It appears a malfunctioning furnace caused a carbon monoxide leak at Happy Smiles Learning Center in Allentown Tuesday morning. The leak sent 28 children and four adults to the hospital. Allentown passed an ordinance requiring carbon monoxide detectors in daycares back in February, but it doesn't take effect until Oct. 27. Happy Smiles Learning Center did not have its detectors installed yet. Mayor Matt Tuerk says this incident assures the new ordinance will be enforced. "We're going to make sure daycares and anyone who is taking care of vulnerable populations has their carbon monoxide monitors up to date," Tuerk says. Those sickened were taken to four area hospitals. Some were eventually sent to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia because they had particularly high levels of CO2 in their system. Tuerk said all of them are in stable condition.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sided with an unsuccessful Lehigh County judicial candidate on the issue of 257 disputed mail-in ballots. In a 7-2 ruling, the justices threw out a lower court's ruling that had allowed the counting of mail-in ballots that David Ritter had sought to toss out because those mail-in voters neglected to write the date on them, which is required by law. Ritter ended up losing the race by five votes to Zachary Cohen. The high court's action means that the 3rd Circuit ruling cannot be used as a precedent by the regional federal appellate court to allow the counting of ballots with minor flaws. It also could cause confusion for county election officials because it is the opposite of guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of State. The ruling will not affect the outcome of the Cohen/Ritter race in any way.
The Allentown Planning Commission has tabled approval for a new fast food restaurant on the west side of the city. The committee Tuesday couldn't agree on the decision to let the planned Popeyes, including a drive-thru, be placed in the 700-block of North 19th Street. Officials expressed concerns also about the project's layout, which would make left-hand turns hard for customers as well as to make it difficult for large delivery trucks to navigate 19th Street.
Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman acknowledges he has lingering effects from this May's stroke. "Every now and then, I'll miss a word. Every now and then. Sometimes maybe I'll mush two words together. But as long as I have captioning I understand exactly what's being asked," Fetterman said to NBC News, which agreed to using closed captioning in their interview. Reporter Dasha Burns says during small talk before the interview, it appeared Fetterman may not have been understanding the conversation.
State utility commissioners say there's been a visible increase in the number of reportable power outages over the past two years. An outage is deemed reportable when at least 25-hundred customers are without power for at least six hours. A new report from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission reveals there were over 60 such outages last year with a little over 40 listed for the year before. The report cites trees on saturated ground that fall into power lines as being one of the main causes of outages.
President Joe Biden will hold a fundraiser with Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman next week. The Philly event is expected to boost the lieutenant governor's campaign in a tight race that could determine control of the Senate. Polls show Fetterman slightly ahead of Republican Mehmet Oz with less than four weeks until election day.
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey is voicing support for two untraditional investment paths. Toomey says investments in private equity and crypto currency could lead to retirement security. He says digital currency needs to be explored more. The senator also says the current system often keeps people with defined contribution plans, like 401ks, from investing in a variety of asset classes.
The Lycoming County district attorney says he'll ask for the death penalty in the case of two young girls who were reportedly intentionally starved to death. DA Ryan Gardner says the girls' mother, Marie Sue Snyder and her friend Echo Butler will be recommended for a death sentence if they're found guilty of first-degree murder. Gardner filed the required notice of aggravating circumstances against both women Tuesday. They are accused in the deaths of the two girls who were sisters, whose bodies were found in shallow graves north of Williamsport last November.
The Phillies won game one of their NLDS with Atlanta 7-6 Tuesday afternoon. Manager Rob Thomson says a big reason why is right fielder Nick Castellanos. "He swung the bat really well, had some big hits. Made a great play in the ninth inning. I hope that's the start of something," Thomson said. Castellanos had three hits, knocked in three runs, scored a run and made a sliding catch in the bottom of the ninth inning. Game two is this afternoon at 4:37 in Atlanta.