A former Allentown police officer is expected to turn himself in today on charges he stole thousands of dollars from a firefighter charity. Corey Cole, of Lehigh Township, faces 380 counts of theft, tampering and forgery in connection to the stealing of more than $315,000 from the Lehigh Township Fireman's Relief Association. While serving as the association's treasurer, Cole allegedly took the money and spent it on shopping, dining and other personal expenditures. Cole allegedly created fake vendor invoices, wrote out checks to himself and used the organization's debit car to take the money.
Gov. Tom Wolf brought his Resore Pennsylvania pitch to Allentown Thursday. The governor visited the Hiram Dodd Elementary School to see how the lead removal process there is going and to note that if his Restore Pennsylvania plan is approved processes like that would go a lot quicker. "We'd raise that $4.5 billion in about four years and that $4.5 billion we'd invest in places like this," Wolf says. That $4.5 billion would be raised from a combination of borrowing and slapping a severance tax on the state's natural gas industry.
A Carbon County man is being accused of posting racist threats online. The U.S. Attorney's office says Lehighton's Corbin Kauffman has been charged in connection to hundreds of alleged posts in which he included anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and anti-African American images, messages and videos. One purported post shows a digitally crafted photo of Kauffman pointing an assault rifle at a group of praying Jewish men, while others featured comments calling for the murder of non-white and non-Christian people. Kauffman could end up in prison for as many as five years if convicted.
An East Stroudsburg man and New Jersey teacher is admitting to sexually assaulting one of his students. The Warren County Prosecutor's Office says Michael Martino, a former teacher at Hackettstown High School, has pleaded guilty to having sex with a student on several occasions between 2009 and 2011. Under the plea, Martino received a suspended prison sentence but will be on parole for life and must register as a sex offender. He's also forbidden from ever teaching again in New Jersey.
Anglers across Pennsylvania will be along rivers, lakes and streams for the official start of trout fishing season tomorrow. Officials say they've stocked more than 3.2 million trout in 707 streams and 127 lakes. Residents looking to take part in the season must have a resident fishing license and trout permit, which costs just less than $33.
A new report finds New Jersey has the highest rates of autism in the United States. The study by the CDC and Rutgers University finds that the rate of autism increased 43 percent from 2010 to 2014. Nationally, about one in 59 children has autism. In New Jersey it's one in 35. Boys in New Jersey are three-and-a-half times more likely than girls to have the disorder.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is appearing today to demand legislators put an end to robocalls. Menendez will be joined by New Jerseyans who claim to have been harassed by unwanted calls from scammers and telemarketers. Both Menendez and fellow New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker were among 15 senators who called for the FCC to establish protections for consumers from robocallers last year.
The Philadelphia 76ers open the NBA Playoffs Saturday afternoon at home against Brooklyn. The 76ers are the three-seed in the East while the Nets are the sixth. Philly will host Game Two on Monday. The Sixers and Nets split four regular-season meetings.