Easton News

State Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Northampton, announced Monday he will seek re-election to a 20th term.

The Easton-based artist will show her work and participate in a discussion at the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown on Saturday, Jan. 27.

Registration is open for the Nurture Nature Center's Youth Climate Summit of the Lehigh Valley, a free event April 19 and 20. The summit aims to engage middle and high school students in climate change issues, as well as seek solutions.

Moustache, an adventurous cat with a distinct marking befitting his namesake who galivanted throughout Easton on a surprise vacation adventure before being rescued this summer, has passed away at the age of six, his owner confirmed via a Facebook post.

Easton will soon have another option for health care. Valley Health Partners is expanding their services to the city's South Side and will offer care on a sliding fee scale.

Easton's Nurture Nature Center may be able to add a new immersive dome theater to their location, provided they receive a parking variance and government clearance to use funding for the project.

Easton is looking for a new conservation management apprentice, a position which will entail planting and maintaining urban trees throughout the city.

Easton Restaurant Week is back and better than ever, with 22 restaurants offering special selections at fixed prices, covering everything from everyday eats to haute cuisine.

It's a best-of lookback with WLVR's Megan Frank in this week's episode of Insights.

The original store's roots go back 50 years in Easton. Now Giacomo's Italian Market and Grille plans to expand into a second location, selling lunch and dinner, deli meats and imported Italian dry goods.

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.