A late-night fire has displaced seven residents and sent two people to the hospital. It happened just after 11pm at multiple townhomes along Heritage Drive in Lower Macungie Township. A total of three homes were damaged by the fire, which remains under investigation. The conditions of the two hospitalized individuals is not known.
In Idaho, the judge in the Bryan Kohberger trial has denied another defense motion to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence. Defense attorneys argued the prosecution turned over 68 terabytes of disorganized information as part of discovery. The judge says disclosure rules were not violated and the prosecution is not required to organize the evidence for the defense. Kohberger, who is from the Poconos and is a DeSales University graduate, is charged with the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students. The trial is set for August.
St. Luke’s University Health Network operates 11 hospitals. All 11 of them earned an A grade for safety. Leapfrog Group releases its Hospital Safety Grade in the spring and fall of every year, based on a hospital's performance in avoiding medical errors, injuries, infections and other preventable issues. Lehigh Valley Hospital had four hospitals, LVH-Hecktown Oaks, Dickson City, Pocono and Schuylkill all earn that mark. Jefferson Health, which took over Lehigh Valley Health Network last summer, has 15 of its hospitals earning an A grade in the report.
A former PPL executive is running for Congress in 2026. Political newcomer Carol Obando-Derstine announced her candidacy Thursday morning at Payrow Plaza in Bethlehem. "I'm pissed. I will not stand by as Elon Musk and Ryan Mackenzie rip away health care from millions of Americans," Obando-Derstine says. Obando-Derstine has the endorsement of ex-Lehigh Valley Congresswoman Susan Wild, who lost the job last November to Republican Ryan Mackenzie. She says her priorities would be to resist President Trump and Elon Musk's cuts to social programs and protecting a woman's abortion rights. Fellow Democrat, Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure previously announced his bid to unseat Mackenzie, who calls Obando-Derstine Susan Wild 2.0.
The second quarter for Air Products was one the company would like to forget. The Trexlertown-based company says it took a net loss of $1.7 billion in the quarter. The biggest reason was the company's decision to pull out of three U.S. projects, one in New York, one in California and one in Texas. Those decisions cost the company $2.3 billion. The company also said it was hurt by higher costs and lower volumes.
Two Pennsylvania residents wanted for murder in New York were arrested this week in Schuylkill County. Officials said 22-year-old Sgroilin Santana and 19-year-old Jaslynn Garcia were found by officers in Santana's hometown of Tamaqua on Wednesday. Santana and Garcia are facing a second-degree murder charge in Nassau County, but details of the case have not been released. They are awaiting extradition to New York.
Investigators have identified the body found burning along a road in Hazleton Sunday morning. The victim is 39-year-old Jessica Lockwood, who had been reported as missing from Frackville, Schuylkill County. The cause of her death has been ruled to be blunt force trauma and a gunshot wound. Her burning body was found at Club 40 Road after a report of what somebody believed to be a mannequin on fire.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' tour of Pennsylvania is underway. He spoke before thousands of people who took to the streets of Philadelphia to protest recent actions by the Trump administration. "Today, brothers and sisters, we tell these greedy oligarchs that this country belongs to all of us, not the billionaire class," Sanders said. Philadelphia police say 70 people were arrested for blocking a highway. Sanders is in Harrisburg today and at Lehigh University tomorrow.
The number of highway traffic fatalities in Pennsylvania last year was one of the lowest on record. Penn-DOT says 1127 people were killed in highway crashes in 2024, which is the second-lowest total since record keeping started in 1928. It's also a decline of more than 80 from 2023. PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said the department will keep working to decrease traffic deaths, but the commonwealth will only get to zero fatalities if everyone works together.
The Hershey Company is reporting its earnings fell during the first quarter of the year. The candy maker announced Thursday it posted a first quarter profit of just over $224 million. That's down from $797.5 million a year ago. Hershey said it expects tariffs will cost the company up to $20 million during the second quarter.
A new Pennsylvania initiative will allow Pennsylvanians to obtain on-the-spot birth certificates. The program was launched in order to give residents documents needed to enter the workforce more efficiently and quickly than before. This service is only available to people who were born in Pennsylvania.
An original member of the Philadelphia Flyers and a member of both Flyers Stanley Cup championship teams in the mid-70s has died. Defenseman Ed Van Impe died Tuesday at the age of 84. He was most famous for an elbow he delivered to Soviet star Valeri Kharlamov in a game against the Soviet Red Army in 1976. Van Impe joked he didn't do anything wrong. "He ran into my elbow with his chin and down he went," Van Impe once said. The incident sent the Soviets off the ice in protest. They didn't return until being told they wouldn't be paid if they didn't finish the game, which the Flyers won 4-1.