Parts of the Northeast Extension will be closed this weekend for scheduled road work. The exit ramp from the Turnpike north onto Route 903 interchange will be closed from 10pm Friday until 6am Saturday. The entry ramp from Route 903 on I-476 North will be closed from 10am Sunday until 6am Monday. Also, a 20-mile stretch of I-476 will be closed in both directions between the Pocono and Wyoming Valley interchanges from midnight to 5am on Sunday for weather-permitting bridge work.
Zoning officials have granted a variance to a Bethlehem homebuilder to construct new homes in Whitehall. Fourteen single-family homes are planned for the 41-hundred block of Bridge Street. The board approved the application by a 4-to-1 vote Thursday. Several residents spoke out in opposition to the project. They were concerned how probable blasting of subsurface rock for the construction would affect the existing area homes. Other complaints involved the street not being wide enough to accommodate the heavy equipment being taken to the site.
A pair of 54-year-old men are charged for their roles in a Lehigh Township burglary back in February. Ricky Frank, of Philadelphia, and Peter Martin, of Marcus Hook, allegedly posed as utility workers and entered a home in Lehigh Township on Feb. 23. One distracted the homeowners while the other was caught going through rooms, prompting the men to flee before police arrived. Frank was arrested during a Pennsylvania State Police traffic stop. Martin was apprehended in Lake County, Illinois, and is currently waiting extradition to Pennsylvania.
The Taco Bell restaurant on MacArthur Road in Whitehall will soon be torn down. But developers have also received approval to rebuild the restaurant at the same site with two new lanes to handle twice its current drive-thru capacity. The nearly $3 million reinvestment will also provide an entrance and exit on MacArthur Road.
Pennsylvania's March unemployment rate was unchanged from February's number of 3.4%. It marks the sixth straight month at 3.4%. That figure is one-tenth of a point below its 3.5% of March 2023.
State police say they will be placing extra patrol cars on the road this weekend. With Saturday's date, 4/20, having a significance in the cannabis culture, there could be an increase in impaired people getting behind the wheel. Officers will be looking for the classic signs of drivers who are operating under the influence of marijuana. They'll use various means for enforcement including checkpoints and roving patrols.
A measure that would create a funding program to help minority-owned businesses has passed in the House Commerce Committee. The legislation was approved on a bipartisan vote of 19 to 6 earlier this week. It would authorize grants and loans of up to $5 million per applicant. It would be guided by the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority, which already provides low-interest loans to such companies. They're typically capped at 250-thousand-dollars.