A 39-year-old Bath man is facing 20 felony charges for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting multiple children. Jean Carlos Agosto Baez, of the 100 block of West Main Street, is charged in two separate cases for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl and several boys and forcing some of his victims to watch pornography. The first case includes three charges of felony rape, felony involuntary deviate sexual intercourse of a child less than age 16, and two counts of felony indecent assault of a child less than age 13.
It's two-and-a-half years in prison for the Carbon County man who brought explosives to Lehigh Valley International Airport last year. 41-year-old Marc Muffley, of Lansford, was also sentenced to three years of probation for bringing explosives to LVIA in February 2023. Muffley was headed to Orlando when Transportation Security Administration officials found a device, a fuse, a can of butane, a lighter, a pipe with white powder residue and a wireless drill in his checked bag.
Lehigh Valley International Airport has been voted one of the best small national airports in the country. LVIA made the top ten on the list compiled by the Newsweek Readers Choice Awards in April. In a news release, LVIA said, "Thank you to our Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority employees, volunteers, passengers, airport stakeholders, government leaders, and community partners for supporting us with your vote."
A one-day sale runs tomorrow from 2-5 at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Some Musikfest tickets going on sale for 50% off at that time tomorrow, while other tickets will have their fees waived. Among the headliner tickets being sold at half-off are Sugar Ray, Black Eye Peas and ZZ Top.
Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says most, but not quite all, of the upcoming weekend should feature pretty nice weather. "I think we may get up to 81 tomorrow, so we get up a couple degrees above normal tomorrow. We'll kind of hold in that area on Sunday, but I think before the day is done, there's going to be a shower. The best chance is after dark, but even in the afternoon there could be a shower," Lundberg says. He says most of next week will feature temperatures reaching into the 80s.
Six weeks out from race weekend, Pocono Raceway president Ben May says things couldn't be going much better. "We are sold out of all our suites. Our races are sponsored. Our ticket sales are up 11 percent year-over-year and we have less than 100 of our 3300 campsites available," May says. Thursday morning, May and the state announced the NASCAR Cup Series race on July 14th will be called "The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA." The title sponsor is part of the Shapiro administration's push to draw tourists from out of state this summer. May calls the arrangement the perfect fit for the raceway and the state.
Former Penn State Football team doctor Scott Lynch has been awarded $5.25 million after a Dauphin County jury ruled in his favor over a 2019 dismissal. Lynch was fired as Medical Director for Penn State Athletics in 2019 and claimed in the week-long trial that Penn State Head Coach James Franklin interfered with medical decisions. Lynch had also alleged Franklin complained when players weren’t cleared to play as quickly. Lynch's legal team claimed those clashes led to his termination and the jury agreed. In a statement on Thursday, Penn State Health said “We are extremely disappointed to learn of the jury’s decision, as we continue to believe that the claims in the complaint have no merit. Penn State Health will soon determine whether it will appeal the decision. Penn State Health and the University remain dedicated to the health and well-being of our student-athletes.”
More than 40 cents of every dollar that Pennsylvania spends goes to either food stamps or healthcare for poor families. A new report at the State Capitol says 42-percent of Pennsylvania's 45-billion-dollar state budget goes to human services, which includes food stamps and Medicaid. That's because of the massive growth in both programs. In 2000, 760 thousand people in Pennsylvania were on food stamps, now that's up to two million. In 2000, just over one million people were enrolled in Medicaid, now that number is over three million.
The lawyer for New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez says the log of text messages compiled by an FBI agent that has been used in the senator's bribery trial is full of mistakes. On the tenth day of the federal corruption trial in Manhattan, Menendez's lawyer said the prosecution is omitting important information from the text messages that make the messages seem worse than they really are. Menendez and two businessmen are on trial for a suspected bribery scheme, where Menendez and his wife, Nadine, are accused of taking cash, gold bars and even a Mercedes Benz. The Menendez's have pleaded not guilty.
State lawmakers have proposed a bill they say will expand current law addressing rioting and other violent crimes. The introduction of the bill this week follows events over the Memorial Day weekend on the Jersey Shore. Police issued a state of emergency and shut down the boardwalk in Wildwood, which followed chaos on the boardwalk in Ocean City after a stabbing. Under the bill, a riot is defined as involving three or more people who are engaged in violent conduct that results in injury or damage.