A Lehigh County Commissioner facing drug charges appeared in court yesterday. A preliminary hearing was held for Zachary Cole-Borghi in connection to his arrest last year as part of a multi-state drug sting. A man reportedly testified that he contacted investigators immediately after he delivered a pound of marijuana to the Commissioner. Dozens of additional charges were filed against Cole-Borghi last week, with multiple Commissioners calling for his resignation.
A local Olympic hero and ex-elected official has avoided jail time after pleading guilty to harassing a Bethlehem woman. Marty Nothstein pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, harassment and defiant trespass and was sentenced to two years of probation, fines and ordered to have no contact with the woman or her family. Nothstein had been facing stalking and criminal mischief charges from a series of incidents involving his ex-girlfriend in 2024. Nothstein won an Olympic gold medal in track cycling in 2000 and had served as a Lehigh County commissioner.
Recent rainfall has eased the Lehigh Valley’s drought, but dry conditions still remain an issue. The U.S. Geological Survey's newest report shows more than 86% of the Lehigh Valley was in severe drought a month ago. That has decreased to about 42%. However, the remaining 58% of the region’s land area is in moderate drought, up from 14% a month ago. 56% of Lehigh is in moderate drought, with the remaining 44% in severe drought. Northampton is in better shape, with only 12.4% of its land area in severe drought and the remaining 87.6% in moderate drought.
Authorities are identifying a man who was shot and killed by State Police during a standoff last weekend. Officials say 37-year-old Andrew Krasnansky was fatally shot by a SERT member at a home in Lower Saucon Township on Saturday. The department said SERT was called in after Krasnansky had fired shots at officers. The shooting remains under investigation.
There are more options to ride a bus to New York City. OurBus, which already serves Allentown and Hellertown, is adding stops near Lehigh University in Bethlehem and at the Intermodal Transportation Center on Third Street in Easton. That service is available on Fridays, weekends and holidays offers one-way fares as low as $25. In addition to the new stops there will be additional frequency for the stops already established in Allentown and Hellertown.
If all goes according to plan, Artemis II will take off this evening at 6:24 with its destination the moon. Lehigh University professor and Space Shuttle astronaut Terry Hart says this mission is about an even bigger and more complicated one at a later date. "Really what we're trying to do is live away from Earth. We're doing that now at the space station for 20 years in a row. We need to get that same kind of experience on the moon and then we'll be ready to go to Mars," Hart says. He says this mission will land on the moon's south pole, where there is ice. He says the ice will allow the astronauts to use solar panels to turn that into water and then convert that into hydrogen and oxygen, which is used to produce rocket fuel.
Governor Josh Shapiro's office is announcing Pennsylvania's first-ever Maternal Health Action Plan. The initiative unveiled Tuesday is an effort to improve maternal health disparities in the Commonwealth. The plan is focused on five priorities including better detection and treatment of behavioral health issues and increasing access to maternal care in rural areas. Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh said the Maternal Health Action Plan is built on the premise that every mother in the Commonwealth should have a safe, healthy pregnancy and postpartum period.
Governor Mikie Sherill is winning approval across a broad swath of New Jersey's population in the first independent poll taken during her administration. The poll comes from Fairleigh Dickinson University. It shows 58 percent of New Jerseyans surveyed approve of the job she's done so far, with 34 percent disapproving. She's also winning support among groups that were not supportive during last year's survey. The poll found 22 percent of Republicans and 14 percent of MAGA supporters approve of her job performance so far.
Andrew Painter won his major league debut Tuesday night and said after the game he was able to remain pretty calm throughout the night. "I came in tried not to place any expecations on myself. I just wanted to go out there and feel confident with everything I was throwing. I felt like I did a good job with that tonight," Painter said. Painter pitched five-and-a-third innings, allowing four hits, one run and striking out eight in the 3-2 win over Washington.