Easton News

Fisk Camera Shop at 2115 Birch St. in Wilson opened in the mid-1920s and has been stewarded by three generations of the Fisk family. Its run ends this Friday.

Safety officials with PPL presented about a dozen demonstrations of electrical hazards to more than 100 firefighters in Williams Township. The event was designed to educate first responders about potential electrical mishaps at the scenes of emergencies.

“We’re getting more business,” Edward Boscola, Bethlehem director of water and sewer resources, told City Council on Tuesday.

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone is bringing his back to school rally back to Scott Park this Sunday, with free supplies, food, and entertainment for the kids.

The drowning death of a Hanover Township, Northampton County, child in July has been ruled accidental, the district attorney said.

Easton City Council opted to remove a Welcoming City ordinance from its Wednesday agenda, leading to a debate among council and the public as to the need for and intent of the legislation.

City and county officials came together on Easton's Ferry Street on Wednesday to celebrate the opening of a four-unit affordable housing building which once served as the Italian Presbyterian Church.

Route 22 was initially closed in both directions in Northampton County between the Route 191 and Route 512 exits. A dump truck overturned, spilling ashpalt onto both sides of the highway; the driver was hospitalized, according to state police.

Yandiel Onil Gonzalez, 16, surrendered to authorities Wednesday and will be charged as an adult, police said in a news release. The shooting occurred July 12 on South Side.

Easton City Council at a Tuesday meeting took a look at the capital improvement plan for the next five years, highlighting projects such as pool rehabilitation, waterfront development, fire station work and more.

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.