Snow removal begins today in the city of Allentown. Today's schedule will have crews on Gordon Street, Ridge Avenue and Washington Street. Tonight's snow removal plan has crews working on 15th Street, Tilghman Street and Hamilton Street beginning at 7 o'clock. Any vehicle not removed from the work areas will be ticketed and towed. Free off-street parking is available in the Arena North Deck on West Linden Street, at the Allentown Fairgrounds by using Gate 8 on Liberty Street and the Allentown School District parking deck at 18th and Turner streets.
The massive snowstorm has likely moved up a date with the wrecking ball for the old 1895 Hotel building at Seventh and Linden streets in Allentown. The weight of all that snow was so heavy the walls on the fourth floor began to bulge out prompting worries the building may collapse on its own. The vacant building was slated for demolition later this year to make way for new apartment buildings but now it could come down as soon as today.
Snow is the likely cause of a roof collapse at a popular bowling alley in Northampton County. It happened at Hampton Lanes off Main Street in Northampton early Tuesday morning. While it's still unclear exactly why the roof collapsed, it's suspected the weight of more than two feet of snow is probably to blame.
PennDOT has lifted all vehicle restrictions on major Lehigh Valley roads. Restrictions were also lifted in Berks, Carbon, Monroe and Schuylkill counties.
Tuesday, Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg said a pretty decent snowstorm could pay us a visit this Sunday. Now...he's not so sure. "The computer forecasts today pretty much all say it'll be a swing and a miss. This storm will stay way to our south and we won't have to worry about it," Lundberg says. However, he cautions that same model was leaning to the most recent snowstorm drifting off to our south as well and we all know how that worked out.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health Tuesday confirmed another 4410 new cases of coronavirus in the state, leaving the state with 850,488 overall. Another 125 deaths blamed on coronavirus-related issues were also reported for a total of 21,812 in Pennsylvania since the pandemic began last March. 3280 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. 650 of them are in the intensive care unit. Statewide positivity rate for the week of January 22-28 stood at 9.3-percent.
Thanks to the snowstorm Emmaus High School was closed Monday and Tuesday. Thanks to the coronavirus it'll remain closed for the rest of the week. The East Penn School District says Emmaus High will remain closed through Friday because of the number of COVID-19 cases there. Students will be learning remotely those three days. There have been ten cases of people with coronavirus in the high school over the past 14 days.
Pennsylvania's personal income tax hasn't been increased since 2004. That will change if Gov. Tom Wolf gets his way. As part of his annual budget address today, the governor will ask lawmakers for a $3 billion increase in the personal income tax with the money being used on public education. Under the governor's plan, the lowest earners or about 40-percent would actually pay less in income tax while the top one-third of wage earners will be shelling out more. A household of four earning more than $84,000 would pay more while a household of four earning between $50,000 and $84,000 would pay less. That same family of four earning less than $50,000 would be exempt from the income tax altogether.
One person was hurt after a train and front-end loader collided Tuesday night in Bethlehem. It happened at a rail yard off Riverside Drive, near Union Station Plaza. A Norfolk Southern train hit the loader around 10:30 p.m. as it was working on the property. The operator of the loader, also a Norfolk Southern employee, was ejected when the train hit. That operator was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill. No details have been released on the individual's condition.
America's oldest brewery is adding another beer to its lineup this year. "For over 190 years Yuengling has been brewing good times with great quality beer. Now we're mixing it up. Introducing Raging Eagle Mango beer, Yuengling's newest pilsner made with natural mango flavor," said the company announcement. The new beer will be available year-round in 24-ounce cans.