The threat of COVID-19 long dictated certain precautions for communal wellbeing, but life for many of us returned to normal in 2022.

Businesses reopened, kids went back to school and public gatherings resumed, but it was not easy and it was not immediate.

Here are highlights of the events the Bethlehem Press covered during this year of recovery.

January

• St. Luke’s University Hospital and Lehigh Valley Hospital Network offer public information for avoiding long COVID testing waits and clearing up misinformation.

• Community Action Development of Bethlehem secures $1.9 million for its Southside Tomorrow neighborhood partnership program. The funds are earmarked for youth development, community engagement, public housing and other local needs.

• Dana Z’s “Love One Another” wins a Gingerbread Games art contest on Historic Main Street.

• For the first time, women members hold the majority of seats on city council.

• Saucon Valley School Board is still debating student and staff masking during the pandemic.

February

• Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin says a grant will fund a domestic violence task force for three years.

• Jen Avitabile’s longtime painting for beginners classes return to live sessions at the Bethlehem Township Community Center.

• The availability of online gambling has led to a rise in the activity by teenagers – to the extent of one-third of Pennsylvania students surveyed. Experts warn the trouble’s not necessarily about money, but the allure of fantasy challenges, preoccupation and isolation.

• Contention over the Hellertown Area Library continues as the borough’s partnership with Lower Saucon Township ends, with the latter no longer willing to pay for its residents’ use.

• The 70-unit luxury Armory Apartments officially open on the 1930 Bethlehem Armory lot.

• Freedom HS proposes to repurpose its old planetarium as a multi-purpose/wellness center; Saucon Valley hires acting Superintendent Jaime Vlsaty permanently to the role.

March

• Locals with family and friends in Europe come together in support of Ukraine, under intense attack by Russia. Ukrainian churches gather supplies to send overseas and vigils are held. Nalya, a Ukrainian girl with a sort of second family in Bethlehem, manages to share some of her experiences while seeking safety. Her story continues throughout the year.

• Hellertown Borough Council rejects a plan by developer Lou Pektor to convert the former Neighbors Home and Garden Center on Main Street into an apartment complex.

April

• Valley restaurants are featured for residents with gluten-related disorders.

• Pysanky egg-decorating traditions of Ukraine are explained; a colorful addition to Easter traditions.

• Gracedale Nursing Home is badly short-staffed, compounded by pandemic stresses, and employees bring grievances to Northampton County Council. One complaint was employee terminations due to their unwillingness to get vaccinated.

• Daniel Buglio takes over as Lehigh County coroner, and describes the office’s nonstop operations investigating about 9,000 deaths annually, which had increased during the pandemic years.

May

• Fountain Hill residents defend the Stanley Avenue Pool, which borough council had announced must remain closed for lack of trained employees and lifeguards.

• Crossing guard Paula Perez is a semi-finalist for the national caregiver award for founding adult at-home care provider Visiting Angels. In July she wins the national award.

• After more than a decade of slow growth and planning, the Bethlehem Food Co-op breaks ground on a new grocery store on East Broad Street.

• A wildfire burns 290 acres in the watershed in Tunkhannock Township.

June

• Former Northampton County Executive John Stoffa dies at 82, is remembered by county officials as a consummate professional with much to teach even his opponents.

• Calypso ES is chosen as a Lighthouse school for its implementation of FranklinCovey training and assessment company’s Leader In Me program; one result is a 100 percent rate of kindergarteners who read above grade level.

• After a two-year hiatus, the Freddy Awards return to live production at Easton’s State Theatre. Liberty HS’s Rebekah “Bex” Vermuelen wins accolades here and from Principal Dr. Harrison Bailey at graduation.

• Bowery Farming opens a new vertical farming site on the Southside.

• Liberty HS celebrates its 100th anniversary.

July

• Freedom senior Emma Lazo, daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, is lauded by the district for her many accomplishments, including earning a scholarship to Yale University.

• Parents Aaron and Carlee Nelson spread word of a rare in utero disorder, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, after the death of their daughter, River Lynn, whom doctors delivered early via cesarean but could not save.

• Historic Hotel Bethlehem celebrates 100 years.

• The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, dialing 988, is available for those experiencing a mental health crisis. Its infrastructure is growing, but local hotlines also exist: 610-782-3127 in Lehigh County and 610-252-9060 in Northampton County.

August

• Dr. David A. Ruth prepares to take the helm as Northampton Community College’s fifth president.

• The Historic Conservation Commission denies an ArtsQuest request to raze the old Banana Factory building and build a new structure. A form of the project is eventually accepted by city council.

• As COVID recedes, dentists are on the lookout for the new Monkeypox, which can often be observed in the appearance of oral lesions. Meanwhile Pennsylvania leads the country in cases of Lyme disease.

• The Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley’s Basilio Huertas Senior Center remains strong in community support, delivering meals, organizing activities and providing COVID vaccinations.

• Droughts are becoming more severe worldwide, but the Bethlehem Water Authority assures the community the watershed is abundant.

September

• Holes in medical and government systems can lead to “medical child abuse” charges that lead to unjust family separations without consistent and thorough investigation.

• BusPatrol offers technology to school districts to help keep kids safe when passing cars don’t cooperate with expectations and rules.

• Slow progress at Hellertown’s new Public Works building at the former Reinhard School caused borough council to delay hundreds of thousands in expected payments to Pioneer Pole Building, Inc.

• After making “500 friends a year” for 43 years, barber Denny Roebuck hangs up his shingle on West Broad Street.

October

• Lehigh County officially thanks Andrea Naugle for 50 years of public service.

• Local educator and author Scott Morro signs copies of his new book, “The Albrecht Society,” about Moravian University and some of the secret tunnels under old central Bethlehem.

• Cantelmi’s Hardware Store on East Fourth Street celebrates a century in community retail.

• USA Today names Historic Hotel Bethlehem the nation’s top historic hotel for the second consecutive year.

• Clinicians and specialists break down two years of study and offer some hope and comfort to COVID long-haulers; those who continue to suffer lingering effects and symptoms long after recovering from the virus.

November

• The South Bethlehem Historical Society dedicates a landmark alongside a bunch of neighborhood “kids” who grew up in the old East Fourth Street area called Northampton Heights.

• Longtime Bethlehem Township Commissioner Malissa Davis dies at 78, is remembered fondly by many colleagues and residents.

• The remains of PFC. Edward John Reiter are identified and returned to the Lehigh Valley. He was listed MIA during the Korean War in 1950.

• An early-hour accident at Paul Avenue and Union Boulevard leaves a diesel fuel spill that requires the neighborhood’s evacuation. BASD’s Nitschmann MS provides emergency facilities for EMS and Red Cross workers, but there are no injuries or damage and residents are back home that night.

December

• After a year and more of arguments and negotiations with Lower Saucon Township, the Hellertown library is financially solvent, but its future is still in doubt.

• After three years, the Boys and Girls Club of Bethlehem resumes its annual Steak & Burger dinner fundraiser.

• In the face of ongoing public health issues and high inflation, Christkindlmarkt vendors somehow see record sales figures.

• Anti-Semitic speech and graffiti in the city are criticized by Mayor J. William Reynolds and council, and by community members gathering at Payrow Plaza to light the public menorah.

• The city’s downtown holiday season is livestreamed on Hallmark Channel’s few choice ChristmasCam locations.