It is Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania. Republicans and Democrats will choose party nominees that will face off for various offices in this November's general elections. Some communities today will also make decisions about school levies and other issues. Polls are open today from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
While it's considered an off-year election by many, there's still plenty at stake in today's primary elections. Voters in both Bethlehem and Allentown will essentially elect their next mayor today. In Allentown, Mayor Matt Tuerk is being challenged in the Democrat primary by Allentown City Councilman Ed Zucal. In Bethlehem, Mayor William Reynolds is running against City Councilwoman Grace Crampsie-Smith. No Republican is seeking the office in either Allentown or Bethlehem. Republicans in Lehigh County will choose their county executive candidate. Former Allentown police Chief and city council member Roger MacLean, and former Allentown School Board member Mike Welsh are running for the chance to face off this November against Democrat St. Rep. Josh Siegel, who is unopposed in today’s primary. In the Northampton County executive race, two Democrats, county Controller Tara Zrinski and business owner Amy Cozze, seek the party’s nomination. Republican Thomas Giovanni is unopposed in the primary. Polls remain open today until 8pm.
The school board at Bethlehem Area School District has unanimously approved a new cellphone policy. Superintendent Jack Silva says the rules are different for different age groups. "Our elementary and middle school will flat out get a seven-and-a-half hour vacation from their cell phones. Our high school students will still be able to look at their cellphones in the cafeteria and in non-instructional areas, but the classroom is a very safe place now," Silva says. The policy also allows school workers to confiscate devices when students have violated the policy. That confiscated device will only be returned to a parent or guardian, who must pick up the device at the building administrator's office.
Easton city officials are set to meet with the Public Utilities Commission after another major outage on Monday. Met-Ed says thousands of people lost power around seven a.m. due to an underground fire caused by an old electrical cable. The outage comes a week after a small explosion at a Met-Ed substation in the city, which temporarily left two-thousand customers without electricity. Easton Mayor Sal Panto says the PUC must require Met-Ed to invest more in the power grid.
Authorities are looking for two people that fired gunshots in Easton Monday afternoon. Police say the suspects opened fire near the 1200 block of Ferry Street, hitting two homes and a parked vehicle. Officers said one of the homes was occupied, but nobody was injured. Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Easton P-D.
A man wanted for the stabbing death of a woman in Phillipsburg, New Jersey is in custody. Officials say Jamari Dortch was found by U.S. Marshals in Maryland this past weekend. Dortch is accused of fatally stabbing 28-year-old Hadiyah Peggins last Friday. He faces multiple charges including homicide.
The Shapiro administration is approving $3.4 million in state funding to efforts across the commonwealth that connect low-income communities with food produced by local farms. The Fresh Food Financing Initiative is aimed at making fresh, healthy and affordable food more accessible to those in economically-challenging situations.
An online survey is revealing the favorite junk food in Pennsylvania. A study by health brand Hims shows folks in the Keystone State prefer ice cream when looking for an indulgent treat. Pizza was the favorite junk food in America overall, with eleven percent of participants calling it their first choice for a cheat meal. Ice cream and candy bars tied for second-favorite.
The Phillies hit three home runs in last night's 9-3 win in Colorado. Among them was the 300th career homer for Kyle Schwarber. "300 homers is a lot of them. It's a cool milestone. The biggest thing, I think, is there are a lot more to come," Schwarber said after the game. The Phillies visit the Rockies again tonight.
The Eagles have agreed to a multiyear extension with head coach Nick Sirianni. Terms of the extension were not disclosed. Sirianni is 48-20 with the Eagles and his winning percentage (.706) in the third highest in the Super Bowl era. "Nothing is more important to fostering such an environment than having tremendous leadership. Nick has embodied everything we were looking for in a head coach since we hired him four years ago," said Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie.
A former Eagles official is heading back to the City of Brotherly Love. ESPN reported on Monday that Joe Douglas was hired by the Birds in a senior scouting role. Douglas served as Philly's vice president of player personnel from 2016-to-19. He was hired by New York for the team's GM position following the success in Philadelphia, which included the city's first championship.