State & Regional News

The family of a 2-year-old girl swept away along with another child by a flash flood that engulfed their vehicle on a Pennsylvania road is expressing gratitude at the discovery of a body believed to be hers.

The PPL Foundation has provided half a million dollars to the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley to address homelessness and housing insecurity in the region.

Hot, summertime temperatures will expand across the U.S. and could bring the Lehigh Valley’s first official heat wave of the year, forecasters say.

A Democratic lawmaker is quitting the Pennsylvania House of Representatives amid a budget stalemate.

Federal safety investigators have determined that natural gas was leaking from a defective fitting at a Pennsylvania chocolate factory where a powerful explosion killed seven people.

The “Take Action” campaign is designed to highlight connections for trail users through education and providing resources to boost engagement and opportunities to get involved and support the trail.

The heavy rains wreaked havoc on the region, already saturated by a round of storms last weekend. And more rain is expected this week.

A freight train derailment in southeast Pennsylvania has spurred precautionary evacuations, but officials say no injuries were reported and there is no known hazard to the public.

Smoke from the Canadian wildfires has been transported south and east and is moving into Pennsylvania.

PennDOT is tackling 37 major projects worth more than $700 million in Berks, Carborn, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties this year.

Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered Pennsylvania flags on all Commonwealth facilities, buildings, and grounds be lowered to half-staff to honor the victims of the RM Palmer Company factory explosion.

West Reading's police chief announced two additional fatalities on Sunday evening, ending the search for two missing individuals. The search and rescue operation followed a chocolate factory explosion Friday night.

Reporter Julian Abraham spent the weekend covering the explosion that occurred Friday at a chocolate factory in West Reading.

As part of a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press obtained the data points underpinning several algorithms deployed by child welfare agencies to understand how they predict which children could be at risk of harm.

A chemical spill of a latex product late Friday in Bristol Township released contaminants into a Delaware River tributary, according to OEM officials.

Three people died and four remain missing in the explosion at the R.M. Palmer Co. chocolate-making plant in West Reading. The grim announcement Saturday night came after a day of hope spurred by a victim found alive in the wreckage early in the day.

Pennsylvania will again operate a water assistance program for low-income households behind in their water or wastewater bills, state officials announced last week.

A century after the first women were elected to Pennsylvania’s state legislature, both chambers now have women at their helm.

While the report indicates positive trends, community advocates and leaders raised concerns about high rates of gun violence and educational outcomes. They called for more hyper-localized data to identify trends and correlations between issues impacting Black communities.

Thursday's March For Our Lives rally marks its fifth anniversary since its inception after a 2018 mass shooting at a Florida high school. Hundreds are expected at Thursday's rally in Harrisburg, which coincides with rallies this week in Florida, Michigan, California and Texas.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said he's long admired the Lehigh Valley's unique ability to build partnerships. It's a skillset he said he hopes to bring to other communities across the state to promote economic growth. Shapiro was keynote speaker at the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. annual meeting in Bethlehem.