In a 6-3 vote, the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance authorizing a regional partnership for a juvenile detention center to be located in Berks County. The measure establishes an agreement with Berks, Dauphin, Delaware and Lackawanna counties to create the Southeast Youth Detention Agency in Berks County. Under the 20-year, five-county agreement, each county will pay one-fifth of the facility’s operating costs, estimated at $10.5 million annually, or roughly $2.1 million per county. The center is expected to include at least 40 beds, with eight beds allocated to each participating county.
Lehigh Valley Health Network wants to build a satellite hospital in Whitehall Township. At a Wednesday night meeting, township commissioners and the public heard directly from LVHN what their plans are. Those plans are to build a hospital behind the Whitehall Diner, between MacArthur Road and Lehigh Street. LVHN says that hospital would be similar to its Lehigh Valley Hospital-Carbon in Lehighton.
A man is facing charges for allegedly robbing someone with a baseball bat. Allentown police say 46-year-old Ray Fields robbed a person in the Arts Park while he was armed with a bat early Wednesday morning. The department said Fields was later found by officers carrying the bat and taken into custody. He's being held on $25,000 bail.
A Lehigh County judge has ruled there's enough evidence to put Katrina Pantuso on trial for the death of her two-month-old baby girl in November 2025. Pantuso is charged with asphyxiating the baby while they shared a bed last year in their Coplay home. Despite being warned numerous times not to sleep with the baby, Pantuso admitted to police she was sleeping with the baby after having taken methadone earlier that day. A forensic expert says the combination of a baby sleeping in an adult bed with pillows and blankets, an adult under the influence of medication and in the face-down position leads them to believe the child died from asphyxia. Pantuso remains in Lehigh County Jail under $100,000 bail.
Law enforcement agencies across the Lehigh Valley are partnering with the U.S. DEA for National Drug Take Back Day this weekend. Officials are urging residents to visit a local collection center to dispose of unwanted or expired prescription medications. Collections will run from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. To find your nearest drop-off location visit D-E-A-dot-gov-slash-take-back-day.
A Lehigh County Giant supermarket sold somebody a scratch-off lottery ticket worth the top prize of $2.5 million. The ticket was sold at Giant at 7150 Hamilton Blvd. in Upper Macungie Township. The scratch-off was the $120,000,000 Payout game, a $30 ticket that offers a top prize of $2.5 million. The Giant location will receive a $10,000 bonus for selling the ticket.
Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut drew criticism from Republicans for his appearance at the Global Progressive Mobilisation Conference in Spain with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. They spoke out against totalitarianism, with Murphy calling Operation Epic Fury an "illegal war" and called President Trump "the most significant threat to American democracy since the Civil War." But Sen. John Fetterman says his fellow Democrats shouldn't be shying away from this opportunity to eliminate Iran's nuclear threat. "You don't have to agree with everything that's happening in Epic Fury. I'm old enough to remember when our military was involved, we'd all line up and get behind them and give them an opportunity to accomplish those goals," Fetterman says. Murphy took some heat for a social media post calling Iranian ships bypassing the U.S. blockade "awesome." He said that was supposed to be taken as sarcasm.
Members of the Amish community gathered in Clinton County on Wednesday to remember a mother and children who died in a house fire. Services were held yesterday for 34-year-old Sarah Stolzflus and her six children, who were between the ages of two-and-eleven. Authorities said they were killed in a reported explosion and fire at their home in Lamar Township Sunday morning. The investigation is ongoing.
State health officials say they confirmed a case of measles in a Hudson County resident who recently traveled out of the country, and may have exposed others. Health officials say people should keep an eye out for symptoms until mid-May, if they were in Newark Liberty Airport's terminal B on April 14th between 5:30 and nine a.m. They say the person was also in Hackensack University Medical Center's Pediatric Emergency Department on April 17th from three that morning through the following day. Measles is highly contagious and usually spread through sneezes and coughs. The CDC lists symptoms that include high fever, cough, runny nose, watery red eyes and a red rash around the hairline.
The Flyers won their first home playoff game in ten years Wednesday night. Head coach Rick Tocchet says the team got a push from the fans, who had been waiting a long time for a win like that. "Emotion was great. The crowd was really loud tonight. It's nice to see the building rocking like that. It's been a while," Tocchet said. The 5-2 win gives a Flyers a 3-0 series lead. Game four is Saturday night in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Eagles are gearing up for tonight's NFL Draft. Philadelphia enters with the 23rd overall pick. The team will start the draft with eight picks for the entire weekend. Tonight's festivities will kick off at 8 p.m.