While Accu-Weather's Elliot Abrams has lowered his snow accumulation to one-to-three inches, that doesn't mean today's winter storm won't cause headaches. "The storm will pickup in intensity as we go through the day. The very heaviest precipitation will come from the midday hours through this afternoon and this evening. At that point it'll be mostly sleet and freezing rain and perhaps change over to plain rain this evening," Abrams says. He says driving could be impacted all the way until tomorrow morning because overnight low temperatures are expected to hover a degree or two above or below the freezing mark.
PennDOT and Pennsylvania Turnpike officials are imposing speed restrictions through rush hour this morning. A full commercial vehicle ban is in effect this morning for parts of the Turnpike's Northeast Extension as well as I-81 from I-78 to the New York border. Empty, straight CDL-weighted trucks are banned around the Harrisburg area this morning. A 45-miles-per-hour speed restriction is also in place on all roadways already facing restrictions.
A state of emergency is in effect across the Garden State as residents deal with a messy winter storm. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy made the declaration Monday in order to facilitate resources. As a result, state police have issued a commercial vehicle travel restriction that applies to all interstates. State offices are opening today on a two-hour delayed schedule for everyone except essential employees who are being told to report to work on schedule.
The Northampton County DA's office says an elderly Palmer Township woman and her son found dead in a house fire last month are murder victims. First Assistant DA Terence Houck says 97-year-old Virginia Houck and her son Roger, who was visiting from out of state, were killed in the first week of January and then somebody set Virginia Houck's home on fire to try to conceal the murders. "All of this was complicated by the fact that this fire did immense damage to this house. It basically reduced this house to ash," Houck says. Police say there was some sort of incident that happened at the house the day before the victims were killed but aren't going into detail as to what that was. Investigators say they have determined a person of interest but have made no arrests.
A New York developer has his eye on Easton's riverfront. Garrett Vassel says he's interested in a new project that would include a rooftop restaurant overlooking Easton's riverfront, 32 apartment units and retail space on the first floor. Vassel's plan is for property that had been home to Kaplan's awning business on Northampton Street. Kaplan's is moving its business to Easton's West Ward. Vassel, who pitched the idea to the Easton Historic District Commission Monday, says the project would cost between $10-to-$14 million.
Allegiant Air says beginning May 17th, it will be flying nonstop from Lehigh Valley International Airport to Nashville. Introductory fares will be as low as $49 each way. The Lehigh Valley-to-Nashville route is the 13th nonstrop destination at LVIA.
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's 67-county listening tour on the idea of legalizing recreational marijuana began last night in Harrisburg. Gov. Tom Wolf says they don't have any pre-conceived ideas on what will be proposed once the tour wraps up. "Basically, what we want to do here in Pennsylvania is keep our eyes open for what's changing in our environment when it comes to recreational marijuana," Wolf says. Fetterman also has stops planned this week in Perry and Cumberland counties.
Officials are saying the most recent black bear harvest was successful, but one of the lowest in recent years. The state Game Commission reports that 3153 bears were taken in the 2018 season, the eleventh-best ever. However, it's also the lowest harvest in the past eleven years. November's poor weather conditions are being blamed for the low numbers, which was unexpected as the bear population is estimated to be in the 20,000 range.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is pushing legislation that would fully restore the state and local property tax deducation. Also known as the SALT deducation, President Trump's tax reform package from 2017 capped the amount that can be deducted from federal taxes at $10,000. Sen. Menendez says the move specifically targets states with a higher cost of living, such as New Jersey. He's introduced the SALT Act, which would fully restore the deduction.