Allentown City Council has voted to temporarily suspend the litigation against Mayor Matt Tuerk and his finance director, Bina Patel. Both parties were expected in court today, but at Wednesday night's council meeting, in a 4-3 vote members voted to temporarily pause the litigation. Council recently sued Tuerk and Patel, claiming they obstructed an investigation into allegations of discrimination and harassment of employees at city hall. Councilmembers Santo Napoli, Candida Affa, Daryl Hendricks and Cynthia Mota voted in favor of the motion. Ce-Ce Gerlach, Natalie Santos and Ed Zucal voted against it.
A City of Allentown deputy clerk claims City Councilwoman Candida Affa has created a racially hostile working environment at City Hall. Tawanna Whitehead filed a lawsuit against the city last week, claiming Affa subjected her to a racially hostile work environment, including racially motivated remarks made towards her. At Wednesday night's Council meeting, Council heard from Affa supporters who don't buy the allegations. "She's a dear friend of mine and I've never heard any racial slurs from her," one woman told Council, which also heard from a former co-worker of Whitehead. "Tawanna is meticulous, thoughtful, cautious, careful and she would not file a complaint that is frivolous," the woman said. While City Council heard plenty of comments on the lawsuit, no members said a word about the pending litigation.
A Lehigh Valley billionaire is getting a new job. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Jared Issacman to lead NASA. Issacman is the founder and CEO of Lehigh Valley payment processor Shift4 and co-founded defense aerospace company Draken International. In September 2021, Issacman was the captain of Inspiration4, which stayed in space for more than three days and was the first spaceflight in which none of the passengers were from a government agency. In September Issacman commanded another five-day spaceflight, during which he and another passenger performed a spacewalk.
A woman is dead after a fire early Wednesday morning in upper Bucks County. The fire was reported around 4 a.m. at a home in the 1800 block of Route 563 in Haycock Township. When firefighters arrived on scene, they found a woman dead at the back door. Crews worked for more than an hour to get the blaze under control. The fire is under investigation. Authorities have not released the woman's name.
Yuengling beer is continuing its growth across the country. The Pottsville beer maker yesterday said is will soon be available in Illinois. The company says it's been slowly expanding across the Midwest, and says Illinois has shown a love for Yuengling. The plan is to offer Yuengling on tap by the end of January, and then in cans after that. Yuengling is America's oldest brewery.
OSHA is investigating a safety complaint at a Reese's factory. The department says the investigation into The Reese Campus on Reese Avenue started last month. Details of the complaint remain unknown at this time. The Hershey Company said it will "work closely with OSHA to investigate the issue and take corrective actions."
Some frozen ready-to-eat pork products that may have been illegally imported from Ecuador were apparently sold in Pennsylvania. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued the alert, explaining that the country is ineligible to export meat and poultry products to the United States. The vacuum sealed mortadella product packages are labeled "Mortadella Especial Bolognia." They were also shipped to retail and distributor locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.