It looks like Allentown's mayor will have competition in his 2025 re-election bid. Today's Morning Call reports Matt Tuerk will officially launch his re-election campaign Thursday night. Tuerk has had a rocky relationship with City Council and at least two council members appear ready to challenge him next year. Ed Zucal, who has been Tuerk's biggest critic on council, will formally announce his candidacy one week from tonight. Allentown Council President Cynthia Mota, who has been on council for a dozen years, has not yet launched a formal campaign, but The Morning Call is reporting she also intends to run. No Republicans have announced plans to run, however Tim Ramos, who lost to Tuerk in 2021, says he's considering another bid.
Sunday's rain didn't mean a whole lot in terms of lessening the risks of wildfires in the Lehigh Valley. "We are in danger of having wildfires break out all over the county and we need to be very cautious," says Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure. He says his county has a burn ban in place with penalties for the first violation at $100, the second violation will cost you $200 and it's a $300 fine for the third and each subsequent violation. Lehigh County commissioners are expected to vote on enacting a similar burn ban and their meeting tomorrow night.
We are waiting for more information about the man killed in a crash near Tunkhannock Township yesterday afternoon. It happened near Allegheny Drive about 5 p.m. Officials are only saying a pedestrian was struck and killed.
It's the status quo in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race between incumbent Democrat Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick. The Associated Press and other major news organizations say McCormick has won. Casey says not so fast. McCormick leads Casey by about 40,000 votes. Casey contends there are about 100,000 votes that still haven't been counted. Casey says he's committed to ensuring that Pennsylvanians voices are heard. McCormick says there is no way for Casey to mathematically win. If the margin is one half of one percentage point, or less, when all the votes are counted, it triggers an automatic re-count in Pennsylvania. Right now, McCormick's edge on Casey is just bigger than that half-point figure.
Declared Republican Senate winner Dave McCormick says he plans to attend orientation events for new senators this week in Washington. Many news organizations have said McCormick defeated incumbent Democrat Bob Casey. Out of more than 6.7 million votes cast and counted, the Republican challenger leads by about 40,000 votes with an estimated 100,000 votes still to be counted. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not invited McCormick to the orientation events.
Musikfest may be nearly nine months away, but the annual festival is filling out its Wind Creek Steel Stage roster. Country music star Riley Green is the first Musikfest headliner for the 2025 edition. He'll be in Bethlehem on the night of Friday, August 1st. Tickets, which run anywhere from $35 to $125, go on the sale to the general public this Friday.
A California-based energy company is paying a settlement worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for misleading Pennsylvania customers. State officials say Inspire Clean Energy claimed customers were only taking part in a survey or mailing list when they were actually being signed up for service. According to investigators, Inspire representatives also photographed customers' electric bills without their consent. The company must pay $250,000, with $150,000 going to affected customers.