Jason Addy
Allentown Area reporterI cover Allentown and have worked for news outlets in Pennsylvania, Chicago and Minneapolis since graduating from Penn State. It’s great to be much closer to home — I was born and raised in Lehighton — and I’m excited to help share Allentown’s stories. If you've got an idea, I want to hear it. You can reach me any time at jasona@lehighvalleynews.com.
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Officials are earmarking about a quarter of the money to pay for other capital projects the city has “not been able to work on for many, many years,” Allentown Finance Director Bina Patel said Wednesday. -
Allowing some residents to stay at the encampment for an extra month is “the safest and most humane course of action,” Mayor Matt Tuerk said. But no one else will be allowed to set up camp there before its closure.
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The first phase of the project is to cost about $2.3 million and is “shovel ready,” according to Mandy Tolino, who leads Allentown’s parks and recreation department.
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Edward Tomcics was fatally struck on the night of Dec. 25 outside his home on Water Street. More than seven months later, authorities charged the man who hit him.
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Officials on Thursday said Allentown YMCA will open its shelter at least six weeks early this year to serve some residents of a homeless encampment who are being evicted.
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$50,000 will cover about a month of operations at the Allentown YMCA's warming shelter, which typically opens in mid-November. But it could struggle to open its doors before a homeless encampment's Aug. 25 eviction deadline.
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Officials approved a $57 million project to convert miles of former railroad tracks into roads and trails between Hamilton Street in Allentown and Race Street in Whitehall Township.
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Resurrected Community Life Church is renovating its building on West Turner Street to serve more than 1,000 young students in Allentown.
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The new school is expected to serve about 1,200 Allentown students in kindergarten through eighth grade. City Center is optimistic it will be ready for the start of the 2027-28 school year.
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Residents who spoke to LehighValleyNews.com said they don’t know where they will go; the camp near Tilghman Street was an oasis for many who previously lived alone or in small groups.
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Only a few residents showed up Monday at a virtual meeting about how city officials will look to use federal funding on housing through 2029.
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Allentown City Council's Dec. 18 approval of the 2025 budget ensures the city will not have to return any of its $57 million ARPA grant.
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A man was carjacked at gunpoint Thursday after arranging a deal on Facebook Marketplace to sell shoes to two men, according to court documents.
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Daniel Leibensperger, 34, of Emmaus, was charged Dec. 19, the day after after his girlfriend was stabbed, authorities said Tuesday in a news release. Leibensperger's body was found Dec. 26 in Allentown's Jordan Creek.
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Allentown Parking Authority is set to buy the police substation at Tenth and Hamilton streets and sell it as part of a package deal to a developer.
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Jenna Fliszar, who owns Fliszar Law Office on Hamilton Boulevard, said her work in criminal defense, municipal law and child advocacy means she would bring “a balanced perspective to the bench.”
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Flames trapped a woman in the basement of her home, according to charges filed against Santos Mota-Ramirez. Police say he set the fire after trying to fatally stab another woman. The blaze affected seven row homes Thursday night and displaced 30 people.
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The grant will pay for new speed humps and high-visibility crosswalks, repainted roads, and other “traffic-calming” methods, according to officials.
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Da Vinci Science Center, the 67,000-square-foot facility that opened its doors earlier this year, is spearheading the latest wave of development in downtown Allentown.
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Mayor Matt Tuerk's office hailed the new dashboard as "a significant milestone" as the city works to improve transparency while addressing "key health challenges."
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The first phase of development at Bridgeview Estates replaced nine 1970s public housing buildings with six structures featuring 50 multi-bedroom apartments.
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The 2025 budget was essentially passed as Mayor Matt Tuerk presented it, with the property-tax rate to remain flat while trash-collection fees are set to climb significantly.
