JANUARY

• Lehigh County adds an 11th judge to its Court of Common Pleas.

• Longtime city proponent Mark Iampietro published a book detailing 100 years of notable Liberty HS graduates.

• A water main break causes severe damage to Trinity Episcopal Church on East Market Street. Five months later, church officials are still awaiting help from the city to make extensive repairs.

• The pending destruction and replacement of the Walnut Street garage causes months of consternation and arguments.

• The community mourns the Rt. Rev. Hopeton Clennon, beloved longtime bishop of Central Moravian Church.

FEBRUARY

• Valley resident Raza Visram leads locals on safari in his native Kenya.

• The Mayor’s South Side Task Force refocuses on improvements for pedestrians, walkability.

• Former local wrestler and current Historic Hotel Bethlehem community ambassador Ryan Crookham works with Lehigh University to offer the limited-time Ryan Crookham Brown & White Sundae in the hotel ice cream parlor.

• Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure continues to fight the construction of still more huge warehouses, the proliferation of which in recent years some argue is environmentally damaging while also adding to traffic issues and infrastructure wear.

MARCH

• Residents confront city council about its silence after five months of war in Gaza.

• St. Luke’s School of Nursing announces new scholarship endowment in the name of Dorothy Zug Taylor, who had been a local nurse, political activist, and the first woman to serve on Northampton County Council.

• A train derailment on Riverside Drive left several cars dashed in the Lehigh River, but no one was injured and no hazardous materials were released. Another derailment took place under the Hill-to-Hill Bridge in July, sending up to five rail cars spilling from the tracks. The accident was cleared in hours and all the cars were reportedly empty.

• Fountain Hill reveals plan for razing and replacing its aging elementary school.

• The local chapter of the women’s’ group Red Hat Society celebrates 20 years.

APRIL

• Among local church closures, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on the Southside becomes the Society of St. Joseph.

• The new Donerds Donuts on East Third Street hosts a bimonthly Coffee Club Connection; an informal gathering for autistic adults to socialize.

• Mayor William Reynolds reports the city is in a better place than in previous years; debt has declined from $170 million to $100 million in 10 years and nearly $12 million in new grants would help upcoming projects such as Broad Street renewal, Friendship Park, and a new ArtsQuest complex.

MAY

• A pro-Palestinian demonstration at Lehigh University came complete with a live social media team, condemning the constant bombing of Gaza by the Isreali Defense Force.

• Lehigh County officials stress the importance of Drug Take-Back Day, which helps keep unused or expired prescription medications off the streets.

• Neighborhood friends return to remember childhood days spent at Yosko Park in the 60s and 70s.

• The rising problem of absenteeism at schools with rising technology and following the pandemic represents a multifaceted subject. A two-part investigative story explains the complicated issue.

• The BASD gets its first EV buses. At $380,000 versus $130,000 for a diesel model, charging an EV costs (at the time) 60 percent less than fuel and are expected to have a service life of ten years, by which point district officials say new EVs will be much more efficient and less expensive.

• Former BASD School Resource Officer Costas Alestas is arrested for a having a relationship with a 14-year-old girl at East Hills MS.

JUNE

• Local author Casey J. writes, “Shattered: Stories of Lives Broken by Substance Abuse and How We Put the Pieces Back Together,” and gives proceeds to a nonprofit organization in North Carolina that shares that supportive goal.

• Northside residents Michael and Angeline share the hardships and difficult decisions they faced when cancer turned their lives upside down.

• Women’s empowerment group Lehigh Valley Women of Adventure has more than 5,300 members and shares its many outdoor quests.

• The city and county discuss massive plans to rebuild or refurbish the century-old Hill-to-Hill Bridge near the end of this decade.

JULY

• BASD’s Parents as Teachers program hits its 30th year. PAT provides in-home service for pre-K children, promoting early development, and physical and mental health.

• Colleges are closing nationwide due to increasing expenses and decreasing attendance, and the summer months are used to analyze the state of Lehigh Valley institutions, none of which are on federal financial watch lists.

• Dr. John Kincaid visits First Presbyterian Church for its Hi Neighbors speakers program and tells of his experience serving on the defense team of Daniel Ellsberg’s “Pentagon Papers” trial, which tried Ellsberg and Anthony J. Russo for leaking damning documents about America’s actions in the Vietnam War.

• The annual Boutique at the Rink fundraiser nets a record-breaking $356,000. Essentially a gigantic yard sale using donated items arranged by volunteers, the rink at Illick’s Mill Road event has spent 48 years donating to local cancer support organizations.

AUGUST

• Kicking off several celebratory events, Mayor Reynolds announces after decades of effort, the Moravian Church Settlements have officially joined the global list of respected UNESCO World Heritage Sites, to be visited and preserved in perpetuity. Bethlehem and its sister sites in Europe form an amalgamated site cementing Moravian culture firmly in history and travelogue books. A ceremony with the official acceptance of the certificate of inscription with foreign dignitaries present is held in October.

• Lutheran Manor resident Edith Flick tells of her family history and the great loves of her life – family independence and music – as she celebrates her 106th birthday.

• Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem fetes members of four WeDifferent youth flag football teams which participated in the international championship games, broadcast on ESPN and Disney.

• An independent film, “The Fries Rebellion,” depicting a rebellion against federal taxes implemented by President John Adams, is filmed in part at The Sun Inn and premiers at Wind Creek Casino.

• Cpl. Edward J. Smith, lost in combat three days after his 18th birthday in Korea in 1950, is finally properly identified and returned to Bethlehem for burial with honors at Memorial Park Cemetery.

SEPTEMBER

• Love letters to Bethlehem — residents tell The Press why they choose to live, work and play in the city.

• Hearing word of a utility pole issue bringing PPL personnel to their camp under the Fahy Bridge, a number of the city’s homeless came to a council meeting to share their stories and ask for help, or at least to be left in peace. Mayor Reynolds and Police Chief Michelle Kott promised there would be no police sweep of the camp, and that new housing options were coming to the city soon.

• Faced with closure, St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fountain Hill and Iglesia Christiana Shekinah of Bethlehem for a mutually beneficial partnership.

OCTOBER

• BASD’s Education Center, originally Edgeboro ES, celebrates its 100th anniversary with an open house and tours with old friends and former students.

• Jeff Krick – in his guise as Elvis Presley – shakes up The Birches retirement community on Freemansburg Avenue, performing some of The King’s greatest hits.

• Child care Sayre Child Center marks 125 years. Housed in the former Hamilton School on Hamilton Avenue since 1974, Sayre is among the oldest continually operating child care programs in the country.

• Historic Hotel Bethlehem wins USA Today’s best historic hotels for the fourth year in a row.

NOVEMBER

• Experts explain hoarding disorder, its causes and symptoms, and how to help those increasingly held prisoner by a compulsion to collect.

• The final land acquisition is made to complete the Greenway – a $4.3 million contract with Norfolk Southern Railroad would purchase 11.8 acres by the city and connect the Greenway with the Saucon Rail Trail, and extend the nearly two-mile Southside path to 13 miles of uninterrupted off-road travel.

• While the classic Boyd Theatre is long gone, the Dream Boyd Theatre Apartments, a six-story edifice with 205 units featuring plenty of amenities, officially opens still bearing some remembrances of history, such as some refurbished seating and an old film projector from the original building.

• Southside Film Institute’s “Rooted,” due for the 2025 Film Festival, honors local artists with tree plantings and dedications at artistic sites, such as Zoellner Arts Center, the Bethlehem Area Public Library, Charles A. Brown Ice House, and Touchstone Theatre.

DECEMBER

• Pennsylvania Youth Theatre finds a new home at the former Light of Christ Lutheran Church on Washington Avenue.

• City council continues its budget hearings with departmental reviews, and the mayor seeks to trim spending by $1 million from 2024.

• The last of the mergers and closings of the year, Trinity UCC at East North and Center streets, built in 1913, holds its final service. Many of its members joined with the congregation of St. Thomas UCC on Macada Road.

• Fostering Equitable Access to Transportation donates a ebike and lessons to a Café the Lodge employee, hoping to develop a program that will lessen traffic and increase low-income self-sufficiency.