The man who allegedly held a mobile mechanic at gunpoint outside a Lehigh Valley hotel has been arrested. Police say 60-year-old Calvin Bratcher faces numerous charges for allegedly pulling a gun on the victim after claiming he was charged for a service that wasn’t done. Investigators say the incident happened at the Woodspring Suites on Christian Spring Road in Bethlehem. Bratcher remains in jail after failing to post bail.
Michael Makhoul has been on leave from his job as Dieruff High School's principal since the first week of March. Now, he has resigned, with his final day Sunday. Makhoul took unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows workers to take leave for family and/or medical reasons. Makhoul has been Dieruff's principal since 2019.
The Executive Education Academy Charter School is asking the Allentown School Board to permit 90 additional district students to transfer to the charter school. In the school's first year in 2014, it had an enrollment of 490 students. That number increased to 1,383 students and now Executive Education officials project about 1400 students on the waiting list for the 2023-2024 school year. There are currently 920 Allentown School District students at Executive, but school officials say they could handle more.
There's a new grocery store on the Southside of Bethlehem. Ideal Food Basket held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning at its new store on Montclair Avenue. The grocer replaces Ahart’s Market, which closed in April 2021. Ideal Food Basket has 70 stores, including three in Pennsylvania located in Reading, Hazleton and Lebanon.
Easton residents are being told to pay a little extra attention because a bear has been seen in the College Hill area of the city. The Pennsylvania Game Commission recommends residents keep all trash indoors, remove bird and squirrel feeders and avoid throwing food scraps outside until further notice. Anyone who sees the bear or notices it becoming aggressive should call 911.
The new renovated Dunkin on MacArthur Road in Whitehall Township is celebrating its newly remodeled location Saturday. Beginning at 11am, the first 100 guests will receive free coffee for a year. Those 100 Dunkin fans will get a coupon book containing four medium hot or iced coffee coupons each month for 14 months. Those coupons are only valid at the remodeled location at 3670 MacArthur Road in Whitehall.
A roommate who survived in the deadly University of Idaho stabbings is speaking to defense attorneys for the suspect. Bethany Funke originally resisted suspect Bryan Kohberger's legal team's attempts to get her to testify. A court filing reportedly shows Funke will be available to meet with the defense in Reno, Nevada, instead of appearing at a preliminary hearing in Idaho. She returned to her hometown of Reno after the killings in November.