Bethlehem Press

For more than 40 years, Northampton Community College dental hygiene students have learned their trade from knowledgeable staff and community members in need of care.

The expansion of the program and partnership with St. Luke's University Health Network is giving students a broader learning base and enhancing client care in a new clinic at the Fowler Family Southside Center.

The hospital's Denise Rader and college's Heidi Butler explained how the new system works and how community members can get services.

Abraham Lincoln. Robin Williams. These famous people's large-framed portraits on the Lodge's café walls send a powerful visual message: Many people with a mental illness make positive contributions to society.

News headlines paint an alarming picture of violent actions by individuals with a mental illness that stigmatize and isolate all the mentally ill. But recently the Mental Health Recovery Lodge was recognized for offering affordable housing, along with activities and work opportunities for individuals with mental illness that help them become self-sufficient taxpayers.

Saucon Valley School Board voted 6-3 during it's first meeting of the year to discontinue offering applied government and economics courses beginning 2013-14. Voting in opposition were board members Sandra Miller, Edward Inghrim and Lanita Lum.

Based on the high school's three-track system, applied courses are lower-level courses.

"We've found that students in applied classes have consistently not been meeting academic standards to graduate," Assistant Superintendent Carl Atkinson told the board.

Apple has sold more than 85 million iPhones in the U.S. since 2007. The Apple Store has more than one billion downloads of applications (apps) each month. The types of apps range from educational to just plain silly. The South Bethlehem Historical Society was curious to see if their historical knowledge of South Bethlehem could translate into app downloads.

Bethlehem Township's old meeting meeting room at the Coolidge House, located at Fifth and Orth streets, will soon serve a new purpose. Its walls, which once echoed with oratory, will soon be adorned with anchors against which suspected drunk drivers can be chained until they are processed.

At their Jan. 7 meeting, commissioners unanimously approved a 5-year lease with Northampton County's district attorney for a new DUI center. This will replace one currently in use at Bethlehem's Police Department.

Following a nearly weeklong trial earlier this month, a Northampton County jury convicted two Scranton area businessmen of stealing nearly $832,000 from Bethlehem Township. Instead of buying street lights from PPL, as promised, this duo spent large sums of money on themselves. Instead of passing this complicated case off to one of his assistants, District Attorney John Morganelli tried the case himself. His efforts were recognized at the Jan. 21 meeting of the Township's Board of Commissioners.

Despite the absence of Chairman Gus Loupos, the remaining four members of Bethlehem's Zoning Hearing Board decided five separate zoning appeals at their Jan. 23 meeting. Four applicants walked away happy. But not Vince Fantozzi. His request for a self-storage facility at the vacant Straub car dealership was shot down unanimously.