There's a murder investigation underway in Northampton County. One man was found dead just after midnight inside an apartment on Spruce Street in Wilson. He had been shot several times. A second man was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. The district attorney's office doesn't believe it was a random act.
One person is dead after an overnight accident in Bethlehem Township. Investigators say around 4am a driver going west on Freemansburg Avenue went off the road and flipped over and caught fire.
Big layoffs are announced at Wind Creek Bethlehem. The resort says it's laying off 20-percent of its staff, or about 450 people, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Wind Creek also has decided to permanently close Emeril's Fish House as well.
The Lehigh County Board of Elections has approved a plan to use drop boxes for absentee and mail-in ballots. Those drop boxes will be at the North Whitehall Township, Upper Macungie Township, Catasauqua and Emmaus municipal buildings as well as at the Lehigh County Government Center in Allentown. The move comes a week after the state Supreme Court allowed those drop boxes to be used.
A judge rips into George Hopkins in court. The former director of the Allentown Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps has pleaded no contest to indecent assault charges and was immediately sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $5000 fine. Hopkins was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by almost a dozen women, who ranged in age from 16 to 37 at the time of the alleged incidents. Lehigh County Judge James Anthony, who handed down Hopkins' sentence, called the 63-year-old "flatly disgusting."
Pennsylvania's Department of Health has added 853 new COVID-19 cases to the statewide total, which now stands at 153,397. 17 new coronavirus-related deaths were also added Thursday. The overall death count now 8079.
The House and the Senate have both approved a bill that would raise capacity at Pennsylvania bars and restaurants. Gov. Tom Wolf will almost certainly veto the measure because he says it's a terrible idea. "The CDC released a study that showed patients who tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to have dined indoors at a restaurant as patients who tested negative for COVID-19," Wolf says. The governor says Republican lawmakers are acting irresponsibly while his administration is trying to save lives during the pandemic. Supporters of the bill say more and more bars and restaurants are being forced to closed because of capacity restrictions placed upon them.
Parkland High School is the latest local school to halt their football season due to COVID-19. The school district says somebody associated with the football program has tested positive for the virus and attended practice as recently as September 17th. Parkland's JV and varsity football activities are being stopped through October 1st. Southern Lehigh, Saucon Valley and Northwestern Lehigh have also put the brakes on their football seasons due to COVID-19.
New Jersey schools are seeing a rising number of students and teachers testing positive for coronavirus. At least 22 schools throughout the state have reported positive cases, but state officials say they don't see proof of in-class transmission.
The nation's top infectious disease doctor is giving New Jersey high praise for the state's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci had a one-on-on Zoom conversation with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Thursday. "Not withstanding that you got hit pretty badly, right now if you continue to carefully and prudently open the economy, you can get through the fall and the winter," Fauci says. Fauci is impressed with both New Jersey's baseline of cases and limited spread.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is launching a federal investigation into the Luzerne County Bureau of Elections after nine military mail-in ballots had been found in a dumpster. Seven of those nine ballots were votes for President Trump, something that hit the White House's radar. Here's press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. "Ballots for the President were found in Pennsylvania. They were cast aside," McEnany says. Initial indications are election staff thought they were opening requests for mail-in ballots and not the actual thing, something investigators say also happened during the June primary election.
The presidential race has tightened slightly in Pennsylvania, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College poll. In the latest survey, Democratic nominee Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 6 percentage points. The poll finds 48% of likely voters favor Biden while 42% support the Republican president. The poll reflects interviews with 625 voters: 296 Democrats, 250 Republicans and 79 independents.
New Jersey's attorney general is pushing for all police officers to wear body cameras. The state released a survey Thursday reporting only about half of the state's police departments use them. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's push comes after a fatal officer involved shooting in Asbury Park that left a 39-year-old black man dead. Law enforcement officials say body camera camera footage is typically valuable, but also can be challenging.
New Jersey is giving out free Naloxone to residents across the state in an effort to combat overdoses. State officials say the overdose reversal spray will be available at more than 300 participating pharmacies until Saturday. A full list of those participating pharmacies is found at www.nj.gov.
New Jerseyans better start stocking up on reusable bags as lawmakers there have passed one of the toughest plastic and paper bag bans. The measure bans film plastic bags like those found in grocery stores. It also bans paper bags at supermarkets. If Gov. Phil Murphy signs off on the bill, it would take 18 months to go into effect. In addition, plastic takeout containers, food trays and utensils will also be banned.