Tell Us: What's Your Favorite Longtime Easton Business?

Easton mayor to present 'Longevity Award' to businesses that have been downtown more than 25 years.

A lot of business stories here in the last year or so have focused on new businesses that have opened in Easton. But this week, some longtime city businesses will get their moment in the spotlight. Mayor Sal Panto will present Easton's first-ever Longevity Awards Tuesday night at a ceremony at the Sigal Museum. The awards will honor businesses that have been operating in downtown Easton for 25 years or more. "While we truly enjoy the tremendous resurgence we are experiencing we also need to take time to recognize those that have been here and have added so much to our downtown," Panto said in a news release. The ceremony will also include the presentation of the "Easton Award," which honors "individuals who made significant contributions …

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Are Easton's Parking Meters Too Tall?

City officials looking into complaints that people of a certain height have trouble reaching meters.

Easton officials are looking at whether they need to lower the city's parking meters. Not the cost of the meters, mind you. You'll still pay a dollar an hour. Instead, the city could physically lower some of its new credit card meters after complaints that some of them are too high for some people to reach. Downtown business owner Faith Proctor spotted three of those drivers Monday morning outside her Third Street store, standing on their tiptoes and struggling for several minutes to figure out how the meters worked. "One of them was laughing, it was so ludicrous," said Proctor, who owns Madame Mim's. "The other one looked like she wanted to kick the thing." The topic was a popular one last week on the Easton, Pennsylvania Facebook group…

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Jimmy Madden

11:31 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Where did I offend you Mr.Stature? To be honest I could care less. I never pay a meter due to the fact I am car free. Yes that is right I ride my bicycle like you drive a car. My parking is free thanks to local artist ,Third Street Alliance and the city of Easton. I am not sure if I will be verifying or disputing much of anything. What I will do is measure a few of the new meters and give you …   more ›

Tell Us: Is Cheeburger a Good Fit For Downtown?

Hamburger chain announcement sparks debate on our site. What do you think?

Normally, the arrival of a new business in town doesn't prompt much debate on this site. That hasn't been the case with Cheeburger, Cheeburger, the hamburger chain that plans to move into the Pomeroy building. For days, a group of readers has been offering its opinions on whether the chain is right for downtown Easton. So we want to know what the rest of you think. Take our poll, and tell us in the comments.

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yearoftheSnakE

11:19 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013

I would say some DO mind the check cashing and would rather have different options. I do remember that was discussed prior months ago.   more ›

Panto: Easton Needs Second Parking Deck

Mayor outlines plans for Easton parking for local merchants.

Will New Meters Keep You Away From Easton?

Easton could begin charging more to park downtown. Will that keep you from visiting?

After operating a small business in Bethlehem, Anthony Burks said he's ready to relocate to Easton. But he told Easton City Council last week that he's worried about the city's proposed parking meter changes. Burks doesn't like the idea of people having to "stand at the window" of his store, keeping an eye on the meter. "You do that in Easton, you’ll chase people away," he said. It's something I hear now and then, both in our stories here about the parking meter changes and on our Facebook page: if it costs more to park in downtown Easton, people won't shop/eat there.  So I wanted to try to gauge how many people really feel that way. Will the price increase -- 50 cents/hour to $1 per hour -- keep you away from Downtown? Tell us in the …

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Ronnie DelBacco

12:44 pm on Monday, December 3, 2012

Adam, Though I understand your concern about my comments, I have to disagree pointing to the overwhelming nepotism in city hall that drives these taxation and fee issues. Rather than striving for cost cutting measures and pro-growth policies for our small business community down town, Panto's administration and the current city council believe that more fees and regulations will drive business. …   more ›

Do You Like Easton's New Parking Plan?

Credit card meters are coming to Easton. What do you think?

Mayor Sal Panto says it's his number one complaint about parking in Easton: meters that only take quarters. That's going to change next year, when the city installs new parking meters that can take credit cards. It's part of a larger set of changes to Easton's parking system proposed in the 2013 budget. The city would also raise the cost of downtown meters from 50 to 75 cents an hour, extend the parking enforcement hours until 8 p.m., and begin enforcing parking at some downtown meters on Sundays.  What do you think? Are you happy with the idea of credit card meters? Unhappy with everything? Tell us in the comments, and take our poll.

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We're In Business

Metaphysion Opens in Downtown Easton

Newly opened store hopes to offer gifts, services, that fuses multiple faiths and traditions.

Walk inside Metaphysion on North Third Street in Easton, and you'll see a shelf near the counter filled with small statues. Hinduism's Shiva shares space with the Egyptian diety Horus, a depiction of the pieta and an antler-horned god. "We're trying to promote spiritual diversity and religious tolerance," said Ed Garcia, manning the counter at Metaphysion Friday. "So we're trying to have a little bit of everything. We're trying to show we can all co-exist." Metaphysion opened last month, one of two new "new age" style stores in downtown Easton. (We profiled the other one, Madame Mim's -- which is also on North Third -- a few weeks ago.) The store -- which sells candles, incense, stones, bags, books, and decorative items -- is a venture of …

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Easton School of Rock to Perform Concert Series

Students from Easton's School of Rock will perform six times this month at the Third Street Alliance.

Easton's School of Rock will perform a series of six concerts this month at the Third Street Alliance. The school's students -- kids between 7 and 18 -- will perform songs from three sets of artists at the show. The first two shows -- Saturday Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday Jan. 15 at 3 p.m. -- feature the music of Prince and Michael Jackson. The second two -- Saturday Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. -- are devoted to songs by Motley Crue and Guns 'n' Roses. The final set -- Saturday Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. and Sunday Jan. 29 at 3 p.m. -- will highlight the work of the Grateful Dead. The shows will give the public a chance to hear what students have been working on the last four months. Tickets are $10 at the door, $8 in advance. …

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Menorah Lit in Centre Square

Chabad of the Lehigh Valley holds its annual Hanukkah ceremony in Easton's Centre Square.

Pretty much everything about Centre Square this time of year says "Christmas," from the evergreen fronds strung with lights to the constant carols coming from the sound system. But for the last few years, there's been a small section of the square devoted to Hanukkah.  Each year, Chabad of the Lehigh Valley hosts a small gathering in the square at some point during the eight nights of Hanukkah to light a menorah, the traditional symbol of the festival. This year, that occasion arrived Thursday night, with Rabbi Yaacov Halperin joining Mayor Sal Panto and state Rep. Bob Freeman to light the menorah, with the help of a city bucket truck. 

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Jonathan Gerard

10:07 am on Saturday, December 24, 2011

For generations the majority of American Jews has sought to keep religion out of the public square (or circle). The reason is clear: it is easy for minority faith groups to be overwhelmed and alienated from their own town halls and parks and center squares by an overwhelming majority. It is for this reason that the chassidic sect know as Chabad is not joined by mainstream Jewish denominations in …   more ›

Occupy Easton Plans March on Banks

Group will march on two Easton banks Saturday afternoon.

After more than a month of gatherings along Larry Holmes Drive and a more permanent camp on Fourth Street, Occupy Easton is taking its protests directly to the nation's biggest banks. Well, the bank's branches here in Easton, that is.  On Saturday, the group -- with help from its counterparts in Bethlehem -- plans to hold a march through Downtown, stopping at the city's Bank of America and Wells Fargo offices. "We welcome participation by anyone who feels a need to have their voice heard," the group said in a news release, "may have a personal story about the effects the banking system has had on their present life, or feels the time has finally come to take a stand against the greed and corruption that has become the norm on Wall Street, …

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