For the second straight day, schools in the Saucon Valley Schol District are closed due to a threat of violence. The district says about 9:45 Wednesday night they received another bomb threat. After consulting with Lower Saucon police, the district decided to close schools again out of an abundance of caution. Saucon Valley schools were also closed for the same reason on Wednesday.
Allentown City Council has approved more than $1.5 million for new police body cameras. Police Chief Charles Roca says the camera money is only part of their funding request. Other money would go for improving technology for city cameras and license plate readers. The council voted 6-to-0 Wednesday to adopt the ordinances. Their approval paves the way to allow the money to be transferred from the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency to pay for the various projects.
The Downtown Allentown Market is changing its hours of operation, a move that has prompted two tenants to announce they are closing. The market's new hours will be 7:30am to 3pm Monday through Friday, beginning April 1. That decision prompted Casa Criolla and Bar 1838 to announce they're closing. The market's current closing times are 3pm on Mondays, 8pm Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10pm on Thursdays and Fridays and midnight on Saturdays. Market management says they received feedback from vendors who said they aren't very busy in the evening, cutting into their profits.
The brother of a former Lehigh Valley International Airport official says law enforcement went over the top when they were serving his brother a warrant at his home in Arkansas. "The ATF should've never raided him like they did. They could've thrown tear gas at him. They could have tossed shock grenades in there. They could just said, 'Get your tail out here. We're the ATF'," says Matthew Malinowski. His brother, Bryan, is now brain dead after being shot inside his Little Rock home during the Tuesday morning incident. The Arkansas State Police and ATF say Malinowski was being served a federal search warrant when he shot toward ATF, and they returned fire. Matthew Malinowski says he has no idea why the ATF would have been serving his brother a warrant and what led to the gunfire. Bryan Malinowski is currently the executive director of the Clinton National Airport and his biography says he previously had "a leadership position' at Lehigh Valley International Airport. An ATF agent was also shot during the incident, but is expected to survive.
The state Senate Government Committee has approved a bill that would restrict absentee voting. By a 7-4 party-line vote, the panel on Tuesday okayed a measure to eliminate the use of drop boxes as well as satellite election bureaus for mail-in ballots. Supporters say Senate Bill 99 upholds electoral integrity by eliminating the potential for ballot stuffing and would make voting safer by making sure it's conducted in-person.
Governor Josh Shapiro says he won't go along with a state Senate resolution to send Pennsylvania National Guard members to Texas. The lawmakers passed a non-binding resolution Tuesday in favor of sending the Guard to help guard the border between Texas and Mexico. A spokesman for the governor says the Republican lawmakers are grandstanding for their conservative base.