Between them, Southern Lehigh and Twin Valley have played 86 seasons of high school football, but have never made it to the state championship game. Until tonight. Southern Lehigh is in the title game after losing in the semifinals last year and Spartans running back Sean Steckert says previous heartbreaks hurt then, but will help now. "My freshman and sophomore years, we couldn't even get that district championship. It's just nice that we felt that heartbreak. It made us play a lot better. Especially last year when we lost the semifinals. It was a good stepping stone and it helped to propel this year to know that we belong here," Steckert says. Southern Lehigh is 14-1 and Twin Valley is a perfect 14-0 and they play tonight at 7 o'clock in the PIAA 4A championship game at Cumberland Valley High School.
Nazareth High School quarterback Peyton Falzone is staying close to home. Falzone officially signed his commitment to Penn State in a ceremony yesterday at the Nazareth athletic office. Falzone previously flipped his college choice to Auburn last summer, but decommitted from the Tigers earlier this week. The Nittany Lions are still searching for their next head coach after firing James Franklin.
The tug of war over the Allentown budget continues. Wednesday night, the city's finance director said the administration is proposing to council that the 3.96% tax increase be kept in the 2026 budget and the proposed increase to the city's trash rate be decreased by $25. Council has already voted down that tax increase and Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach says the trash rate cut won't be applied to everybody, but a tax hike would. "The reality is that behind those numbers are people and households. The majority of folks in Allentown, they rent, so the tax increase, regardless of what's done with the garbage fee, will be passed on to the residents of Allentown," Gerlach says. The mayor originally wanted a $140 increase in trash fees, but in his revised proposal that number was trimmed to a $115 hike. City Council next meets on the issue on December 10.
Authorities are investigating a chaotic hit-and-run in Northampton County last night. Police say a white car hit multiple vehicles on Lehigh Avenue in Wind Gap then crashed into a nearby home. At least one person was taken to the hospital, where their condition remains unknown.
Zoning officials will hear from the public later this month on a proposed data center complex in Lehigh County. The Upper Macungie Township Zoning Hearing Board has scheduled a public hearing for the planned complex on December 16. The two-point-six-million-square foot campus would be built at the former Air Products headquarters. The public hearing will be held at the municipal building on Cetronia Road.
A man is dead after an apparent suicide on the Pennsylvania Turnpike just before 3 o'clock Wednesday morning. Police say a man was struck and killed by a large truck on I-476 North in Milford Township, Bucks County. State police say a suicide note was found inside a vehicle that was on the shoulder of the road. Police are still investigating the death.
A record low temperature might be reached late tonight. "Our low will be between 11-and-15 tonight. The record is 11," says Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg. He says that record low was reached way back in 1926.
Shredded cheese sold in Pennsylvania is being recalled. The FDA says more than 1.5-million bags of shredded cheeses produced by Great Lakes Cheese Company may contain metal fragments. The cheese was sold at Walmart stores as the Great Value brand, Target as the Good and Gather brand, Aldi as the Happy Farms brand, and at other locations. The products have sell-by dates which range from January of 2026 and March of 2026. To find out more details on the recalled items, visit FDA.gov.
Applications can now be submitted for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Governor Josh Shapiro said the Trump Administration recently released the funds for the federal program that helps eligible households pay their heating bills. The application period normally opens in November, but it was pushed to December this year due to the government shutdown. Close to 300,000 Pennsylvania households received assistance from the program last year.
A plan to designate the former site of Gillian's Wonderland amusement park in Ocean City an area in need of redevelopment is being revived. In August, the council voted against a proposal to designate the site as an area in need of redevelopment. Opponents worried a high-rise hotel would lead to high rises taking over Ocean City. The designation was key to the ICONA Resort chain's plans to turn the site into a 252-room hotel. Councilman Jody Levchuk is bringing the idea back for consideration at tonight's city council meeting.
We've heard from Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo for the first time since his south Jersey home was vandalized after last week's loss to the Bears. "As coaches and players, we all know that part of our job is to handle criticism. It's perfectly acceptable to sit up here and talk about what's going on, how to fix it, what we'll do going forward. But when it involves your family, obviously it crosses the line," Patullo says. Somebody threw eggs at Patullo's home. Police are still investigating.