Z, is so named in honor of the school name Zephyr, which was also a train that once ran through Whitehall Township.