A Carbon County man has been charged for allegedly making bomb threats at a company in Lower Macungie Township. Police say 29-year-old Zachary Keys, of Lehighton wrote a threatening message on the bathroom wall of the company, which prompted the evacuation of over 100 employees form the building on Feb. 22. Keys reportedly admitted to police he wrote the message on the wall the day prior because he wanted to see how the company would respond to safety procedures.
A very lucky person turned a $30 scratch-off lottery ticket into $3 million. Lottery officials say the winning Monopoly 100X ticket worth $3 million was sold at Deli Mart, on Tilghman St. in South Whitehall Township. If you are the very lucky winner, keep in mind scratch-off ticket prizes expire one year from the game’s end-sale date. You should immediately sign the back of the ticket and contac the lottery. The store receives a $10,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Lawyers for the Berks County mother who is facing the death penalty in the hanging deaths of her young children want to exclude her statements and computer search history from her trial. Lisa snyder was back in Berks County Court Wednesday for a status conference in her case. Snyder is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the deaths of 8-year-old Conner and 4-year-old Brinley Snyder. Snyder is being held without bail. Her trial date has not been set.
The National Park Service will be shutting down parts of River Road within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area to protect breeding amphibians. River Road will be closed at 6:00 p.m. every day for the next six weeks and it will re-open at 6:30 a.m. The amphibians in the area are in mating season and they are active principally at night. You can find more information by visiting www.nps.gov.
Philadelphia Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole has news residents and visitors have been waiting to hear for nearly two full years. "I now declare that Philadelphia is moving into the all-clear level, effective immediately," Bettigole says. That means Philadelphia has removed its mandatory mask wearing in indoor settings, including the Wells Fargo Center, home of the Flyers and 76ers, where masks are no longer required. The move still excludes city government buildings until March 7th and Philadelphia schools until March 9th.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has announced three new ways to treat people in hospitals and increase patient access in rural areas across the state. "The care delivery models that we're rolling out include tele-emergency departments, micro-hospitals and outpatient emergency departments," says Pennsylvania's acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter. She says the primary purpose is to increase access to safe, high-quality care in areas that otherwise are medically underserved.
The Hospital and Health System Association of Pennsylvania says widespread nurse staffing shortages are challenging hospitals' ability to keep up with demand. A new survey from the group says the shortage had been prevalent before the COVID epidemic but is even more critical now. Their results show more than one in four registered nurse positions were vacant as of November and December, according to the survey from nearly 70 medical providers. That's up from 21 percent in 2019. Among nurse support staff, 45 percent of jobs were empty. The report also detailed a striking rise in violence against health care workers.
Now that Gov. Tom Wolf has presented his proposed budget, state lawmakers are sorting out the details for a new spending plan for the commonwealth. Wolf's administration argues the state can spend $44 billion between this June and next, and still have $3 billion left. He says that's because the state has at least $7 billion dollars in surplus taxes, emergency spending cash and federal pandemic relief money. The treasury and revenue departments each agree a cash surplus is likely for this year and next. But Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity says that's only because there's a lot of federal money, which has to be spent in the next few years.
The state Senate Aging and Youth Committee has approved a measure which mandates the reporting of any infant born in PA with an addiction to opioids. Senate Bill 936 would ensure the coordination of reporting through the Department of Health, which would track the information and break it down by county in an effort to be more aggressive in combating the opioid epidemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has reported that nearly one in five pregnant women fill an opioid medication prescription during pregnancy and a child is born with neonatal abstinence syndrome every 25 minutes.
Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education has unanimously approved a new name for three state universities that are being combined into one institution. The schools formerly known as Bloomsburg, Lock Haven and Mansfield universities will now all be known as the Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania. The new name will remain in the background, officials say, but allow the consolidated school to legally be one entity. Each location will retain its logo, colors, mascot, and athletic representation. They also will continue to use their respective location names that will continue to be prominently displayed on diplomas.
Pennsylvania state trooper Sean McKenzie is behind bars this morning and facing accusations that he filmed a young girl in a bathroom. McKenzie is being held on $500,000 bond following his arrest this week on child pornography and sex abuse charges. Investigators say the trooper was found to be in possession of pornographic materials and that he had placed a camera in the restroom of his home to record a child in a bathing suit. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for next week.
Gov. Phil Murphy says New Jersey "stands ready and able" to accept people fleeing Ukraine amid attacks from Russia. Murphy wrote a letter to President Joe Biden yesterday, saying New Jersey will extend a warm and sincere welcome to Ukrainians displaced by "this senseless invasion." It's not clear where refugees would stay once they land in New Jersey. More than 9000 Afghan refugees stayed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst following last year's Taliban attack.
It looks like New Jersey's finances are improving and that's good for taxpayers. Moody's Investors Services upgraded the Garden State's general obligation debt to an A2 from an A3. The service says jersey has taken "aggressive" steps to address liability burdens. Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio called it great news for taxpayers, explaining the state's improved credit rating will decrease the cost of annual borrowing.