The global pandemic is mostly in the rearview and we’ve adjusted to a new normal, and though 2023 lacked some of the calamities of the past few years, time and events don’t stand still. Here are highlights of the events the Bethlehem Press covered last year.

January

• Lehigh County honors fallen firefighters Marvin Gruber and Zach Paris.

• City officials lead the lighting of the public menorah during Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, following incidents of public anti-Semitism.

• The city’s busiest railroad crossing at Riverside Drive is cause for many commuter headaches, and we analyze why and what’s to be done about it.

• Dealings between Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township reach the breaking point after a year or more of disagreements on everything from public library costs to the swimming pool and compost center, all previously shared.

• The consolidation and property sales of three Southside Lutheran churches rile residents.

February

• BASD, state auditor, at odds over rainy-day accounts; district says politics are to blame.

• Following the yearslong mandatory home schooling and aborted social lives, schools and mental health professionals act to address record high depression and anxiety in children.

• Prices of some items are surprisingly high; electric bills are steep and egg prices have tripled. Egg producers (not the chickens) had no reason not to raise prices until public outrage brought the issue to light.

• Hanover Township remembers longtime public works employee Vincent Milite; Ira “Bob” Born of Just Born candies also passes at the age of 98, as the company celebrates its centennial.

• Freedom HS senior Jerry Rivera earns a four-year scholarship to Princeton University.

March

• Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure announces an update to a nearly $4 million renovation to the county prison, in the works for years, which includes removal of lead paint and asbestos.

• A prayer vigil at Payrow Plaza marks the second year of Ukraine’s war of survival against Russia.

• Saucon Valley HS sees an uproar when students create an after school club sponsored by The Satanic Temple – actually a secular organization responding sardonically to religious after-school clubs.

• Fountain Hill’s Friedman’s Service Station is honored by the borough, county and state as it closes after 87 years.

• Twelve-year-old Emily FaRannte of Lower Saucon Township, a survivor of non-Hodgins lymphoma, is honored by the American Cancer Society for creating a toy drive to help her fellow young patients.

April

• BASD Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy retires after 13 years at the helm, overseeing a literal turnaround in fortunes from the once embattled and indebted district. Dr. Jack Silva, formerly superintendent of curriculum, is promoted in his place.

• The Bethlehem Area Public Library gets a much-needed first-floor renovation for the first time since its doors opened in 1967. After the $450,000 renovation, it reopened in late May.

• Hellertown holds a memorial for teenage sisters Brianna Baer and Abigail Kaufman, who died in a house fire April 1. A bench in Dimmick Park is dedicated to them in May.

May

• Kolbe Academy, a high school for youths recovering from addiction, and under the Allentown Catholic Diocese, announced it will close after about five years, having gained only a fifth of the expected student body necessary to remain sustainable.

• St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on the Southside closes, followed by St. Peter’s and Light of Christ in May. The three congregations merge at the last location, renamed Blessed Trinity, in June.

• A painting of World War II veteran, pastor and downtown historical tour guide the Reverend John Weiler and his wife Eleanor is donated to Moravian Village on what would have been his 100th birthday, two months after his passing.

• The Bethlehem Food Co-Op, which is successfully building a mixed-use grocery on East Broad Street, hires Eric Shamis, who will manage the store when it opens.

June

• Northampton County Executive Lamont MCClure publicly condemns continued construction of vast warehouse facilities for regional and international shipping companies. He cites health, traffic, environmental and other reasons, saying he doesn’t want them to leave, but enough is enough.

• The Colonial Quilters’ Guild of Bethlehem celebrates 40 years.

• Pete’s Hot Dog Shop, a Southside staple since 1937, closes and the property is acquired by a Lehigh University graduate and a chef, who plan major renovations.

• The air turns gray and red as thick, stinging smoke from historic Canadian wildfires descends and is trapped in the Lehigh Valley. Breathing is difficult for some and the sun is blocked for long days, as international news labels the Valley’s air quality some of the worst in the U.S.

July

• Annual five-day community yard sale Boutique at the Rink raises record $311,000 for cancer research.

• Saucon Valley Principal Walter Pawlowski resigns after only nine months, making him the school’s third principal in three years. Assistant Principal Theresa Casimire was prepared to take the reins.

• Police horse George is retired but still serves the community, in ways such as assisting developmentally and behaviorally challenged kids at summer camp.

August

• Musikfest, and its most reliable volunteers, celebrate 40 years.

• BASD and police seek to protect kids debarking buses with new cameras that record passing vehicles - including license plates - while the STOP sign is engaged.

• Lehigh Valley International Airport unveils a $35 million checkpoint terminal with the infrastructure for up to four more lanes. This is the first project in the country funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

• The new Polk Street Parking Garage opens to absorb the Southside’s many event visitors. Plans for the expected demolition of the outdated Walnut Street Parking Garage hits a road bump when residents see its planned replacement for the first time. Contention over the new design and anger with the property owner, Bethlehem Parking Authority, continues through today’s publication and beyond.

• For the third year running, Historic Hotel Bethlehem wins USA Today’s best historic hotel contest.

September

• Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley hires Raymond Santiago, who has ten years’ experience with such organizations as the United Way, as its new executive director.

• Respected emergency services worker, volunteer firefighter and former Lehigh County EMS Director John Kalynych dies at 50. Remembrances are held by the county and community.

• A small Renaissance Faire, complete with costumes and swordsmanship, is held during a regular Saturday morning Rose Garden Farmers’ Market.

October

• A Lehigh County program asks residents to join their exterior home cameras to a network to assist in crime fighting and surveillance. This is a voluntary registration process that will help investigators and police save valuable time while canvassing neighborhoods.

• Lehigh Valley Hospital Network and Lehigh County officials and residents are at odds over a monthslong fight regarding Children & Youth Services procedures and investigations. One county official says there is evidence a doctor removed children from their parents far more often than was called for.

• Northampton Area HS juniors Braiden Binder and Spencer Parker, in the automotive technology program at Vo-Tech, restore a 1970 Fiat Spider’s classic roaring motor with a new near-silent electric engine.

• Locals Sherwood and Elaine Kindred celebrate 75 years of marriage with family.

November

• Eighteen teams gather at Lehigh Valley International Airport for a team plane pull to raise money for Special Olympics.

• The former Boys & Girls Club building on East Fourth Street joins other landmarks, notably the Banana Factory, set for demolition. The latter will be replaced by a new facility owned by ArtsQuest, while the former lot is slated to become a residential/commercial structure.

• Pen pals Debbie Green and Yumi Yamada meet up for a visit in Japan, unfortunately postponed three years due to COVID. Their friendship began 50 years ago when Green was a student at Marvine ES.

• Hellertown commemorates the addition of the Walnut Street Bridge to the National Register of Historic Places.

December

• Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin announces his retirement, and is honored for his many years of public service. He took office in 1998; six four-year terms.

• Northeast Community Center consolidates three separate rooms into one ADA-accessible food pantry at 1116 Fritz Drive.

• The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce revives its Advent Breakfast after a two-year hiatus. The event began 55 years ago.

• Residents reject a proposed STEAM Charter School in Bethlehem, preferring STEAM changes to the current curriculum to adding another entire school to the tax base. A second hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 22.