Tractor-trailer crash shuts down stretch of I-81 in Lebanon County
IN THIS MORNING WITH WHEN THE RAIN WILL MOVE OUT. WGAL NEWS EIGHT TODAY STARTS NOW. STILL THINKING ABOUT THAT WEATHER FROM YESTERDAY. BUT YOU KNOW, MAYBE ONE DAY. GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY. IT’S 430. I’M MATT BARCARO. I’M KATELYN SMITH. YEAH I THINK THE HIGHS KIND OF REACHED THAT MAYBE NEXT WEEK, BUT THE RAIN DOESN’T LET UP NEXT WEEK. BUT IT IS GOING TO LET UP THIS MORNING. IT WILL LET UP AFTER THE MORNING DRIVE TIME. SO LATER THIS MORNING WE’LL SEE THAT RAIN COMING TO AN END ACROSS THE AREA. WE’VE ALREADY PICKED UP A QUARTER OF AN INCH TO OVER A HALF AN INCH OF RAIN. AND YOU CAN SEE WE CONTINUE WITH ROUNDS OF RAIN MOVING THROUGH THE AREA, THE YELLOWS AND ORANGES INDICATING WHERE IT MAY COME DOWN A LITTLE BIT MORE MODERATELY AT TIMES AS IT CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST. YOU CAN SEE HERE ON OUR LIVE LOCAL LATE. THIS IS ALL PART OF A COLD FRONT THAT CONTINUES TO SAG TO THE SOUTH. THERE’S STILL MORE RAIN BACK IN THE OHIO VALLEY, THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE THAT WILL YET MOVE THROUGH THIS MORNING. TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO FALL. WE WERE IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT. WE’RE SEEING 60 STILL TO THE SOUTH, BUT 50S NOW FOR MOST OF THE AREA. WINDS ARE STARTING TO INCREASE AND I DO EXPECT THEM TO CONTINUE TO PICK UP 10 TO 20MPH AS WE GO THROUGH THE DAY TODAY. HERE’S YOUR 12 HOUR FORECAST. AND YOU CAN SEE THOSE TEMPERATURES DROPPING. SO WHILE WE’RE IN THE 50S RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN EXPECT 40S LATER THIS AFTERNOON. AND WITH THE BREEZE, IT’S CERTAINLY GOING TO FEEL MUCH CHILLIER. I’LL HAVE MORE IN THE TEN DAY FORECAST AND WHAT THE WEEKEND IS AND WHAT WE HAVE IN STORE FOR THE WEEKEND. BREAKING OVERNIGHT, THE U.S. SENATE HAS UNANIMOUSLY MOVED TO FUND THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. EXCEPT FOR IMMIGRATIONS AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT AND PARTS OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION. THE DECISION CAME JUST BEFORE CONGRESS WAS SET TO GO ON A TWO WEEK RECESS STARTING TODAY. SO THAT WILL HAPPEN? YES. SO WHAT’S THE SENATE PASSED? INCLUDES FUNDING FOR TSA, U.S. CUSTOMS, THE COAST GUARD AND SECRET SERVICE. MR. PRESIDENT, WE COULD BE STANDING HERE RIGHT NOW PASSING A FUNDING BILL WITH A LIST OF REFORMS. IF DEMOCRATS HAD MADE THE SMALLEST EFFORT TO ACTUALLY REACH AN AGREEMENT, BUT THEY DIDN’T. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED WEEKS AGO IF REPUBLICANS HADN’T STOOD IN THE WAY. DEMOCRATS HELD FIRM IN OUR OPPOSITION THAT DONALD TRUMP’S ROGUE AND DEADLY MILITIA SHOULD NOT GET MORE FUNDING WITHOUT SERIOUS REFORMS, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR THOSE REFORMS. THE BILL NOW HEADS BACK TO THE HOUSE. THE HOUSE PASSED ITS OWN SPENDING BILL LAST NIGHT THAT DID INCLUDE FUNDING FOR BORDER PATROL AND ICE. SO IT’S NOT OVER YET. WE’LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN CONGRESS. BUT IT ALL COMES AS THE PRESIDENT WROTE ON HIS TRUTH SOCIAL PLATFORM, THAT HE’S GOING TO SIGN AN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO IMMEDIATELY PAY TSA AGENTS. THE WHITE HOUSE HASN’T SAID HOW THIS PROCESS WOULD PLAY OUT LEGALLY, BUT IT WOULD LIKELY GO THROUGH WHAT’S CALLED THE NATIONAL EMERGENCIES ACT. THE PRESIDENT HAS USED THIS BEFORE. IT ALLOWS THE PRESIDENT TO USE UNUSED GOVERNMENT FUNDS OR SHIFT MONEY FROM OTHER SOURCES, AND THE STATE SUPREME COURT NOW RULED SEPARATELY HERE IN PENNSYLVANIA, THAT MANDATORY LIFE SENTENCE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR SECOND DEGREE MURDER IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. THE DECISION STEMS FROM A CASE IN PITTSBURGH, WHERE A MAN WAS CONVICTED OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER IN 2014. SO THE SECOND DEGREE MURDER CHARGE IS FOR ANYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN A MURDER IN ANY WAY, EVEN IF THAT PERSON DIDN’T ACTUALLY KILL ANYONE. THE SUPREME COURT SAID IN PART, THAT A MANDATORY SENTENCE COULD BE CONSIDERED A CRUEL PUNISHMENT, DEPENDING ON THE CRIME. WE TALKED WITH THE FORMER U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS FOR FAMILIES OF VICTIMS. IT WILL OPEN WOUNDS, AND THAT’S REALLY, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE UNFORTUNATE BYPRODUCTS OF OF INVOLVEMENT IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. BUT BUT THE I THINK FAMILIES OF VICTIMS CAN BE ASSURED THAT EACH AND EVERY CASE WILL INVOLVE A, YOU KNOW, A FULSOME CONSIDERATION OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE OF THE CRIME. THE COURT IS GIVING STATE LAWMAKERS 120 DAYS TO CREATE NEW SENTENCING STRUCTURES. WE ARE NOW LEARNING THAT A JUVENILE WAS HOSPITALIZED IN A SHOOTING LAST NIGHT IN LANCASTER CITY. POLICE SAY THEY GOT MULTIPLE CALLS ABOUT GUNSHOTS ON RIKER AVENUE. NEWS 8 WAS AT THE SCENE LAST NIGHT AND SAW POLICE TAKE NEARBY ON FIRST AND CORAL STREETS. POLICE TOLD US THEY BELIEVE THIS STARTED AS A FIGHT BETWEEN GROUPS BEFORE THE SHOOTING HAPPENED. THE JUVENILE VICTIM WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL, HAD NON-LIFE THREATENING GUNSHOT WOUND. AT THIS POINT, NO ONE IS IN CUSTODY. TWO MEN ARE IN CUSTODY CHARGED IN CONNECTION TO A SHOOTING FROM LAST OCTOBER IN LANCASTER. LANCASTER POLICE ARRESTED JAQUAN AND DARRYL GREAVES YESTERDAY. POLICE SAY OFFICERS HAD RESPONDED TO SOUTH MARY STREET ON OCTOBER 17TH FOR A REPORTED SHOOTING. IN COURT, PAPERS SAY THAT OFFICERS LEARNED TWO GROUPS OF PEOPLE WERE SHOOTING AT EACH OTHER AND THAT BULLETS HIT AT LEAST TWO HOMES WITH PEOPLE INSIDE. AFTER THE SHOOTING, POLICE SAY THE GROUP THAT INCLUDED JAQUAN RAN TO WEST KING STREET. THAT’S WHERE THEY SAY GERALD GREAVES MET THE GROUP THERE AND TOOK THE GUN THAT POLICE SAY JAQUAN USED IN THAT SHOOTING. OFFICERS SAY THEY LATER FOUND JAQUAN WITH A GUNSHOT WOUND TO HIS LEG. HE WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AND IS NOW FACING AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AND GUN CHARGES. GERALD GREAVES IS ALSO CHARGED. HE IS FACING TEMPORARY TAMPERING WITH EVIDENCE AND A GUN OFFENSE AS WELL. IN YORK COUNTY, J K SALVAGE YARD FILED A MOTION IN COURT ARGUING WHY IT THINKS IT SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO STAY OPEN. THIS COMES AFTER A FIRE THERE AND AN ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP IN THE NEARBY CREEK. LAST WEEK, THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA RIVER KEEPERS FILED AN INJUNCTION ASKING J AND K TO STOP OPERATIONS UNTIL THEY GET A POLLUTANT DISCHARGE PERMIT. THE COURTS RULED AGAINST THAT MOTION BECAUSE THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION HAD ALREADY ORDERED J AND K TO CLOSE AND STOP ACCEPTING WASTE AT THE SCRAP YARD IN CASE NEW MOTION. IT SAYS THAT IT EMPLOYS ABOUT 30 PEOPLE AND THAT THEIR LIVES WOULD BE MADE WORSE UNNECESSARILY IF THE BUSINESS STAYED CLOSED. TO HARRISBURG, WHERE A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PROJECT IS UNDERWAY TO FIX UP HOMES IN MIDTOWN. THE PROJECT FOCUSED ON 157 UNITS IN THE GOVERNOR’S SQUARE COMMUNITY. THAT’S ON WOODBINE STREET. RESIDENTS SAY THE AREA IS KNOWN FOR SQUATTERS AND FIRES. RESIDENTS SAY, THOUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS LOOKING BETTER AFTER A RECEIVER WAS APPOINTED TO RUN THE COMMUNITY. OUR ESTIMATION THAT WE PUT IN OUR REPORT WAS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 25 TO $26 MILLION IS GOING TO NEED TO BE INVESTED. WELL, THAT WAS THE VOICE OF THE RECEIVER, JUSTIN HANLEY, THE PREVIOUS OWNER OF THE PROPERTIES, OWED ABOUT $16 MILLION AMID BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS, AND HE TOLD NEWS EIGHT THAT BECAUSE OF THIS, THE PROJECT MIGHT NOT BE FINISHED UNTIL 2035. IT IS 437 AND THE U.S. ARMY HAS RELEASED DETAILS FOR THE FUNERAL AND PROCESSION FOR SPECIALIST CHRISTOPHER LOPEZ, WHO DIED DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE AT THE LETTERKENNY ARMY DEPOT IN FRANKLIN COUNTY. THAT FUNERAL PROCESSION WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW MORNING AT 630. IT WILL START IN SHIPPENSBURG AND END AT BIGLERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL IN ADAMS COUNTY, AND THEN THE PUBLIC VIEWING WILL BEGIN AT 10:00. THE FUNERAL IS SET FOR 1:00 TOMORROW AFTERNOON. THE 18 YEAR OLD WAS POSTHUMOUSLY PROMOTED FROM PRIVATE FIRST CLASS TO SPECIALISTS, HAPPENING TODAY. NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF FIRE AND RESCUE IS HONORING SOME OF ITS MEMBERS. THE DEPARTMENT RECOGNIZING ACHIEVEMENTS AND AWARDING THEIR FIREFIGHTER OF THE YEAR.
Tractor-trailer crash shuts down stretch of I-81 in Lebanon County
Updated: 6:25 AM EDT Mar 27, 2026
A crash involving a tractor-trailer shut down a stretch of Interstate 81 in Lebanon County, according to emergency dispatchers. Video above: Headlines from WGAL News 8 Today.The wreck happened in the southbound lanes north of Exit 90, Route 72/Lebanon, around 12:45 a.m. on Friday. It’s unclear if anyone was injured. A photo from the scene shows a tractor-trailer across the interstate. I-81 closed According to PennDOT, all lanes of Interstate 81 southbound are closed between Exit 90, Route 72/Lebanon, and Exit 100, Route 443/Pine Grove. PennDOT reports the estimated time of reopening is around 7:30 a.m. WGAL is working to learn more. Stay with us for updates. See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at https://www.wgal.com/upload.
FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. —
A crash involving a tractor-trailer shut down a stretch of Interstate 81 in Lebanon County, according to emergency dispatchers.
Video above: Headlines from WGAL News 8 Today.
The wreck happened in the southbound lanes north of Exit 90, Route 72/Lebanon, around 12:45 a.m. on Friday.
It’s unclear if any other vehicles were involved and if anyone was injured.
According to PennDOT, all lanes of Interstate 81 southbound are closed between Exit 90, Route 72/Lebanon, and Exit 100, Route 443/Pine Grove.
PennDOT reports the estimated time of reopening is around 7:30 a.m.
WGAL is working to learn more. Stay with us for updates.
See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at https://www.wgal.com/upload.