Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DiLuzio is under fire for re-posting a Facebook post on his page. Earlier this week, DiLuzio re-posted a meme and message from a Facebook group which features a pictureof LeBron James and with another person with a caption indicated that no one cares about NBA players not playing. The message included with the photo was from another man saying he gave up his sports package on DirecTV and continued to make racist comments about the players. DiLuzio released an apology, saying the post doesn't represent what he stands for and indicated that he didn't see the message included until after he re-posted it.
The White House's COVID-19 Response Coordinator is praising Pennsylvania's handling of the coronavirus. Dr. Deborah Birx met with Gov. Tom Wolf in Harrisburg Thursday and said Pennsylvania has controlled its epidemic. Birx, whose roots are in the Midstate, said she passed on visiting her parents in Mechanicsburg because she has been to a lot of coronavirus hot spots recently.
COVID-19 cases bumped up by 1160 on Thursday, pushing the overall total here to 136,711. 20 more coronavirus-related deaths were reported Thursday, leaving the state death toll at 7732.
Pennsylvania long-term care facilities are going to allow visitors to help provide care for their residents. Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine says the pandemic has affected the emotional and mental health of nursing home residents, which impacts their physical health and 'compassionate care' caregivers can improve that. With the decision, family members or loved ones can help care for long-term residents whose health is worsening. They'll have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the past week and undergo screening at the facility.
A hotel in downtown Reading is now serving as a college dorm. The DoubleTree Hotel is partnering with Alvernia University to provide housing for upperclassmen. Officials say this is part of an effort to cut down on the number of studnets living on campus during the pandemic. They say they're providing shuttle service to and from the hotel as well as dedicated study rooms and meal spaces.
Restaurants around New Jersey are opening their dining rooms today just in time for the long Labor Day Weekend. Gov. Phil Murphy says restaurants are able to seat patrons at 25-percent capacity as long as tables are six feet apart and anyone not sitting at a table wears a mask. Movie theaters are opening as well today and are expected to adhere to the same rules. Murphy announced the move earlier this week saying the rules apply to everyone and he won't tolerate establishments that don't follow social distancing guidelines.
The nation's second largest mall is reopening next month. American Dream announced Thursday that is would reopen East Rutherford's entertainment and retail complex to guests on October 1st. The mall is introducing a new set of safety guidelines as a result of coronavirus, including reduced capacity and mandatory face coverings. The team is encouraging guests to book their experiences ahead of time since they'll be operating at a reduced capacity.
The race for the White House returned to Pennsylvania Thursday evening when President Trump visited Latrobe. While there, he told supporters he and challenger Joe Biden would handle chaos in the streets of American cities very differently. "Biden's plan is to appease the domestic terrorists. My plan is to arrest them and prosecute them," the President said. The President's visit came three days after Biden campaigned in nearby Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey says the President Trump/Joe Biden race here is shaping up to be a dogfight. "The President has tightened this race up. This looks like a tossup in Pennsylvania right now. I don't think that was the case four or six weeks ago, but it is now," Toomey told the Fox Business Network. He said that the security of America's communities is becoming a huge issue and says voters are seeing Democrats are failing in their responsibilities to protect their cities.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman are calling on the Legislature to legalize recreation marijuana use for adults. The governor says, now more than ever, there's a need for the economic boost cannabis legalization can provide. Fetterman pointed to a recent poll that showed a majority of Pennsylvanians favored legalization and he says the state must stop prosecuting people for doing something that most people in the state don't think should be illegal.
Activists are reasuring Atlantic City's mayor they won't paint "Black Lives Matter" on the gambling mecca's famous boardwalk. Instead, they're accepting Mayor Marty Small's offer to paint the words in front of the city's Civil Rights Garden on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard later today. Protesters were originally going to paint the historic boardwalk, but Small warned against that, saying it was illegal. Organizers say the group is still planning to march before the event.
The Flyers' 5-4 double-overtime win last night wasn't the biggest win of the night for the team. Oskar Lindblom returned to the lineup for the first time since early December after being diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. Goaltender Carter Hart says seeing Lindblom back was amazing. "I don't think there's anything to describe how proud we all are of him and how much he means to this organization," Hart says. Lindblom played 17-and-a-half minutes in his return to the lineup.