The interim mayor of Allentown is now the official Democrat candidate to keep that job. Ray O'Connell comfortably defeated three challengers to lock up the Democrat nomination and he will face Republican Tim Ramos, who ran unopposed Tuesday. The winner this November will complete the remainder of Ed Pawlowski's term. Pawlowski resigned last year after being convicted of corruption. In Easton, Mayor Sal Panto easily won his contested primary over Taiba Sultana. In the race for Northampton County district attorney, Terry Houck easily won the Democrat primary and will faceoff against Republican Tom Carroll to replace John Morganelli who decided not to seek re-election this year.
An Easton woman is heading behind bars for repeatedly failing to stop her young son from wandering the city streets alone. Tonia Edwards was sentenced Tuesday to spend 30 days to 23 months in Northampton County Jail after pleading guilty earlier to endangering the welfare of her child. The five-year-old suffers from developmental disabilities and has been found wandering nine times. Among the boy's close calls is one instance when he was found walking in the travel lanes of Route 22 and one when the boy was found walking near Easton Cemetery wearing only a diaper.
A closed Whitehall Township restaurant may be getting new life. There are reportedly plans to put a Dave & Busters on the property outside the Lehigh Valley Mall that currently has the vacant Friendly's and Whitehall Visitors Center. If all goes according to plan, work on the project could begin as soon as July.
A Pocono Township woman is heading to trial for the fatal shooting of her boyfriend. Sanda Delvalle has been in custody on a homicide charge for allegedly shooting and killing Joevandie Latorre back on March 13th during a domestic dispute. A Monroe County judge decided Tuesday there's enough proof to send the case to trial, which is schdeduled to take place in July. Delvalle's defense has maintained she shot Latorre in self-defense, after he allegedly attacked her with a knife.
Gov. Tom Wolf continues to push his Restore Pennsylvania plan. His most recent stop to do it was at the Glen Onoko Falls Trail in the Poconos. That trail was closed three weeks ago because of safety worries but the governor made a promise to those disappointed by the trail's closing. "If we get Restore Pennsylvania, I guaranteed you we'll open this up," Wolf says. Restore Pennsylvania, if approved, would use money from a natural gas extraction severance tax to pay for numerous quality of life projects across the state.
A New Jersey Department of Health report says reforms to the state's psychiatric hospitals shows decreases in patient assaults. The department announced Tuesday its progress report indicates improvements made by the department's Division of Behavioral Health Services are paying off. Patient assaults have gone down by 29 percent in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the first quarter of 2018. Reasons given for the improvement include a $4.8 million investment in physical plant upgrades and the retraining of around 4500 staffers.