Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says we're missing out on a white Christmas by less than 24 hours. "There's a period of snow this morning resulting in a coating to maybe an inch and leading to some slippery travel," Lundberg says. Whatever snow does fall will melt later as temperatures are expected in the upper 30s. Lundberg says Christmas Day will be partly sunny with temperatures in the mid-30s.
It's another record setter for Christkindlmarkt. ArtsQuest says the annual Christmas market held in South Side Bethlehem drew 128,384 shoppers during the six weekends between Nov. 15 and Dec. 22. That surpasses last year's record by almost 11,000 people. Christkindlmarkt drew shoppers from 40 states, Canada, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.. This season was the market’s 32nd year.
The Easton City Council is considering lowering the maximum height of buildings downtown. The council introduced a bill yesterday that would cap the height of most structures at 55 feet in the downtown district. Mayor Sal Panto said the purpose of lowering the building height is to reduce the number of high-rise structures near residential buildings outside of the improvement and entertainment districts. The bill remains under discussion.
There are charges against two people in Monroe County for a drug deal that ended with three overdose deaths. Prosecutors yesterday charged James Cullen the Fifth and Michelle Ferranti with fentanyl trafficking that resulted in a death. Investigators say the two sold fentanyl to a handful of people between April of 2021 and February of last year. The drugs that police say they sold ended-up killing three people between October of 2022 and February of last year. They're looking at a possible life sentence if convicted.
There's a plan in Harrisburg that would regulate ghost guns in Pennsylvania. State Rep. Melissa Shusterman introduced legislation that would treat ghost guns, which are guns that people make at home, just like every other gun in the state. She also has a second piece of legislation that would straight-up ban ghost guns in Pennsylvania. There's more attention on ghost guns after police in New York say the suspect in the United Healthcare CEO shooting used a ghost gun. Pennsylvania lawmakers have tried before to regulate guns that can be made at home, but there wasn't enough support to get the legislation to the governor's desk.
Cannabis sales in New Jersey have topped one-billion dollars this year, exceeding last year's sales of more than $800 million by better than 25 percent. The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission reports this year has also seen records set for single-day recreational cannabis sales. On Green Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving Day, sales hit $6 million. Sales for the quarter ending in September totaled $790 million, with tax revenues of more than $43 million.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says quarterback Jalen Hurts remains in concussion protocol. "When that happens, we lean on the doctors to let us know on a daily basis of where he is," Sirianni says. Hurts sustained a concussion Sunday against Washington. His status for this Sunday's game against the Cowboys remains up in the air.