Jason Addy
Allentown Area reporterI cover Allentown and have worked for news outlets in Pennsylvania, Chicago and Minneapolis since graduating from Penn State. It’s great to be much closer to home — I was born and raised in Lehighton — and I’m excited to help share Allentown’s stories. If you've got an idea, I want to hear it. You can reach me any time at jasona@lehighvalleynews.com.
-
Nadeem Shahzad said Mayor Matt Tuerk forced him to step down in mid-August after he didn’t fire another employee. Tuerk fired that employee Nov. 20 "based on his belief that she was a troublemaker,” according to Shahzad. -
A developer is going back to the drawing board after the Allentown Zoning Hearing Board was reluctant Monday to approve its plans for a 445-unit self-storage facility.
-
A mostly vacant warehouse in East Allentown could be converted into 36 apartments.
-
City Council members this month unanimously approved a new quarter-century lease — at $1 a year — for the museum in the Little Lehigh Parkway.
-
An expansion of the state’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate program “delivers the largest targeted tax cut for Pennsylvania seniors in nearly two decades,” according to the Department of Revenue.
-
Jim Martin, who has served as Lehigh County district attorney for a quarter-century, played a major role in the launch of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center.
-
The county’s legal department urged commissioners to wait until their next meeting to ensure any changes to the bill could be properly advertised, as required by Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.
-
Mayor Matt Tuerk’s firing of a human-resources employee who filed complaints against the city was “an act of revenge,” Councilman Ed Zucal said. On Tuesday, Tuerk made his first public comments regarding the matter.
-
Karen Ocasio, who worked in the human resources department, repeatedly called for an investigation after detailing what she said were her experiences of racism and discrimination while working for the city. One council member labeled her firing "an act of revenge" and "blatant retaliation and retribution” by Mayor Matt Tuerk.
-
The Lehigh County Authority is raising its water fees in 2024, but Allentown residents will also have to pay more for sewer services.
-
June was a one-month grace period for Allentown residents to learn the new yard-waste-collection routine, with citations to be written starting July 1.
-
In the past four years, Lehigh and Northampton counties each saw a roughly 3% population increase, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.
-
Jorge Gonzalez, 40, is accused of killing 85-year-old Elian Makdsi in October 2023 as he was in the intersection at North Jerome Street and Union Boulevard.
-
The plan is meant to coordinate and guide the development of Allentown's parks over the next 15 years.
-
The city of Allentown is set to get $1.9 million, while dozens of nonprofits — including food banks — and other groups will split $3.8 million from the trust's annual disbursement.
-
Allentown's Christopher Roldan-Solis, 14, died Friday morning from complications of drowning, according to the Lehigh County coroner.
-
The Neighborhood Center and Andre Reed Foundation are partnering to kick off the season with an event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at 344 N. 7th St.
-
Federal immigration officials on Friday issued their first statement since arresting 17 people at the Five10 Flats on June 11. Mayor J. Williams Reynolds this week described the arrests as "an American tragedy."
-
Allentown firefighters pulled the boy out of Jordan Creek on the afternoon of June 11 after he jumped in but did not resurface, officials said.
-
The project to replace the bridge carrying Fish Hatchery Road over the Little Lehigh Creek is expected to be done in 2029.
-
Two Allentown nonprofits petitioned the city to change its community-center definition, which they called an “unduly restrictive” and “ambiguous” regulation.
-
LaTarsha Brown, who works in the city's Department of Community and Economic Development, did not appear Tuesday in Lehigh County Court.
