About 30 people are displaced after a massive rowhome fire in Allentown. Officials said the blaze started Thursday afternoon at a residence on the 700 block of Cedar Street and spread to at least four neighboring homes. WFMZ-TV reports neighbors helped a dozen people evacuate before first responders arrived at the scene. No residents were injured, but four firefighters sustained minor injuries.
Lehigh County officials are identifying the man hit and killed by a vehicle on Christmas. Authorities say 75-year-old Edward Tomcics was struck on the 3200 block of Water Street in Whitehall Township. He was taken to the hospital where he later died. The crash remains under investigation.
Carbon County is charging more for parking on weekends and holidays. County commissioners yesterday approved a plan that will now charge 25 dollars to park in county lots on weekends and holidays. That's a 10 dollar increase. The changes do not affect anyone who is parking in the county's lots during the week. Those spots will remain unchanged, as long as you're doing county business.
The fees at the Delaware Water Gap could be going up in the new year. The National Parks Service is taking public comments on a plan that would double the entry fee to 20 dollars per-car, add two weekends to the fee season, and add two new fee sites. Annual passes would also see a 20 dollar upcharge, going up to 60 dollars a-year. The Parks Service says visits to the Water Gap jumped 29 percent last year. Prices at the Delaware Water Gap last went up back in 2015.
State lawmakers in Pennsylvania are getting a pay raise with the new year. State representatives, state senators, as well as statewide elected officials, and judges in the state will see a three-point-four percent bump in their paychecks starting next week. That means state lawmakers will make almost $110,000 a year in 2025. The governor will see his salary go from $213,000 a year, to just over $220,000 a year. Lawmakers and the governor continue to get automatic pay increases, as they have since 1995.
The state's wildlife management committee is proposing changes in farm tags and elk licenses in the upcoming year. The state board of Game Commissioners’ Wildlife Management Committee held a virtual meeting to discuss and recommend proposals for the 2025-26 hunting and trapping seasons. The committee advanced the following proposals to the agenda for January 2025 Board of Commissioners meeting: Expanding “Ag Tag” seasons and making the application process easier; Increasing the number of antlerless licenses that an individual can be in possession of in Wildlife Management Units 5C and 5D; limiting the number of elk licenses that can be drawn by nonresidents annually; and requiring hunters to purchase a qualifying Pennsylvania hunting license before applying for an elk license.
Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has asked the judge in his federal corruption case to postpone his sentencing until after his wife's trial next year. The couple had been charged in the case at the same time but different trials were scheduled after her diagnosis of breast cancer. Her trial is scheduled to begin January 21st, eight days before Bob Menendez will be sentenced. His attorneys cited the emotional toll their family would suffer if Menendez is sentenced amid Nadine Menendez's trial.