Easton News

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.

Affected customers are being asked to enroll in interest-free payment plans so the city can recover more than $35,000 in unpaid bills, its finance director said Wednesday.

In the midst of scorching temperatures, Tandoor Grill owner Raj Muddu is giving out free water bottles to help cool off Easton community members.

Easton Area School District approved a final 2024-25 budget in the amount of $208 million, though some board members are concerned about the potential for shortfalls.

Lafayette College was selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates to host the nation's only vice presidential debate this year. The commission has called off that debate and three presidential ones that it had expected to organize.

James Bartolacci, an Easton-area artist and grant-winner, is working on new pieces intended for an art exhibition in Germany.

A feature film, "The Next Play," is set to be shot in the Lehigh Valley in July 2025. The field hockey-themed drama also touches on pressure and suicide concerns that student-athletes face.

The Lehigh Valley ranks as the eighth-highest industrial market in the U.S., it was disclosed at a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission roundtable meeting on Friday.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights found Lafayette College did not consistently address instances of alleged harassment online and off campus last fall in the weeks following the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Wilson Area School District passed a $46.48 million budget for 2024-25, marking a 1% increase over last year's tax rate, according to the district's business manager.

The Delaware River Sojourn, an eight-day guided paddling and camping trip, is underway. About 100 paddlers are participating.

Northampton County Council must hold new hearings on a financing program for a project turning the former Wilson Borough Dixie Cup factory into apartments.

Looking for relief from the heat in Easton? The city is opening up City Hall and turning on the fire hydrants over the next few days to alleviate the sky-high temperatures.

Batch Creamery in Upper Saucon Township, Klein Dairy Farms in Forks Township and Crystal Spring Dairy Farm in North Whitehall Township are among the 41 stops on the Pennsylvania Ice Cream Trail. We checked out those and a bunch of others.