Beginning tonight at 9 o'clock all northbound Northeast Extension traffic will be forced off the turnpike at the Lehigh Valley exit while all southbound turnpike traffic will be detoured at the Mahoning Valley exit. The detour route will add about 70 miles to your drive from 9 o'clock tonight until 4 o'clock Monday morning. Route 309 between Chapmans Road and Snowdrift Road will also be closed from 7 o'clock tonight until 6 o'clock Monday morning. This is all happening to allow crews to demolish and replace the bridge carrying Northeast Extension traffic over 309 in South Whitehall Township.
Police are investigating after an elderly woman was killed in a two-car crash in Northampton County. 87-year-old Geraldine Edwards, of Hanover Township, was involved in a head-on crash Thursday morning on Hanoverville Road in Lower Nazareth Township after she apparently crossed the center line and hit an oncoming vehicle. Edwards was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital where she died. The other driver, described only as a male, was also seriously injured and taken to St. Luke's Fountain Hill.
Easton police are looking for a 13-year-old boy who hasn't been seen since 3:15 Thursday afternoon. Jonathan Pysher is Hispanic and about 5 feet, 4 inches tall. He was last seen at a bus stop at 14th and Northampton streets according to his family. He was wearing a gray or white T-shirt and gray sweatpants. Anyone with information is asked to contact Easton police.
Easton's Planning Commission has given the green light to a nursing school proposed on the second floor of King Mart on West St. Joseph Street in Easton's South Side. If approved, the school would include classrooms, lab space, a library and offices. The school still needs approval from the Easton Zoning Hearing Board, which meets on September 16th.
State police say this past Labor Day saw fewer crashes than the year before. Troopers say they investigated 684 crashes statewide between August 30th and September 2nd, which is down from 722 in 2018. Seven people died in crashes during this year's Labor Day weekend, one more than last year. The biggest decrease was in alcohol-related crashes. There were 80 recorded DUI crashes last year. This year there were only 45.
More than 50 Pennsylvania Army National Guard soldiers are on their way to Afghanistan. The soldiers had a departure ceremony Thursday at Fort Indiantown Gap before they flew to Texas for training and then eventually onto Afghanistan. Some members of the group will operate helicopters while others will do maintenance work.
The National Weather Service says the risk level of dangerous rip currents along the Jersey Shore remains high until at least tonight. Rip currents are strong currents that can unexpectedly draw swimmers out to deeper water as quickly as eight feet per second and can prove deadly. A High Surf Advisory also goes into effect today beginning at 2pm and will stay in place until at least 10 o'clock Saturday morning for the Jersey Shore. This is all due to the oncoming Hurricane Dorian.