Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong has unveiled his proposed 2023 budget. The spending plan comes in at $522 million and will maintain the current tax rate of 3.78 mills while bumping county workers' salaries higher by 3.5 percent. Among the budget's big 'to-do' items is a previously approved renovation to the Cedarbrook nursing home and upgrading the county's radio system. The county's Board of Commissioners will now review the budget with Armstrong expected to sign off on it by the end of October. Lehigh County's tax rate has remained steady since a hike in 2019.
It was a tense day on the Lehigh University campus. University police were notified Sunday night of a specific threat made by a former student towards a group of current students. There's no evidence Muhamad Diop is in the area, but his threat prompted the school to issue an alert to everyone on campus, increase police presence and make all buildings accessible only by card swipe.
Summer vacation ended Monday for thousands of Lehigh Valley youngsters. Jenna DePari says her son wasn't too excited for the early morning wakeup call. "Waking up at 7:30 was not the favorite thing to do this morning," DePari says. Her son, Zander, said once he got to school, it was all good. "I saw a lot of my friends and that was the best part about it," he said. Zander and other students have one day down and only 179 more to go.
If you're looking to earn some extra money this fall, Dorney Park is hiring. The amusement park is hiring 150 people for this season's Halloween Haunt. Dorney Park says it's looking to fill positions from performers to make-up artists to food workers. Starting pay for the performers is $15 per hour while the pay varies for other positions. Halloween Haunt begins September 16 and runs through October 30.
A 29-year-old Lehigh County woman is in jail after police say she refused to leave an elderly Berks County woman's apartment. Miranda Zentner allegedly waited for the woman after she arrived home carrying groceries. The elderly woman told police she does not know Zentner but was able to convince her to step outside her apartment and then called police. Zentner reportedly tried to use a key to get inside and kept calling the woman "mom." She faces felony trespassing charges.
We now know what will become of the property left behind when the old Palmerton Hospital is torn down this fall. St. Luke's says it will develop a public green space at the site along Lafayette and Second streets.
One of five winning Treasure Hunt tickets from Saturday's drawing was sold in Monroe County. The Pennsylvania Lottery says that ticket was sold at the Sheetz on Route 611 in Swiftwater. The five winning tickets will split a jackpot prize of $127,000.
Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says weather seen in the midwest Monday could be seen here today. "Yesterday, severe thunderstorms erupted out in the midwest and they clocked Chicago with wind gusts of 50 miles-per-hour. There was a lot of wind damage and a lot of power outages across Chicago and parts of Indiana and the same environment precedes the front that's coming our way later today," Lundberg says. The best bet for those storms is late this afternoon into the early evening hours.
Pennsylvania senatorial candidates Dr. Mehmet Oz for the Republicans and John Fetterman for the Democrats are vying to replace retiring Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is in charge of getting Republicans elected or re-elected and he tells Fox News he feels good about Oz's chances. "Mehmet Oz is a great candidate, world-renowned surgeon, the best health care talk show host against a guy who is a Bernie Sanders disciple," Scott says. All polls currently show Fetterman leading Oz.
The Lebanon County district attorney has ruled that a Pennsylvania State Police trooper was justified in fatally shooting a man last year. It was the fourth time that Trooper Jay Splain has fatally shot someone. District Attorney Pier Hess Graf on Monday released a nearly 50-page report on the investigation of the shooting of a man in Union Township last November. She says Trooper Splain reasonably believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent the suspect from killing or causing serious bodily injury to a fellow trooper.
Philadelphia school leaders are having to close dozens of buildings early today because of the extreme heat. 100 schools are ending classes early because they do not have sufficient cooling systems. This also impacts after-school activities as well. Students in those Philadelphia schools will be getting out three-hours early both today and tomorrow.