Lehigh County News

Sketch plans for an athletic complex for Allentown Central Catholic High School were reviewed by the Whitehall Township Planning Commission on Wednesday night.

Applications are open for the second Good Farmer Award U.S. Officials are looking for farmers with less than 10 years of experience who exemplify sustainable farming practices while contributing to community and environmental health.

Lehigh County executive candidates Josh Siegel and Roger MacLean met in a debate Wednesday night hosted by Lehigh Valley Public Media in Bethlehem. Siegel argued the next executive needs to have big plans for the office, where MacLean positioned himself as offering more stability.

Plans for a 190,400-square-foot distribution facility along Main Street received unanimous conditional final approval from the Whitehall Township Planning Commission on Wednesday night.

Republican Roger MacLean and Democrat Josh Siegel are vying for a four-year term as Lehigh County executive. The winner in the Nov. 4 election will succeed Democrat Phil Armstrong, who cannot run again because of term limits.

Authorities allege Adam Makowka, 28, of South Whitehall Township, fatally shot Jereka Battle in her Allentown apartment in July.

A crop farm in Lehigh County was included in the latest round of Pennsylvania's Farmland Preservation Program. Twenty-three other farms across the state were also preserved.

Operations at Lehigh Valley International Airport have not suffered from the government shutdown to date, according to Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority officials. However, an increase in air traffic controllers calling out sick during the last shutdown spurred a deal in 2019.

In its 10th year, and led by the Watershed Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, the conference theme was “Back to Basics,” and drew a sold-out crowd with about 180 people, including professionals and volunteers.

School Director Emily Gehman said Southern Lehigh has a pattern of pay disparities between female employees and their male colleagues.

Lehigh Valley planners held a public meeting Thursday at Allentown’s Bucky Boyle Park, where residents raised some safety concerns about the project.

The four-year contract will raise salaries by nearly 4.7% in the 2023-24 school year, with additional increase each subsequent year. The school board ratified a new contract with the teacher's union, the Allentown Education Association, on Thursday night.

Lehigh Valley high school students had the opportunity to see firsthand what it's like to be a nurse. A nursing simulation was held during National Nurses Week.

The EPA on Thursday announced a new proposal that would set new guidelines for power plants, requiring “ambitious reductions” in carbon pollution. A Pennsylvania environmental group calls the move a "big step in the right direction.”

A plan two years in the making is proving to be successful in Allentown. Nurses for the city and the district worked together to make sure students are safe from preventable disease.

Candidates have formed two groups: one made up of mostly incumbents, and the other made up of Republican challengers. Transparency, spending and projected overcrowding in the district's middle and high schools have become key issues in the race.

Democrats in Lehigh and Northampton counties requested three times more mail-in ballots than their Republican neighbors for next week's primary election.

The budget includes a 2.5% increase to the millage rate, the biggest increase in seven years. The district would still have the lowest millage rate in Lehigh County.

The city's parking authority earned the 2023 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence for its Park Green program, a sustainability initiative.

East Penn School Board race features two contentious slates of candidates.

PennDOT is replacing the 90-year-old Cementon Bridge thanks in part to $22.5 million in funding from the federal government. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey highlighted the improvements during a visit to Whitehall Township on Tuesday.

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center on Tuesday released its “Dirty Dozen” report, a ranking of the commonwealth’s top climate polluters.