Easton News

ASPIRE to Autonomy doled out 125 40-pound boxes of food to Easton community members in need at Centennial Park on Friday evening.

Easton City Council approved a resolution that will let the city seek a $750,000 grant to help in the rehabilitation of the Heil Park Pool on South Side.

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone has confirmed he will host his annual free turkey giveaway for residents in need, set for Nov. 22.

Easton's Historic District Commission approved plans that would see the south quadrants of Centre Square revamped with new furniture and planters.

Celtic Woman, an all-female Irish musical ensemble that has released 28 albums and been nominated for a Grammy Award, will perform at the venue at 7:30 p.m. March 19, it was announced.

Easton Planning Commission recommended special exceptions and variances for a pair of 12-unit lowrise apartment buildings planned for the city's East Berwick Street.

Members of Northampton County Council voted 5-4 Thursday to reject tax increment financing for the former Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough. A developer has plans to turn the 640,000-square-foot building into more than 400 apartments.

Easton Planning Commission heard testimony from those in opposition to the Easton Commerce Park project Wednesday, with experts raising questions about the developer's submitted plans and studies.

Easton's Environmental Advisory Council is continuing to work on an ordinance aimed at decreasing light pollution throughout the city.

These are the complete but unofficial election returns reported by Northampton County for the Nov. 4, 2025, general election.

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.

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.