State & Regional News

The Walking Purchase, a 1737 land grab perpetrated by William Penn's sons, shaped the Lehigh Valley as residents know it today. But, the land wasn’t actually purchased, as the name might suggest — it was swindled from the Lenni-Lenape.

More than 130 people attended the panel, which focused on efforts across the state to tamp down on light pollution, not only to benefit star-gazers, but for fireflies and migrating birds, too.

Lehigh Valley Political Pulse host Tom Shortell wants to hear from you. Readers are encouraged to submit questions through the link in the article. They may be addressed on a future episode of the program.

As the system moves off the Carolina coast and begins to strengthen and lift northward, impacts farther inland — particularly in the Lehigh Valley — are not expected to be overly hazardous.

PennDOT has decided to convert a normally empty parking lot off William Penn Highway into 30 or more truck parking spots. While warehouses have boomed across the Lehigh Valley, truck parking has failed to keep up.

Political scientist Chris Borick joined Tom Shortell again this week to try to make sense of the government shutdown and what it all means.

Senate Democrats have refused to fund the federal government unless Republicans agree to extend tax subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. U.S. Ryan Mackenzie supports the tax subsidies but echoed Republican demands that no deal can be struck until the federal government is funded.

A reinforcing cold front has triggered a freeze watch in the Lehigh Valley from Thursday evening through Friday morning, bringing our coldest overnight temperatures since mid-April.

State environmental officials are calling on residents to nominate their favorite waterway to be 2026 River of the Year. The effort aims to elevate public awareness of specific rivers and recognize important conservation needs and achievements.

The filings, which occurred over the past few days in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, are individual filings of LLCs, including the location that was based at the Lehigh Valley Mall Lifestyle Center.

Another social-media fueled challenge has spurred a rise in the theft of Kia and Hyundai vehicles in Pennsylvania, but has the trend caught on in the Lehigh Valley?

Reporting an increase in violent incidents in the state's prisons in 2022, the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association has suggested that staffing needs to increase, and policies need to be reviewed to help make the prisons safer.

U.S. Army Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert died in an attack on troops in Kuwait. His killer was sentenced to death. For Seifert's parents in the Lehigh Valley, the passage of time hasn't eased the loss. 'He was a much-wanted child and a very loved young man,' says his mother Helen.

Officials say some people have received a text message asking for EBT card information and claiming that their card is blocked.

From a stall program in Reading, Pa., to tracking real-time parking spot availability in Arlington, Va., these are the ways cities are addressing their own parking woes.

Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center hosted the first event of the 2023 PA LGBTQIA Health Summit, which featured discussion on how social factors affect LGBTQIA health.

Shapiro wants to eliminate both the sales and use tax and the gross receipts tax on cell phone services. Doing so would save Pennsylvanians $124 million each year.

The the Pa. Chamber of Business and Industry is putting out its own bracket called “Coolest Thing Made in PA.”

Pennsylvania's 2023 legislative session could include consideration of a bill outlawing the use of hand-held devices while driving, which would be stricter than Pennsylvania's current law.

A wind advisory is in effect until midnight for areas mainly near and south of the Interstate 78 corridor, where the weather service expects gusts of 40 to 50 mph by Tuesday afternoon, with potential for a few localized higher gusts.

Mayor Mayor Michael Harakal Jr. was accused of sexual harassment in 2021. As part of the ensuing settlement, the township's government now has a new sexual harassment policy.

On the anniversary of the Blizzard of '93, forecasters say a complex coastal storm will develop on Monday, shifting from the Mid-Atlantic north into New England and dropping heavy snow just north of the Lehigh Valley.