A man and a teenage boy are dead after a Monday morning fire on North Fair Street in Allentown. This woman says she was the person who called 911. "I saw the house engulfed in flames and I heard one person screaming 'fire, fire, fire," the woman says.And when the Allentown Fire Department arrived just after 11am, Chief Jim Wehr says they were immediately told lives were in jeopardy. "When they got off the truck, people told them there were people inside," Wehr says. Family members say Herberto Santiago and his 14-year-old nephew Andres Ortiz died in the fire. It could have been even worse however. Four others, including two children jumped from a second floor window to escape the flames. Three Allentown firefighters were treated at the hospital for heat exhaustion. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
South Whitehall Township and one of its former police officers are both being sued. The fiancee and children of Joseph Santos have filed the lawsuit against the township and former officer Jonathan Roselle over Santos' death two years ago today. Santos was shot to death by Roselle on Hamilton Boulevard after Santos interfered with traffic, banged on windows and eventually climbed on Roselle's police cruiser. Roselle eventually shot Santos after Santos refused his commands to stop approaching him. Roselle was charged with homicide, but found not guilty earlier this year. The lawsuit claims Santos' constitutional rights were violated by an officer who used excessive force and failed to provide medical assistance after shooting Santos.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has announced 839 new COVID-19 cases in the commonwealth. That brings Pennsylvania's total to 108,264 since the panemic began. There were four more coronavirus-related deaths reported Monday, raising the death toll to 7122.
A drive-thru coronavirus testing center is now open outside Coordinated Health on Emrick Boulevard in Bethlehem Township. The center will be open Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm and on two Saturdays a month from 9am to noon. A physician's order is not required to be tested.
The East Penn School District Board of Directors has approved a health and safety plan that allows parents and students to select a hybrid or fully remote instructional model for the 2020-21 school year. Those guidelines require all students and staff to wear masks covering their mouths and noses while at schools and on buses, however students will have an opportunity for "a mask break." Social distancing expectations are 6 feet, whenever possible. Class size is being reduced with students in the hybrid study group reporting to school two times a week and studying at home the other three. In addition, elementary school hours under the hybrid plan would change to 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The first scheduled day of classes is August 31.
Plans to have the Wilson Borough Centennial Celebration later this year have been dashed. During Monday night’s borough council meeting, Mayor Donald Barrett Jr. said that the celebration set for October has been rescheduled to July 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions.
Pennsylvania State Police say they're continuing to visit liquor establishments to make sure they're complying with COVID-19 mitigation requirements. Statewide, troopers issued 64 warnings but haven't given a notice of violation yet.
The Phillies are still waiting their next game after Monday night's game was postponed because of the coronavirus. The decision to postpone Monday night's game against the New York Yankees came after more than a dozen players and coaches of the Miami Marlins tested positive for COVID-19 after playing in Philadelphia over the weekend.
While the Phillies had to postpone Monday night's game against the Yankees, across the street Eagles head coach Doug Pederson says he feels safe as his team begins a very different training camp. "The protocols the NFL has put in place with the players association and all of our doctors, it gives us hope, it gives us excitement moving forward," Pederson says. The Eagles and the rest of the NFL will have no preseason games this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The transmission rate among COVID-19 cases in the Garden State has begun to rise again, which means the outbreak is growing again. The death toll from the coronavirus has climbed to 13,884 while the number of confirmed cases has climbed to 179,812. New Jersey health officials say the transmission rate has climbed back above the benchmark figure of one again, which means each new case is resulting in more than one more case.
Gov. Tom Wolf hass decided to allow a public records bill to become law after threatening to veto it. St. Rep. Frank Burns, a fellow Democrat, thinks the governor realized a veto would've been overridden. "I do believe that they would bring this up for a veto override vote and there's going to be some tough votes for some people. I believe in transparency and that doesn't change, so I would be voting yes," says Burns. Wolf says the right-to-know bill was ill-conceived and poorly drafted and he says he's concerned about having employees coming to offices to fulfill public records requests under dangerous conditions.
There's a new executive director for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Michael Demko is leaving his COO post to take on the role, replacing Charlie Mooney, who is retiring August 8th. Demko says his goal is to implement initiatives that streamline operations.