Parkland News

The League of Women Voters of Lehigh County will moderate and run the forums in partnership with Lehigh Valley Public Media. Participating will be school board candidates from Allentown, Parkland, East Penn and Southern Lehigh school districts.

Parkland School District will seek to join a lawsuit that will decide the future of Nexus 78, a proposed warehouse near district property in North Whitehall Township. The warehouse would be unsafe for students, board members said.

In a program of PennDOT and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, participants get training about litter prevention, waste management, civic engagement and more.

Ryan Eldredge, regional manager of public relations for Dorney Park and other Six Flags Entertainment Corp. properties, said operators continue to focus on refreshing and enhancing attractions.

Parkland School Board plans to vote Monday to join a court battle to decide whether a 501,000-square-foot warehouse will take shape in North Whitehall Township.

Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, said Six Flags, which merged with Cedar Fair last year to become Dorney Park’s parent company, is sitting on roughly $5.5 billion in debt after a season marked by bad weather, rising costs and attendance declines.

A Lehigh County judge will soon decide whether to throw out potentially key evidence in the prosecution of a former Parkland High School administrator.

Parkland High School teachers reported suspected misconduct by ex-performing arts administrator Frank Anonia more than a decade before his arrest on charges of secretly recording a student in a dressing room, a former teacher testified. Anonia is due in court for a criminal trial this week.

South Whitehall Police Department's K-9, Drax, is retiring from the force after seven years of service, and taking up the easy life with his longtime work partner and handler.

South Whitehall Township commissioners passed the Kline's Island Sewer System Act 537 Plan at their Wednesday meeting, setting in motion a multiyear project to help manage the treatment plant's capacity. It serves numerous municipalities.

Parkland School Board Vice President Marisa Ziegler announced her reelection campaign Tuesday.

Sunny Ghai will be the new chair starting in February. He campaigned for the board as a smart growth candidate.

The appeal involves potential open meetings violations.

At the latest hearing for the proposed facility, both witnesses spoke about the need for recovery houses. "There's as much effort being made to get the drugs out there as to keep them also on the down-low, very silenced, so no one really can tell. And they're attacking our young population.” Julissa Pena, a witness for the applicant said.

The board may have violated transparency laws because key discussions about filling a vacancy did not happen in public, according to Melissa Melewsky, in-house counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

The Parkland School Board voted 7-1 to appoint a longtime former board member to fill the vacant seat.

The new lawmakers from the Lehigh Valley joined more than 50 other new faces who were ceremonially sworn in to the General Assembly in Harrisburg.

Jarrett Coleman initially planned to stay on as a Parkland School Board member while simultaneously serving in the state Senate. He changed course last month. Good government advocates say such an arrangement creates the potential for conflicts of interest.

Andre Williams owns AW Selvedge and DKShin, denim companies. He is based in the Lehigh Valley. He’s using the skills he honed on the field to dress people. And he said making a sale gives him the feeling of a win.

Three South Whitehall Township Zoning Hearing Board members cannot attend meetings in the coming months, so the board appointed a hearing officer. It will allow the board to legally meet a required quorum.

South Whitehall Twp. commissioners are seeking applicants for vacant alternate seats on the Zoning Hearing Board.

Longtime former board member Robert Bold served as board president five times and vice president three times. He would fill the vacancy created by state Sen. Jarrett Coleman's resignation.