Water Damage Restoration in Allentown, PA

The Biden-Harris administration announced Thursday that Infinera, a global semiconductor manufacturer with a facility in Allentown, signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $93 million in funding through the CHIPS and Science Act.

According to a press release from the Department of Commerce, the proposed funding would support the construction of a new fab in San Jose, California, and a new advanced test and packaging facility in Bethlehem.

The proposed projects would be expected to increase Infinera's existing domestic manufacturing capacity by an estimated factor of 10 and would create up to approximately 500 manufacturing jobs and 1,200 construction jobs.

The facility in Bethlehem would be one of the only advanced test and packaging facilities dedicated to packaging InP PICs, or indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits, in the U.S.

"From artificial intelligence to electric vehicles to telecommunications infrastructure, 21st century technologies all rely on optical semiconductors like the ones manufactured by Infinera," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

"The Biden-Harris Administration is taking meaningful steps towards achieving the economic and national security goals of the CHIPS and Science Act with proposed investments like this one, which will help us secure semiconductor manufacturing projects and create high-tech jobs across the country," she said.

Infinera is a vertically integrated semiconductor and telecommunications equipment manufacturer that has operated its U.S. fabrication and advanced test and packaging facilities for over 20 years. The company's indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (InP PICs) use light to transfer information with greater energy efficiency.

The projects will allow Infinera to increase the domestic fabrication and advanced test and packaging of InP PICs for the U.S. Department of Defense, the intelligence community, law enforcement and national security agencies for secure communications and emerging technologies such as quantum technology, sensing and LiDAR, or light detection and ranging.

To recruit, train, and develop facility workforces, Infinera has partnered with the SEMI Foundation on its efforts to build a diverse and skilled community of workers.

Don Cunningham, President & CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., weighed in on the news Thursday.

“Infinera has been a significant part of the extensive semiconductor sector in the Lehigh Valley that goes back to the development of the transistor by Bell Labs and Western Electric,” he said.

"“Lehigh Valley was the original Silicon Valley, and many of the talented engineers and developers remain here.”

Infinera’s current advanced testing and packaging facility in the Lehigh Valley employs about 300 people, according to a news release from the LVEDC.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Parents in the Parkland School District are speaking out after an administrator was charged with secretly filming a student while he was changing.

The arrest of former Parkland High School Choir Teacher and Director of Visual and Performing Arts, Francis Anonia, was on every parent's mind at the School Board meeting Tuesday night. Anonia is currently facing 19 charges, including 10 felonies, for allegedly using his cell phone to secretly film a male student in the changing room on multiple occasions. Superintendent Mark Madson addressed the charges in a prepared statement.

"Our students physical and emotional safety will continue to be the first priority of the Parkland School District, and we will remain committed to transparency and continued cooperation with the legal authorities as it relates to this matter," said Madson.

But for two parents who spoke at the podium, that wasn't enough.

"The Parkland School District has done everything in its power to not be transparent," said one speaker.

"School administration and leadership has allowed this predator to work directly with children at the elementary, middle, and high school level, actually promoting him in his position and his responsibilities," said another speaker, who even called for a change in leadership at the District. "I am here, looking you directly in the eye, and I am calling for your resignation. I would like you to resign."

But several Board directors quickly spoke up to express their support for Superintendent Madson.

"From my perspective, Dr. Madson has done an impeccable job. The safety of our children is first in our hearts, and we never lose sight of that," said School Board Director Robert Cohen.

"I have extreme confidence in this administration, and everything that I have seen them do in this process, in all processes, has been highly professional," said School Board Director Chris Pirrotta.

"This administration has my full faith and support, and will going forward," said School Board Director David Hein.

Board directors stressed that many of the details about the case are not public right now due to the ongoing investigation, and they asked people not to jump to conclusions.

Anonia was arraigned on the charges on Tuesday. He was held on a $50,000 bond. He posted bail and is no longer in custody.

He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Nov. 26.

Welcome to Election 2024 Q&A, a new series where LehighValleyNews.com reporters tackle the election topics that have readers scratching their heads. If you have a question about the election, feel free to submit it here.

Q: Can you help explain the Allentown ballot referendum?

A: When Allentown voters head to the polls or open their mail-in ballots, they'll probably be focused on the major races for president, U.S. Senate and U.S. House. But the last item on the ballot is this referendum question:

"Shall Section 807(B), Revenue, of the Home Rule Charter of the City of Allentown be amended to allow City Council, by Ordinance, to remove the Deed Transfer Tax?"

The Allentown Home Rule Charter is essentially the city's constitution. It sets the ground rules for how the city operates, establishes the various public offices, and defines what the powers and limits of those offices are.

Section 807(B) of the charter reads, "Council shall not raise the rates of the deed transfer, earned income, business privilege, the Emergency and Municipal Services Tax beyond $52, amusement devices, and resident taxes above their respective 1996 levels."

Every time people buy or sell property in Pennsylvania, they pay a deed transfer tax. The state collects a tax of 1% of the property value, but local governments may charge their own tax. The city and the Allentown School District each collect a 0.5% tax on these transfers.

Voting "Yes" on the referendum would allow the city to remove the cap on the city's deed transfer tax. It wouldn't automatically go up, but it would give council members that authority. Voting "No" would protect the tax cap and ensure the tax rate doesn't increase.

City officials have urged council to move this referendum forward. Councilman Santo Napoli said homeowners are being squeezed out of the market; LLCs and corporations bought 46% of all properties sold in Allentown in June, he said. Raising the tax would allow the city to raise millions of new tax dollars, which could fund programs such as one assisting first-time homebuyers, he said.

On the other hand, the Lehigh Valley Realtors Association, which represents the professionals who might be most affected by a hike to the deed transfer tax, has launched a campaign opposing the referendum. The referendum's wording is overly confusing, and a higher deed transfer tax will mean higher costs for every person buying, selling or renting property in the city, according to the Association.

WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — About 400 people were evacuated from their apartments after a fire early Friday, the township fire chief said.

No injuries were reported in the blaze, which broke out about 2:50 a.m. at the Independence Square Apartments, 1 Maryland Circle, near Lehigh Valley Mall.

Whitehall Fire Chief Mark Bilder said most of the residents will be able to return to their apartments, but 12 units received smoke and heat damage.

Firefighters rescued six people from their balconies and no injuries were reported, according to the chief.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Bilder said firefighters arriving at the complex found fire that was contained to a second-floor storage room.

Firefighters faced heavy smoke and heat on the second floor of the apartment building, which is made up of a series of connected buildings.

“People started pounding on the door saying there’s a fire, and I’m like ‘Oh my God, we gotta get outta here.’ I was freaked out. This is a nice place. At 3 a.m., it’s kind of shocking to have all that chaos.”

Jaquan Bonaparte, resident

Bilder said firefighters were called at 2:50 a.m. because of an automatic fire alarm and the Lehigh County communications center received several calls for heavy smoke in the building.

On Friday morning, residents milled about the outside of the apartments waiting for word on when they could get back home.

'We gotta get out of here'

Jaquan Bonaparte, who has lived in the apartments for about five years, said he smelled something like gasoline while fleeing the building.

“My mom was, like, ‘Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on.

Independence Square Apartments resident Jaquan Bonaparte

“People started pounding on the door saying there’s a fire, and I’m like ‘Oh my God, we gotta get outta here.’ I was freaked out.

"This is a nice place. At 3 a.m., it’s kind of shocking to have all that chaos.”

The American Red Cross was on the scene Friday morning, offering assistance.

Peter Brown, executive director of the Red Cross’ Pennsylvania Rivers Chapter, said it was too early to say how many people might need assistance.

The agency was assisting people from at least 10 apartments, he said.

An evacuation center has been set up at Temple Beth El, 1305 Springhouse Road, South Whitehall Township, to provide residents affected by the fire with comfort, care, food, resources and other emergency assistance.

The Red Cross said caseworkers will continue to help the impacted residents in the days and weeks ahead.

Anyone in need of Red Cross assistance should call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). All Red Cross disaster assistance is free.

After learning that no audit of finances in Allentown’s unique tax zone has been performed since it was created in 2011, state Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh, on Tuesday accused Revenue Secretary Pat Browne and the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority of breaking the law.

“I am disgusted to have learned today in testimony from Secretary Browne that the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority has been violating state law for over a decade,” Coleman said. “In a zone that is shrouded in so much secrecy and has diverted over $700 million from things like child care, education, transportation or senior services these audits were a critical component of oversight that never happened.

“This new information reinforces and makes more urgent the need for further examination. As we continue to review today’s testimony we will determine which next steps or referrals need to be made.“

The accusation came after Browne spent nearly two hours on the state Senate floor answering questions about the NIZ.

Browne was prompted to appear after the body voted 28-22 on Oct. 8 in favor of Senate Resolution 334, which was introduced by Coleman, who defeated Browne in the 2022 primary election. Coleman has been trying to bring to light specific sources of revenue in Allentown’s unique tax district, while Browne has repeatedly said he legally can’t disclose that information because of changes made to the Fiscal Code of 2021.

That same information was requested in a subpoena issued by the Senate’s Intergovernmental Operations committee.

Coleman asked Browne about annual audits, noting that in the NIZ legislation an independent firm would be hired to verify such things as the amount of local tax revenue and how much is transferred to the state.

Browne said the audits haven’t taken place because of limitations on confidentiality.

“It has not been contracted because in promulgating the function of the audit, developing the scope, deciding what was going to be audited, it was determined that in order to do it, there would be need to access to by the contracting authority to tax information for purposes to audit,” he said.

Coleman asked if any audits have taken place since the law was passed in 2011.

“The Senate and House would have to agree that the language of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone needs to change in order for that to happen,” Browne answered.

The Senate unanimously approved a NIZ audit in December.

In addition to Coleman, chair of the Intergovernmental Operations Committee, Browne was questioned by three senators.

The exchanges were mostly cordial, though Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, objected to Coleman’s line of questioning regarding The Morning Call’s two-year attempt to obtain information about the NIZ’s finances. The newspaper’s effort was struck down by a Commonwealth Court judge in late 2021, citing language inserted into the fiscal code bill.

Browne, who wrote the legislation creating the NIZ in 2011, introduced the language that he says prevents him from disclosing the information when he was a state senator representing the Lehigh Valley. Those changes included adding “reports” on taxes to a section defining “confidential information.”

“Following that Office of Open Records decision [in October 2019, saying the state needed to release information The Morning Call sought], the 2021 amendment was passed and made effective,” Coleman said. “It was dated back until January of 2014 in order to protect certain NIZ records from disclosure to the public.”

Costa made a point of order at that point. “I believe the implication of the question is that certain legislation was passed to protect folks,” he said. “I’m not sure where that’s going, and maybe ask the member to clarify the question. If it relates to any individual in this chamber, or any individual anywhere else in the other chamber who served here, or some business entity, I have concerns about where this is going.”

Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who was presiding officer, had Coleman move along.

In his closing questions, Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, circled back to the open records case and asked if the paper’s request was turned down because of the code amendment.

“The opinion issued by the Commonwealth Court provided that tax returns are subject to confidentiality, but tax reports are not,” Browne said. “And my opinion, with all due respect to our members of the court, that was a distinction without a difference.”

To open his line of questioning, Coleman wanted to know if businesses inside the NIZ are under a confidentiality agreement.

“You mentioned confidentiality,” Coleman said to Browne. “You mentioned not being able to get information when you reached out to local businesses inside of the NIZ and they were unable to provide that information. Why were they unable to provide that information to you? Why couldn’t they disclose that information to you under their own free will?”

Browne said the only NDA is between an allocation agent that helps businesses fill out compliance forms and the Department of Revenue.

During his initial line of questions, Pittman emphasized that the Senate was not asking for individual taxpayer information. However, Browne said that even aggregate data could reveal an individual because some categories only have one or two taxpayers.

Browne said the department exceeds Internal Revenue Service standards that holds back categories with 100 taxpayers, while the NIZ uses only two or less.

“The Department of Revenue wants to be as transparent as possible,” Browne said.

Pittman asked why the information couldn’t be reviewed by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office, or the bipartisan Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. Browne said the IFO could access NIZ information if the Legislature acts on it.

“That’s the beauty of this entire moment,” Pittman said. “This is all about us as a body, trying to decide what is next in this process.”

In conclusion, Browne said he’s confident in working with the Legislature.

“We want to be transparent as important this program, like the other programs, is very important, and we want to make sure that they’re successful,” Browne said.

Pittman said he appreciated Browne’s testimony.

“What I find most encouraging from this process is that we now have some areas where you are coming to the table and agreeing to either recommend changes in statute or providing us updated opinions that we were not previously aware of,” he said.

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.

Originally Published: October 22, 2024 at 2:09 p.m.