A Weisenberg Township family is safe after an overnight fire at their home along Old Route 22. The fire broke out just before 4:30 this morning. The family who lives in the house reportedly got out safely and no injuries reported.
The elderly couple killed after being hit by a vehicle Friday night in Allentown have been identified as 83-year-old Frank Wyant and his 80-year-old wife, Marcella. Investigators say they were out for an evening walk in their neighborhood when they were struck near West Chew and North Main streets. The driver remained at the scene. The investigation continues.
The Northampton County Coroner’s Office says it was a 61-year-old New Jersey man who died while hiking on the Appalachian Trail over the weekend. The body of Raghu Kodali, of Whitehouse Station, was found around 3:30 Sunday afternoon a little over a mile from where his car was discovered in the parking lot of state game lands off of Blue Mountain Drive just after midnight Sunday morning. The cause and manner of death are pending.
An Upper Macungie Township man pleaded guilty Monday to charges filed in a 2021 fatal accident. 21-year-old John Fifield was driving near Hickory lane and Snowdrift Road in Upper Macungie Township a week before Christmas in 2021 when he hit a southbound vehicle in the middle of the intersection. The driver of that car, Benjamin Bleiler, was killed. A passenger suffered serious injuries. Fifield was driving more than 80 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone and blood tests found drugs in his system at the time of the wreck. Fifield will be sentenced in July.
Bethlehem City Council is expected to consider changes at tonight's meeting in how it accepts public comment. The issue popped up after several marathon meetings that drifted from city business and instead focused on the war between Israel and Hamas. One possible change is adding a comment period for non-Bethlehem residents on any subject not on that night's council agenda. That period would be at the end of the meeting. Tonight's meeting begins at 7 o'clock.
Finals week at Muhlenberg College was interrupted Monday. "20 minutes into the final, alarms sounded in the building," said Muhlenberg freshman Daniel Cullen. He says a shelter in place notice was sent out after an armed person spotted on campus. Police say that turned out to be a hoax and they're investigating whether it was a diversion because just a couple minutes from campus, a Wells Fargo bank was in the process of being robbed.
Local school leaders are looking this spring to see if school next fall will be the same. A recent state law, Act 56, allows local schools to change how they count educational hours. Schools have had to count school days for decades, but now schools can count by-the-hour. That means schools can schedule longer days, but just a four day school week. Pennsylvania's largest teachers union, Pennsylvania State Education Association, says they expect to be a part of several discussions this spring about what next fall's class schedule will look like. Some schools in Pennsylvania already took advantage of the new law when they gave kids time off to see last month's solar eclipse.
So far this year, deadly crashes in New Jersey are surging 27-percent. The Vice President of the New Jersey Police Traffic Officers Association, Lieutenant Gary Holsten says Middlesex and Monmouth counties have the highest rates of fatal wrecks. Route One in South Brunswick is of particular concern. The roadway will be targeted during their summer enforcement. Authorities say they tend to see more accidents starting Memorial Day and through the summer.
After yet another playoff failure, 76ers general manager Daryl Morey says this offseason will be one of change. “This offseason is a big one. I owe it to the fans, to ownership, to everybody to get this team to a place where we’re competing for championships, and we obviously didn’t achieve that this year," Morey says. The Sixers are projected to have nearly $60 million in cap space available this summer.