The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has denied former Easton City Council member Taiba Sultana’s attempt to remain on the Democratic primary ballot in the 18th Senate District race. The court upheld, without elaborating, a Commonwealth Court decision that Sultana's petition for office was invalid because she listed her occupation as "self-employed". Challenges to the petition said that description was misleading. Sultana says she is self-employed as a political consultant, online retailer and caterer. Her removal from the ballot means incumbent St. Sen. Lisa Boscola will run unopposed in next month's Democrat primary.
The Bangor Area Middle School auditorium was packed Thursday night. The topic was a proposed data center for 450 acres around Martins Creek Belvidere Highway and Gravel Hill Road. Peter Polt, executive vice president for developer J.G. Petrucci, told the crowd what the $5 billion project would mean for the local economy. "It'll provide significant community benefits. We're talking about millions of dollars in new tax revenue for the schools, the local township and public projects," Polt said. Area residents were not swayed. "We are used to being a quiet town. We don't want any noise," one man said. The meeting ran for about three hours.
An Easton man will spend up to two years in prison after admitting he left fish-hooks in food in areas where dogs frequently walk on Northampton Street in Easton. 47-year-old Joseph Janko-Hudson pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals charges Thursday was sentenced to one to two years, followed by three years of probation. He was also ordered to pay restitution to the owner of a dog that was injured and he's also forbidden from owning an animal for seven years.
The PPL Center is getting a new tenant. Indoor soccer is coming to downtown Allentown beginning this December. Keith Tozer is the commissioner of the Major Arena Soccer League. "You're going to fall in love with this team, the intensity and the excitement of the Major Arena Soccer League. This is going to be something special," Tozer says. The MASL currently has eight teams spread out across Baltimore, Utica, Milwaukee, Kansas City, St. Louis, Tacoma and Ontario and San Diego in California. The upcoming season will feature 24 regular season games, with half taking place at PPL Center. The team's name has not yet been released. In the just-completed 2025-2026 MASL regular season, the league's eight teams averaged just below 2900 fans per game.
Services begin this evening for the Berks County Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Chief who were killed in a crash last weekend. A viewing for Walnuttown Fire Chief Jeff Buck and Assistant Chief Robert Shick will take place from 5-to-9 p.m. in the Fleetwood High School Auditorium. A joint funeral will be held in the auditorium tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. followed a celebration of life at Fleetwood Borough Park. The services are open to the public, but anyone planning to attend the funeral is encouraged to arrive early to ensure enough time for parking and seating.
Hope is fading in Philadelphia after a parking garage collapsed Wednesday. "Two individuals remain missing and are presumed deceased," said Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. She says four highly trained search dogs combed through the rubble but did not detect any signs of life. One person was pulled from the collapse but died. Two othere were treated at the hospital and releaed. Crews are expected to begin demolishing the unstable structure today.
A Pennsylvania State Trooper is admitting to using work computers to create AI-generated pornography. Attorney General Dave Sunday said Corporal Stephen Kamnik secretly filmed "numerous" females then used AI software on computers at the Montgomery County barracks to edit the images into pornographic material. One of the females was reportedly a district judge. Kamnik pleaded guilty to over a dozen charges earlier this week and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.
A judge has ordered restored slavery exhibit panels to remain in place at the President's House in Old City. The ruling blocks proposed changes at the site after critics said the revisions soften George Washington's role in slavery. The dispute follows the National Park Service's removal of the panels in January and a later court order requiring them to be put back. Opponents say they will keep fighting any effort to change how that history is presented.
Philadelphia is officially getting a WNBA expansion team after the league formally approved three new franchises Thursday. The Philadelphia team is set to begin play in 2030 as part of the league's latest expansion plan. Cleveland will launch first in 2028, followed by Detroit in 2029.
The largest state Motor Vehicle Commission office in New Jersey's largest city is closing for good on Saturday, and plans are to build a new one. MVC officials are aiming to cut the impact of the closure by automatically adding three months to expiration dates of inspection stickers expiring between now through July. They hope this will give those vehicle owners more time to go to other inspection stations in Secaucus, Rahway, Wayne and Paramus, or at any private inspection facilities. The agency said in a release that the Newark location's closure will make way for a "new, expanded, and modernized Newark Agency."
When the 76ers play Indiana tonight, they'll be without star center Joel Embiid. He underwent emergency surgery Thursday for appendicitis. Head coach Nick Nurse says he did not see this coming. "This timing seems difficult. We had an unbelieveable team day Wednesday. We had a great practice, a great film session and we were getting up and down the court and he wae part of all of that. That's what hits you a little bit in the stomach when you get that news," Nurse said. There's no word on when, or if, Embiid will return this season. The Sixers have two regular season games remaining.