Ben Franklin Bridge to close Saturday for centennial celebration
The power of the winds on full display. *** new drone video out of Middletown, Dauphin County. The status of this FedEx facility after its roof was damaged. *** body found in the street in Columbia Borough overnight. Who that person was and what led up to them being found. As communities continue to recover from storm damage, York County issues *** disaster declaration. We’ll tell you what this means for residents that are still trying to pick up the pieces. Shower and thunderstorm chances rise for your Thursday. We’ll have the hour by hour impact day forecast and also let you know when to expect the rain during the weekend. WGAL Newsage starts with breaking news. That breaking news. The Trump administration says election officials here in Pennsylvania could be criminally charged if they let non-citizens vote in upcoming elections. That’s coming from *** letter from the US Department of Justice. Welcome to the news 8 at 5, everyone. I’m Brian Roach and I’m Laurie Burkholder. 8 on your side. Political reporter Tom Lehman is following this breaking news for us, joins us live in Carlisle with more on the details, Tom. Gloria and Brian, the Trump administration and the Department of Commonwealth Secretary here in Pennsylvania have been at odds for some time over the issue of whether to turn over sensitive voter data. Now the Trump administration raising issue with potential noncitizens voting in upcoming. Elections. The letter, which was obtained by WGAL, was addressed to Secretary of State Al Schmidt. It says that election officials under federal law have an obligation to ensure that non-citizens do not vote. The letter also outlines some of the requirements the Trump administration says are necessary and if not followed potentially could result in criminal charges for election officials. The USDOJ requesting that the Department of the Commonwealth respond within 5 days from Tuesday with more information about how the state and its partners would comply with requirements that noncitizens do not vote. Now this memo from the Trump administration in part said we encourage you to contact us to discuss what steps your state should take to maintain clean voter lists. As required by law, in response to the letter, Pennsylvania’s Department of State responded by saying to News 8, Pennsylvania is in compliance with federal and state election law. We’ll continue our nonpartisan work to ensure elections in the Commonwealth remain free, fair, safe, and secure. Secretary of State Al Schmidt not available for an interview today, according to the department. Though coming up later tonight on News 8 at 10 and 11, you’re going to hear from *** former federal judge about this particular issue and his thoughts on the matter. For now here in Carlisle, Tom Lehman, WGAL News 8. Also breaking news just into the newsroom. *** Delaware County man is charged with threatening the governor and *** state lawmaker. State police announcing these charges against Richard Franklin of Brookhaven borough. Investigators said yesterday he walked into the office of the one sixty-first District Representative Leeanne Kruger. Troopers then say he used an anti-Semitic ethnic slur while he communicated *** threat of arson to the governor’s mansion and said those statements were positive in nature because of the governor and his family surviving the previous arson. Franklin was taken into custody and charged with terroristic threats. The damage toll continues to be tallied across the Susquehanna Valley following this weekend’s deadly and destructive storms. Airview 8 flying over the FedEx facility in Middletown, Dauphin County, giving us *** brand new perspective at the roof of the facility, which partially caved in during those whipping winds. The National Weather Service did confirm that an EF-1 tornado touched down over the weekend in Perry County, and the Weather Service says the tornado started just after 7 Sunday night north of Evergreen Drive in Rye Township. It says that most of the damage was along Lamb’s Gap Road near the edge of the state game lands where numerous trees were uprooted. The service also says that tornado was on the ground for about 4. 4 minutes and had *** maximum wind speed of 100 MPH. And today amid all the cleanup, York County leaders declaring *** disaster emergency in that county. Homeowners and crews spent days clearing communities from those holiday weekend storms that caused *** huge amount of damage. And News State’s Marcy Walsh live for us tonight in York County. So Marcy, what does this emergency declaration do for homeowners and businesses? Brian Laurie, the goal is to help those homeowners and businesses recover from the storms as quickly as possible. Now certain parts of York County were hit pretty hard by those storms, one of those places being right here in Fairview Township, prompting officials here to issue their own emergency disaster declaration. Now officials here tell me they were hit pretty hard. Quite *** few roads were closed because of fallen trees, downed power lines, and debris that was just scattered all over. The emergency management coordinator here in Fairview Township tells me at one point more than 5000 people were without power, and the fire department ran over 60 calls between Saturday night and Monday morning. Tonight, some people are still without power, and the township and the fire department say they’re working to help those in need as quickly as possible. And one of those ways they’re helping is issuing *** disaster declaration. When the county declares *** disaster, usually the municipality follows, and we did. We also declared *** disaster for our township. I don’t know if we’re going to meet the thresholds that is necessary to get any additional state or federal funding, but if that does become available, we have already taken care of the administrative side of things to make sure that we can get help to our residents as quick as we can. So this declaration means that if the state declares *** disaster declaration, that this, uh, Fairview Township, as well as York County would be eligible for state funding. Live in Fairview Township, I’m Marcy Walsh, WGAL News 8. Marcy, thank you for that. Staff at the Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster County, they’re rebuilding after the weekend’s storms hit the historic property, forcing that museum to temporarily close. News 8’s Nicole Beltran spoke with staff today in Mannheim Township. She is live now with how that cleanup is coming along. Brian Laurie, the staff here at Landis Valley Museum has been picking up the pieces after the storm this weekend. They’ve been out here since 8 this morning. They actually started this on Sunday, and they’ve been picking up all kinds of branches, all kinds of debris. They tell me it’s hard work, but that one storm won’t knock them down. We had *** great day. We had *** lot of out of town visitors. Um, we were busy. It was *** memorable July 4th for the museum. Museum administrator Sean Gladden says he would have never imagined what would come the following morning. It looks like *** war zone. Those severe storms over the Independence Day weekend knocked down trees across museum property. It landed right there and crushed that handicap accessible ramp right there. We’re very fortunate that it did not land on our country store. Now museum staff is all hands on deck to get back on their feet. We’re fortunate that we’ve got some good support and we’ve got *** great staff. Staff that rolls up the sleeves when, when, when it’s needed. Staff from museums across the state are also joining in on the cleanup and team effort, that is for sure, and it will continue. They tell me they’re hoping to be up and running before the end of the month to host *** special event on July 18th. Summertime is *** perfect time for them to have their programs and people in here, and anything that delays people from coming in to see the site and experience the history is, is, uh, Difficult. Staff also tells me they expect to receive help from tree removal services in the coming days in Mannheim Township, Lancaster County. I’m Nicole Beltran, WGAL News 8.
Ben Franklin Bridge to close Saturday for centennial celebration
Updated: 6:09 PM EDT Jul 8, 2026
The Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia will close to vehicle traffic this Saturday for a daylong event celebrating its 100th anniversary. You can view News 8 headlines in the video player above. The celebration will take place from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., giving attendees the opportunity to walk on the bridge. The bridge, which opened in 1926 as the Delaware River Bridge, was the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time. Construction began in 1922 and took four and a half years to complete. When the bridge opened, drivers paid an 18-cent toll to cross. As of 2024, that toll is now $6. The Ben Franklin Bridge has become a notable landmark in the Philadelphia region, appearing in films like “Rocky” and “National Treasure.”
The Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia will close to vehicle traffic this Saturday for a daylong event celebrating its 100th anniversary.
You can view News 8 headlines in the video player above.
The celebration will take place from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., giving attendees the opportunity to walk on the bridge.
The bridge, which opened in 1926 as the Delaware River Bridge, was the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time. Construction began in 1922 and took four and a half years to complete.
When the bridge opened, drivers paid an 18-cent toll to cross. As of 2024, that toll is now $6.
The Ben Franklin Bridge has become a notable landmark in the Philadelphia region, appearing in films like “Rocky” and “National Treasure.”