Macungie Mayor Wins Commonwealth Court Appeal

A Lehigh County Court decision challenged by District Attorney James Martin is overturned by the state court.

Borough of Macungie

Macungie Mayor Wins Commonwealth Court Appeal

A Lehigh County Court decision challenged by District Attorney James Martin is overturned by the state court.

Macungie Mayor Rick Hoffman emerged victorious Thursday when a Commonwealth Court ruled in his favor over a dispute with Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin. Martin appealed part of a Lehigh County decision regarding Hoffman's control of the Macungie Police Department in Oct. 2011. The Commonwealth Court upheld Lehigh County Judge Michele A. Varricchio's Sept. 2011 decision that Hoffman is Macungie's chief law enforcement officer, as well as other points of the case. But the state court reversed Varricchio's "finding that the borough council had authority to award back pay for police Chief Edward Harry Jr. and throw out a 10-day suspension Hoffman imposed for insubordination," according to a story in the Morning Call. The story …

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Mom Who Abused Baby Gets Stiffer Sentence

Lehigh County Judge James Anthony toughens the sentence for Chelsie Grant of Lower Milford to 3-6 years in prison.

When 19-year-old Chelsie Grant of Lower Milford Township was sentenced in October for abusing her 6-month-old son by choking him and twisting his arms and legs, her punishment of 1-2 years in prison and 18 years probation sparked outrage on Patch.com and elsewhere. Today, Lehigh County Judge James T. Anthony revised Grant's sentence upwards to 3-6 years in prison and 14 years probation after the prosecuting attorney made a case that he should reconsider. "It is one of the most serious cases of child abuse Lehigh County has ever seen," Deputy District Attorney Anna-Kristie Morffi Marks told Anthony. The hearing today (Tuesday) was in response to Marks' post-sentence motion to reconsider the sentence.  Grant was charged in February and later…

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Bloody Sneakers Might Not Belong to Alleged Killer of Alburtis Mother and Daughter

Brandin Lee Kasick would not lay claim to the bloody sneakers turned over to police after the brutal slaying of Althea and Jeannette Walbert in March 2011. Furthermore, he said, he did not give his girlfriend permission to hand them over to police.

Alleged Killer of Alburtis Women Says Bloody Sneakers Not His

Brandin Lee Kasick, formerly of Orefield and Breinigsville, makes an appearance at a pretrial hearing in Lehigh County Court.

Brandin Lee Kasick, the former carpet cleaner accused of killing a mother and daughter in Alburtis last year had a pretrial day in Lehigh County Court on  Tuesday. Kasick, a former resident of Orefield and Breinigsville, was arrested in Florida a year ago and charged with the homicides of Althea Walbert, 82, and her 59-year-old daughter, Jeannette. Police say Kasick, 27, fled to Florida, but before he did he left a bag of his clothing and possessions with his former girlfriend and mother of his children, Chantiel Schanerberger. She later passed the bag containing bloody sneakers along to police. Police say the blood belonged to Jeannette Walbert, according to a story in the Morning Call. The story goes on to say that in court on Tuesday, …

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George Washington Gets Jail for 100 Burglaries

George Washington of Allentown had been charged along with his brother in more than 100 burglaries in five counties, including several in South Whitehall.

Burglar George Washington, who police said had broken into dry cleaners and other businesses in Lower Macungie and other municipalities over 15 months, was sentenced Wednesday to 12 1/2 to 60 months in jail, according to reports on lehighvalleylive.com and The Morning Call. Washington, 29, of Allentown, had been charged in 104 burglaries and 12 attempted burglaries in Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks, Luzerne and Schuylkill counties from October 2009 through January 2011. Washington's brother, Angel Miguel Vargas, 31, also of Allentown, was sentenced in June to 20 to 40 years in jail for his role. Among the locations were businesses in Salisbury, South Whitehall, Lower Macungie, Upper Macungie, Bethlehem, Upper Saucon and Lower Nazareth …

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VOTE: November 8, 2011

Reichley Wins Lehigh County Judge Job

Rep. Doug Reichley (R-134) will vacate his PA state representative seat to take on 10-year stint in the Lehigh County courthouse.

State Rep. Douglas G. Reichley (R-134) won a 10-year seat in the Lehigh County courthouse during Tuesday's general election. Reichley, of Alburtis, will cut short his fourth term as state representative of the 134th Legislative District when he takes the bench in January. The 134th District includes Emmaus and Macungie boroughs and Upper Milford and Lower Macungie townships. According to unofficial tallies, Reichley garnered 56 percent of the vote, netting 24,311 total ballots.

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Some are Jubilant, Others are Silent in Response to Lower Mac Zoning Invalidation

All will wait to see what David Jaindl and his lawyers do next.

“Ya, Hooooo!!!” wrote Mary Kutish on Sept. 2 on the Friends for the Protection of Lower Macungie's Facebook page. A Lehigh County judge has found a crack in the foundation of David Jaindl’s plans to build nearly 700 homes, 4 million square feet of warehouses, a 400,000-square-foot shopping center, a convenience store with 16 gas pumps and a restaurant on 600 acres of farmland in Lower Macungie Township. The question is: Will it all come tumbling down? Lehigh County Judge Michele A. Varricchio issued a decision on Aug. 31 that said Lower Macungie Township failed to properly notify the public of zoning changes before they were ratified in a public meeting. That made the Jaindl ordinance invalid. Varricchio said the township’s efforts to …

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Court Workers, Cedarbrook Aides May Get Raises

Proposed Lehigh County contracts would grant 2-3 percent increases and require employees to pitch in more for health care.

Cedarbrook nurses aides and maintenance workers are on tap to get a 2 percent wage hike and court workers might also get 2-3 percent increases this year if Lehigh County commissioners approve contracts negotiated by the administration. In 2012 and 2013, the 3-year contract would give the county nursing home staff (excluding nurses, who negotiate separately) a general wage increase of 2 percent or a step increase of 3 percent, but not both, according to Tom Muller, county director of administration, who negotiated the contracts. The workers eligible for longevity pay, which are bonuses ranging from $200 to $1,600 after five years of employment, would get half their amount in 2011 and the full amount in 2012 and 2013. The pact affects 416 …

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