Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of four college students in Idaho. The Poconos native admitted to the 2022 murders in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Prior to sentencing, family and friends of the victims were given a chance to speak, including Steve Goncalves, whose daughter was murdered by Kohberger. "Nobody cares about you. You're not worth the time or effort to be remembered. In time, you will be nothing more than two initials forgotten to the wind. No visitors. Nothing more than initials on an otherwise unmarked tombstone," Goncalves said. Kohberger was not required to explain his motive for the brutal killings as part of the deal and he declined to speak at the hearing.
Lehigh County officials are identifying an Allentown woman who was allegedly shot and killed by the father of her child. The Coroner's Office says 22-year-old Jerkera Battle was fatally shot by her ex-boyfriend Tuesday morning at a home on the 700 block of West Turner Street. Investigators say the two were involved in a custody dispute over their infant child. Her ex-boyfriend, identified as 27-year-old Adam Makowka, is charged with homicide.
Two people were taken to the hospital after a Wednesday night house fire in Schuylkill County. The fire began just after 7pm on East Howard Avenue in Coaldale. One person was flown to the hospital, while another was taken by ambulance. There's no word yet on the conditions of those two people or on what may have sparked the fire.
After some pleasant summer days earlier this week, the heat and humidity roll back in today. "Today, we're going to be in the upper 80s to almost 90 with sunshine and some clouds. Then, we'll head up to a high of 93 tomorrow before we backpedal ever so slightly to start the weekend," says Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg. He says six of the next seven days will feature high temperatures of near or above 90 degrees.
Electric bills in Pennsylvania could rise even more come next year. The regional power grid operator PJM has announced that bills are expected to increase following the latest capacity auction earlier this week, where the cap was set at about $329-per-day. That's an increase of almost 22-percent from the cap this year. The auction determines how much power plants will produce and the wholesale cost of acquiring and distributing electricity.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is criticizing New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani for not condemning what he calls "blatantly antisemitic" rhetoric. Shapiro told Jewish Insider that Mamdani needs to speak with moral clarity and reject extremist language from his supporters. Mamdani is challenging Mayor Eric Adams and has faced backlash over past comments about Israel and Gaza. Some Democrats have distanced themselves from Mamdani's campaign. Shapiro says the democratic socialist has energized voters, but has also left too much room for extremism.
The beach patrol in Avalon rescued ten people when their sailboat's engine failed and it ran into a jetty. The accident occurred yesterday during a sailing lesson in Townsends Inlet near Eighth Street. Patrol officials call the inlet one of the most dangerous on the East Coast. About 40 lifeguards and several agencies helped rescue the two instructors and eight teenagers from the water. Some of the teens were shaken up but nobody was hurt.
Governor Phil Murphy is directing state agencies to review what effects the recently-passed megabill will have on their departments. Murphy has said he believes the bill will have a disastrous effect on New Jersey's budget, social services and other areas. New Jersey's Department of Human Services has already predicted the bill will lead to 350-thousand New Jerseyans losing their Medicaid coverage.