Parkland News

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Starting Friday, Sept. 15 is Halloween Haunt, a nighttime event meant to thrill and terrify in equal measure, running select nights through October 28.

The South Whitehall Board of Commissioners approved a five-year waste management contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons after debate over multiple bids at a prior meeting. The approved bid, the lowest five-year quote the township received, is set to increase next year's cost for the township by 62.54%.

58 jobs at Coca Cola's Upper Macungie syrup plant are to be cut by the end of the year due to reorganizing effort by Coca-Cola to a third-party

The Parkland School Board approved Edward “Eddie” Ohlson Jr. as the new varsity boys basketball coach, replacing Andrew “Andy” Stephens, who will become athletic director when Bill Dreisbach retires in September.

Five public schools and two charter schools made the list of the Top 100 high schools in Pennsylvania, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Reports of "a loud, ground-shaking thud" was sent by residents in the area of the Olde Towne community in Upper Macungie Township, but police and other officials could not find anything suspicious or unusual.

A basketball hoop, lines and benches have been restored at the Wood Street Playground in Whitehall Township after a PennDOT plan to expand Route 22 was put on hold.

Valley Youth House's Camp Fowler may soon operate year-round with a new recreation center. North Whitehall planners reviewed a sketch plan for the building Tuesday.

Two trash removal companies, J.P. Mascaro & Sons, and Waste Management, went head-to-head in a friendly sales pitch war during a special hearing Monday night.

Cupid Foundations Inc. opened its design studio, CupidIntimates, on West Lehigh Street in Bethlehem in 1987. It's still designing original shapewear that it manufactures and sells in department stores and other national retailers.

Two phases of the Ridge Farms land development project were given extensions by the South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners.

In June, North Whitehall supervisors rejected plans for a 500,000-square-foot warehouse called Nexus 78. The proposal could return from the dead, after developers filed a land use appeal in Lehigh County Court.

Lehigh Country Controller Mark Pinsley criticized President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie for gutting the social safety net and Democratic leaders for failing to offer effective resistance.

Mark Pinsley is the fourth Democrat to challenge Republican incumbent Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley's battleground district in the 2026 midterm.

South Whitehall Township commissioners on Wednesday approved an ordinance that asks to add a ballot question requesting a tax increase intended to help support the preservation of open spaces.

The Trump administration announced in late June that it would not pay out more than $6 billion allocated through six grant programs created by Congress. For Parkland School District, that works out to $410,000 in lost funding.

The crash occurred Friday at Route 100 and West Tilghman Street in Upper Macungie Township.

South Whitehall Township's planning commission voted Thursday to delay a vote to approve Parkland High School's planned expansion. Township staff gave the school district plenty to do before they return to seek land development approval.

The 24-year-old woman “exited the vehicle while it was moving after an altercation with the driver,” according to the Lehigh County coroner.

The victim, a resident of Upper Macungie Township, was operating the e-bike when it was involved with a collision with another vehicle in Upper Macungie, according to the Lehigh County Coroner's Office.

Parkland School District locked down its $248 million 2025-26 budget on June 17, and despite a 4% tax increase, all board members approved.