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.

Easton City Council heard presentations for improvements intended for Vanderveer and Centennial Parks at their Wednesday meeting, and while the refreshed spaces were well received, the question of cost is still a concern.

The Bereaved Mother's Day dinner was held at the Blendery at Seven Sirens Brewery in Easton. It offered a sentimental moment for mother's to honor their loved ones and lend support to one another.

Skyline Development Group saw Wilson Borough's planning commission issue a recommendation for vital variances linked to Skyline's Dixie Cup apartment complex project Tuesday night.

The nine-man Straight No Chaser will perform at 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7, the theater said in a release. Tickets, at $39.50-$74.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, May 10, on the State Theatre website.

Two Allentown School District teachers and a Salisbury Township School District teacher were chosen at random to participate in a shopping spree at Crayola Experience to help their students during Teacher Appreciation Week. The catch? They had just over a minute.

Northampton County certified its primary election Tuesday without the worry over voting machine errors it saw in November.

The iconic Easton-area business has operated in the 25th Street Shopping Center since 1991. Owners announced last year that they were putting the place on the market. The new owners have run a Downtown Easton restaurant since 2018.

Easton Farmers' Market will celebrate its 272nd season on Saturday, May 4, with dozens of locally oriented vendors offering food, drinks, entertainment, specialty crafts and more.

The former Dixie cup factory in Wilson Borough has long been a candidate for redevelopment. A developer told Northampton County Council Thursday they plan to build apartments with a dog-friendly lounge on the site.

Easton has secured $930,118 Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program funding to replace the deteriorating Abbott Street Bridge, Senator Lisa Boscola announced this week.

An agreement between "car-sharing" company Turo and the Lehigh Northampton Airport Authority won final authority approval Tuesday.

Easton's South Side and Allentown have been welcomed into Blueprint Communities, a program focused on training local officials to help foster improvements in local communities' quality of life.