Gas prices went up again last week across Pennsylvania. According to AAA East Central, the average price of a gallon of unleaded went up by two cents in the seven days ending Wednesday. That price is now at $4.78, which is $1.63 more than on June 1 of last year. In the Lehigh Valley, the average price of gas remained steady at $4.80 a gallon, which is $1.69 higher than one year earlier.
Day nine of the Michael Horvath murder trial is in the books in Monroe County. Horvath's defense team started laying out their case yesterday, suggesting several other subjects could've kidnapped and murdered Holly Grim in 2013, including her ex-boyfriend, her brother and a man accused of killing another woman around that time. Grim and Horvath worked together at Allen Organ. Prosecutors say Horvath stalked, kidnapped and killed Grim before hiding her remains on his Ross Township property. Day ten of the trial is today at the Monroe County Courthouse.
A former guard at Northampton County Prison has plead guilty to sexually assaulting a woman prisoner. The Northampton County District Attorney's office says Kelvin Myers of Forks Township admitted to assaulting the woman, whose name has not been made public. She is now suing him, the county and other corrections officers over the assaults.
The Quakertown School Board's finance committee has recommended the final 2022-23 budget move forward to a voting meeting with a tax increase limited to 2%. On April 28, the board approved a proposed final budget that included a 4% tax hike. The board is scheduled to adopt the final budget at the June 9 school board meeting.
A day after announcing country music star Cole Swindell was booked for the Grandstand, the Great Allentown Fair added another Grandstand act but with a very different sound. Philadelphia's The Wonder Years will bring their pop punk sound to the Grandstand the night of Sunday, September 4th. Tickets go on sale June 10th. Two more Grandstand shows are yet to be announced.
The Pennsylvania State Police handled 775 crashes that killed three people and injured 191 more during the four-day Memorial Day travel period. Investigators say alcohol was a factor in about 9-percent of those 775 crashes. Troopers made 526 DUI arrests and issued 27,834 citations from May 27-30.
The family whose Pottstown home exploded last week, killing four children and their grandmother, has hired an attorney. Wapner Newman, a Philadelphia-based personal injury law firm, said it will "fight for accountability" in the explosion Thursday night on Hale Street, and "secure justice" for the family.
A manufacturing facility in Berks County is getting some state money. Gov. Tom Wolf says the $1.75 million grant is helping ByHeart complete their canning line and dry blend areas at their new baby formula plant just outside Reading. "It's a wonderful thing for Pennsylvanians to be able to lay claim to the first baby formula manufacturer to open up in 15 years," the governor says. ByHeart is just the fifth baby formula manufacturer in the United States and it comes during a nationwide formula shortage.
State health officials say the total number of new COVID cases this past week is down about 20 percent from the number reported the previous week. There were nearly 30,000 new cases reported between May 18th and May 24th. The state Department of Health data from May 25th also shows hospitalizations are up about 15 percent and the number of adult COVID-19 patients in the ICU has increased by about 12 percent.
Masks are required again inside Monroe County buildings, including the County Administrative Building. The mandate was put into place this week because the community transmission rate of COVID-19 is being considered high in Monroe County according to the CDC.
New Jersey is allocating some $47 million to repair more than 30 local bridges. New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti says the funds will ensure local governments can invest in bridge projects of their choosing. Each county will receive at least $1 million in additional funds from the transportation trust fund.