Three schools in the Allentown School District went on lockdown for about two hours Thursday morning after a report of a teen with a loaded gun in a nearby park. This student is a freshman at Allen High School, one of the three schools that went on lockdown just after 9 o'clock Thursday morning and says what happened. "We heard an announcement that we were told to be in a regular lockdown. At first I thought it was so people don't skip class, but they kept on repeating the announcement so I started thinking that it was something else," she says. Allen High was one of three schools on lockdown, along with Raub Middle School and Union Terrace Elementary School. That all happened after Allentown police officers located a juvenile who was found with a loaded semi-automatic handgun at West Park, close to the high school. Police took the person into custody.
Police quickly tracked down a shooting suspect thanks to the man's own social media. Roberto Torres-Perez was arrested Wednesday while broadcasting a livestream asking people for money so he could flee the area, the Reading police said Thursday. Police were able to figure out his location from the video, and he was taken into custody while still livestreaming.
A Lehigh Valley Burger King has been damaged by a Thursday night fire. A fire spread through the Northampton Crossings Burger King in Lower Nazareth Township Thursday night. Crews were called to the scene at 3706 Nazareth Road just before 10:30 last night. Firefighters were able to knock out the fire by 11 p.m. Officials have not yet said what caused the fire or how much damage happened.
State Rep. Jeanne McNeill is sponsoring a free shredding and electronics recycling event Saturday in Catasauqua. It'll take place from nine a.m. to eleven a.m. in the parking lot of Francis H. Sheckler Elementary School on 14th Street. There is no fee for items such as computers, monitors, DVD and video players or gaming systems, but there is one for TVs and computer monitors. Recyclers must be residents of either the Borough of Catasauqua or Hanover Township, both in Lehigh County, and proof of residency will be required.
A six-year-old girl from Whitehall Township will appear on the jumbotron in Times Square this weekend. Zari Moultrie was chosen from over 2400 applicants worldwide to help kick off the New York City Buddy Walk for the National Down Syndrome Society. Her mother says she submitted her photo because the annual showcase tradition helps to promote value, acceptance, and inclusion of people with the genetic disorder.
A bus driver in Monroe County is facing assault charges. Police say Christopher Ludwig sent inappropriate messages and money to a student while working as a bus driver for East Stroudsburg Area High School. His court date is scheduled later this month.
A teenager is recovering at a hospital after they were hit by a car in Carbon County. The accident happened yesterday along West Patterson Street in Lansford. Police say the victim was 15-years-old and their condition is unknown at this time.
The final weekend of summer is upon us and Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says the weather is almost perfect. "Looks like through the weekend not a drop of rain and even early next week, I don't know how high the rain chances are. Certainly Monday afternoon and evening would seem to be the most likely time to get anything, but that may be the only rain that we've got in the forecast for the next six or seven days across the area," Lundberg says. It's a perfect night for high school football as well, with clear skies and a low of 54.
The state department of environmental protection is asking residents to continue conserving water. Officials say that despite recent rain, nearly 40 counties remain on a drought "watch list". Residents in these areas are asked to reduce their water use by three to six gallons per day.
Republican St. Sen. Doug Mastriano brought his campaign for governor to the crucial Philadelphia suburbs Thursday and told the Delaware County crowd what he stands for. "As your governor, my focus will be to restore freedom, to rebuild our state and to put the power back the hands of the people and the parents," the Republican said. Mastriano was joined by former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, who says he doesn't believe polls that say Mastriano is down by double digits. Santorum says he thinks that many GOP voters are silent only because they're waiting until Election Day to let their voices be heard in voting booths.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman has appeared in a nationally-televised program to talk about how a stroke has affected him. The current Pennsylvania lieutenant governor was on MSNBC Thursday and says even though he thought he was an empathetic person before the stroke, he said he's "ten times more empathetic and understanding now." It was Fetterman's second appearance on the network. Opponent Mehmet Oz has criticized him for hiding the effects of his stroke on the campaign trail.
New Jersey is more than doubling its payments for veterans with select disabilities. Governor Murphy says annual payments will go from 750 dollars to 18-hundred dollars, citing inflation and the rise in the cost of living. Funding for the increase was part of the governor's recently passed budget. It will only help about 200 veterans across the state who deal with loss of sight, amputations, or permanent paralysis.
New Jersey lawmakers are making moves to extend online gambling through 2033. A state assembly committee held a hearing Thursday to consider an extension and advanced the measure to the next step in the process. Since New Jersey launched internet casino games in 2013, casinos have won upwards of five billion dollars from online gamblers. That figure is almost double what Pennsylvania casinos have won online since only 2019. The internet figures do not take into account online sports wagers which are tallied separately.