Easton News

Easton City Council was hit with plenty of public commentary on their presence in the community Wednesday, with residents applauding member Taiba Sultana while chastising others for perceived inaction.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Restaurant Week returns to Easton on July 16, with a plethora of delightful plates to please just about any palate.

Gov. Josh Shapiro made a deal with Senate Republicans to include vouchers in the budget, angering Democrats and unions. He reversed that course of action after facing backlash and has promised to veto them.

Astronaut John Shoffner stopped by Crayola Experience in Easton on Friday, July 14 to discuss his voyage to the International Space Station and answer kids' questions about the cosmos.

Easton Public Market beat out Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and 18 others across the country to claim the top spot in USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice awards.

Easton City Council welcomed interim city director David Hopkins, who will handle the job for Luis Campos during his recovery, during Wednesday's meeting.

Lafayette College in late May submitted a replanting plan to the city after officials threatened to stop work when 46 trees were cleared from the slope without approval. It's unclear whether the plans have been approved.

The soon-to-open HangDog Outdoor Adventure, a four-story outdoor ropes course, is conducting job interviews almost every day, every 15 minutes, after a crush of job applicants.

Northampton County's district attorney's office is touting $168,000 in drug money that law enforcement has confiscated.

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.