Penn State is offering buyouts to Commonwealth Campus employees to trim its multimillion-dollar budget deficit. Penn State says tenured faculty, tenure-line faculty, academic administrators, and staff who are full-time employees, not on fixed-term contracts, and were hired before April 1, 2023 are eligible. These employees have until the end of this month to decide, and their final day of work, in most cases, would be June 28. Employees who voluntarily resign will be paid a year’s salary. Penn State isn't saying how many of its employees qualify for the buyout.
The Fifth Street Bridge was torn down seven years ago but is now going to be rebuilt. PennDOT says rebuilding the bridge will "restore a vital transportation corridor to Whitehall Township and restore community connectivity lost with the removal of the Fifth Street Bridge.” Construction of the bridge is tentatively scheduled for 2028. PennDOT has not offered how much the entire project will cost.
A 19-year-old is hospitalized after being shot just after 5:30 Thursday afternoon in the 100 block of South 12th Street in Easton. There's no word yet if anybody has been arrested and the shooting victim's condition is also unknown.
Dorney Park's CEO says he hopes to finalize the merger with Six Flags by the end of next month. CEO Richard Zimmerman says the park saw more visitors in a shorter number of days last year, and he hopes the trend continues this year. Zimmerman said he's happy that Six Flags 'approved the merger-of-equals transaction.' Zimmerman said Six Flags and Cedar Park continue to work with the Department of Justice on a review of the merger.
Today is the last day of a traveling memorial to honor road workers being displayed in Allentown. The PennDOT Workers' Memorial on North Cedar Crest Boulevard honors 90 state employees who have been killed by drivers since 1970. The memorial features hardhats, workers' bright orange vests and white crosses remembering those road workers killed on the job.
Tomorrow is a big day for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Saturday is the 31st annual National Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Lehigh Valley residents are encouraged to put non nonperishable food items in a bag or box outside their door on Saturday. Mail carriers will collect food items and distribute them to locations around the Lehigh Valley. Cereal, pasta, canned proteins and beans are especially in need. Second Harvest says it serves more than 100,000 people every month.
While a student voucher program proposal's currently moving through the Pennsylvania Senate it's not something favored by those taking part in an education funding rally held at the Capitol. "There's no guarantee that giving someone a voucher is going to let their kids get into that school. Public schools educate every child who goes through their doors and there's a constitutional obligation in that building (the Capitol) to fund our public schools not to fund vouchers for private schools," one woman said.
A 70-year-old woman in Montgomery County says she was scammed out of $50,000 by someone impersonating Phillies’ shortstop Trea Turner. Timothy Troxel is the police chief in Towamencin Township. "We don't have local suspects. We believe they're outside of the country. Feel free to use social media, but be aware of anyone contacting you, especially the minute they ask for money or a gift," Troxel says. The victim says the imposter claimed he was not getting along with his wife and needed help with various properties to help keep it quiet.
The Trump for President campaign heads to the Jersey shore Saturday. Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano says tomorrow's event is a big deal for his town. "It does mean a lot to our community because of all the additional people and the businesses get an earlier shot than normal, with the larger crowds. It's an economic boom for us," Troiano says. Trump will hold a rally late Saturday afternoon on the beach at a site with an estimated capacity of over 30,000.