Northampton County News

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day of increased charitable donations. Local nonprofit organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank and the American Red Cross hope to benefit from the increased generosity the day brings.

Lehigh Township volunteer firefighters shared the obstacles they faced fighting a 600-acre fire that erupted on Blue Mountain. Almost a month later, it's still not technically out.

Originally beginning as an online dumpling delivery service, this weekend Kerri McCarthy and Vasa Li will open a brick-and-mortar shop called Angry Dumpling in Nazareth.

Some Northampton Area school directors are hoping Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik rethinks his retirement. They worry candidates for his job won't want to work with the school board.

Even though their winged companions aren’t able to take to the air themselves, more than a dozen owners of chickens and ducks let their opinions fly in their honor Tuesday before Nazareth Borough Council.

The 67-year-old driver died from natural causes and not from injuries in the crash, according to the Northampton County coroner. The crash happened Monday at the Tatamy interchange.

Based on themes of home in the Lehigh Valley and executed via improvisation on the piano, former Nazareth native Dominic Billett's new record “Truer is the Valley, the River, the Pale Sky" paints a thoughtful, vivid picture perfect for walks throughout the region.

At its Nov. 11 meeting, Northampton Area school directors considered five partial renovation options for Moore Elementary.

Northampton Area school directors approved the second round of financing for the East Allen Elementary School and education center project at their meeting last week.

Bethlehem Area school directors approved the purchase agreement for 315 Columbia St. in South Bethlehem at their Monday meeting. The space would serve as a satellite campus for the Bethlehem Area Vo-Tech School.

If JOSHWAY meets its shoe drive goal, it will receive a $10,000 donation to fund its work supporting Lehigh Valley youth-focused nonprofit organizations.

The GEO Group, one of the world's largest private prison companies, publicly considered building a detention center in Upper Mount Bethel Township in 2010. The project instead went to Newark, where Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested earlier this year after seeking to tour the facility.

The Annual Pennsylvania Wild Turkey Sighting Survey, which began Tuesday, aims to track population trends across the state for a bird that once almost went extinct in the U.S.

There are 51 stops on this year’s trail. In its eighth year, the trail is focused on celebrating local creameries across the state while driving business during the summer months.

Northampton County and Northampton Community College will offer a free workplace safety training later this month aimed at employees of municipal governments, nonprofits and similar organizations.

The funding, through the Livable Landscape program, was unanimously approved at the county council’s June 18 meeting.

Representatives from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission appeared before Northampton County Council on Thursday for a recap of their work in 2024 and 2025.

Legislators worked to establish penalties for xylazine use and trafficking in an attempt to lessen its presence in Pennsylvania's illicit drug supply. Some say doing so made way for a new, unclassified veterinary tranquilizer to take its place — medetomidine.

The tax and spending plan drew praise from Republicans for lowering taxes and funding border security, but Democrats condemned it for slashing Medicaid coverage and raising the deficit.

Easton officials announced Thursday that the city will begin leasing public parking from the county lot and the Social Security building lot to address access to public parking.

In a move that Santander Bank said aligns with the financial institution's digital shift nationwide, seven Lehigh Valley branches will be sold to Community Bank. Branches will remain open and employees will be offered continued employment during the transition, which is expected to complete by the end of the year,

Nearly a year after the Biden administration designated xylazine as an "emerging threat" to the United States, Gov. Josh Shapiro classified it as a schedule III drug, making unauthorized possession a crime in Pennsylvania. Experts say the move has partly served to clear the way for new illicit substances to enter the drug market.