I-78 in Northampton County was a mess thanks to an overnight crash involving tractor-trailers. The crash happened just before midnight on 78 east between the 412 and 33 exits. That portion of the highway was closed for more than six hours, causing a significant backup. At least one person was taken to the hospital. There's no word on the severity of their injuries.
The founder of Ice Cream World in South Whitehall township has died. In a social media post, the family of Jim Schmoyer announced he has passed away. Schmoyer started Ice Cream World back in 1977.
In the past two weeks, five rabies cases have been confirmed in the Slate Belt. Authorities say recent cases of rabies were found in Wind Gap, Pen Argyl, Mt. Bethel and Plainfield Township. All five cases involved raccoons. Signs that an animal may be rabid include staggering, drooling, falling over or charging at people. If you spot an animal acting in that fashion, stay away from it and call authorities.
An arrest has been made for an incident that caused the bomb squad to be deployed in Bethlehem on Monday. Christopher Buczi was taken into custody on weapons charges. Police say Monday night Buczi was waving a gun in the air on the 700 block of East Washington in Bethlehem. During his arrest, an officer thought they saw a homemade explosive device, leading to the bomb squad being called. The bomb squad swept the area and determined there was no explosive device.
At least two people are in the hospital after a crash involving a motorcycle in Bethlehem yesterday. Officials said a motorcyclist collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Pembroke Road and Livingston Street shortly before 5:30 p.m. The conditions of the people hospitalized have not been released.
Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says today is a rainout. "I'd say three-quarters of an inch to an inch of rain for the rest of the storm system," Lundberg says. That should leave most of the Lehigh Valley with one-to-two inches of rain from this system.
More than 1.1 million Pennsylvania voters have requested a ballot to vote by mail. Numbers released through Monday, which was one day before the deadline to request a mail-in ballot, the Pennsylvania Department of State says 66 percent of those request have come from registered Democrats, up nine percent from a comparable election in 2021. Republicans account for about one-quarter of mail-in ballot requests, up by 35 percent from the election four years ago. As of Monday, all voters had returned roughly 52.5% of their ballots.
State online services are restored after the Microsoft outage yesterday. The Department of Labor and Industry announced late last night that all Commonwealth websites are again fully operational. The outage happened Wednesday morning, with the company acknowledging that it was "investigating an issue with the Azure Portal." The outage also reportedly impacted Office 365, Minecraft, and even Starbucks.
The Pennsylvania Treasury Department is selling off unclaimed property this week. The online auction continues today. Over six-thousand items including jewelry and coins that were previously stored in the state treasury vault are up for sale. The listings are posted on the Pook and Pook auction house website.
The National Weather Service has issued wind alerts for five New Jersey counties as a new storm system moves into the state. The strong storm system is forecast to bring heavy rains to the state with winds gusting up to as high as 50 miles an hour in some places. The five counties in the wind alert are Atlantic, Cape May, Ocean and Monmouth Counties as well as southeastern Burlington County. The heaviest rain is expected to fall between now and tonight. Tree damage and scattered power outages are likely.
Six months ago, Boyertown High School graduate Trey Yesavage was beginning his pro baseball career pitching in Low-A Dunedin. Wednesday night for the Toronto Blue Jays he threw seven innings, allowed just one run and won game five of the World Series. "It's a crazy world. Hollywood couldn't have made it this good. Just being part of this, I'm just very blessed," Yesavage says. The Blue Jays now lead the World Series 3-2. Game six is tomorrow night in Toronto.
A couple of NFL depth pieces are swapping shades of green. ESPN reports the Eagles acquired Michael Carter-the-Second from the Jets in exchange for John Metchie-the-Third. The sides also exchanged 2027 draft picks as New York received a sixth-round selection while Philly got a seventh-rounder. Carter is expected to fill the third cornerback spot for the Eagles and Metchie will provide receiver depth for Gang Green.