Community Corner

5 Things to Know About This Week

Today is President's Day, but kids still have to get on the yellow bus

Happy Monday, Bethlehem! Today, I can say that without a trace of irony or sarcasm because for many of us, today is not the beginning of the workweek, but the extension of a weekend.

This is President’s Day, a good day for remembering and saluting our favorite chief executives … by peeking out the window, and going back to bed.

1. What’s closed today? Federal, state and local government offices, including courts and the . There will be no mail delivery. Most banks and financial institutions are also closed.

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What’s open today? Stores, stores and more stores. President’s Day sales abound. Also, the Commissioners are meeting tonight. Apparently, these guys just don’t have any respect for the Office of the President.

Bethlehem Area Schools are open, but only because this is a . Bummer, kids. I can’t blame you for being upset. Just take a deep breath, count to ten … and blame Ed Hanna. It always works for me.

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2. If you go to , however, you have something to celebrate. On Friday night, your boys’ basketball team won the . At 7 p.m., Tuesday, the girls host East Stroudsburg Area High School to start the , in Class 4A.

Four girls teams and three boys teams from the Bethlehem area will be represented in the district playoffs, which won’t start for most teams until next weekend. In addition to Liberty, the girls and boys teams from Green Pond and and the girls will all be participating.

3. This week in road work, we have crack sealing along Freemansburg Avenue from Willow Park Road going east all the way to Wilson. The work, which will cause lane restrictions, is expected to last all week. The construction at the south end of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge continues.

4. This week in municipal meetings, Bethlehem Township Commissioners have a light agenda tonight at 7 p.m. in the township building. The Bethlehem Area School Board will hold a at the Education Center on Sycamore Street at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Zoning Hearing Boards for both the city and Bethlehem Township meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

In the township, the board will hear about the “Outlet Barn,” at 4063 Nazareth Pike, where the owners are seeking a special exception or variance by “estoppel” for its off-street parking, which falls short of the township’s zoning ordinance by 25 spaces. In arguing for the “estoppel variance,” owners are arguing  that “the Township Zoning Office has never enforced parking requirements and only recently questioned the number of available parking spaces” when a new tenant requested occupancy.

If the term “estoppel variance” sounds vaguely familiar, it might be because that term was how the after operating on Willow Park Road for 18 years as an unapproved and nonconforming use.

5. If you loved Bethlehem Restaurant Week, which got extended to a week-and-a-half because of all the snow, you might also enjoy , which runs through Thursday.

Have a great week!


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