Bethlehem News

“We, as a country, must enhance our standards on imported goods”

John L. Curry trims a piece of material at Herculite, a synthetic fabric manufacturer in Emigsville. via The York Daily Record

“We know the first quarter is not going to be good. UPS is sort of indicating that maybe things are continuing to be not so positive out there”

Stocks pulled back Wednesday after UPS lowered its first-quarter profit forecast, adding to concerns about the health of corporate earnings. via Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Lehigh County has pledged nearly $4 million as part of an aggressive anti-crime measure aimed at aiding local police departments.

Details of the package, which would offer grants to local departments for additional police officers and updated records management software as well as fund part of the cost of a regional crime data center, were released Tuesday by County Commissioner Don Cunningham and District Attorney James Martin.

Cunningham called the program, which will be presented to the County Commissioners today, ''unprecedented'' at the county level. Read more

A crew from the Food Network's ''Unwrapped,'' ever on a mission to expose the inner workings of classic American food, rolled into the Lehigh Valley Monday to delve deep into the red velvet cake question.

The local manifestation, red velvet cake ice cream from Maggie Moo's in the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley, will be part of a larger ''Unwrapped'' segment that examines the mostly Southern treat.

Before the evolution of the frozen treat, red velvet cake turned up in the form of the ''groom's cake'' at weddings and as signature desserts at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Historians say the chocolate-flavored cake appeared around 1900, before the introduction of food coloring when, they say, it was flavored with beets. The most famous red velvet cake of the recent past might be the red velvet armadillo cake in the 1989 movie, ''Steel Magnolias.'' Read more

Police said a gang of teens dressed in dark clothes appears to be targeting Lehigh University students and robbing them after shoving them to the ground.

Bethlehem police had two attempted robberies and one robbery this week involving Lehigh students and are working with campus police to warn students and increase patrols in the area, said Bethlehem police Detective Mark DiLuzio.

One student, who was able to get away, was treated at St. Luke's Hospital-Fountain Hill for cuts and bruises he suffered in the attack. Read more

Three weeks after fire forced 13-year-old Manny Garcia to jump from the second-floor window of his family's Bethlehem home, he walked out of Lehigh Valley Hospital.

Burns that forced him into a medically induced coma have healed nicely and his chances of a full recovery are good, but in some ways he left the hospital Saturday hurting more than when he arrived.

Only hours before his release, Manny learned what the rest of the community already knew: The fire that injured him had taken his four siblings. Read more

A 21-year-old Bethlehem man will spend up to four years in Northampton County Prison for assaulting his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend last September. via Express-Times

A Northampton County judge sentenced a 24-year-old Bethlehem man today to at least five years in state prison on a felony gun charge. via Easton Express-Times

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will be working with counties throughout the state to boost the collection and recycling of compact fluorescent light bulbs in the state. via Recycling Today

“We are certainly happy with this resolution because it puts a murderer behind bars for life and it spares the (Sanchez) family the pain of a trial. It was a gruesome murder and this is a just result”

A Bethlehem handyman who bludgeoned his neighbor to death with a machete in 2006 was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison. via Express-Times

Lehigh County officials will introduce plans next month for a new crime-fighting initiative that would add high-tech regional analysis to old-time shoe-leather policing.

After more than a year of study and planning, the administration will ask county commissioners to support a state-of-the-art, bicounty crime data center that would serve as a clearinghouse of sorts for offenses.

''I think the county can and should play a role in crime issues, and the way to do that is to get all of our local police departments some help in working together,'' Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham said. Read more

“He's going to do this again.''”

More than 30 people packed a courtroom Tuesday to support a Bethlehem woman who claimed her neighbor poisoned her dogs, Annie and Dixie, with a scattering of rat poison.

After about two hours of testimony, a district judge ordered James Clewell, 66, to face animal cruelty and injury to dogs charges in Northampton County Court.

Clewell, of 2139 Montgomery St., shook his head as District Judge James Narlesky of Hanover Township held the charges over for court. Clewell is free on $1,500 unsecured bail. Read more

There is no championship football game like ''Super Sunday,'' or an election like ''Super Tuesday.'' But federal tax officials are hoping that this weekend's event, touted as ''Super Saturday,'' will help low-income citizens get their economic stimulus checks.

The Internal Revenue Service will have an office open on 3 W. Broad St., in Bethlehem on Saturday to help prepare and file tax returns for the Lehigh Valley's low-income people, including some retirees and veterans.

About 1 million Pennsylvanians who ordinarily don't have to file a tax return will have to do so this year to get an economic stimulus check. The IRS offices open on Saturday will help those people prepare and file the forms needed to get their checks, said David Stewart, a spokesman for the IRS. Read more

The power of storytelling is the theme that infuses the energetic ''Tales From The Middle East,'' currently at Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem.

The original children's play by Touchstone ensemble member Vicki Haller follows the stories of Sheri, a middle school girl from Bethlehem, who has returned home after spending three years living in the Middle East and brings back a wealth of stories to share with her classmates.

Sheri, played winningly by Jen Jaynes, discovers stories help her combat her loneliness when she first arrives in Israel and also guide her through her awkwardness when she returns to Bethlehem. Read more

The owner of a popular Bethlehem diner is prepared to purchase the former Perkins Restaurant and Bakery building in downtown Easton, city officials said this week.

Billy Kounoupis, owner of Billy's Downtown Diner, is under contract to buy the Perkins building, which sits one block south of Centre Square and Two Rivers Landing, Easton's popular tourist destination, city officials said Wednesday.

''I feel it's an exciting addition to the downtown and will have a positive impact,'' said Kim Kmetz, manager of Easton's downtown Main Street program. Read more

Tickets for Barack Obama 's visit to Muhlenberg College Monday are free and available to the public at Obama headquarters in Allentown , Bethlehem and Easton.

Obama is expected to hold a town hall-style event at Memorial Hall around 5:30 p.m. Doors open at 3:50 p.m. About 2,000 tickets are expected to be made available to the public.

Tickets are available at: Allentown headquarters, 1233 W. Linden Street, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday Bethlehem headquarters, 531 Main St., 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, phone - 610-882-0242 Easton headquarters: 742 Washington St., 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. Read more

Rob Zimmerman, a computer technician who had been out of work for nearly two months because of investigations into problems plaguing the Bethlehem Area School District's technology department, will return to work Monday, according to his attorney.

''He gets his money back, he gets his job back,'' Bethlehem attorney Mark S. Sigmon said after a disciplinary hearing Friday with district administrators. ''We're still seeking to have his reputation restored publicly.''

Superintendent Joseph Lewis did not return a call for comment. Read more

A Freemansburg police officer, suspended after being charged with drunken driving in December, returned to duty Wednesday, about a week after he was charged with another alcohol-related offense, according to court documents.

Kevin Kovalovsky, 32, was cited for public drunkenness by an officer in his own department on the 700 block of Washington Street in the early morning hours following St. Patrick's Day.

According to court documents, Kovalovsky was ''very intoxicated'' and had ''recent injuries to his face that he stated he received in a fall.'' He refused medical attention but, according to court documents, an officer drove him home ''for his own safety.'' Read more

Not long ago, alarmed planners in the Lehigh Valley scurried to figure out how to stop developers from chewing up more than 4 square miles of open space each year. They pondered more farmland preservation, stronger zoning and spending tens of millions of public dollars to preserve open space.

It turns out all they really needed was a good old housing slump.

The number of building permits issued in 2007 dropped 45 percent over just two years earlier, while land approved for development decreased by more than 800 acres, or 1.3 square miles, in the same period, according to a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission report to be released today. Read more

The city's health director has been cited by police for the second time in two days after police charged her with drunken driving for allegedly striking a fire hydrant last night.

Judy Maloney, 45, of the 400 block of Greenwood Avenue in Bethlehem, was charged with drunken driving and careless driving after allegedly hitting the hydrant around 7:50 p.m. near 153 E. Washington Ave.

Police said the hydrant was struck so hard, the pipes were exposed above the ground. Maloney's blood-alcohol content was not available, but a police report states Maloney smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech. Read more