
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 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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Residents of a homeless encampment along Jordan Creek questioned the city's priorities Thursday as officials started the process to shut it down.
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LaTarsha Brown, an Allentown School Board member, was accepted Thursday into the Lehigh County’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program.
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The proposal will be the subject of a committee-of-the-whole meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 13 in City Hall.
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City officials said the encampment is in active flood zone and must be shut down. The move goes against Mayor Matt Tuerk's directive to clean rather than clear camps.
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Police tried to stop Thomas Kravitz's vehicle as it arrived at the woman’s home, but he drove away, hitting an Allentown police car, police said.
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Members passed a resolution supporting a Pennsylvania House bill to legalize marijuana and Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposed budget, which projects millions in taxes from the move. Two former cops on council voted against the measure.
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The Da Vinci Science Center and Friends of the Allentown Parks are partnering to make science more accessible to Allentown kids and open their eyes to what's around them.
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Lehigh Valley Pound 4 Pound Boxing founder Paul Pinnock said he promised kids he would find a better place for them to train amid "difficulties" with his current landlord.
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Tamir Johnson, 35, got out of his car and swung a bat, hitting the other driver’s door. That driver fired one shot that struck Johnson, authorities said.
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Lehigh County Redevelopment Authority is looking for a developer to lead the project to revitalize the Whitehall Township property.
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A 52-year-old Allentown man died July 4 after he was hit by a vehicle while riding a scooter near downtown. A 76-year-old man died about an hour before that crash from injuries he suffered in a collision that morning in Upper Macungie Township.
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A $300,000 grant from the city would “unlock” almost $1 million in other funding for the Downtown Allentown Alliance, according to one of the fledgling nonprofit's leaders.
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Witness said Jose Vladimir Jerez, 24, of Allentown, was driving erratically while trying to pass another car when he crashed his car into a utility pole in October. A 20-year-old passenger, Ezequiel Hernandez-Cartagena, died less than 90 minutes later.
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Allentown police can hand out tickets to anyone caught swimming in natural waterways in the city, Mayor Matt Tuerk said, urging residents not to let a $100 fine “ruin your summer.”
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The 15-person, all-male halfway house would be managed by Living in Victory and offer “probably the most structured” addiction-recovery program in the Lehigh Valley, according to the pastor behind the proposal.
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Angel Martinez-Velez, 25, of Allentown, was shot and killed June 1, 2024, on the basketball court at Allentown's Fountain Park.