Northampton County News

At least a half-dozen popular Lehigh Valley restaurants permanently closed their doors or released plans to shift operations in the final months of 2024.

The project, beginning today, includes rebuilding the stream bank. Officials said increased public interest and use, climate change and more frequent high-water events have significantly eroded it.

Jared Isaacman, a tech billionaire who lives in the Lehigh Valley and conducted the first private spacewalk, was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to lead NASA.

School directors tabled a vote on whether to renovate or rebuild Moore Elementary School. They will narrow down the options at their next facilities committee meeting later this month.

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.

Organizations such as colleges, local governments and non-profits are encouraged to apply for funding under Congress's Community Project Funding program. The Lehigh Valley has secured tens of millions in funding through federal discretionary spending in recent years.

An influx of residents and warehouses have made highways in Lehigh and Northampton counties more crowded. An analysis by LehighValleyNews.com finds some stretches of road have experienced increases of 40% to 50% in traffic volume, with Route 33 overtaking Interstate 78 as the region's second-busiest highway.

A recent bald eagle rehabilitation and release is a bright spot amid a dangerous time for bald eagles in the Lehigh Valley and the rest of the commonwealth. Bird flu continues to threaten wild bird populations, causing more than a dozen bald eagles to be euthanized across Pennsylvania.

A five-part series this week will explore traffic and transportation issues in the Lehigh Valley. Increasing traffic volume, dangerous driving and insufficient infrastructure are among the topics examined.

The first-of-its-kind report, “Wildlife Corridors: How reconnecting habitats is protecting Pennsylvania’s native species," highlights 10 innovative wildlife corridor projects around the state.

Democratic VIPs including U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, DNC Chair Ken Martin and former U.S. Rep. Susan Wild attended the town hall at Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Thursday night. The evening came with a rebuke to attendees from the church pastor.

At a virtual town hall Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Lehigh Valley, said he did not support cuts to Medicare or Social Security, called for peace in Ukraine, and gently pushed back on how the Trump administration handled cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development.

A four-hour forum on the prospects of passenger rail service returning to the Lehigh Valley after more than 45 years was held at Lafayette College on Thursday morning.

Pasa Sustainable Agriculture officials say they're owed more than $3 million in outstanding reimbursements from the federal government. The lawsuit includes six other organizations and five major cities.

Organizers with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Democratic National Congressional Committee and several other groups invited U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie to a town hall event Thursday over proposed Medicaid cuts. Instead, the first-term Republican will hold his own telephone town hall.

Candidates for Northampton County Council, Allentown City Council, Allentown mayor and Parkland School Board are being challenged in court for allegedly failing to meet legal requirements to appear on the May ballot.

Glowing economic news in the Lehigh Valley was shared during the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation's 30th anniversary celebration at ArtsQuest on Tuesday.