Easton News

Conditional preliminary approval was granted for a six-story apartment on Northampton Street in Easton, provided the developer and a neighboring property owner resolve a property line dispute.

A capella group Straight No Chaser, with members Walter Chase of Forks and Jerome Collins of Allentown (front, third from left) play two shows at Easton's State Theatre today, Dec 7.

Event admission of $20 ($23.18 with fee online) goes directly to the aforementioned nonprofits in efforts to feed, temporarily house and support folks in need.

Wilson Area LINCS will hold its fourth annual Photos with Santa event at the high school Saturday, offering kids a chance to meet the big man and get a photo, pick out presents and so much more.

Keith Lampman-Perlman has been appointed executive director of the Historic Easton Cemetery. Situated on 85 acres in the West Ward, it is the largest green space in the city.

After more than a year of meetings, plan review and expert testimony, Easton Planning Commission on Wednesday denied an application for a million-square-foot warehouse at 1525 Wood Ave.

Plans to upgrade the pocket park, at 1030 Bushkill St., include adding educational stations, such as a weather station and a sundial, as well as planting a nano-forest.

Easton Area School District took a preliminary look at the 2027 budget Tuesday, highlighting a prospective $7 million gap, alongside several cost-saving strategies intended to help EASD rebuild its reserves.

Scotty McCreery, who won “American Idol” in 2011 and since has released three No. 1 Country chart albums and two other Top 10 discs, will perform at 7 p.m. April 26, it was announced.

After a near four-hour hearing, Easton's Zoning Hearing Board continued the session on the Spring Brook relocation — part of the Easton Commerce Park site — to January 2026.

Thirteen of the Lehigh Valley's seats in the General Assembly look like they'll have a contested November election. State Senate races in Lehigh and Northampton counties will have contested primaries, as well.

Gary Lewis & The Playboys and The Lovin' Spoonful will perform as part of The My Generation Tour at 7:30 p.m. March 13 at Easton's State Theatre. Joining them will be Terry Sylvester of The Hollies, one of those British groups with which they competed, and which had five Top 10 hits of their own in the 1960s.

"The entire regiment deserves some sort of reconsideration, whether it’s by BusPatrol or by legislative change,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

A Multi-Agency Resource Center will be open from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Gallery at the State Theatre for victims of the Hampton Hotel fire in Easton.

Broadway's "Rock of Ages" Band features the musician case of the Broadway show playing what it calls playing "the greatest rock hits from the glam metal bands of the '80s."

The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, in coordination with Greater Easton Development Partnership, has established the fund to help victims of Friday's devastating fire at the Hotel Hampton building, 462 Northampton St. Also, a Red Cross emergency shelter operation has been relocated.

One firefighter suffered serious injuries when he fell off a ladder escaping the fire. Several others received minor injuries. Authorities said the coroner was on scene Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" because they did not have an accurate count of people living in the Hotel Hampton building.

In December alone, there were 676 eviction filings and defaults in Lehigh County — the highest monthly total since August 2023.

In counties such as Lehigh, eviction filings have reached their highest point in years, even as rental vacancy rates have fluctuated. That apparent contradiction — rising vacancy estimates alongside persistent eviction volume — is part of a broader housing dynamic playing out across the region.

Xiaomin Fei, 34, on Thursday entered the plea in the June 3 shooting deaths of Robert and Gretchen Ackerman, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen G. Baratta announced.

Officials signed off on plans that call for 73 condominiums — 15 one-bedroom units, 36 two-bedroom units and 22 three-bedroom units — and about 2,500 square feet of commercial space.

Jack Bennett grew up in the family hardware business and went on to lead it for nearly 25 years. He was one of Easton's most prominent business leaders in the 1970s and '80s. He died Jan. 29 at age 98. Friends say he left an impression on the Downtown business community that still can be felt today.