Two people were stabbed Thursday night in Allentown. Officers were called to the 300 block of North 2nd Street around 7:15 last night. The two victims are expected to survive. The investigation is ongoing.
A teaching assistant at Lehigh University is charged with possessing child pornography. State police said 26-year-old Chi Chon Lei, of Bethlehem, had saved child pornography on his phone and also admitted to saving images on his other electronic devices. Police began their investigation in January after receiving a tip from Google that indicated a user uploaded 30 images and videos of child sexual abuse onto their server. Investigators then tracked the account information to Lei.
A proposed apartment complex in Lehigh County is put in neutral. A Thursday night hearing for a proposed apartment complex in Lower Macungie Township was postponed after the township Board of Commissioners announced it was hiring lawyers to help its opposition to the project. The proposed Mill Creek Pointe Apartments, calls for 180 units in six, 30-unit residential apartment buildings at 6300 Lower Macungie Road. The next hearing on the proposal has now been pushed back to April 4th.
As the calendar inches closer to spring, Dorney Park says progress continues to its brand new roller coaster. The amusement park says Iron Menace's first train is now in the station and they're getting closer to begin testing and commissioning the Northeast's first dive roller coaster. Iron Menace, which will feature a record-tying 95-degree drop, first-ever tilted loop on a dive, and three other inversions, is set to open this spring.
A popular ski shop in the Poconos is closing its doors for good. Starting Gate Action Sports in Middle Smithfield Township is closing after 50 years in business. The owners say they will remain open until all inventory is sold.
If you want to get something done outdoors tomorrow, Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says you better do it in the morning. "There could be some flooding issues around the area," Lundberg says. He says we could be getting an inch-and-a-half of rain Saturday afternoon into Saturday night.
A report on patient satisfaction in Pennsylvania's healthcare system has been released by the American Academy of Physician Associates. It reveals that more than one in three patients in the state are dissatisfied with their healthcare experience. "I do know people who have had to wait for specialists for months," one woman says.
Three weeks of budget hearings are now wrapped up in both the House and Senate. Governor Shapiro is pushing for dramatic spending increasing in education, economic development and public transit. Republicans have criticized his budget proposal as being too costly and likely to require tax increases down the road. Lawmakers are off next week but both chambers are due to return March 18th.
The Senate Ethics Committee will not investigate State Senator Doug Mastriano. State Senator Art Haywood had asked for the action because of Mastriano's purported connections to the January 6th riots at the U.S. Capitol. Haywood told reporters yesterday he was notified that the Ethics Committee would not be honoring his request. The FBI reportedly had cleared Mastriano of knowing about a planned insurrection or any coordination behind the attack.
A group of Democratic lawmakers say they'll introduce legislation to create an online database to monitor the progress of rape kit testing. It would allow victims to see the information as well. The move comes after several years of efforts to reduce a backlog of untested rape kits. The lawmakers say 33 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia have enacted tracking systems to provide survivors with increased transparency and accountability.
A panel that will be giving oversight to how counties spend their state opioid settlement payments will reportedly view the information first in private. According to a plan proposed by the chairman for the Pennsylvania Opioid Misuse and Addiction Abatement Trust, the groups will meet in working groups and then submit recommendations to the full board. Analysts who are watching the process say the private groups deny the public the opportunity to provide comments along the way. They also say the plans would be in violation of state laws and the Sunshine Act.