Almost 20 years after it opened, the Da Vinci Science Center closed its doors Monday. Executive Director Lin Erickson says the new center being built in downtown Allentown will be bigger and better. "We'll have three times the the exhibit space and three times the classroom and workshop space," she says. Erickson says the new building's traveling exhibit space alone will amount to the same amount of room the entire exhibit space had in the old building. The new Da Vinci Science Center opens May 22.
If it's true that April showers bring May flowers, next month's flowers will look spectacular. "I think two or three inches of rain will fall over the next 36 hours," says Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg. He says that could cause street flooding and poor visibility when it's raining its hardest. The only rain-free day of the work week might be Friday and that's not a guarantee by any means according to Lundberg.
The Allentown Parking Authority has completed the purchase of a downtown parking garage for $13 million. The parking garage at 940-952 Linden St. was bought, leaving the parking authority with seven parking garages it runs downtown.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry warns you to beware of scammers selling bogus protective glasses in advance of next Monday’s solar eclipse. Henry urges you to do your research to make sure the glasses you buy to view the eclipse will protect your eyes. Astronomer Emily Rice explains how you can make sure you're getting the real thing. "They vetted these vendors. You can look for the manufacturer for the back of your glasses easily and check against the list of safe glasses in order to make sure that even if you bought them off Amazon, they're from a good brand," Rice says. During a solar eclipse, the moon lines up perfectly between the Earth and sun, blotting out the sunlight.
Pennsylvania State Police report that, for the period that ran Friday through Sunday, 407 vehicle crashes were recorded that resulted in six deaths and 90 injuries. 358 motorists were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The state says wait times for unemployment claims are down 60 percent. Pennsylvania's Department of Labor & Industry says the average wait time to get your call answered is now just 20 minutes. That's down from the last report in January of last year. L&I officials say a hiring spree added almost 400 people to answer phone calls from people with unemployment claims.
Drivers will not have access to a portion of I-95 northbound for the next several days. It comes after an oversized truck hit an overhead bridge yesterday afternoon. The incident unfolded near the Betsy Ross Bridge but nobody was hurt. Motorists will be detoured ahead of the Betsy Ross Bridge/Aramingo Avenue Interchange while crews work to make repairs.