A 30-year-old bicyclist is dead and a 39-year-old woman injured after being hit by a car in Carbon County Tuesday. The crash happened just before 5 p.m. on Spring Mountain Road in Banks Township, near Route 93. Pennsylvania State Police say a Chevrolet Cruze was heading west when it hit the bicyclists with its front bumper, throwing Jancel Santos-Perez onto the hood and then onto the right shoulder of the road. The woman was also thrown to the right side and was injured. Pennsylvania State Police are investigating the crash. Police have not said if the driver will face charges.
Easton's newest tourist attraction received the official green light from City Council Wednesday night. After a roughly 20 minute presentation on what the hologram zoo will look like, Mayor Sal Panto welcomed Harshal and Manpreet Patel to his city. "We welcome you to the City of Easton. If you need anything let us know. We want to make sure we promote you every chance we get," Panto said. The Patels say the hologram zoo will feature lifelike holograms of animals and their habitats in two ground floor suites at city hall with a July opening date scheduled. The lease is for five years and is for nearly $7400 per month. The hologram zoo is the second of its kind in the United States.
The Wells Fargo bank on West Broad Street in Bethlehem closed last August. Now comes word the property has been purchased by Monocacy Builders of Bethlehem, which has been involved in numerous projects, including the Dream Boyd Theatre Apartments in Bethlehem. Records show the old bank property was bought for $1.6 million.
A national sandwich chain is returning to the Lehigh Valley this summer. Jimmy John’s will open a new restaurant where the old A1 Steakhouse was at the Schoenersville Centre on Schoenersville Road in Bethlehem. The last Jimmy John's in our area was on William Penn Highway in Palmer Township and closed several years ago.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike has a new text service for people stuck major traffic jams. When you're fully stopped and it's safe to do so you can text "info" to 47676. Using GPS, the system identifies your location and starts sending automatic updates every 15 to 20 minutes. John Parker, the traffic operations program supervisor at the Pennsylvania Turnpike, says they got the idea from certain retail chains. "If you go into the vicinity of a store, all of a sudden you get a text message for $20 off $100 or 20 percent off today. I said, 'can we do that for the traveling public", Parker said.
The Pennsylvania State Senate will consider legislation that would strengthen school bus safety laws in the commonwealth. Senate Bill 65 would increase the required distance between stopped school buses and other drivers from 10 feet to 15 feet. It would also create harsher penalties for drivers that fail to stop for school buses when its red signal lights are flashing. The bill was proposed by Republican State Senator Lisa Baker, who said it sends a "strong message" that Pennsylvania will not tolerate reckless driving around school buses.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has announced the commonwealth is appealing the USDA's termination of the local food purchasing assistance program. It helps food banks purchase produce from local farmers. Shapiro says the ending of the program was illegal and he says it was doing a great job. "In just two years, we have driven out $28 million directly to our farmers, supporting 14 food banks and 189 farms and ag producers all across Pennsylvania," Shapiro says.
A longtime ally of former Senator Bob Menendez, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, says Menendez has not sought a pardon from President Trump. Graham, who testified as a character witness in Menendez's first corruption trial in 2017, says he has not spoken with the former senator recently. But he told the New Jersey Globe he thinks the appeals process is viable. Menendez was convicted of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Opening arguments began this week in the trial of Menendez's wife, Nadine.
It's opening day for the Phillies and all of Major League Baseball. The Phils open on the road today in Washington. Shortstop Trea Turner can't wait for the first pitch. "Spring Training is fun, but we want to play games that matter and I think we're excited. We have a good team and we want to get home and play in front of our fans," Turner says. Turner and the Phils will have to wait until Monday's home opener to play at Citizens Bank Park.