Northampton County News

The financially flush campaigns are a stark contrast from traditional school board races, where candidates rarely spent more than $250 while campaigning for the unpaid offices.

Parental rights are on the agenda in school races as moms versus moms battle for control to set policies on book restrictions, bathrooms, transgender students and teaching history.

Nazareth school board members said they want to review the current regulations for reviewing books, concerned it's a slippery slope. Reviewing all books submitted to the district could cost more than $100,000.

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.

The Northampton County Department of Parks and Recreation on Friday held a free program for residents about the world’s only flying mammal, bats, at Louise Moore Park, 146 Country Club Road in Lower Nazareth Township.

The school board is expected to vote next week on a request by Moms for Liberty to ban a book. Three other written requests have also been filed.

Memorial Library of Nazareth and Vicinity hosted a children's storytime hour sponsored by the Northampton chapter of conservative group Moms for Liberty.

Former candidate Anna Thomas is taking another run at the 137th House District seat, announcing her run on Oct. 13, 2023.

Limiting the influx of warehouses into Lower Nazareth Township is the key issue for all three candidates for Lower Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors.

The Kellyn foundation aims to bring healthier, more accessible food options to people in the area. Their mobile farmers market goes all year round and now they are working with local farms to help grow their operations.

The Pennsylvania Department of State is starting a new office to help train county election workers, Pa. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. It also plans to update its guidance for logic and accuracy testing that could have caught issues with the Northampton County voting machines.

Only some of the newest Northampton County elected officials are actually new to county government. The new slate of county elected leaders will take office Jan. 2.

Lafayette College will host the 2024 vice presidential debate this coming September, drawing the world's eyes to its Easton campus. Nicole Hurd, the college's president, hopes it will be an opportunity to highlight the liberal arts school and the greater Easton community.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg passed nearly three dozen laws last week in a final burst of action as they held their last voting session of the year.

“We used to be able to get turnout gear in what, eight weeks? Now it’s taking eight months,” Fire Capt. Scott Krycia said. “It’s just across the board with everything that we use for firefighting now.”

Canine experts emphasize how dangerous and, in some cases, deadly, human foods can be to dogs.

The 4th annual Winter Village in Easton brought in over 56,000 visitors from over 20 states.

“I know a lot of people are dealing with inflation still, yet forever, it seems like,” Lower Saucon councilwoman Sandra Yerger said. “It seems like it might help them out a little bit.”

It might seem counterintuitive, but harvesting holiday trees year after year is better for the environment than using an artificial one, experts said, especially amid the proliferation of plastic piling up in landfills.

Officials on Wednesday reviewed several preliminary transportation policy strategies for the Valley's priority climate action plan. The plan’s focus is to reduce carbon emissions from transportation, a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions across the region.

More than three dozen projects in the Valley were awarded grants, receiving about 7% of the total funding awarded. Statewide, $335 million in grants were announced Wednesday.

All but one township zoning amendment application were reviewed without issue by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Comprehensive Planning Committee on Tuesday afternoon.