Allentown police are investigating a weekend murder. Police say a 22-year-old man died after being shot in the parking lot of an AutoZone store in Allentown. The shooting happened Sunday just after 3 p.m. in the 1800 block of South 5th Street. Allentown Police identified the victim as Edgar Gonzalez. Another victim is still recovering in the hospital, but is expected to survive. Police aren't saying much else about the incident other than they are still investigating.
Investigators today will be trying to determine if Monday brushfires were intentionally set. Several wildfires started on the side of Wind Gap Mountain, along Route 33 near Snydersville at the border of Monroe and Northampton counties. About eight departments from Monroe County and the D-C-N-R helped put out the flames, however smoke was heavy enough to cause a portion of Route 33 South to be closed. A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for the Lehigh Valley and beyond from 11am to 8pm. The warning is in effect for western New Jersey as well as Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton counties.
A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for the Lehigh Valley and beyond from 11am to 8pm. The warning is in effect for western New Jersey as well as Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton counties. A Red Flag Warning means conditions are right making brush fires possible. That combination is strong winds, low humidity and dry fuels.
Requests to ban or restrict school library books are reportedly increasing at two Lehigh Valley school districts. David Horvath is a parent in Parkland School District who is calling for banning or removing books from school libraries' physical shelves. Parkland spokeswoman Nicole McGalla says for a book to be removed; a citizen must fill out a form detailing the concern with the material. Then a reconsideration committee reviews the challenge material and decides whether it will still be used by students. McGalla says in most facilities, a certified librarian chooses books based on content for just the students of that school. She says students also have access to the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 online book collection.
A passing driver, who used to be a volunteer firefighter, helped fight a two-alarm house fire Sunday night in Wind Gap. Chad Riddle, of Saylorsburg, was driving by a home on North Broadway when he saw a man trying to knock down a fire with a garden hose. Riddle says he took the hose and then a second hose, climbed onto the roof of a back porch, broke a window and began spraying water inside the burning home. There's no word of any injuries, on what may have started the fire or how badly damaged the house is.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk is back from Columbus, Ohio after attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "I was there to meet with mayors from around the country to kind of steal their best ideas. Meet with officials from the federal government to talk about ways we can help the feds invest in people in Allentown to us back to a strong economic recovery," Tuerk says. The mayor says much of the conversation dealt with violence, mental issues and defending city's rights against overreach from state government. During the meeting, Tuerk was also elected to the Conference of Mayors Board of Directors.
According to Yelp, one of America's best hamburger places is found in the Lehigh Valley. The Burgery Company in Emmaus is ranked the 94th best hamburger place in the U.S. and fifth best in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania State House on Monday approved a $46.5B General Fund Budget, which is more than the Governor's proposal. It passed straight along party lines with a 102-101 vote. The plan now moves to the PA Senate for consideration.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has been attempting to convince some Republicans in the Senate to back a pair of recently passed House gun-related measures, including what's known as a red-flag law. "This would give law enforcement another tool necessary to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and those who would use those guns to harm others or harm themselves," Shapiro says. A spokesperson for the Republican Senate Majority Leader says Pennsylvania currently has robust gun laws in place.
Federal legislation passed by lawmakers in Washington this week to raise the country's debt limit has come with new stipulations. One of those includes a change in work requirements for people who use food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In Pennsylvania, SNAP work requirements are now waived statewide until October 1st for so-called able-bodied adults. Those are people ages 18 to 49 who have no children and other dependents. To stay eligible for SNAP benefits, people belonging to this group now must work at least 80 hours per month on average or participate in an approved training program for at least 20 hours per week.
Statewide elections are being held today throughout New Jersey. There are 240 nominations for both GOP and Democratic Senate and Assembly seats with most legislative seats unopposed. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. for in-person voting, however close to 210,000 people already voted by mail as of Friday which is about 30-percent of those who received ballots. All state Senate seats and 80 Assembly spots are in play after the boundaries were redrawn last year.