USA Today named Historic Hotel Bethlehem the Best Historic Hotel in America for the third consecutive year. In a statement, Hotel Bethlehem Managing Partner Bruce Haines says "The entire Lehigh Valley community gets credit. We couldn’t have done it without each and every guest, team member, and community supporter who took the time to vote.” The hotel says it plans to hold another community celebration and will announce those plans within the next two weeks.
The Chick-fil-A on Hamilton Boulevard is set to reopen Tuesday, August 22nd. That Chick-fil-A has been closed for remodeling since May 18th. It reopens next Tuesday at 6:30am.
Three people from New York state have been arrested in connection with two separate plots to rip-off older Pennsylvanians. The plots involved a Publisher's Clearinghouse scam, which cost a Montgomery resident $130,000, and an "anti-virus" online scam — requesting $15,000 from a Lehigh County resident — that was interrupted by law enforcement agents. In the Montgomery County sweepstakes scam, authorities say the defendants directed the victim to send cash and gift cards, which they did. In the Lehigh County case, officials say the defendant caused a pop-up to appear on the victim's computer screen, purportedly from an anti-virus company. The defendant then allegedly took over the victim's computer to obtain personal information and informed the victim they owed $15,000 regarding the "anti-virus" program. Undercover agents intervened in the exchange of cash at a grocery store parking lot.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate reached a new record low of 3.5% in July, according to the state's Department of Labor & Industry. This marks the second consecutive month that the unemployment rate broke a record. At the time, June's 3.8% unemployment rate was Pennsylvania's lowest unemployment rate ever recorded for a single month dating back to January 1976. The 3.5% July rate was down from 4.3% in July 2022.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie isn't surprised Donald Trump canceled a news conference on his claims of election fraud. In an interview with CNN, Christie said Trump is now aware he's facing jail time and may make his situation worse. He said it was a "smart decision" Trump canceled his "ridiculous press conference" that was scheduled for Monday. Trump announced that on advice of his lawyers, he will now release a report in formal legal filings which he says will show election fraud in the 2020 election. He claimed the report will exonerate him from his recent indictment in Georgia for allegedly trying to overturn the election in the state.