Northampton County News

As 2023 draws to a close, lehighvalleynews.com offers a retrospective of a variety of stories about people, places and things that make the Lehigh Valley special.

Northampton Area Board of Education said it would have been on the hook for about $9.5 million if construction contracts were cancelled for a new elementary school.

Chances are, you'll still be able to find a tree, it just might take a little extra work — and you might want to get it soon. Roger from Unangst Tree Farms explains the ins and outs of why this problem, a decade in the making, is now causing tree farms and stands to sell-out when it's barely December.

The Upper Nazareth Township Board of Supervisors Wednesday voted against rezoning land for a new industrial park next to Nazareth Area Intermediate School. Representatives for the developer said they may try again in the future.

Three Republican school board members are now part of the panel governing Nazareth schools, including two endorsed by the Moms for Liberty Northampton County chapter.

A state mandate requiring schools to identify sexual content in books could cost Lehigh Valley school districts significant time, money and resources.

Jeff Dailey was a 2004 graduate of Notre Dame High School and held its all-time scoring record for almost 20 years. He died in a fire in 2007 while attending East Stroudsburg University. On Friday night, hundreds turned out to pay homage to his legacy and family.

On display are Baez's guitars, artwork, personal letters and other items on loan from the singer.

Most unofficial election results remain the same in Northampton County, but one school board race has shifted after nearly all emergency ballots were counted Thursday.

While moderate Republicans and Democrats prevailed in most races, two Moms for Liberty candidates won seats on the Nazareth Area school board in Northampton County.

Administered by Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, or POWR, with funding from the DCNR, officials said the effort aims to elevate public awareness of specific rivers and recognize important conservation needs and achievements.

Palmer Township's Aiden Hess, 20, is in need of a donor kidney. A rare condition necessitates his use of a dialysis machine for nine hours every day.

It will get warmer and closer to normal as the week progresses, but for now, the National Weather Service recommends folks bundle up as an arctic air mass from Canada and the Great Lakes moves in.

The annual Trees of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites exhibit is now on display through Jan. 12.

Fostering Hope, a Northampton County-based nonprofit, provides essential resources to children in foster care, adoption and kinship care.

Block captain efforts were among the 337 volunteers who so far have helped raise $125,000 for New Bethany Ministries programs in south Bethlehem.

Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said he acted appropriately when he allowed Northampton County Republican Committee Chair Glenn Geissinger to file a private criminal complaint against four members of his party.

U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, during her farewell address on the House floor Wednesday, said the $38 million spent in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District was an obscene amount.

Rasheed Quayle Tisdale was arrested Tuesday by Easton police with the Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Fugitive Task Force and SWAT Team, Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said in a release.

A proposal to construct a more-than-270,00-square-foot warehouse in Williams Township will advance to a review by the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission on Thursday night.

While, according to township officials, the rate hike of 0.15 of a mill to 0.45 of a mill will result in roughly a $30 increase in tax per household, the new-year budget holds the real estate millage rate steady at 7.59 mills.

Wilson Area Schools' board of directors voted unanimously Monday to approve Harrison Bailey III, principal of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, as the district's new superintendent.