Consumer Affairs

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone has confirmed he will host his annual free turkey giveaway for residents in need, set for Nov. 22.

Gov. Josh Shapiro says Pennsylvania's utility companies have stepped up to shelter low-income households this winter. The customers are usually covered by LIHEAP, but the federal assistance program has experienced delays due to the federal government shutdown.

In the Lehigh Valley, 105,000 people rely on SNAP benefits for food assistance. One in four of them is a child. When federal safety nets falter, the charitable food network becomes the community’s last line of defense. It requires collaboration, leadership and shared purpose.

Among the free food, candy and raffles was quite a spread of information available, both in English and Spanish, for families related to a major neighborhood redesign in the works.

The Gateway on Fourth, a 120-unit affordable housing project, expected to cost $29 million, just received $16 million in highly competitive tax credits awarded by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency board. It's one of two affordable housing projects out of six total applicants in the Lehigh Valley to receive the credits.

The filings, which occurred over the past few days in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, are individual filings of LLCs, including the location that was based at the Lehigh Valley Mall Lifestyle Center.

PPL Electric Utilities this week filed its first distribution base rate request in a decade, seeking approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission for an 8.6% increase in annual revenue — about $356 million.

It's budget time in Easton again, and for another year, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. has confirmed that property taxes will remain stable.

As a new round of scams make way through Pennsylvanians via phone call and text message, officials are warning residents to be cautious and instead report potential scams to the appropriate agencies.

Two weeks after Iron Hill Brewery announced the closure of its flagship restaurant, the company shared Thursday that all locations are now closed.

The price of a first-class stamp could increase for the fourth time in less than two years. Other proposed adjustments would raise all mailing services product prices approximately 7.8 percent.

Crews will soon get to work fitting out the market at 250 E. Broad St. on Bethlehem’s North Side.

Gateway on Fourth — a new mixed-income housing project on Fourth Street in South Bethlehem — will bring 120 apartments to part of the city long slated for redevelopment, officials said.

Some E-ZPass users are receiving phishing texts, alerting them of overdue toll balances, the turnpike said in a release.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Monday unanimously passed legislation crafted by Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh, targeting pet insurance contracts. It would make sure waiting periods or coverage exclusions are clearly explained.

The former president is holding a campaign rally Saturday at Schnecksville Fire Company — the same day nearby Shankweiler's Drive-In had planned its anniversary celebration. With road closures imminent, operators of the nation's oldest operating drive-in adjusted plans.

Ahead of the Banana Factory's scheduled demolition next year, ArtsQuest is selling some of the odds and ends accumulated there over the years. The goal was never to make money, one official said.

The amenities make a difference, and all of it “separates us from a run-of-the-mill middle class hotel to a luxury historic hotel,” said Hotel Bethlehem Managing Partner Bruce Haines.

If approved as written, “A municipal authority shall provide notice to utility customers if the municipal authority determines that the water usage has increased by 50% for one month above the average water usage for the property.”

Monday was "a little bittersweet" as visitors enjoyed the Da Vinci Science Center on Cedar Crest College's campus for the final time, according to a science center executive.

To thrive in an oversaturated market, business owners say providing an experience is key — and it's what their newer clientele keep asking for.

The Steel City cell tower was planned to include a 125-foot tower, panel antennas, equipment cabinets and a diesel, standby generator on a ground-level concrete pad.