State & Regional News

With Memorial Day behind them, lawmakers are heading toward summer recess amid questions about what, if anything, they will be able to accomplish before voters return their attention to the fall elections.

Pennsylvania lawmakers moved closer to establishing a statewide restriction on student cell phone use in public schools, as the state House passed legislation requiring "bell-to-bell" phone bans during the school day.

The study, released late last week by the Delaware River Basin Commission, detected per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in surface water, sediment, fish and blue crab tissue collected throughout the basin, including along the tidal Delaware River.

On this week's Lehigh Valley Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick break down the 2026 primary election results.

Electric customers across Pennsylvania will see higher supply rates beginning June 1, adding new pressure to household budgets just as air conditioning demand starts to climb.

Firefighter union boss Bob Brooks swept each municipality in Lehigh County and nearly each one in Northampton County en route to his nearly 20-point victory in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District's Democratic primary Tuesday.

Jack Pletz, 24 and his father, Matthew Pletz, have been arrested. Seventeen explosive devices were found inside their pickup truck.

The district, now represented by Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a first-term Republican, covers much of Lehigh County's rural and suburban communities and the northern part of Bucks County.

Bob Brooks has declared victory in the Lehigh Valley's Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District.

Tuesday is Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley Democratic voters will cast ballots in the 7th Congressional District, 16th District state Senate, the 22nd District state House of Representatives and 187th District state House. Republicans have no races for those seats; GOP candidates in them are unopposed.

In a phone interview, U.S. Rep. Susan Wild looked back a year to the day she was whisked from the House chambers to an undisclosed location, hopefully out of harm's way.

The Republican says the GOP needs to change its Trump-enthused strategy.

The voting machine maker wants the machines to be examined only by an approved inspector.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe has boosted fossil fuels and denied climate change.

It's uncertain whether the May primary election will go on as scheduled due to redistricting issues.

The money will be used to pay for public transit systems in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Improvements have been made, but the rate still lags behind other developed nations.

More than 5,000 Pennsylvanians died from overdoses last year.

The Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program is funded by coronavirus relief money.

Hospitals in Scranton and York will receive more acute-care capacity and EMS support.

The move is in response to a request by the Wolf administration for federal assistance.

Opponents say a new Lehigh Valley Senate seat splinters rapidly-growing Latino communities.