Northampton County News

The Upper Nazareth Fire Department celebrated Volunteer Firefighters Recognition Day on Monday with news it's been awarded a $10,000 grant.

Cupid Foundations Inc. opened its design studio, CupidIntimates, on West Lehigh Street in Bethlehem in 1987. It's still designing original shapewear that it manufactures and sells in department stores and other national retailers.

Administrators of the Northampton County-owned Gracedale nursing home shared a new strategic plan Thursday. One key priority: recruiting new nurses and nurse aides to fill hundreds of open positions.

Event will involve panelists and keynote speakers who will provide examples and information on climate mitigation.

One of Easton's favorite cultural festivals, Lebanese Heritage Day returns to the city this weekend, featuring plenty of music, culture, and, of course, food.

Sustainable Pennsylvania is a voluntary program focused on helping municipalities improve sustainability to save money, conserve resources and improve residents’ lives.

The slashing of federal funding coupled with the state's budget impasse has set back Second Harvest Food Bank and the families in need it serves across the counties of Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Wayne, Pike and Carbon, organizers say.

Bob's Discount Furniture just off Easton-Nazareth Highway (Route 248) celebrated its grand opening Friday by giving back to two Easton nonprofit organizations.

Are developers proposing to build a warehouse, fulfillment center, industrial manufacturing facility or something else in Northampton Borough? Members of the LVPC's Comprehensive Planning Committee want to know.

The district will keep the building and surrounding property with the intention of reopening the school at a later date that has not yet been determined.

Representatives from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission appeared before Northampton County Council on Thursday for a recap of their work in 2024 and 2025.

Legislators worked to establish penalties for xylazine use and trafficking in an attempt to lessen its presence in Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply. Some say doing so made way for a new, unclassified veterinary tranquilizer to take its place — medetomidine.

The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.

Easton officials announced Thursday that the city will begin leasing public parking from the county lot and the Social Security building lot to address access to public parking.

In a move that Santander Bank said aligns with the financial institution's digital shift nationwide, seven Lehigh Valley branches will be sold to Community Bank. Branches will remain open and employees will be offered continued employment during the transition, which is expected to complete by the end of the year,

Nearly a year after the Biden administration designated xylazine as an "emerging threat" to the United States, Gov. Josh Shapiro classified it as a schedule III drug, making unauthorized possession a crime in Pennsylvania. Experts say the move has partly served to clear the way for new illicit substances to enter the drug market.

Pennsylvania's 137th District is among the most competitive state House races in the commonwealth. It's based in the swing suburbs of Northampton County.

The city is the third major city in the Lehigh Valley to become certified through Bird Town Pennsylvania, an annual designation focused on community-based conservation.

Sigal Museum held a screening of Mariska Hargitay's movie about her famous mother for staff and volunteers on Tuesday. Hargitay filmed at the museum while tracing her family tree for the film.

Despite not being approved for human consumption, veterinary tranquilizers are infiltrating the illicit drug supply in Pennsylvania. Harm reduction specialists and health care professionals say these overdoses can't be approached solely with naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug.

The bill would limit the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of firefighting foam containing PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, beginning in 2026.

Xylazine, an animal-grade tranquilizer that's not approved for human use, has taken Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply by storm. Known on the streets as "tranq," it accounted for almost 1 in 4 overdose deaths in Pennsylvania by 2023. Last year in Lehigh County, it was a contributing cause of death in 20 of the 112 deadly overdoses, or 17.9 percent of cases.