A man is dead and another injured following a shooting in Allentown over the weekend. The gunfire happened just before 4:30 Sunday morning in the 1700 block of South 4th Street. Police found a 30-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound and applied first aid before the man was rushed to the hospital, where he died. The victim's identity has not yet been released. A short time later a second gunshot victim arrived at an area hospital and is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Investigators aren't saying whether the two shootings are related in any way.
Nearly 72 hours later, police are still looking for whoever fired shots in the parking lot of a Giant grocery store in Lehigh County. It happened around 5:45 Friday afternoon at the Giant Food Store along Hamilton Boulevard in Trexlertown. Investigators believed specific individuals were targeted and it was not a random incident. Police believe a silver Nissan SUV was involved in the shooting. No one was injured and no property was damaged during the incident.
The Allentown Police Department is warning residents of mail fishing scam. The department is asking residents to be aware of mailbox fishing and to report any suspicious activity. Mailbox fishing is a process in which thieves steal mail to get checks, credit cards and other personal information that would allow the thief to gain access to your finances. They say to try to prevent fishing, you should deposit mail into a mailbox as close to the scheduled pick-up time as possible you can also drop mail containing checks and other personal information at the post office or hand directly to your mail carrier. If you see any suspicious activity, you're asked to call police.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection, it isn't safe to eat some fish caught in the Lehigh Valley. The DEP has listed 78 miles of Northampton County stream water as contaminated. Mercury levels in the Bushkill Creek are so bad, the DEP says fish caught there are not fit to eat. Northampton County had the highest percentage of stream water that is deemed to be contaminated.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Committee has met and come away with endorsements for just two of three statewide races: governor and lieutenant governor. The Democrats were unable to endorse a candidate for U.S. Senate after two rounds of voting as none of the candidates reached the two-thirds vote threshold necessary for endorsement. Congressman Conor Lamb fell just a few votes short at 60-percent. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman finished second, with less than a quarter of the vote, and St. Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta finished third. In the other two races, the Democrats endorsed Attorney General Josh Shapiro for governor and St. Rep. Austin Davis for lieutenant governor.
Relief is coming for eligible homeowners in the commonwealth who are struggling with their mortgage payments or other housing expenses because of COVID-19 pandemic-related financial hardships. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency says Tuesday will mark the statewide launch of the Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund. The $350 million comes from the American Rescue Plan act funds through the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The money can be used for eligible households to prevent or ease delinquent mortgages, defaults, foreclosures and utility disconnection. More information can be found online at www.pahaf.org.
Democratic lawmakers have been joined by one Republican in announcing a series of measures that deal with prison reform. One includes offering parole to elderly and terminally-ill inmates; others deal with support for veterans and other prisoners who are re-entering society. The bills also offers alternatives to prison, particularly for minor offenses. Lawmakers say four of the bills have bipartisan support.
New Jersey is reporting its lowest daily coronavirus case count in nearly eight weeks. The Garden State confirmed just over 2600 additional infections on Sunday, a figure we haven't seen since the beginning of December. That's a sharp decline from the more than 30,000 cases reported each day amid the Christmas season.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says his state will have to learn to live with COVID. "We're not going to manage this zero. We have to learn how to live with this," Murphy told NBC's "Meet the Press". The governor said COVID cases are on the decline in his state.