The National Weather Service has confirmed an apparent tornado in Northampton County. William Rogers lives in Bangor and says the apparent twister impacted his property. "It took out almost every tree on my property," Rogers says. There is no word yet on how much damage it caused to the area. The National Weather Service plans on sending a crew to Bangor to determine the scale of the tornado.
Catasauqua High School's football coach and athletic director both wanted to do away with the school's annual Thanksgiving morning football game against Northampton citing the size difference between the two school districts and player safety. Tuesday night, The Catasauqua School Board voted 6-2 in favor of keeping the game, which has been played 101 times now. Players say they love the decision and don't want to hear from those who say they can't compete against the much deeper team. "Everybody looks forward to that one. It's the biggest game on our schedule. It's circled on everyone's calendar," one player said. Northampton leads the series 64-33-4 and has won the last 10 meetings, including last November’s game by a 58-14 margin.
The Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee voted 11-0 in favor of giving auditors access to tax information fom Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone. The bill, pushed by Lehigh Valley St. Sen. Jarrett Coleman now heads to the full Senate for consideration. Coleman has been trying to open the books on the NIZ for more than two years now and says he believes true progress is finally being made.
Gas prices have come down a bit over the past seven days. According to AAA East Central, the average price for a gallon of gas in Pennsylvania was $3.32 as of Tuesday, down three cents from the previous week and 48 cents below the 2024 price. In the Lehigh Valley, the average price was $3.14 on Tuesday, eight cents lower than last Tuesday and 60 cents below last May 6.
The Transportation Security Administration is now expecting air travelers to have a REAL ID. The deadline for getting one of the federally compliant identification cards was set for today. The TSA is still admitting passengers that don't have the REAL ID for right now but they are warning that it may take more time to get through security. Passengers who don't have the new ID or a passport could be subject to additional screening and should arrive at the airport three hours early to allow for that screening.
The Pennsylvania Governor's Residence will soon have an anti-climb fence. State Police Chief Colonel Christopher Paris says it's one of several changes being made to increase security at the residence following the arson attack last month. Authorities said the suspect scaled the existing seven-foot fence before entering the home and setting a fire on April 13th. Colonel Paris said some new security measures like the anti-climb fence will be clearly visible to the public, but many will not.
Pennsylvania State Police are phasing out shotguns. PSP says it "recently determined" that it will transition away from assigning shotguns to troopers as duty weapons. The decision comes less than a week after an investigation revealed a West York Borough officer was fatally struck by shotgun pellets fired by another officer during the February shooting at UPMC Memorial Hospital. State Police declined to comment on if the incident led to the decision, instead stating that shotguns offer less advantages than the weapon that will replace it: the .223-caliber rifle.
An eighth person has passed away months after the fatal jet crash in northeast Philly. Thirty-four-year-old Dominique Goods-Burke had been in a medically induced coma since the January 31st incident. She was in a vehicle during the time of the accident along with her partner and his son. Her partner died at the scene of the crash when their vehicle went up in flames. All six people on board the medical jet were also killed.
Effective September 1, the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia will be called Xfinity Mobile Arena. The naming rights deal will run through the 2030-31 season. A new venue to replace the Wells Fargo Center is set to open by 2031. This will be the fifth name for the arena. Before the Wells Fargo Center name, it was previously known as the CoreStates Center, the First Union Center and the Wachovia Center.