
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.
-
Nadeem Shahzad said Mayor Matt Tuerk forced him to step down in mid-August after he didn’t fire another employee. Tuerk fired that employee Nov. 20 "based on his belief that she was a troublemaker,” according to Shahzad.
-
A developer is going back to the drawing board after the Allentown Zoning Hearing Board was reluctant Monday to approve its plans for a 445-unit self-storage facility.
-
A mostly vacant warehouse in East Allentown could be converted into 36 apartments.
-
City Council members this month unanimously approved a new quarter-century lease — at $1 a year — for the museum in the Little Lehigh Parkway.
-
An expansion of the state’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate program “delivers the largest targeted tax cut for Pennsylvania seniors in nearly two decades,” according to the Department of Revenue.
-
Jim Martin, who has served as Lehigh County district attorney for a quarter-century, played a major role in the launch of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center.
-
The county’s legal department urged commissioners to wait until their next meeting to ensure any changes to the bill could be properly advertised, as required by Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.
-
Mayor Matt Tuerk’s firing of a human-resources employee who filed complaints against the city was “an act of revenge,” Councilman Ed Zucal said. On Tuesday, Tuerk made his first public comments regarding the matter.
-
Karen Ocasio, who worked in the human resources department, repeatedly called for an investigation after detailing what she said were her experiences of racism and discrimination while working for the city. One council member labeled her firing "an act of revenge" and "blatant retaliation and retribution” by Mayor Matt Tuerk.
-
The Lehigh County Authority is raising its water fees in 2024, but Allentown residents will also have to pay more for sewer services.
-
The Lehigh County coroner has identified a man who suffered “head and traumatic injuries” before he died Sunday in Allentown.
-
Blackstone Structures plans to knock down the building to make room for a mixed-use development in the 900 block of West Hamilton Street.
-
Developer Don Wenner plans to put 118 apartments into an eight-story Allentown office building, which he says “is really well-positioned to be a huge part of the downtown district.”
-
“We want to go back to Harrisburg and figure out how we can support programs like this, and how we can spread them to other parts of the state,” Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said Friday at Promise Neighborhood’s Allentown office.
-
The project’s manager expects the new road and trails will be ready in the summer of 2029, just ahead of a deadline imposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
-
Ascot Circle Realty is planning a 33-story building that would loom over the 24-story PPL Tower several blocks away. It could be filled with apartments.
-
Allentown zoning officials backed developer Nat Hyman's plans to build more units in two complexes that were previously approved for fewer.
-
The project could have a developer in place as early as March 2024, redevelopment authority director Chris Gulotta said, though he cautioned that’s an “aggressive” goal.
-
As the investigation into the Ferry Street fire that devastated the 900 block winds down, officials are still unsure of what caused the blaze.
-
Several buildings are being knocked down in the 900 block of Hamilton Street before crews get to work on a new hotel.
-
Cortex Residential is asking Allentown officials for help filling a "funding gap" so it can move forward with a 52-unit affordable housing complex.
-
The appointment of Jack Gross as Allentown’s next solicitor is set to save the city tens of thousands of dollars.