We still don't know who'll win Pennsylvania's Republican U.S. Senate primary election, but Dave McCormick says, it'll be him. "There and tens of thousands of absentee ballots that will be counted and when they are counted I will ultimately take the lead," McCormick says. McCormick and Mehmet Oz are within the threshold right now to trigger an automatic recount.
It appears there's a rematch brewing in the 7th Congressional District. The Associated Press has declared Lisa Scheller the winner over Kevin Dellicker in the Republican primary, setting up another contest between Scheller and Democratic incumbent Susan Wild. The most up-to-date numbers show Scheller with about a 1700 vote edge on Dellicker, or a little less than a three point lead. Dellicker says his campaign will make a statement on the race today, but his campaign put out a statement last night saying he called Scheller and congratulated her on her victory. Wild defeated Scheller by four points in 2020.
There are about 1200 still-uncounted provisional votes that will apparently decide two very close local races. In the newly created 14th Senate District, Nick Miller leads Tara Zrinski by 78 votes in the Democratic primary. In the 16th Senate District, longtime Sen. Pat Browne trails challenger Jarrett Coleman by 30 votes. Those races may not be decided until next week.
Northampton County Council has approved spending $10 million in COVID-19 relief money to keep and attract employees at the county-owned Gracedale Nursing Home. County Executive Lamont McClure explains why he pushed for the plan. "Our residents need folks to come and work with them. Because our residents need this, we are willing to do everything we possible can to get folks in the door," McClure says. He says the federal mandate that home employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 cost Gracedale 40 to 50 staff members, making the problem even worse. The bonuses will be $2,500 annually for four years for new and current full-time employees.
According to the Northampton County DA's office, 54-year-old Lawrence Gaines will not get a new trial after all. A federal appeals court has reversed a decision to give the convicted killer a new trial. Gaines' conviction was thrown out last March because that judge determined the jury in Gaines' trial was not advised he had the right not to testify on his behalf and that the jury should not assume anything from Gaines' choice not to testify. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that decision, saying Gaines’ lawyer had an opportunity to object to the missed jury instruction, but chose not to. Gaines was convicted of killing William Thompson in July 2012, in the 600 block of Ferry Street in Easton.
It's a summer-like forecast in May. Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says record-setting heat is expected this weekend and nasty storms are a possibility today. "When they come through, there's a threat for downpours and gusty winds and hail," Lundberg says. Tomorrow, hot, humid weather is coming with a record-setting high of 93 degrees expected. Sunday's forecasted high is 91 degrees.
Allentown City Council has voted to change the zoning designation for the site of the former Montex Textiles mill from residential medium density to residential medium-high density. That move that opens the door for a proposed apartment complex on the 5.3 acre sit at South Sixth and West Cumberland streets.
“As the World Turns” star Marnie Schulenburg died of breast cancer Tuesday in New Jersey. The actress, who graduated from DeSales University, was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her performance as Alison Stewart, a character she played on the CBS soap opera from 2007 to 2010. Schulenburg would have turned 38 on May 21.
The state's acting secretary of health is promoting a new, COVID Safe Summer Vaccination event. Dr. Denise Johnson says even though more people are outside in warmer temperatures, COVID cases have not decreased. She says the new trend is due to new, highly infective omicron variants of the virus.
The Washington Commanders have signed Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson to his rookie contract. The Washington Post reports the deal is a four-year contract worth roughly $15 million. Dotson was highly recruited coming out of the 2018 class from Nazareth Area High School. He graduated from Penn State in May of this year with a degree in telecommunications.