Authorities say they've arrested the man who killed Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald Saturday night. 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer allegedly killed Fitzgerald during an altercation as Fitzgerald was responding to a robbery call. Investigators say as Fitzgerald was on the ground, Pfeffer stood over him and fired several shots into his face and head, then tried to steal his gun and went through his pockets. Meanwhile, family and friends of Fitzgerald gathered at the sight of his killing Sunday afternoon. "He wasn't an animal. They shot him in the head. He had kids. They didn't care about his family," one man said. Fitzgerald was the son of former Allentown police Chief Joel Fitzgerald and had been on the Temple police force for about a year-and-a-half. School officials say Fitzgerald has become the first Temple officer to die in the line of duty.
Allegiant has announced a new nonstop route from Lehigh Valley International Airport to Denver, Colorado. The nonstop flights from LVIA to Denver International Airport start June 15. Allegiant is offering a special fare to celebrate, with some one-way fares as low as $59 if purchased by tomorrow for travel by Nov. 12.
A home on Creamery Road in Lynn Township has been gutted by a weekend fire. Firefighters were called to the scene around 7 o'clock Sunday morning and faced several challenges including strong winds and no nearby fire hydrants. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, which remains under investigation.
Pennsylvania State Police are increasing security in East Stroudsburg after a threat was allegedly made at a school. Authorities say a young female wrote a threatening note to the East Stroudsburg Area School District. Police felt it was a credible threat and stepped-up their presence at the J-T Lambert Intermediate School over the weekend.
Promoters for the Special Olympics' Polar Bear Plunge say they've raised over 100-thousand dollars with their annual event over the weekend. Regional Director Amanda Sechrist says nearly a thousand people had registered for the event held at Scott Park in Easton. She says total figures aren't in yet but they expect final amounts to be over $118,000. Funds raised at the Lehigh Valley Polar Plunge directly benefit the Special Olympics Pennsylvania athletes who do sports year-round in the Greater Lehigh Valley Pocono Region.
The final numbers are in for Pennsylvania's 2022 bear hunting season. The harvest totaled 3,170 bears overall, a total down from 3,621 in 2021, but still enough to rank the harvest as the 14th largest of all time. Pennsylvania’s all-time best bear season came in 2019, when hunters harvested 4,653. Hunters in 2022 took bears in 58 of the state’s 67 counties and 22 of its 23 Wildlife Management Units. The largest taken in 2022 was the 755-pounder harvested by a New Jersey man. He got it with a muzzleloader on Oct. 15 in Middle Smithfield Township, Monroe County.
President's Day is being observed today. With that, banks and most public schools are closed. Federal, state and county offices are also closed. There will also be no regular mail delivery today.
PepsiCo is recalling more than 25-thousand cases of bottled Starbucks drinks over a risk of glass fragments inside. The U.S. FDA says the Vanilla Frappuccino beverages were distributed nationwide. The affected products are 13-point-seven-ounce bottles that have "best by" dates of March eighth, May 29th, June fourth, and June tenth. The agency says customers should not consume the drinks and should return them to their place of purchase for a full refund.
The DreamWorks Water Park in the American Dream mall will remain closed today after four people were hurt when a decorative helicopter fell from the ceiling of the park yesterday afternoon. A park spokesperson says the four suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One person was taken to a nearby hospital and the other three were treated and left the park on their own. None of their identities was released. The decorative helicopter landed upside-down in the pool where the water slides empty.
A rally to draw attention to the whales that have washed on shore in New Jersey and New York drew hundreds to the Jenkinson Aquarium yesterday. To date, six dead humpback whales have washed ashore in New jersey and another four have been found on New York beaches. Local climate groups and Republican lawmakers say they think the deaths are linked to offshore wind power development and want the work to pause. On Friday, Republican New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith introduced legislation to require the federal government to investigate the review process for offshore wind projects.
Joshua Sills is now free on bail after his appearance in an Ohio court late last week on rape and kidnapping charges. The offensive guard for the Philadelphia Eagles didn't get to play in the Super Bowl because of the pending charges. Sills has posted a 25-thousand-dollar cash bond and was released from custody. His pretrial appearance has been set for the afternoon of March 9th at 2:30 p.m. Sills allegedly forced a woman into non-consensual sexual activity and held the victim against her will in December 2019. He appeared in one NFL game for the Eagles this season.