Make it three Democrats who want to replace Republican Lehigh Valley Congressman Ryan Mackenize. Marine Corps veteran and ex-Department of Justice official Ryan Crosswell says he's running for Congress in 2026. In a campaign statement Crosswell says "I can’t stand on the sidelines while corruption in D.C. is hurting hardworking people in the place I love to call home, so I’m doing what I’ve done my entire career: standing up for what’s right and stepping up to serve.” Voting records indicate Crosswell was a registered Republican before he switched his party affiliation around six months ago, but now he joins Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine in the Democrat race to unseat Mackenzie.
One of the oldest buildings in Coopersburg is gone. A Monday morning fire badly damaged the Silhouettes Show Bar to the point where the 160-year-old building had to be torn down. Dave Huber is Coopersburg's fire chief and he says the fire was a tough one to put out. "We did have a wall and the roof collapse into the building, which compounds the problem of putting the fire out because now it's deep and due to the structural integrity of the building we can't get down to the deepest part," Huber says. The building went up in 1865 and was a hotel in the 19th century. Investigators are trying to figure out what started the fire, which was the second there in two weeks.
In an 8-0 vote, the Bethlehem Area School District Board of Directors voted to adopt its final 2025-26 budget. That $374 million spending plan includes a 4.3% property tax increase.
Liberty High's baseball team fell in the 6A state baseball semifinals. Cedar Cliff knocked out the Hurricanes 3-2 Monday. Northwestern Lehigh's softball team also fell one game short of the state title game. The Tigers lost 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning in the state semifinals to Valley View. Nazareth's softball team plays Hempfield this afternoon in the 6A semifinals. The winner advances to the state title game.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and other Democratic governors are calling President Trump's activation of the National Guard in Los Angeles to deal with anti-ICE protests an "alarming abuse of power." In a statement, members of the Democratic Governors Association say they are effectively the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard units and the federal government activating them without consulting or working with a state's governor is ineffective and dangerous. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says the National Guard troops are there to keep the public safe and insists the move is necessary because California's governor hasn't taken the situation seriously.
Primary Day is today across New Jersey, when voters will choose nominees in the race to become the next Governor. Nationally, the race will be seen as a litmus test ahead of next year's midterms. President Trump came within five points of the Garden State in 2024, and Governor Phil Murphy is term limited. Republican front-runner Jack Ciattarelli, who is backed by Trump, along with radio host Bill Spadea are jockeying for the GOP nomination. The Democratic side of the ticket is more crowded, and the outcome less clear, with US Reps Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop among the biggest spenders. Voters will also pick nominees for the state General Assembly. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. tonight.
The New Jersey Senate Education Committee has approved a bill that would let the state education commissioner recommend spring break dates for New Jersey schools. The proposal does not require school districts to adopt the recommended dates but directs them to take the commissioner's recommendations into consideration when setting their spring schedules. Supporters say the proposal would provide more consistency among districts for spring break schedules.
One of the companies that was planning to build almost 200 wind turbines off the Jersey Shore coast, Atlantic Shores, has canceled the project. The company cited the changing economic and political climates as reasons for the decision. Atlantic Shores notified New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities last week it's ending its effort to build the wind farm. In January, one of the project's partners, Shell, wrote off almost $1 billion as it pulled out of the project.
After going hitless in his first two major league games, Otto Kemp picked up not only his first big league hit last night, he ended up with two more in the Phillies 4-3 win. After the game, Kemp said on NBC Sports Philadelphia he was trying to stay calm. "I was just trying to calm the nerves down and stay quiet and just slow it down," Kemp said. Before being called up over the weekend, Kemp was hitting .313 with 15 home runs for the IronPigs.