Each year the Bethlehem Press reflects on the events, big and small, good and bad, that affected our community. Here are a few of the many stories and images we’ve covered in 2019:

January

• New local celebrity Einstein the Snow Camel visited the Bethlehem Police Mounted Unit to introduce himself to the community. Einstein became famous following a disastrous November snowstorm in which traffic throughout the valley was at a standstill and his Peaceable Kingdom zoo owners took him from his trailer for a walk along Route 22.

• Bethlehem Area School District is commended for its services for special needs students after a districtwide audit.

• Northampton County’s Gracedale Nursing Home is again facing scrutiny as its Medicare rating falls to two out of five stars.

• Volunteers and countless local donors help provide food and household goods to LVIA employees, who continued to work every day despite a nationwide government shutdown that left them without pay for over a month.

February

• The Community Action Development Corporation of Bethlehem graduates a group of entrepreneurs. The monthlong courses run twice a year and support the community by teaching local businesspeople about sales, marketing, professionalism and small business finances.

• Saucon Valley School Board members elect lawyer Edward Andres to replace Linda Leewright, a member since 2015, who resigned for unknown reasons.

• Local Giant supermarkets deploy “Marty” robots in their stores to report spills and hazards.

• Eighteen-year-old Freedom HS senior Kyle Miceli runs for school board, saying current members are out of touch with the needs of today’s youth. He did not ultimately win a seat.

• R.K. Laros Foundation and the Industrial Archive and Library celebrate a project to archive The Laros Oral History Project, which documents the company’s decades of impact on the Lehigh Valley.

• Edna and Franklin Graver, who met at Northampton HS in 1944, renew their vows on their 70th anniversary.

March

• Northampton Community College held a talk by parents who lost children to addiction. This was one part of our yearslong opioid crisis coverage.

• Governor Tom Wolf directs all 67 Pennsylvania counties to purchase new, updated voting machines ahead of the November elections.

• Bethlehem Police Department Chief Mark DiLuzio releases a report indicating crime has fallen throughout the city by about 22 percent over the past decade.

• Gracedale nurses report a “horrifying” staff shortage.

April

• St. Anne’s Parish on Easton Avenue celebrates its 90th anniversary.

• Lehigh Univeristy hosts a discussion on school shootings with BASD Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy and psychologist Dr. Peter Langman.

• Vulunteers begin organizing the 45th annual Boutique at the Rink.

• Police arrest 43-year-old Wilmer J. Ortiz of Allentown on charges related to the Iglesia Pentacostal de Bethlehem fire the previous April.

May

• BASD’s seventh annual MiniTHON fundraiser for pediatric cancer breaks previous records with a total nearing $141,000.

• Northampton County council continues a lengthy debate regarding the $2.9 million purchase of new Express Vote XL voting machines.

• The Liberty HS Alumni Band marks its 25th year.

• Martin Tower, the Lehigh Valley’s tallest building and former executive site of the vast Bethlehem Steel corporate empire, is demolished, representing in seconds the company’s decades-long collapse.

June

• Bethlehem places a new monument stone at city hall to honor the 35 local men who died in service during the Vietnam War.

• To continue its legendary longevity, Moravian Book Shop, the oldest continually operated book store in the world, partners with local businesses Dave’s Deli and Lost Tavern Brewery.

• Fountain Hill worries over future finances as the state Department of Environmental Protection’s new storm water requirements will cost an estimated $750,000, and mandates the creation of a Storm Water Authority.

• Northampton County and Bethlehem’s 911 emergency call centers are finally integrated by state mandate before the July 1 deadline. Concerns about any number of technical issues prove unfounded as administrators inform the public the system has already been functioning since late March.

July

• Public outcry over a proposed ordinance to impose fees and a permit process on people assembling and speaking on public property causes Mayor Bob Donchez to reconsider and withdraw it.

• Freemansburg renames its park in honor of council member Gerald C. Yob, whose public service of over 50 years includes 36 as mayor.

• Bethlehem Township hears a pitch for a proposed marijuana dispensary at the Bethlehem Village Shoppes on Route 191.

• Northampton County Republicans say the state should help pay for the new voting machines Governor Wolf declared were mandatory.

August

• Hanover Township residents are up in arms over the public pool closure during a sweltering summer, but equally dissatisfied council members insist the extend of underground damage must be carefully examined before proper repairs can be conducted.

• A man climbed the SteelStacks blast furnaces and refused to come down, causing no end of complications and cancellations for scheduled public events. Emergency responders talked him down safely after 21 hours, and Devin Hallquist and Michael Steele, waiting nervously for the word from ArtsQuest, are permitted to hold their wedding at the site.

• The United Way of Pennsylvania’s ALICE report estimated more than 1.8 million families that don’t technically qualify under the poverty line are still desperately struggling to make end meet. The Asset-Limited Income-Constrained, Employed qualifier, which does not include poverty-level households (13 percent) amounts to 30 percent of households in Carbon County, 23 percent in Lehigh County, and 26 percent in Northampton County.

• Bethlehem City Council member Bryan Callahan breaks meeting rules in a long tirade which begins a feud with city hall over what he calls back-room deals and rumors of unethical employee behavior.

September

• In a history piece, the old fountain on Main Street is explained. Eliza Richardson was a prominent person in 19th century Bethlehem, known for giving throughout the community. Upon her death in 1882, she provided dozens of bequests and charitable donations, including $1,500 for a public drinking fountain downtown.

• BAPL opened a new satellite location in Bethlehem Township.

• After much debate and a court decision, Lehigh County courthouse is permitted to continue displaying its 70-year-old official seal, which includes a Latin cross. The suit had been brought a Wisconsin-based atheist group called Freedom from Religion Foundation.

• Miles Harper, 20, of Allentown, and Yzire Jenkins-Rowe, 22, of Bethlehem, are charged in the homicide of 18-year-old Tyrell M. Holmes, in which the victim had been stabbed and set aflame in a construction trash receptacle in April 2018.

• A crowd of about 150 people rally for climate awareness at city hall’s Payrow Plaza, part of a nationwide call-to-arms.

October

• Freemansburg receives a $75,000 grant from Northampton County to make its aged borough hall Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

•Northampton Community College culinary students Matthew Kirby and Thomas Traupman were invited to compete in the International Young Chefs Association Challenge in NingBo, China, at month’s end.

• The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission intensifies its scrutiny of big box warehouses, which cause water run-off issues and massively increased truck traffic.

• Governor Wolf released a three-part plan to address the state’s flawed charter school laws. BASD administrators are supportive of many of the proposed measures, but worry nothing useful can be accomplished in Harrisburg.

November

• The historic Hotel Bethlehem celebrates 97 years.

• Bethlehem hosts the second annual Pennsylvania Latino Convention; three days of speakers, delegates, prayers and discussion.

• Election results are in, but not without issues, as the new Express Vote XL voting machines suffer malfunctions, most notably in Northampton County. Early investigations indicate some machines left the manufacturer without proper preparation. Votes were still accurate, thanks to backup printouts. The state eventually did contribute $342,000 for the $2.9 million investment.

• Pennsylvania Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve gives a Patriot Award to Bayada Health Care supervisor Michael Detwiler, of Bethlehem, for his support of active service members in his employ.

December

• When City Council member Bryan Callahan makes accusations of city employee misconduct, Mayor Donchez threatens to cease attending council meetings – which mayors have historically attended since 1961. Further accusations at a press conference and more volatility eventually lead to Callahan being removed as council’s representative to the Bethlehem Parking Authority.

• Wind Creek officially takes over the former Sands Casino and event center.

• The Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission celebrates city hall’s 50th anniversary.

• Saucon Valley School District approves a new teacher contract through 2023 on a 5-4 vote; some board members were concerned there is not enough breathing room for unexpected expenses.

• Local organization leaders, and state senate and congresspeople join statewide calls for charter school reforms at a press conference. Superintendent Dr. Roy was with NAACP President Esther Lee, State Rep. Steve Samuelson, Sen. Lisa Boscola and many others.