Allentown's new police chief says his focus will be to cut down on violence that has plagued his city this summer. "I do not want our children being raised around gunfire. That's going to be our top priority. We're going to be using data to actually figure out where we need to be and when we need to be there. We're going to be very smart about how we police. We have limited resources and we're going to use them wisely" says Glenn Granitz. After 18 years in the Allentown police department Granitz has been chosen as the department's interim police chief. He replaces interim police chief Tony Alsleben, who resigned last Friday. Granitz is Allentown's fifth police chief in four years.
An Allentown resident is one of several people admitting to their roles in a scam using stolen credit cards to make millions of dollars. Kaishce English has pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. English was sent on trips by the scheme ringleader to use stolen credit cards to make various types of purchases. The ringleader would then sell the purchases and split the cash with English and other conspirators. Using more than 4000 stolen credit cards, the scam raised more than $3.5 million.
The Easton Area School Board has unanimously voted to bring in David Piperato as the district's next superintendent. Piperato is currently the superintendent in the Pleasant Valley School District. He's leaving that job to take the Easton job effective December 15th. He replaces John Reinhart, who departed on August 5th after six years on the job.
Colonial Regional Police are investigating the theft of nearly $600 worth of allergy medicine. Two women allegedly entered the CVS in Lower Nazareth Township on Jandy Boulevard last month and then dropped the meds in a purse before fleeing the scene. Images of the suspects have been posted online and anyone with information is asked to call the Colonial Regional Police Department.
A 37-year-old Bethlehem man is accused of posting sex videos without the consent of the couple involved in the act. Police say Shawn Krumm posted the videos to a porn website without the permission of the unidentified couple, who says both of their faces could be seen in the videos.
Vice President Mike Pence has praised the heroes of Flight 93 on the 18th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. "Men and women who rose up, who fought back and who met unspeakable evil with selfless heroism and American strength," Pence said. Speaking at the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pench cited the courage and sacrifice of passengers who fought with hijackers on the ill-fate United Airlines flight, which crashed in a field in that tiny western Pennsylvania community, killing everybody on board.
What started out as a City Council hearing on racist social media posts by some members of the Police Department took a dramatic turn, when Acting Commissioner Christine Coulter was asked about a racially insensitive shirt she wore ini the 1990s. In the photo, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Coulter is seen wearing a shirt that read "LAPD We Treat You Like A King," a reference to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by four Los Angeles police officers. King was black and the four officers involved in the case were white. Coulter apologized for her actions saying she should have never accepted the shirt or wore it. Councilwoman Cindy Bass called on Coulter earlier this week to step down, adding that she sent a letter to Mayor Jim Kenney asking him to force Coulter to resign.
The U.S. Department of Education is giving millions to the New Jersey's Office of the Secretary of Higher Education to help economically disadvantaged students. New Jersey will get a total of $35 million over seven years to provide academic and enrichment support services. The goal is to increase success and college attendance for students coming from impoverished situations. Gov. Phil Murphy says the grant will help, as while New Jersey has a strong education syste, higher education still remains out of reach for some.