Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health tacked on another 5489 cases of COVID-19 to the state's overall total, which is now 1,397,755. 32 new virus-related deaths were also reported Thursday, leaving the state's death toll at 29,030. Right now there are 2553 people hospitalized with the virus, 633 of whom are in the intensive care unit.
Easton police are asking for your help in finding a bank robbery suspect. Police want to find 36-year-old Daniel Buzzone, who is wanted for a September 2020 robbery of the Santander Bank on North 3rd Street in Easton. Buzzone is described as a transient but is still believed to be somewhere in the Lehigh Valley.
After being canceled thanks to the pandemic last year, the Celtic Classic returns to Bethlehem today. Jayne Ann Recker is the executive director of the Celtic Cultural Alliance and says the next three days are a make-it-or-break-it situation. "This festival is going to determine whether we go forward or not. We really need people to come out and spend money at the festival in order for us to know where going to 2022," Recker says. The Celtic Classic features five stages of Celtic music, the Highland Games, traditional Celtic food and the ever-popular haggis eating contest this afternoon at 5:15.
The small town of Hereford has a brand new post office. It's attached to the Hereford Fire Company along Route 29, which is ironic because the previous post office suffered substantial damage in a December 2017 arson fire.
Tonight's Easton/Whitehall football game is being postponed because of COVID issues at Easton. Whitehall High says it's still trying to find a new opponent for tonight.
Pennsylvania's attorney general is filing a lawsuit against Republican leaders for the subpoenas they issued as part of their "forensic investigation" of the 2020 election. Josh Shapiro explains why. "I think what's clear is they continue to perpetuate the big lie. I think what's clear is that, in doing so, they've not only been lying to their constituents but now their putting nine-million Pennsylvanians at risk of having their private, personal information compromised," Shapiro says. Last week, a GOP-led Senate committee voted to issue subpoenas to gather personal information, including social security numbers, from voters and records of communication between state and county election officials.
Gov. Tom Wolf is opening up over $24 million in grants for cities across the state to combat gun violence. Wolf says this funding will provide communities and organizations with resources to implement or support programs that are tackling community violence. Eligible community-based organizations, higher education institutions, municipalities, district attorneys and counties can apply for the grants, which range from $50,000 to $2 million.
Pennsylvania State Police are revealing that they cited a trooper for harassment this week. They did not give many details, but they say they issued the citation to Trooper Nickolas Elliott following an allegation of unwarranted use-of-force. He is being suspended without pay as the investigation into the allegation continues.
Advocates are pushing New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to make Atlantic City casinos completely smoke free. It comes after the governor said he would sign legislation if it came his way. The group, Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights jumped on the answer, applauding the governor for being willing to close a loophole that allows smoking in casinos, but say several lawmakers stand in the way. They're urging Murphy to publicly call for Senate President Stephen Sweeney to send a bill to his desk.