Easton News

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.

Affected customers are being asked to enroll in interest-free payment plans so the city can recover more than $35,000 in unpaid bills, its finance director said Wednesday.

Lawmakers voted 46-1 on Senate Bill 1014, bipartisan legislation that would require public schools to adopt "bell-to-bell" policies restricting student use of smartphones and other internet-connected devices throughout the entire school day.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce annual meeting attracted about 1,000 at Wind Creek Event Center Thursday afternoon.The event brought together members of the business community — colleagues, customers and competitors — to celebrate their collective mission of making the region a better place to work and live.

An error with the Northampton County voting machines led to thousands of voters across the region casting their ballot with emergency paper ballots on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023.

Dozens of individuals came out to speak about Easton City Councilwoman Taiba Sultana's Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution Wednesday, but despite strong support, the document failed to make it to a vote.

From North Whitehall to Danielsvile, veterans are being honored this week.

These are searchable, unofficial results as reported by the Northampton County elections office on Tuesday night. Provisional ballots are not included. The vote will remain unofficial until certified in several days.

Several county and municipal races in the Lehigh Valley were uncontested in the general election. That includes two of the highest-profile jobs in Lehigh and Northampton counties, as well as elected city representatives in Easton and Allentown.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. and the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley are calling out a resolution for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war introduced by Councilwoman Taiba Sultana as divisive and outside the bounds of city council.

Lafayette College's commercial composting vessel was placed in June. It comes more than a decade after the college first started it's composting program, with the dining hall using fully compostable packaging and cutlery.

Former Easton Area School Board member Frank Pintabone has announced his largest Thanksgiving turkey giveaway this year, with 300 free birds going out to families in need across the city.

Greater Easton Development Partnership has gotten agricultural grants totaling $60,000 from the Pennsylvania Farm Bill's Urban Agriculture Infrastructure Grant.

Easton's 12th PA Bacon Fest drew thousands of fans to the city's Downtown on Saturday, with everyone lining up for bacon burgers, desserts, brews and so much more.

Easton City Councilwoman Taiba Sultana has said she is experiencing anti-Muslim harassment increasingly following her introduction of a resolution calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.