People living in another Allentown homeless encampment have been given notice that the encampment will be cleared out next Monday. This encampment is behind a wall at Fountain Park. At its Wednesday night meeting, Allentown City Council heard from residents at the encampment. "To be honest, we don't feel like City of Allentown residents. We feel like trash. We're pushed to the side," a homeless man told council. Council unanimously passed a resolution asking city and county leaders to address the homeless problem. It also passed two motions, including one specifically asking Mayor Matt Tuerk to stop the current eviction sweeping and/or closure at the encampment scheduled for April 20.
The Northampton County DA says police body camera footage shows police were justified in shooting and killing a man during a standoff last month in Lower Saucon Township. Stephen Baratta says Andrew Krasnansky fired several shots at police who were called to a residence on Applebutter Road for reports of an armed man threatening suicide. In his ruling, Baratta said, "Any reasonable review of the materials indicates that Krasnansky made multiple threats to police that he would use his firearms to shoot police officers.”
Police are investigating a shooting near a popular Allentown bar. Police say the shooting happened near the East Siders Bar & Grill on Union Boulevard just before 11 o'clock Tuesday night. The victim is expected to recover. There's no word whether anybody is in custody.
Bethlehem’s Main Street has been named the best in the country by USA Today for the second year in a row. A panel of USA Today travel experts selected the top 20 finalists. Then it was up to the public to vote for the top 10 on the USA Today website.
There's a new record for runs scored in a Division I baseball game and it was set Tuesday by Lehigh University. Lehigh scored 20 runs in the first inning of its 38-6 win over Coppin State. The Mountain Hawks sent 23 batters to the plate in the first inning. There were 11 walks, six hit batters and just three hits in that inning. The previous first inning runs record was 18 set by Princeton and Air Force. The most runs scored in any Division I inning was 23 by George Mason. Lehigh set a new Patriot League record for most runs in a game.
The Pennsylvania House is passing the third and final bill proposed in response to the RM Palmer factory explosion. The bill requires buildings, businesses, and homes that use natural gas to install alarms to detect leaks. Lawmakers said had there been a natural gas alarm at the factory, workers would have known of the serious risk they were in and could have evacuated. All three bills are now headed to the State Senate for consideration.
Two Bucks County men are pleading not guilty to charges in an alleged ISIS inspired terror plot outside the Gracie Mansion home of New York City's mayor. Ibrahim Kayumi and Emir Balat entered the pleas during an appearance in federal court on Wednesday. Prosecutors allege the two set off improvised explosive devices in a crowd of protesters in March. Police say the devices did not go off as intended.
Dozens of casino workers rallied Wednesday on the boardwalk to again call on the state to completely ban smoking inside of casinos. They were outside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, where Governor Mikie Sherrill was giving a speech on the final day of the East Coast Gaming Conference. The gaming hall workers also tell The Press of Atlantic City they are asking colleagues to pick a Tuesday in August to stay home from work in protest of current state smoking laws, which allow for it on up to 25-percent of the gaming floor.
City officials in Wildwood are looking to cut down on teens and young adults using the city's boardwalk as a late night hangout. The City Commission proposed closing the boardwalk to the public from one to five a.m. year-round. A public hearing will be held at five p.m. next Wednesday at city hall. Deputy mayor and public safety commissioner Steve Mikulski said in a statement, "We fully support our Boardwalk businesses. This is not about limiting business activity, it's about preventing loitering, large gatherings, and the types of behavior that tend to occur after hours."
If you think the New Jersey lottery has gone to the dogs, you're right. Lottery officials say for the first time ever, 50 real dogs will be featured on scratch-off tickets. They're pets, chosen from thousands of entries submitted by their owners to the Lottery's "Top Dogs" contest. Eighteen of the 50 picked will be highlighted as the "Top Dogs." They're said to include a range of breeds, sizes and personalities. We'll know more when the Jersey Dog scratch-off game launches on May 4th.
The 76ers are back in the NBA Playoffs after beating Orlando 109-97 in a play-in game Wednesday night. 76ers forward Paul George says he's proud of the way his team clawed its way into the postseason. "We've dealt with some adversity, but we got through it. Now, none of that matters. Now we're playing the best part of the season. We gave ourselves a chance," George says. The Sixers will play Boston in round one of the playoffs. No two teams have played one another in the playoffs as these two teams. This will mark the 23rd series between the Celtics and Sixers. Boston has won 15 of the first 22, including the past six.