The revolving door outside the office of Allentown school superintendent continues revolving. Thursday night, in a 6-3 vote the Allentown School Board voted to fire John Stanford, less than one year into a five-year contract. Lisa Conover was among the three votes against termination. "This man did nothing to be removed," Conover said. The vote came after several students and residents members voiced concern about Stanford's potential dismissal. Stanford had faced controversy over how he dealt with the hiring of Principal Cheryl Clark at Allen High School and was criticized for his handling of a school lockdown after a student brought a loaded gun to school. The next person hired for the job will become the Allentown School District's seventh superintendent since 2011.
The Bethlehem Area School District is getting a $1 million grant to purchase electric school buses. Superintendent Joseph Roy says the district will use the money to buy two electric buses and will use the remaining money to pay for electric vehicle charging stations and power supply. Diesel buses cost up to $150,000. Electric buses cost two-to-three times that amount. Roy says slowly changing over the district's fleet to electric buses will save on maintenance and cuts the cost of diesel fuel.
Several people were hurt in a four-vehicle accident on Route 22 near the MacArthur Road exit Thursday morning. It happened on the westbound side of 22 just before 7am. Police are still investigating the cause. The crash tied up traffic on Route 22 for more than an hour.
Allentown police found evidence of gunfire, but no victims after being called to the Eighth Street Bridge early Thursday. Police say there were reports of gunfire around 2 o'clock Thursday morning in the area of Harrison Street. Police will continue to investigate who fired the shots and if anyone or anything was hit.
A recent poll of 400 voters in the 7th Congressional District is offering insight into residents' concerns as they prepare to vote. A survey by Muhlenberg College and the Morning Call shows 34 percent of voters said inflation is their top issue and 28 percent said it was abortion. The next two biggest priorities are health care and immigration, which each were chosen by seven percent of respondents. Jobs and crime came in at six and five percent, respectively.
It was a rather chaotic Thursday night in one Monroe County community. Police say an attempted stabbing led to a standoff in the 400 block of Cedar Drive in Tobyhanna Township. Police say Mack Antonoff tried to stab a woman several times Thursday night. They say she managed to get away, but not before Antonoff said he would ambush police with a sniper rifle. A SWAT team then responded and after several hours Antonoff was finally arrested. Police say Antonoff suffered a self-inflicted injury and was flown to a trauma center.
The Casino Redevelopment Authority is allocating roughly $1.5 million to provide over 30 new police officers for the tourism district. Officials are saying at least 30 part-time Class-two officers will be added and nearly five more full-time officers. Atlantic City will also allegedly provide an increase in hourly pay for the officers, the current rate has not been publicly released. The program is an effort to provide more police visibility in the resort city's tourism district.
The Phillies host the Padres in game three of the NLCS tonight. Ranger Suarez is the starter for the Phillies and says he's ready to go. "Well, I feel good. I feel pretty strong. I feel fresh. All I want is to be better than last time out because I really want to help this team win," Suarez said via a translator. Suarez was 10-7 in the regular season with a 3.65 ERA. He'll be opposed by San Diego right hander Joe Musgrove, who went 10-7 with a 2.93 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 7:37 tonight.