Easton City Council has adopted its 2020 budget. It's a $60 million spending guideline and, for the 12th straight year, includes no tax increase and for the 11th consecutive year, there is no increase in fees.
A 38-year-old Bethlehem man is under arrest after he allegedly attacked an elderly woman and kidnapped her, after she cashed out some winnings at Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem. Hykeem Sessoms is facing charges of robbery, kidnapping, assault, and other offenses after he allegedly approached the woman from behind, demanded money from her, kicked her and forced her into her vehicle. Police say Sessoms then made her drive off and hit her again, before robbing her and getting out of the car at Easton Avenue and Jennings Street. Police arrested him a short while later. The search for Sessoms put some Bethlehem schools on high alert for a short time and in the end, police say all he got was $10.
St. Luke's University Health Network's footprint will grow this weekend. St. Luke's new $100 million, 80-bed hospital and emergency room will open Saturday morning at the intersection of Route 663 and Portzer Road in Milford Township, Bucks County. The opening of the new hospital means the closing of St. Luke's ER at its nearby Quakertown facility. Construction on the new hospital began in May 2018.
An awful local crime is going under the national spotlight later today. The Dr. Oz show will discuss the deaths of two children in Berks County. Lisa Snyder has been charged with hanging both of her children after telling police her young son hanged his sister and then himself. Dr. Oz is on locally at 2 o'clock on Fox 29 out of Philadelphia.
State troopers are identifying the gunman behind a 14-hour-long standoff in Tioga County that ended early Wednesday morning. 68-year-old Delos Lowe was shot and killed after a standoff that lasted much of Tuesday. It began when troopers conducted a welfare check on Lowe and entered the residence when there was no response. Lowe began to shoot, hitting one officer, before barricading himself inside, leading to his shooting death by a special emergency response team. Police are still investigating a motive behind the incident.
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says it's time for the Berks County Residential Center to close up shop. He says the center is nothing more than a jail for families seeking asylum in this country. “One six-year-old has been held there for 167 days. That’s nearly six months of that child’s life. William Penn would likely be deeply embarrassed that this is happening on Pennsylvania soil,” the auditor general says. DePasquale says his review found that the center is a poor use of state and federal money, annually costing U.S. taxpayers $12 million to operate. The facility is owned by the county, but leased and run by the federal government.
The suspects in Tuesday's deadly Jersey City shootout that killed three civilians and a police detective are being identified as David Anderson and Francine Graham. The two were reportedly living together in a van and recent online postings on Anderson's social media accounts are being described as anti-Semitic and anti-police. Police also say the U-Haul that Anderson and Graham drove to the scene of the kosher deli shootout contained a note with religious writings.