There will be no trial for a Lehigh County double murder. 24-year-old Edward Rosario Jimenez has pleaded guilty to a pair of murders outside the Whitehall Walmart that happened in February 2021. Rosario Jimenez will serve a sentence of 45-100 years in prison and also waived his rights to appeal. 20-year-old Nicolette Law and 22-year-old boyfriend Jonathan Martinez were both killed during what was supposed to be a child custody drop-off, but ended with an argument and gunfire.
The Tilghman Street Bridge in Allentown will finally reopen May 27th and the city wants to celebrate. A community block party is planned on the bridge from 12-2 on May 26th. There are games, giveaways and a vehicle presentation planned. The $21.9 million project began in January 2018 and was originally supposed to be wrapped up by last June, but COVID-related delays and bridge deterioration pushed the opening back nearly one full year after that.
The Allentown Art Museum will be getting some major upgrades and infrastructure improvements. The museum will get a new HVAC system to help protect the museum's extensive art collection. A new Wi-Fi system will be installed as well to help enhance educational programming. Work will begin this summer thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Keystone Communities Program.
Another legend is performing in the Lehigh Valley later this summer. Barry Manilow brings his more than seven decades worth of songs to the PPL Center on Friday night, August 12th. Manilow has 13 number one hits on the adult contemporary charts and 28 in the top ten to his credit. Tickets go on sale to the general public one week from today.
A new poll says current Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is the leading Democratic candidate in the state race to be Pennsylvania's next U.S. senator. The latest poll from Franklin and Marshall College shows Fetterman leads Congressman Conor Lamb by a 53 percent to 14 percent margin. Over 20 percent of Democratic voters say they remain undecided.
The May 17th primary may be less than two weeks away, but recent polls have continued to show the Republican race is still a toss-up. At least 40 percent of GOP voters reportedly are still undecided. Of those who have figured out their preferred candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz has 18 percent support, while Dave McCormick is two points behind. Kathy Barnette is pulling 12 percent in the latest Franklin and Marshall College poll. Carla Sands is running fourth at five percent and Jeff Bartos is fifth at two percent.
There's been another Republican debate was held last evening with five of the people running for Senate squaring off. Several of the candidates spent time going after Dr. Mehmet Oz, who's enjoyed former President Trump's endorsement. "Mehmet Oz, when the pandemic hit, said we have to follow the Chinese Communist Party example," opponent Carla Sands said. Fellow candidate Dave McCormick said, "He said he's a Hollywood liberal that has held a set of positions and he's flip-flopped on every single one." Oz replied that all Republican voters need to know is he is Trump's pick in the race and the others are not. "President Trump endorsed me, calling me America-first. He knows what you should know, which is that I love this country. There is no compromise element here. I will serve this nation as our senator and do a wonderful job."
Organizers are predicting a crowd as high as 20,000 people for a rally tonight in Westmoreland County featuring former President Donald Trump. He will use the event as an opportunity to promote the candidate that he has endorsed in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Dr. Mehmet Oz.
It's election season and PennDOT is reminding the public that candidate campaign signs should not be placed within the PennDOT rights-of-way. Those include areas along state roads, interstates, expressways and other limited access highways. Political signs also cannot be attached to light or signal posts and guide rails or traffic control devices. If your sign is removed, it will be stored at a PennDOT maintenance office for 30 days. If it's not claimed, it will be thrown away.
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity is warning residents that scammers are using text messages to target people who might have unclaimed property. Garrity says the Pennsylvania Treasury Department never reaches out to people by unsolicited text messages. She says it's best to ignore the texts if you received them, and promptly delete it. Garrity also says her office is happy to answer inquiries about unclaimed property.
Two Pennsylvania Democratic lawmakers want to make men more responsible for not taking precautions to avoid unwanted pregnancies. St. Rep. Emily Kinkead and St. Rep. Christopher Rabb say they've taken the first steps in creating a bill to establish a civil offense for what they call "wrongful conception." It would allow someone who is pregnant to seek civil liabilities from their impregnator if that person didn't take appropriate precautions to prevent conception.
State political contribution records show over $308 million was donated to Pennsylvania campaigns last year. Figures tabulated for 2021 donations to state candidates and political action committees also show the ten largest donors gave more than $22 million. The data compiled by ballotpedia shows billionaire Jeffrey Yass contributed $13 million to select campaigns.
New Jersey is reporting seven COVID-19 deaths and almost 3500 new positive cases. Thursday marked New Jersey's highest single day total in three months. The state's seven-day average for confirmed cases increased to 2,373 on Thursday, up 18-percent from a week ago, and up 137-percent from a month ago. That's the highest seven-day average since the beginning of February. Hospitalizations, which typically lag about two weeks behind case trends, have also been on the rise in the last week. New Jersey's statewide transmission rate was 1.2 on Thursday.
The Phillies have lost more than 11,000 games in their history. Not many like last night. The Mets scored seven in the ninth inning to beat the Phillies 8-7. Manager Joe Girardi says his team can't dwell on blowing a six-run lead. "You gotta bounce back. You have to bounce back. This is as tough as it gets, but you're going to have these during the course of a year and you gotta find a way to turn it around," Girardi says. The Phillies host the Mets again tonight.