The idea of creating a special tax financing plan for Wilson's old Dixie Cup plant came up for debate Thursday night at Northampton County Council. Council member Jeff Warren pushed for the Tax Increment Financing plan. "Let's vote for this TIF. Let's approve it so we can actually say that we were able to do something big for Northampton County residents and for our Northampton County community overall," Warren said. Warren and three other Democrats, Ken Kraft, Kelly Keegan and Jeff Corpora, voted yes. However, that was not enough. Republicans Tom Giovanni, John Brown and John Goffredo all voted against the idea, as did Democrats Lori Vargo Heffner and Ron Heckman. The 5-4 vote killed the idea to create the $26 million plan, which would allow future increases in real estate values to be used now to pay for redeveloping the blighted property. A developer is spending $185 million to convert the old factory, which closed in 1983, into 405 apartments. Had the TIF been approved, the developer would have continued to pay taxes on the property's pre-construction value but would not have paid the reassessed tax value on the completed building for 20 years.
It was a busy overnight for Allentown firefighters. Crews were called to a home in the 200 block of North 10th Street after a fire began around 1:45 this morning. No injuries have been reported and it's too early to determine what caused the fire.
Service has nearly been completely restored after tens-of-thousands of power outages caused by extremely strong winds Wednesday night. As of 6am, PPL reports more than 2100 total outages across the state, with 320 of them in our listening area. Northampton County reports more than 100 PPL customers still without service. First Energy says nearly 2000 in its coverage area remained in the dark as of 6am. More than 500 of them are in our area, with Northampton County topping the list with more than 300 outages remaining.
Bangor officials have condemned Gethsemane Ministries, a nondenominational church, badly damaged by a Wednesday morning fire. Nobody was inside the South Main Street church when the fire broke out and no injuries are reported.
A new Giant supermarket is set to open up at the South Mall on the morning of November 21. The new Giant replaces the former Bon-Ton that closed seven years ago and will be open seven days a week from 6am to 10pm. To celebrate the grand opening, Giant will offer free food samples and other giveaways to the first 200 shoppers that day. While Giant is opening at the South Mall, the current Giant on West Emmaus Avenue in Allentown is closing. That location closes November 20 at 6pm.
Electric bills are going up across the nation, including in Pennsylvania. According to the Joint Economic Committee, electricity bills have increased in 47 states this year by an average of one-hundred-dollars. In Pennsylvania, the average is around 170. Energy experts say the factors behind the price increases are "complicated" and significantly different in each region.
State Police are reporting results from their recent Operation Safe Stop effort. The one-day annual initiative focuses on traffic law enforcement surrounding school bus safety. Folks are reminded that state law requires drivers to stop at least ten feet before reaching a school bus when the red signal lights on the bus are flashing and the side stop signal arms are activated. Officers recorded 188 violations of the law this year -- up from 176 in 2024.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has been reelected to an unprecedented fifth term, a post he has held since he ousted incumbent Speaker Vincent Prieto in 2017. With no opposition, Majority Leader Louis Greenwald was reelected to an eighth term. Speaker Pro-Tem Annette Quijano and Majority Conference Leader Linda Carter also won reelection. John DiMaio remains as Assembly Minority Leader.
Over a dozen MLB players are receiving qualifying offers from their current teams. Two of them are Phillies. Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and starting pitcher Ranger Suarez are among 13 players who were tendered the deal, which would pay just over $22 million for the 2026 season. Players have until November 18th to accept or reject the one-year deal. It's expected neither Schwarber nor Suarez will accept the offer.