Everybody made it out of an early morning Bethlehem fire. The fire began around 4:30 at a home at Dakota and Seneca streets. It's believed the fire began in a first floor kitchen and quickly spread to three other apartments. Seven people were inside the building. All got out safely, however two Bethlehem police officers rescued a woman who was trapped inside. There's no word yet on what caused the fire.
Emmaus-based Rodale is considering unloading the company. News of the possible sale came via a company news release where the company said its board of directors is looking at options for the best way to move forward. Rodale says maintaining its current structure, selling some properties and selling the company as a whole are among the possibilities. Rodale currently employs about 700 people, 450 of them in the Lehigh Valley. The company publishes Runner's World, Men's Health, Women's Health and Prevention magazines.
Allentown City Council has unanimously voted to override Mayor Ed Pawlowski's veto of a bill to put mayoral term limits up for referendum. The result wasn't unexpected as council unanimously approved the bill. Voters will decide in November if the mayor of Allentown should get a maximum of two terms. Pawlowski claims his veto of the bill was due to his belief that if there are term limits, they should apply to all city positions.
The Lehigh Valley Zoo's giraffe feeding deck is officially open. The deck opened Wednesday on World Giraffe Day, a week after Murphy the giraffe made his debut to the public. The zoo will have two daily feeding sessions. The first is set for 11:30 in the morning and is for members of the zoo only. The second session at 2 o'clock is open to guests.
The names of the 12 Allegheny County jurors and six alternates who heard Bill Cosby's sexual assault case are being released. Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill decided to release the names after several requests, however, he kept the deliberations confidential. The judge says that disclosing anything said or done during deliberations "would have a chilling effect upon future jurors in this case and their ability to deliberate freely." Prosecutors say they plan to retry the case after a mistrial was declared on Saturday as jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Montgomery County Judge Steven O'Neill has decided to reveal the names of the 12 Allegheny County jurors and six alternates who served during the Bill Cosby trial. Northampton County DA John Morganelli isn't a fan of the idea. "There is concern, particularly in high profile cases or violent crime cases, that jurors might be contacted or harassed," Morganelli says. Morganelli says it's already tough enough getting people to serve on a jury and the possibility of subjecting them to a media frenzy and/or threats and intimidation won't help.
Two holdout jurors prevented Bill Cosby from being convicted of sexual assault. That's what one of the jurors told ABC News Wednesday. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the juror said ten of the 12 jurors agreed Cosby was guilty of two of the three charges against him. The jury voted ten-to-two that Cosby digitally penetrated Andrea Constand without her consent as well as voting ten-to-two that he gave her drugs without her knowledge. The juror said they voted 11-to-one to acquit Cosby on a charge that Constand was unconscious or unaware during the incident.
Legislation that would make it a crime to lie about military service is on its way to Gov. Tom Wolf's desk. The bill passed the Senate 49-0, after also unanimously passing the House. The measure makes it illegal to lie about military status in order to benefit economically.
The company that owns Hersheypark is considering an expansion. A spokesperson for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts says it is in the very early stages of planning and is "working through various concepts." The tentative expansion could add up to 38 acres to the park although actual development would still be years away.
Hard Rock is aiming to have its new Atlantic City casino open by the 2018 summer season. The company announced Wednesday that Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City is expected to be up and running by next Memorial Day weekend. Hard Rock plans to begin demolishing the Trump Taj Mahal in July, with construction starting in August. The project is expected to cost $500 million. Hard Rock bought the Taj earlier this year.