We're learning more about a Tuesday afternoon crash involving a school bus and car in Warren County. Meanwhile, this parent says they're relieved none of the first and second graders aboard the bus were seriously injured. "It's very frightening and horrifying to hear that something happened to the children" she says. The Warren County Prosecutor confirms a police pursuit started in Lopatcong, New Jersey, went over to Pennsylvania and then ended back in Phillipsburg, where the vehicle being chased hit a school bus carrying 22 students from the Phillipsburg Primary School. The driver of the vehicle suffered serious injuries and remains hospitalized. The prosecutor's office says more details could be released today.
A Northampton County Rite Aid store will be closing next month. The Rite Aid store on E. Third St. on the South Side of Bethlehem will close January 10th and relocate to 1781 Stefko Blvd. Back in October, Rite Aid announced plans to close approximately 150 stores nationwide, including more than 35 locations in Pennsylvania, as part of its bankruptcy process. Recent regional Rite Aid store closures include a Pennsburg location, one on South Fourth Street in Allentown, another Bethlehem Rite Aid location on Union Blvd., S. 25th St. in Palmer Township, Northampton St. in Easton’s West Ward, S. Cedar Crest Blvd. in Allentown, West End Blvd. in Quakertown and one in Tobyhanna.
For the 16th consecutive year, taxes will not be going up in Easton. Wednesday night, Easton City Council unanimously voted to adopt its 2024 budget, which once again includes no property tax increase. The roughly $73 million budget is a 3.4% increase from this year, but keeps the property tax millage rate at 24.95.
South Mall Mercantile, which has been open for eight years at the South Mall is closing January 25th. The business sold crafts, gifts, antiques, collectibles and repurposed items is closing due to higher and higher rent according to its owner.
If you have Christmas shopping to do or perhaps still have to get your Christmas tree, Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says the next three days will be ideal to do it. "Tomorrow, the warmer air just blasts in from the west and we jump up by ten degrees from today's high to tomorrow's high," Lundberg says. He expects the weather will take a turn for the rainy Sunday into Monday.
Pennsylvania election officials say voter registration applications are up 65 percent. They say the increase stems from the state now offering automatic registration at PennDOT centers when people either get new drivers licenses or renew one. Governor Shapiro first announced the change in September that lets residents automatically go through an on-screen voter registration process at the same time unless they opt out. Previously, eligible voters had to choose to opt into the process.
Governor Shapiro is expected to sign a bill soon that will give state school districts more flexibility in having shorter school weeks or longer days. The legislation would mandate that students meet an annual minimum of instructional time, which is currently set for 180 days or 900 hours at the elementary level and 990 hours at the secondary level. It also will let schools track students who learn remotely through hours of instruction, rather than days.
State lawmakers are moving to position a urine test bill that they hope will pass later this week. The Health Committee voted 22-3 to pass Senate Bill 683 with the understanding that an effort will be made to amend the bill on the House floor. It requires that any urine test result detecting fentanyl or xylazine be sent to the state Health Department and that the names of patients would be kept anonymous.
Construction companies would face steeper sanctions for misclassifying workers under legislation approved by the state House. The measure, House Bill 1751, passed Monday with the majority of support coming from Democrats. State leaders say the bill would curb misclassification in the construction industry where workers are sometimes labeled as independent contractors when they should be considered employees. The measure would also, for the first time, would allow workers to sue independently for damages and lost wages.
Around 300 National Guardsmen from Pennsylvania are on their way to the Horn of Africa. Spokesman Travis Mueller says the soldiers are from the second Battalion 112th Infantry division based in Crawford County and will be deployed later this month. They'll go through two to three weeks of training then leave for the east Africa peninsula for a nine-month assignment. The area is near Somalia and across the gulf from Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The sponsor of a proposal that would ban smoking in Atlantic City casinos says his measure won't come up in the legislature until next session. The Senate's health committee was scheduled to vote on the measure today, but State Senator Joe Vitale says he doesn't have enough support for the bill right now. Vitale says he'll bring his bill up next session after a new group of lawmakers is sworn in. Backers - which include casino workers - say they'll keep lobbying lawmakers to pass it.