Good morning Bethlehem. Today is Tuesday, November 1, 2011. One of the hottest trending topics on Twitter last night was #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage. The funniest response: The line of trick-or-treaters at Casey Anthony’s house. The most locally relevant: The power outages in the Lehigh Valley following an October snowstorm. Wrote that one myself. Thank you. Enjoy the veal. I’ll be here all week.

1. As the clock struck midnight, there were roughly 5,900 PPL customers in Bethlehem and Bethlehem Township that still had not had power restored. That’s tremendous progress considering that the number peaked at about 18,000 customers before noon Monday. One of the major challenges for the utility company was extensive damage to transmission lines on South Mountain, as reported here by WFMZ-TV, Channel 69. The hope is that the bulk of this work will be completed sometime today. That may provide hope for SouthSide residents, businesses and Lehigh University that life for many of them could soon get back to normal. Still PPL is saying that some customers may not have electricity restored until some time Thursday.
2. While Lehigh University remains closed for the second straight day today, Bethlehem Area public schools were scheduled to reopen this morning after closing for the widespread electrical outages Monday. However, Bethlehem police, last night via Twitter, said Broughal Middle School could remain closed if electricity had not been restored by this morning. Call the school or check the district’s website to find out for sure.
3. Get a free cup of coffee from the folks at PPL at participating Subway restaurants from 7 to 9 a.m. The idea, according to the utility’s website is to provide free coffee to the hardest hit areas of the Lehigh Valley, but you do not need to prove you are even a PPL customer to get your free cup o’ joe. The participating Subways in Bethlehem are at 1829 Stefko Boulevard, 1525 Easton Ave., and 1 E. Fourth St.
4. You have two extra hours today to take your busted tree limbs and branches to the Bethlehem Compost Center at Schoenersville Road and Eaton Avenue, which will be open from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. The center will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.
5. Get your low-cost flu shot, courtesy of the city’s Health Bureau, at the Wesley United Methodist Church, 2540 Center St., from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Shots are $10 for all city residents and free for some Medicare Part B patients.