Allentown police and the Lehigh County Coroner's Office had a very busy seven hour period time period beginning Thursday evening. "All three victims were gunshot victims and I did rule all three as homicides," says Lehigh County Coroner Dan Buglio. The first of three murders happened around 7 o'clock Thursday night in the 500 block of North 4th Street. At 1:30 this morning, police were called to the 100 block of East South Street. When they arrived, they found two men, one 42 years old and one 21 years old dead from gunshot wounds. Police are indicating a resident saw two men trying to open car doors and confronted the men. At that point, gunfire was exchanged and one of the men trying to open the car doors was killed as was the man who confronted them.
After 13 years as Bethlehem Area School District superintendent, Joseph Roy is retiring. The retirement announcement comes just months after reports of an alleged incident between Roy and a district employee. "It did not, it's the truth, it did not have anything to do with it," Roy says. He says one of the accomplishments he's most proud of was moving from half-day kindergarten to full-day, all while keeping it within budget.
An inspection by the Pennsylvania Department of Health indicates staff in Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono's cardiovascular telementry unit took 14 minutes to respond to an alarm that sounded because a patient's blood oxygen level fell to a dangerously low level. Once personnel responded, the patient has passed out and fallen to the floor. That patient died four days later. The report found at the time that the incident occurred false alarms in the cardiovascular telemetry unit were routine and many staff suffered from “alarm fatigue.” The hospital was not issued any fines nor was it disciplined in any way. In a statement, LVHN says "LVH-Pocono immediately self-reported the incident to the Pennsylvania Department of Health and continues working with the Department of Health on opportunities for improvement, which have already been made.”
All is back to normal at the Salisbury Elementary School after the school was put on lockdown Wednesday afternoon. Salisbury Township police say they were simultaneously called to Taft Avenue for reports of a person in the midst of a psychiatric episode and to the school for reports of a person verbally and physically assaulting volunteers and school staff. Police linked the two, the school wsa placed in a modified lockdown and police took the individual into custody and took them to the hospital for evaluation. No students were injured in the incident.
The historic George Taylor House in Catasauqua will be getting some national exposure this spring. The Travel Channel's "Ghost Hunters" show has visited the house for an episode that will air on May 4th. The 1768 house was owned by George Taylor, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. This isn't "Ghost Hunters" first Lehigh Valley visit. The show investigated the Sayre Mansion in Bethlehem just a few months ago.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman is expected to return to work "soon" after being hospitalized for post-stroke depression. The first-term Democrat's office said on Thursday that Fetterman's return to Capitol Hill would be at least more than a week away, but did not provide a definite timeline. The 53-year-old lawmaker checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on February 15th when he started feeling depressed, which is common among stroke survivors. Fetterman's spokesman says the senator is receiving daily in-person briefings while issuing statements through his office and sponsoring new legislation.
The Harrisburg woman who was found guilty of storming the U.S. Capitol and invading Nancy Pelosi's office has received her prison sentence. A news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in D.C. says Riley Williams was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison. The 24-year-old had been found guilty in November of six felony counts related to the January 6th rioting. Williams will be on supervised release for three years after she's released from prison. She's also been ordered to pay $2000 in restitution.
A state senator who is a long-time advocate for African Americans is revealing the results of the State of Black Pennsylvania Report. Senator Art Haywood is traveling the commonwealth to tell about the report's findings, which he says show life is improving for Black Pennsylvanians. Haywood says in the last ten years, many Black Pennsylvanians have gotten health insurance coverage, many have graduated college and fewer have been incarcerated. He says the challenges that remain include a rise in diabetes, more Black teachers leaving the state and more hate crimes being committed against Black people.
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins tore his ACL in his left knee while fielding a ground ball in Thursday's Spring Training game against Detroit. The team says he'll require surgery and didn't give a timeline on when or if he'll return this season. Right fielder Nick Castellanos says when one Phillie goes down the whole team feels it. "When something like that happens, that's not something to be taken lightly. I think every single person on that field around him felt the seriousness of that moment," Castellanos said. Hoskins hit 30 homers last season and added six more in the postseason during the Phillies march to the World Series.