A suspect is in custody in connection with a shooting at Cedar Beach Park earlier this week. 25-year-old Carlos Medina of Coplay has been charged with several offenses. Investigators say Medina kissed his gun while driving past several men before shooting at them Monday afternoon in the crowded park. Nobody wsa injured in the incident. Medina is no stranger to police. He spent time behind bars after pleading guilty to simple assault and resisting arrest in a 2014 Slatington incident. He was also in trouble a year later for a Northampton incident and last April he was back in jail for an assault.
One of the Lehigh Valley's biggest school districts is changing its masking policy. The Easton Area School Board voted to approve a revised policy that will make masking optional starting today. The new plan states that masks will be optional except on transportation, which includes school buses, on which masks are still required as part of a federal mandate. The district's superintendent says the newest recommendation was based on the ongoing advice from a team of St. Luke's University Health Network doctors.
The Palmer Township Fire Department says a fire inside a large under-construction apartment building was caused by a propane heater igniting the walls and floors and has been ruled accidental. The fire happened on January 31 at an apartment building being built in the 3100 block of Charlotte Avenue. Crews were able to stop it from destroying the building. Officials say a space heater was being used to keep painting supplies from freezing in an apartment on the second floor, which caused the fire.
The current captain of Bethlehem Township’s police department will become chief when Dan Pancoast retires on April 1. Greg Gottschall was approved 5-0 during a board of commissioners meeting on Monday night. Gottschall’s first day in his new job will be April 2.
Dozens of apartments are proposed for a long-vacant lot in Bethlehem, across the street from the Giant shopping center on Easton Avenue. With 220 apartments approved just east of the strip mall, approval of this project would add 274 living units in just a few blocks. The larger complex is in Bethlehem Township on the site of the former Bethlehem Drive-in. The 54-unit plan is just inside the borders of the City of Bethlehem.
Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says some sleet and freezing rain is coming our way late Thursday night into Friday and he's concerned about what that might mean. "The heart of that freezing rain could put a lot of weight on trees and power lines, so that's the concern we have for this system coming up late Thursday into early Friday," Lundberg says. Lundberg expects the wintry weather to arrive late Thursday night and continue through the Friday morning drive to work.
HersheyPark is announcing the addition of one brand new ride and one reimagined one for summer 2022. What had been the Sidewinder roller coaster has been completely repainted and will now be called the Jolly Rancher Remix coaster. The new ride will be called Mix'd, which the park says begins by spinning 360 degrees then mixes in lifts, drops, and takes you forward and backward.
St. Sen. Doug Mastriano is now reporting nearly twice as much campaign funding than he'd previously reported before the end of 2021. As of Tuesday's campaign finance statement, the Republican gubernatorial candidate says he has just over a million dollars in his campaign account compared to the $550,000 he reported just months ago. Additionally, Mastriano reportedly spent more than $215,000, which is a lot more than the less than $15,000 that was initially reported in his 2021 filing. Now questions are being raised about the senator's campaign spending with just months before the primary.
Penn State Athletics reported a negative balance of nearly $24 million following the conclusion of the 2020-21 Fiscal Year, which began July 1, 2020 and ended June 30, 2021. That time frame covers the entirety of the main COVID-19 impacted athletic calendar that featured limited to no fan attendance across the department, including home football games.
Almost 200,000 water utility users in New Jersey are being notified about lead pipes carrying water to homes. Letters are being sent to homeowners alerting them that their lead pipes need to be removed. There could be one-million homes with the toxic issue. This effort, which is happening nationwide, was launched in Newark a few years ago.