Allentown’s Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation offices were evacuated Tuesday morning after they received a hoax email threatening to blow up facilities and synagogues. They were evacuated as a precaution while the Allentown police and fire departments and the Lehigh County Sheriff’s K-9 unit investigated. Similar email was also received by Jewish agencies in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The threats have been deemed not credible.
Long skid marks and a makeshift memorial of balloons and candles are left behind after a 15-year-old Allentown boy was struck and killed at the intersection of MacArthur and Mickley roads in Whitehall Township Monday night. Chris Geary says he saw the accident that killed Emmaunel Gboyah. "When you leave skid marks that far...that's how fast he was moving," Geary says. The driver stayed on scene and was cooperative, according to the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office. At this time no charges have been filed.
A dump truck driver was killed in a Tuesday morning crash on Route 145 in Lehigh Township. 52-year-old Lincoln Brown, of Selinsgrove, died in the crash that happened at 6:30 Tuesday morning. A car was also involved in the accident. There's no word on whether that driver was injured. Route 145 was closed for about five hours as police investigated what happened.
What is currently a grass hillside at the corner of Macada and Schoenersville roads will eventually be a new behavioral health hospital. The Hanover Township Board of Supervisors in Northampton County approved plans for a three-story, 95,055-square-foot, 144-bed behavioral health hospital for the land. Construction could begin as soon as late next month with a fall 2025 opening planned. Lehigh Valley Health Network owns the property and would lease it to Universal Health Services.
Gas prices went up rather drastically over the past seven days both in the Lehigh Valley and across the commonwealth. AAA East Central reports the average price across Pennsylvania jumped seven cents higher to $3.69 a gallon. That's one cent higher last one year earlier. In the Lehigh Valley, the price was $3.54 on Tuesday, up six cents from the prior week, but six cents below the April 9, 2023 price.
Pennsylvania lawmakers are punting on the vote for a new EV fee. The House Transportation Committee has called off a vote that would have set the timeline for a new fee on electric cars and trucks over the next five years. State Rep. Ed Neilson is the chairman of the House Transportation Committee and says instead of pushing ahead with a vote, he wants to see if lawmakers can find something that everyone agrees on. "As you gradually put this in and gradually people will buy into electric vehicles, this will make sense," Neilson says. Neilson's proposal was to start charging a $125 EV fee next year, and gradually bump that up to $225 dollars by 2029 and adjusted for inflation after that. Senate Republicans are pushing an annual $290 fee for electric vehicle users to help offset lost gas tax revenue. Neilson says he opposes that plan.
The plan to fix the state funding formula for cyber schools in Pennsylvania is stuck because state senators want to tie it to school vouchers. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association this week went to the Capitol to press lawmakers to move on the cyber school legislation that's already passed the Pennsylvania House. The Republican-controlled Senate has a plan that would add a voucher program into the cyber school re-write, and Democrats at the Capitol oppose that. The School Boards Association says school districts across the state need to even-out cyber school funding because schools are getting thousands of dollars less for some students.
Future teachers may get some financial help from the state that could go a long way in solving Pennsylvania's teacher shortage. Students earning their education degrees in Pennsylvania would receive a $10,000 stipend for living expenses while they complete their student-teaching requirement. The provision would start with the 2024-2025 academic year, and state officials say applications will be available soon. At least 88-hundred teaching positions were left unfilled or filled temporarily this school year.
Some workers at Wells Fargo Center are hoping that actions do in fact speak louder than words. Employees of Aramark who are also members of the UNITE HERE Philly Local 274 union went on strike yesterday. The group also skipped the 76ers game against the Detroit Pistons. Workers made it clear they want better wages and healthcare. The union is trying to work out a deal with Aramark.
Lawyers for Nadine Menendez are requesting a two month delay in the start of her corruption trial. They said she was recently diagnosed with a serious medical condition that would require surgery and possibly significant recovery time. The bribery trial for Nadine, her husband Senator Bob Menendez, and two New Jersey businessmen was set to start on May 6th. All have pleaded not guilty, while a fifth defendant pleaded guilty to bribery charges last month and will be sentenced in June.
After the Flyers' 9-3 loss in Montreal, coach John Tortorella seemed resigned that his team's playoff hopes are over. "We gotta stay together and try to solve things. Whether it's enough time to do what we want to do to get in, I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about being pros, get some of our dignity back and playing the right way," Tortorella says. The Flyers are 0-6-2 in their last eight games and have slipped out of the playoff spot they held for four months.