The Bethlehem Press relocated to an office outside the city in 2015, but the year also marked its 11th in nonstop community reporting for the municipalities served by the Bethlehem Area School District and surrounding areas.

We filled 52 weekly issues with matters close to home and of statewide or national interest with a local twist, and for even our most devoted readers that’s a lot of material to remember. Here are highlights of the items we’ve brought to you in 2015:

January

• City Controller and former council member David DiGiacinto passes away at home at age 61

• Bethlehem Area School District board approved all-day kindergarten for all 16 district elementary schools

• St. Luke’s University Hospital nursing school celebrates 130 years, making it the nation’s oldest

February

• Measles, believed to have been eradicated in the United States, made a comeback around the country – including Pennsylvania – because of complacency and some parents’ opinion turning against the use of vaccines

• The Bethlehem Food Co-op quietly begins its fifth year seeking support and membership growth

• Northampton County Council rejects a motion that they would have to approve all county contracts of more than $25,000

• Bethlehem Township commissioners deadlocked on increased benefits to 17 non-union employees

March

• Northampton County officials worry over tough financial future. Half of the 2014 general fund savings will be needed for the 2015 budget because of low rainy day funds. An audit reveals county procurement provisions need an overhaul

• Recurring snowfall depletes area municipalities’ road salt supplies

• Lehigh University, Moravian College respond to statewide drop in SAT scores and the importance of SATs in modern college admissions

• Gracedale Nursing Home administrators Premier Healthcare reports improved quality of care and decreased deficiencies, but continually increasing costs, mostly due to labor and the loss of state and federal reimbursement

• Bethlehem Township commissioners vote to allow renovation of Housenick Park Trails; also to allow people to carry handguns in public parks

• William “Billy” Guth, 35-year supervisor of Bethlehem’s EMS department, dies at 57.

April

• The Monocacy Fabrication building on Mauch Chunk Road burns in the night, releasing a smelly smoke that worries thousands but is ultimately found harmless

• City Council passes a resolution opposing the proposed 110-mile PennEast natural gas pipeline, which will pass through countless acres of the city’s natural watershed

• Liberty and Freedom high school students join for a Mini-THON fundraiser for pediatric cancer that blasts past its $65,000 goal with a whopping $100,212.50

• The Southside’s Skateplaza continues to grow with the opening of the Greenway Patio, which includes lavatories and a concession stand for special events

• Landmark Flatiron building on the Southside will get a much-needed renovation to its upper floors

May

• Northampton County controller reviews employee credit cards after 129 of them spent more than $900,000 in 12 months; finds nothing amiss

• Fountain Hill’s annual fundraising Bacchanalia enjoys 12th year, has earned more than $67,000 to borough playgrounds to date

• Governor Tom Wolf stops at two local schools, including not-quite eponymous Governor Wolf ES, to spread word of his education plan

• Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley breaks ground on new senior center at East Fourth Street location

• Northampton County Council suspends dozens of pay increases approved by Executive John Brown without its permission, including a 19 percent raise to his hand-chosen Deputy Director of Administration Cathy Allen

June

• Local resident Joseph “Jay” Leeson is sworn in as U.S. district judge for the eastern district of Pa. His wife Loretta served for 12 years on the BASD board ending in 2011

• Our Lady of Perpetual Help Schools Principal Harry Reese retires after 27 years with the school

• Longtime reporter, city employee, volunteer and all-around gadfly Pat Kesling dies at age 71

• St. John African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church of Bethlehem holds a prayer vigil in solidarity with members of the sister church in Charleston, S.C., which was attacked by a gunman who killed congregants the previous week

• Saucon Valley School Board votes to provide iPads to all students from 7th through 12th grade for the following school year

July

• The long-awaited $15.5 million Hoover-Mason Trestle, which provides an elevated walkway across the Southside’s massive and iconic blast furnaces, opens to the public

• Southside Bethlehem celebrates its 150th birthday

• The State Mayors Association holds its annual four-day meeting at the Hotel Bethlehem

• U.S. Senator Bob Casey spearheads the Sex and Violence Elimination Act, which became law July 1. The Campus SaVE act bolsters student engagement, college institution policy regarding safety and disclosure, and student and staff education. It is an amendment to the 1990 Clery Act, named for Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student who was raped and murdered in her dorm in 1986

• City council initially approves a pilot program for zoned trash hauling on the Southside, seeking ways to streamline erratic and complicated situations in dealing with the city’s 23 different trash collection companies

August

• Bethlehem’s kings of summer and winter, “Jolly” Joes Timmer and Charles “Bud” Berge die. Timmer, 85, was a decades-long radio host and polka master of Musikfest. Berge, 80, portrayed Santa Claus at Christkindlmarkt for over 20 years

• City Council votes against trash hauling pilot program when members have issue with increasingly early collection times

• Northampton County Council hears details on the PennEast Pipeline project

• Bethlehem Area School District hires 23 teachers for the 2015-16 school year

• The Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley celebrates 50 years of work in community service

• A plaque bearing the Ten Commandments mounted in Northampton County Council chambers vanishes … for the second time

• Bethlehem Area School District braces itself for a tight year as a state budget fight draws out for months

September

• Moravian College’s proposed plan to save the lamented Boyd Theater in center city fails due to increasing costs

• Beloved city resident and Christmas Pageant constant for more than 30 years John Cornish dies, is remembered as “America’s Volunteer” to a community he dedicated every moment to

• The new Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Arts is completed and dedicated on East Third Street

• Bethlehem Township commissioners add their concerns to those of other municipalities regarding the PennEast Pipeline

• City officials hold a meeting outlining numerous longtime sustainability and green operating plans that have reaped rewards over the past decade

• Hundreds gather at ArtsQuest SteelStacks to watch a live feed of Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia; while many wanted a good view, traffic anywhere near the city was a challenge many locals wished to avoid

October

• State releases health rankings; the Lehigh and Northampton counties fall just a hair above than average for lifestyle and consumption tendencies

• Analysis of special interests and their involvement in Bethlehem political campaigns following federal investigations into campaigns of Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski

• Bethlehem Landfill owner IESI Corporation contributes $95,600 to campaigns of candidates that may be sympathetic to its needs in a zoning issue in Lower Saucon Township

November

• Business owners and residents protest a possible zoning change to the long-vacant Martin Tower that could make the giant building another commercial district. City officials are also asked about their involvement with the developers and campaign contributions

• Northampton County Council’s Mat Benol has found a secret hiding place to safely stash his plaque of the Ten Commandments between meetings

• Bethlehem’s Adaptik Corporation is named one of the Best 100 Places to Work in Pennsylvania

• Nine-year-old Darious Condash of Bethlehem Township is struck by a hit-and-run driver and killed. Four days later 22-year-old Royce Atkins is arrested for the child’s death

• Bethlehem Township residents for the first time elect a Democratic majority board

• Northampton County administrators scramble to continue paying for human services as state budget impasse continues

December

• An apartment building on Irene Street burns, displacing about two dozen residents. The American Red Cross of the Lehigh Valley is immediately on hand to lend aid

• Northampton County passes $386 million budget. Executive John Brown is given approval to take out a $50 million loan for human services payments against any possibility the state will decide upon a budget

• Martin Tower’s future is up in the air public plans for a zoning change conflict with developers’ and politicians’ behind-the-scenes discussion of simple leveling the building and erecting a gas station

• Bethlehem Water Authority continues to work ask hard questions and research to ensure the health of the watershed where the Penneast Pipeline is concerned