Lehigh Valley St. Rep. Joshua Siegel is pushing legislation that would put solar panels on the roofs of warehouses across the commonwealth. Siegel's bill states all new warehouses and distribution centers would need to ensure their roofs are capable of supporting solar panels and would also permit local governments to pass tax incentives to encourage existing warehouses and distribution centers to retrofit their roofs to host solar panels. Siegel's bill defines “solar-ready” in the bill says that a minimum of 40% of a warehouse roof area must be suitable for solar panel installation.
13 years after Kyle Hinkle admitted to shaking his three-month-old son, Hinkle now faces murder charges. Bucks County DA'S office has filed third-degree murder charges against Hinkle after the boy died last year. Hinkle's baby was diagnosed 13 years ago with bleeding in the brain and retinal hemorrhages caused by abuse. The Allentown man admitted his shook the baby because he would not stop crying and was sentenced to two years in jail. The child lives until the age of 11 when he died last August from complications of the abuse. Hinkle was arrested at his Allentown employer and taken to the Bucks County Jail under $2 million bail.
Lehigh County DA Gavin Holihan says last Friday night's death of 29-year-old Rigoberto Hernandez may not have been an accident. "There was an altercation between two drivers. The victim exited the vehicle, we believe, to confront the driver of the van," Holihan says. The DA says the driver of a delivery van and Hernandez got into some sort of verbal altercation in the 2000 block of South 4th Street just before 8 o'clock Friday night. The DA says there's no indication Hernandez knew the person who struck and killed him. Police are still looking for video evidence of exactly what may have happened.
An Allentown man is being charged with murder for the death of his son following a child abuse case over a decade ago. Police said the son of Kyle Hinkle died at age 11 of complications from the severe injuries he sustained in October 2012 when he was three months old. Hinkle was previously sentenced to two years in prison after admitting to shaking his son, but authorities reportedly approved new charges after learning of the child's death. He's being held on ten percent of two million dollars bail.
In an effort to bring more people into the city of Allentown for some Christmas shopping and dining, the Allentown Parking Authority is offering free parking every Saturday until Christmas. Free parking will be available from 8am to 4pm on November 29 and December 6, 13 and 20 at the Community Deck at 13 South Sixth Street and the 940 Deck at 940 West Hamilton Street.
We're going to get some pre-Thanksgiving Day rain today. "I think close to a half-inch of rain. It'll be a decent amount. I could see local amounts of three-quarters to an eighth of an inch. I'm not sure anybody get a full inch, but it should be a decent soaking later today into tonight," says Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg. He says the rain will be history by Thanksgiving, but it will be replaced by much chillier temperatures. Thursday's high will just barely get above 40 under partly sunny skies.
COVID-19 cases are climbing in Pennsylvania. That's according to the CDC which is recommending COVID shots for those six months and older, using a decision-making approach that weighs personal risk. Those most in danger of serious illness include seniors 65 and up, those with chronic conditions and people who are immuno-compromised. As we head into Thanksgiving gatherings, the CDC is advising hosts to consider celebrating outdoors or to open windows or use fans inside. It's also reminding people to stay home if they're sick.
Governor Phil Murphy has announced a reform plan for the state's health benefits plan that state Treasury Department officials say is in a death spiral. They say increasing premiums and government agencies leaving the program for other plans have crippled the plan. Governor Murphy says his proposed short-term relief plan would use $260 million to shore up the program, which pays out medical claims from the premiums it collects. The reforms would replace the more than 50 plan options currently offered with three choices -- a PPO, a high-deductible with a Health Savings Account and a network plan. Murphy says he hopes a bill that contains the reform plan can pass by January 20th.