Another Republican has officially joined the race for the Lehigh Valley's seat in Congress. Maria Montero, an attorney and member of former Gov. Tom Corbett’s Cabinet, has made it official. Montero is an Easton resident and was executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission for Women under Corbett, and co-founder of the Lehigh Valley’s Power of Women Networking initiative. She joins two other Republican challengers, Kevin Dellicker and state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who are looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Susan Wild in 2024.
Just in time for the city's biggest attraction of the year, a big new parking garage has opened in Bethlehem. Ahead of Musikfest's opening tomorrow, a $1.5 million, 700-plus space parking garage opened Tuesday at Polk and East Third streets. St. Sen. Lisa Boscola says the garage is a big deal year-round, not just during Musikfest's 11-day run. "When people come down here and want to go to restaurants, they're going to want to find a place to park. If you're a business owner, you want to know if your employees have a place to park," Boscola says. The garage also features eight electric vehicle charging stations and 32 bike spaces.
An Allentown man faces charges after allegedly making a bomb threat at the Wells Fargo Bank on South 4th Street in Allentown around 4 o'clock Monday afternoon. Police say 21-year-old Elhame Basyouny claimed there was a bomb in the bank as he was leaving the bank Monday. That prompted an evacuation of the bank and a response from the Allentown Fire Department, the FBI and Allentown police. No explosives were found and investigators tracked the threat to Basyouny, who will be charged with making terroristic threats.
July flooding in Northampton County may have been worse than originally believed. Northampton County officials now estimate the flood-related damage exceeds $10.1 million. As of last Friday, that estimate stood at $7.5 million. Damage is still being calculated and the county is urging affected businesses or residents to report damage by this Friday.
Some Bethlehem residents and visitors will soon have a new free Wi-Fi option available. Bethlehem City Council has approved an agreement with Service Electric for free Wi-Fi along Main Street in areas utilized during Musikfest. The agreement, in which Service Electric is offering the Wi-Fi service at no cost to the city, will begin tomorrow and run through Aug. 4, 2024. It will renew automatically year after year, however, the city can remove itself from the agreement at any time. The services will not provide enough bandwidth to allow residents nearby to stream their favorite shows, however visitors' signals in the city's historic section will get a boost.
A local restaurant will be getting national attention soon. America’s Best Restaurants will bring its "ABR Roadshow" to Hanoverville Roadhouse in Hanover Township on August 15th. Taping is scheduled from 3-6 that afternoon. Popular dishes will be highlighted in the episode, along with an interview with owner Mark Dennis, who purchased the nearly 200-year-old building five years ago. The episode will be aired on social media channels at a later date.
As you have probably noticed, the price of gas has risen rather dramatically over the past seven days or so. According to AAA East Central, the average price of gas across Pennsylvania jumped 13 cents from the previous Tuesday to $3.86 a gallon as of yesterday. That is 60 cents below last year's price. In the Lehigh Valley, gas prices spiked up by 16 cents a gallon from one week earlier, to $3.82. That is 56 cents less than last August 1st.
A House lawmaker wants to ensure that state payment for essential services continues during any future state budget impasse. Republican St. Rep. Marla Brown says she'll introduce a bill that would declare certain payments for social services as essential. The services by three state agencies would include payments for domestic violence programs, mental and behavioral health services and payments to counties for children and youth programs. Brown says medical assistance for outpatient drug and alcohol treatment services would also need to be included.
An environmental group suggests that state and local governments in Pennsylvania could save millions if they start using electric-powered vehicles. A new study by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center and the Frontier Group says they could save over 360-million dollars by purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) for light-duty fleets. The report also projects that state could expect to see an 800-thousand-ton reduction in global warming pollution if it changes over as they would emit 64-percent less climate pollution than vehicles powered by gasoline.
People in the state wine and liquor industries say they're upset by new demands imposed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. The agency launched a new online system last month for bars and restaurants to place their orders. But owners say they're unhappy about new fees built into the system that they say they didn't see coming. The system reportedly assesses an 80-percent increase for a "logistics, transportation and merchandising factor." The owners say those costs might have to be passed on to consumers.
Jurors considering the sentence for the man accused in the Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting will continue their work today. Officials say the jury spent about seven hours deliberating Robert Bowers' fate Tuesday. They will decide whether he will spend the rest of his life in prison or get the death penalty in the attack that killed eleven worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in October of 2018. Jurors would have to be unanimous in giving a death penalty sentence. A split jury means Bowers will spend life in prison.
New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver died Tuesday, one day after being hospitalized from an unknown health issues. The 71-year-old was serving as acting governor while Governor Phil Murphy was on vacation but those duties have been transferred to Senate President Nick Scutari, who says Oliver's death wasn't expected. "We knew that the lieutenant governor had some health issues over time, but that had been an ongoing thing. We were definitely not aware of the imminence of the issue," Scutari says. In a statement, Governor Murphy called Oliver a trailblazer and said she was an incredibly genuine and kind person whose friendship and partnership will be irreplaceable.
Frito-Lay is recalling an estimated seven-thousand bags of Doritos distributed throughout the State of Pennsylvania. The company reports the affected bags may contain undeclared soy or wheat ingredients from spicy sweet chili tortilla chips. The concern is for those with allergies and sensitivities who could become sick. The recalled Doritos were packaged in one-ounce and 14.4-ounce bags with a guaranteed fresh date of September 26th. They were sold at various stores around the Commonwealth and in vending machines.
The Mega Millions jackpot is climbing again with no winner in last night's drawing. No one has won the jackpot in the multi-state lottery since April and the top prize now stands at an estimated $1.25 billion. Pennsylvania lottery players still have a chance to become the winners of one of the biggest lottery jackpots in American history in the next drawing on Friday.