Easton News

A new Northampton County budget, introduced by County Executive Lamont McClure Tuesday, keeps taxes flat. He said he would have cut taxes, if it weren't for the County Council.

Shelly (Jacobs) Bartolacci is retiring as an Easton girls basketball coach three years after retiring from teaching. Her retirement marks the end of a 54-year association with the Easton Area School District as a student, teacher or coach.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. presented his 2024 budget to Easton City Council Monday, kicking off a series of meetings to be held over the next two months before it is finalized.

The fifth edition of College Hill Porchfest saw about 150 musicians perform at 31 improvised stages across the Easton neighborhood.

Bob Stem is the winningest football coach for two high schools — Bethlehem Catholic and Phillipsburg, his alma mater. Stem, a teacher and coach for most of his life, died Friday at age 84.

Northampton County Judge Anthony Beltrami joined the bench in 2006. He moonlights as an amateur harness driver at horse-racing tracks in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Earlier this year he was named Amateur Driver of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association.

Several Christian churches will come together with prominent figures in the local LGBTQ+ community to discuss the complex relationship between the two this weekend at the Colors of Hope Conference in Easton.

The Lehigh Valley and Forks Township planning commissions are weighing the school’s plans for a $10 million lacrosse center at Metzgar Fields Athletic Complex.

Easton's garbage and recycling transportation contract is nearly double the cost of the previous one. City officials are exploring options to prevent that increase from passing on to residents.

A local initiative to develop a sustainable farm food infrastructure was instrumental in Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding choosing to appear in Easton to announce the theme for the 2024 state Farm Show in Harrisburg.

Officials from said an industrial building that burned last month was too badly damaged to find how the fire started.

Republican William Rowe, a write-in candidate for the Bethlehem-area seat on Northampton County Council, will advance to the November election.

Carol Free, Easton's "Chicken Lady," is on a mission to allow for backyard chickens in the city. Check out her plan, the concerns with the birds, and what the city government is up to when it comes to chickens in the city.

The Easton Twilight Criterium returns to the city's Downtown district on Saturday, May 27. Streets will be closed to accommodate racers and pedestrians throughout the day.

An appreciative community packed Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown to bid farewell to Bishop Edward P. Cullen, 90, who died May 9. Cullen was the third Bishop of Allentown, having served from 1998 until his retirement in 2009 at age 76.

The Weyerbacher Hill Challenge 5K is set for this weekend, with runners set to explore the hills of Easton before getting back to the brewery to enjoy some brews.

Northampton County Council voted to eliminate 20 frontline jobs at the county's juvenile detention and treatment center, and create 13 new supervisor positions. A union for the detention center's workers argued the change is illegal.

Unofficial results in Lehigh and Northampton counties suggest voters rallied around candidates for Northampton County Council and Lehigh County district attorney, among others.

Rosé on the River is coming back for the fifth year at Easton's Scott Park on June 10. The event benefits the Greater Easton Development Partnership and the programs it helps.

The changes, introduced at a county council committee meeting Wednesday, would eliminate some youth care worker positions at the county's juvenile justice center, and create new assistant supervisor roles.

The first stage of the Lehigh Valley Passenger Rail Analysis project will be completed by October, it was revealed on Wednesday during a Lehigh Valley Transportation Study committee virtual public meeting.

Tuesday's primary election set up a number of races for the fall general election. Here are capsules from Lehigh and Northampton counties.