State & Regional News

Regional and national news outlets Thursday left out an important detail about the return of the Canadian wildfire smoke — it was nowhere near the ground.

Gov. Josh Shapiro put the reconstruction of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia front and center on Thursday, launching a livestream of the progress that will run online 24/7 until the job is finished.

Held June 7 in Bethlehem, the Lehigh Valley Environmental Advisory Council Network’s “Funding Municipal Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programs,” focused on federal and state funding opportunities available to organizations across the region.

There’s one major question as we approach the summer solstice in the Lehigh Valley – where’s the warmth?

The House budget recently passed on a party-line vote increased school maintenance funding to $350 million from $100 million proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro

Few, if any, bridges in Pennsylvania insulate the steel beams in their decks, PennDOT Deputy Secretary Mike Rebert said Wednesday. High-intensity fires capable of destabilizing those bridges are rare, but do happen.

Democrats in Pennsylvania are optimistic that Republicans will finally agree to raise the state's minimum wage after years of debate. A Republican member of the state Senate's leadership team is leading a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, providing hope for a resolution, although challenges remain in the GOP-controlled state Senate.

The late William Jacob Heller founded The American Flag Manufacturing Co. in Easton in 1887, helping popularize the U.S. flag nationally. Heller is credited as being instrumental in having flags hung at schoolhouses throughout the nation.

Local experts say the Lehigh Valley is well prepared to knock down wildfires, but state data show those blazes are becoming much more common across Pennsylvania.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors reported home sales dropped 22% in May — normally a busy season. Increased interest rates and tight inventory in Lehigh and Northampton counties were driving the figures, according to GLVR.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is focusing specifically on child and adolescent mental health, Levine said.

The U.S. assistant secretary for health, who will speak at Texas Christian University, says physicians need to be more vocal in fighting politically motivated attacks on vulnerable trans youth.

It comes as the Lehigh County DA plans to station detectives at mail-in ballot drop boxes.

Construction should begin next year, with a planned opening of mid-2024.

Frontrunners Dr. Mehmet Oz and David McCormick did not attend the forum at Dickinson College.

Christina Warren collects T-shirts, mugs and other items from companies that promised huge changes, but failed to deliver — often in spectacular ways.

The local nonprofit group was among 7 organizations statewide to receive a share of $89,000 in grants.

The war in Ukraine, abortion and strengthening democratic institutions were among the topics.

The tests measure what a child knows on one day and there is no growth measure, Michael Faccinetto said.

Observers are expecting legal challenges to Pa.'s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Leading in the polls, Fetterman was grilled about a 2013 incident in which he confronted a Black man with a shotgun.

Smoking weed in public or bringing cannabis across state lines remains illegal in Pennsylvania.