Four Montgomery County men are charged with the assault of a Lehigh University student on April 15th. Northampton County DA Terry Houck says a Black student and two friends were walking in the area of Packer Avenue and Webster Street when a vehicle drove by and somebody inside yelled a racial slur at the victim, who then chased after the vehicle, slammed his hands on the trunk and reached inside before going back to his friends. Police say the car turned around and the four men got out, chased the victim and hit him. The victim got away and ran to a campus dorm but the four men tracked him down and attacked him again. A witness says at some point one of the men pulled a gun but did not use it. Houck says all four men admitted their involvement in the incident to police. The DA says the victim was not seriously injured.
After parking tickets were handed out to residents waiting in line to pick up food at a city food bank, Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk says he's had about enough. "Recent activity of the parking authority seems to have been driven less by service to our residents and more towards a need to meet its revenue target," Tuerk says. Ted Zeller heads up the authority and says that's not the case. "This is not revenue driven. We don't have quotas," Zeller says. Zeller adds once the authority learned the ticketed residents were waiting for food at the food bank, they rescinded the tickets and made them warnings instead.
The juvenile accused of putting sewing needles in food at the Giant supermarket along Hamilton Boulevard in Trexlertown has now been officially charged. The juvenile faces three counts of misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and one count of criminal mischief. The teen, who was an employee at the supermarket is accused of placing 11 needles in merchandise at the store. According to a statement from Giant, an internal investigation and surveillance video showed the employee, who has been fired, appearing to insert a sewing needle into at least three food items, which then were found to contain needles. No customers were hurt as a result of the needles.
Students will be back at the William Penn Elementary School in Bethlehem Wednesday after a wall collapse canceled classes for two days. District engineers and City of Bethlehem building inspectors deemed the building safe to resume classes.
Allentown city leaders say their new on-line payment system for licenses, fees and permits will go on line Monday. The program called Energov will be phased in over the month of May. A news release from the city says the online process for applying for licenses, permits and land development reviews is currently done on paper and manually processed. The same new system will also give residents a way to pay for any city-related fees online with a credit card.
The Berks County Coroner's Office has revealed the cause of death for seven people who died in a West Reading candy factory explosion in March. Officials say six of the seven died of blast injuries and one person died of thermal burns. Four of the victims were from Reading and three others were from Ephrata. The explosion happened at the R.M. Palmer Company factory on South Second Avenue. Officials are still investigating the exact cause of the explosion.
A joint resolution to amend the Pennsylvania constitution to give childhood sexual abuse victims more time to file civil action has received final passage in the state House. It would open up a window in the commonwealth's statute of limitations to allow survivors a two-year legal window to file suit against their abusers. The measure known as House Bill one received final passage Tuesday. The proposal also has to pass the full Senate before it can be voted on by the public. However, the Senate has attached two, unrelated constitutional amendments to its version of the proposal. One would create stricter voter ID requirements and the other would give the legislature power to kill regulations without the governor's consent.
A state House committee has forwarded a measure to the full House that would help counties have more time to get ballots organized. Supporters say the legislation would give counties a seven-day head start on getting ballots ready for tabulating. It would also require voters be given the chance to correct minor issues to make sure their ballot gets counted. Representative Scott Conklin says the proposal would help clear up voter confusion about absentee and mail-in voting.
New information is being revealed in the case of Bryan Kohberger, the Poconos man accused of murdering four college students in Idaho. One of the roommates who was home at the time of the murders is asking not to attend an upcoming hearing for Kohberger. Kohberger's attorney is arguing she should be at the hearing, which is set for June 26th, claiming she could have heard or saw things that would clear Kohberger of the charges.
Jury selection continues today in the government's case against accused Tree of Life mass shooter Robert Bowers. Thirty-five potential jurors have been questioned by attorneys since the process began on Monday. Twelve jurors and six alternates are to be selected for the panel. Bowers is accused of killing eleven people in an attack on the Squirrel Hill synagogue in October of 2018.
Officials with PennDOT say lots of money and man power go into cleaning up litter every year. Ben DeVore with the department's Allegheny County office says picking up garbage along roadways costs about five-hundred-thousand dollars annually. He says he has to dispatch crews for pick up once a week, with them sometimes filling 50 bags of garbage in a single day. Pennsylvania drivers can be fined up to one-thousand dollars if litter that is thrown or falls from a vehicle damages someone else's property. Those fines are doubled in specific Litter Enforcement areas.
Two of New Jersey's top politicians are backing President Biden in his re-election bid. Governor Murphy and Senator Corey Booker endorsed Biden's bid for a second term shortly after the president released a video formally announcing his plans. Murphy and Booker were both considered potential presidential candidates in 2024. Meantime, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he intends to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024.
A survey finds most New Jerseyans still support marijuana dispensaries in their city, with 53 percent in favor of shops in their towns. That's a slight drop from last year, when 56 percent supported the idea. In this newest survey, 39 percent was opposed. The survey also found a slight majority supports the idea of cannabis consumption lounges -- 49 percent versus 45 percent.
Sixers star Joel Embiid is continuing to nurse a serious knee injury. ESPN reports Embiid has a sprained LCL in his right knee. Head coach Doc Rivers said Saturday that he feels Embiid has a 50-percent chance of being ready once the team plays again. The NBA hasn't announced a start date for the team's next series.