Easton News

Easton's Nurture Nature Center is searching for stargazers to join in the Hubble Night Sky Observing Challenge, where participants look out for some of the spectacles the legendary telescope has photographed.

An upscale dive bar? What's that? Presley's Cocktail Bar plans to answer that question this February when they launch a new, comfortable spot to grab a cheap but well made mixed drink.

Easton hair stylist Stephen Flowers only has one wish for his birthday: Providing a fresh haircut and a hot meal to homeless people in need.

Nadia and Ethan Brewer, of Kunkletown, are the parents of Owen Eugene Brewer, who was born at midnight at St. Luke's Anderson Campus.

LehighValleyNews.com’s top stories of 2024 reflect a mix of community concerns, business developments, and breaking news. The stories were selected based on those that were most popular, drawing the most readers this year.

More than 300 Met-Ed customers were impacted by damage to three poles when a tree fell into lines near South Delaware Drive in Easton, which reportedly closed the road as well.

Sally Kissling was just worried she might never have necessary handicapped parking access based on her neighborhood zoning, but with some help from council, she was able to get exactly what she needed.

Alan Collins is hitting the streets of Easton on Christmas Day to provide hot meals and supplies to those in need — and to spread a little holiday joy to the whole community.

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.

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

Thirteen of the Lehigh Valley's seats in the General Assembly look like they'll have a contested November election. State Senate races in Lehigh and Northampton counties will have contested primaries, as well.

Gary Lewis & The Playboys and The Lovin' Spoonful will perform as part of The My Generation Tour at 7:30 p.m. March 13 at Easton's State Theatre. Joining them will be Terry Sylvester of The Hollies, one of those British groups with which they competed, and which had five Top 10 hits of their own in the 1960s.

"The entire regiment deserves some sort of reconsideration, whether it’s by BusPatrol or by legislative change,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing.

A Multi-Agency Resource Center will be open from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Gallery at the State Theatre for victims of the Hampton Hotel fire in Easton.

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.