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.

This weekend, Book and Puppet Company will feature Drag Queen Story Hour with the Yippee Skippy Puppets as part of the Easton Book Festival.

The Easton Book Festival is back, bringing reading fanatics and budding authors together for a wealth of exciting activities.

Easton City Council considered on-street parking increases to further alleviate the impending jump in sanitation fees during a 2024 budget hearing on Tuesday.

The Easton Zoning Hearing Board granted two variances for a 110-dwelling development that would be built on more than 14 acres off of Grant Street in Easton.

A rare piebald deer, which has a distinctive white coat with patchy brown spots due to a pigmentation anomaly, has been seen in the Easton Cemetery. Such deer make up about 1% of the total whitetail deer population.

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.

A proposal for a skate park on Easton's Lehigh Drive drew substantial support from city skaters and council members during Wednesday's meeting.

After Lafayette College cleared more than 40 trees for a $1.2 million walkway without city approval, no trees will be replanted on the hillside where they were removed, the city forester said. Instead, several dozen trees were planted across campus and in Easton.

Miller's "Masters of the Air" was published in 2006 and details the air war over Europe during World War II. It's been scripted for television and will premiere on Apple TV+ in January.

Have you been following the news in the Lehigh Valley this week? Find out how many of these questions about happenings and news around the Lehigh Valley you can answer correctly.

The most recent Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Long Range Transportation Plan lists more than $1.2 billion for LANTA over the next 25 years for fleet expansion and expenses. Changes already are underway

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.