A final land development plan for the old Air Products headquarters property was tabled at the developer's request during Wednesday night's meeting of the Upper Macungie Township Planning Commission. The plan for the Hamilton Boulevard property is scheduled to be reviewed by the commission and calls for 2.61 million square feet of warehouse redevelopment. The project, located at 7201 Hamilton Blvd., includes the building of three warehouses. No reason for the holdup was given and no date has been set for when the planning commission will move next.
An Emmaus man has been spared jail time for his actions during the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. Samuel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing inside the Capitol and has now been sentenced to a year of probation according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Rodriguez scaled a terrace wall and helped a friend do likewise before entering the Capitol through a broken window. He says he was in the building for about one minute before leaving.
A 21-year-old woman is facing charges after gunfire inside of an Allentown home early Wednesday morning. Gunshots were reported just after 4:30 Wednesday morning inside a home on North Fourth Street. Diyana Holden-McKinney was arrested and charged with numerous offenses. She remains in Lehigh County Jail after failing to post 10% of $75,000 bail.
The final beam of St. Luke's University Health Network's new surgical unit at its Monroe County Campus has been lifted into place. The new four-story, 165,000 square-foot building being built along Route 611 near the I-80-Route 33 split will double the size of the existing hospital. The new tower is scheduled to open in early 2024 and will house a 36-bed medical-surgical unit, among other services.
Earlier this week, a parking garage collapsed in New York City, killing one person and injuring five others. There are plenty of parking garages in the Lehigh Valley. Easton Mayor Sal Panto says his city's garages are inspected every two years. "We have the same inspection company that's doing the work, so they that garage intimately and they go in and look at it and see where there is wear versus when they were here two years ago," Panto says. Officials in both Allentown and Bethlehem say they also have experts regularly perform parking deck inspections and repairs.
Pennsylvania casinos are celebrating a month of record-breaking revenue. Numbers released this week by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board show that over half-a-billion dollars in combined revenue was generated by the commonwealth's gambling venues in March. The state gaming control board says that's the largest amount taken in since the state legalized gambling over 15 years ago.
An offer for child care providers to get free carbon monoxide detectors is set to expire soon. The state Department of Human Services is offering two detectors to child care facilities through April 30th. The offer follows a carbon monoxide leak at an Allentown facility last October that sent nearly 30 children to the hospital. Right now, the detectors are not required, but Senator Wayne Fontana has introduced a measure to mandate the idea by law.
State Senator Gene Yaw is once again proposing a tax on skill games in Pennsylvania. He says the unregulated machines, which don't generate tax revenue, create an unfair playing field within the state gaming industry. Drew Svitko, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania State Lottery, agrees. He says the machines take millions of dollars from programs that the lottery supports. Senator Yaw also tried to get a similar measure passed in 2021.
A House panel has approved a bill that would increase awareness about eating disorders and better identify them among school-aged kids. The House Education Committee voted 12-to-four to pass the measure sponsored by state Rep. Jason Ortitay of Allegheny. It would create a state task force to develop guidance and educational resources for parents created from organizations that are dedicated to eating disorder awareness and treatment. The proposal now goes to the full chamber for consideration.
What one state lawmaker called gobsmacking costs associated with New Jersey's prison system put the state prison commissioner on the defensive yesterday. The occasion was the hearing for the state's request for one-point-two billion dollars for the coming fiscal year. The question to State Corrections Commissioner Victoria Kuhn was why is the request so high when the state prison population has fallen by half over the last decade, according to one lawmaker's math. Kuhn placed part of the blame for the high cost on skyrocketing inmate healthcare costs. She told the panel a prison population that's growing older has specialized care needs the prison infirmaries cannot provide. These older inmates must be placed in long-term acute care hospitals that are more expensive.
Rent prices are surging across the Garden State. According to data from Zillow, housing rental prices have gone up at least eight-percent in ten New Jersey counties in a year's time. In addition, prices in six counties are now $2500 dollars a month, with the highest monthly rent of $2800 in Hudson County. Meantime, Atlantic County showed a slight decline, while Sussex County had the biggest jump in rent from last year.