State & Regional News

This week on Watching the Skies, WLVR's Brad Klein and Bethlehem's Backyard Astronomy Guy, Marty McGuire talk about the planet Venus and its role as the "morning star."

Ryan Mackenzie, the Lehigh Valley's freshman congressman, cast an essential vote to move President Donald Trump's signature bill through the U.S. House last week. His would-be Democratic opponents say he's sold out poor families to give billionaires a tax break.

State Treasurer Stacy Garrity said her department has returned 500 military medals and pieces of memorabilia to veterans and their families since 2021.

The state Department of Environmental Protection announced $1 million in grants to promote environmental education and stewardship across the state. Four Lehigh Valley programs received funding.

The LVPC on Thursday hosted a workshop, “Planning + Pizza: Deploying Electric Vehicle Infrastructure,” aiming to collect feedback about where best to deploy EV infrastructure throughout the region.

Overall, 31 of the region’s 35 major climate sites were wetter than normal, with 22 of them experiencing one of their 20 wettest May 1-15 periods. Allentown took the top spot, experiencing its wettest May 1-15 ever.

The Lehigh Valley's public transit system says it will have to cut service by 20 percent and boost fares by 25 percent without additional state funding — something that Gov. Josh Shapiro has called for but that lawmakers will have to approve.

Tuesday, May 20, is Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania. Several high-profile local races are on the ballot in Lehigh and Northampton counties. Check out our procrastinator's guide and Q&A.

Drivers who have been ticketed for school bus camera violations say the process to contest them needs to change. PennDOT said thousands of citations across seven Lehigh Valley school districts are still awaiting hearings.

Republicans Roger MacLean and Mike Welsh have spent less than $8,000 combined on their race. Meanwhile, their Democratic opponent Josh Siegel has amassed more than $180,000 in his war chest. The primary election is Tuesday, May 20.

Lehigh Valley native Danielle Meyers, 22, is among 190 million women worldwide with endometriosis, a chronic, incurable tissue abnormality that causes a host of painful internal problems.

A handful of Lehigh Valley farms are feeling the impact of the federal funding freeze. It's also causing a Harrisburg nonprofit focused on sustainable agriculture to announce furloughs starting next month.

Last year was a big year for dam removals not only in the Lehigh Valley, but across Pennsylvania. The state was ranked first in the U.S. for the most outdated, unsafe and uneconomical dams removed in 2024.

Collectively, the shipments destined for Allentown and Whitehall were valued at $28,550 had the cosmetics been genuine, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers said.

In this week’s Political Pulse, Tom Shortell and Chris Borick discuss the shifting dynamics of U.S. foreign policy, in light of the recent meeting between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, President Trump, and Vice President JD Vance.

As part of The Road Ahead, our Lehigh Valley traffic project, we thought it would be a good idea to allow folks to test their basic knowledge of the rules of the road. Take the quiz and see how you score.

The Pennsylvania Invasive Replace-ive Program encourages property owners to remove invasive plants by offering native replacements, for free, during events in May throughout the state.

As the winter months pass through, several Lehigh Valley emergency homeless shelters have seen an influx of individuals coming in. For some, this is putting a strain on resources.

Surrounded by family, friends and fans, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley addressed an enthusiastic and raucous crowd at the PPL Center. It came a month after winning the Super Bowl and days after signing a contract extension that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

An invasive insect known for its voracious appetite that can defoliate millions of acres of forest, spongy moths have been an annual blight on the Valley and the rest of Pennsylvania for decades.

According to PennDOT, 86 crashes occurred at the same Route 22 interchange between 2019 and 2023, the most recent years of data available. And 34 of those crashes occurred in the exact same spot.

A wind advisory was extended until 4 p.m. Friday in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas, with winds 15 to 25 mph and gusts of 35 to 50 mph expected.