Five Things You Need to Know This Week

Good Monday morning, Bethlehem.

1. Today is your big day of reckoning with the IRS if you haven’t filed your taxes yet. If you haven’t completed your 1040 (or whatever other form you use), you need to get them postmarked before midnight tonight to keep things right with Uncle Sam.

And if you can’t get to your post office by 5 p.m. tonight, there really to go to make sure your envelope gets the proper postmark. If you get your envelope in to one of the mailboxes at the Valley’s main post office in Hanover Township by 11:59 p.m., the U.S. Postal Services promises your love letter to the government will be postmarked with today’s date.

2. across Pennsylvania. And in this commonwealth, you must be registered as a Democrat or a Republican to vote in the primary election.

This year, there are primary races for the Bethlehem Area School Board, City Council and Bethlehem Township Commissioner, as well as Lehigh County Commissioner and Northampton County Council. So, if you aren’t registered and you want a say in who is calling the shots in your local government, county government or school board, it behooves you to make your way to Allentown or Easton – depending on what county you live in – some time today.

3. Though tonight begins the Passover holiday, in which Jews celebrate the Exodus, both the Bethlehem Area School Board and Bethlehem Township Commissioners meet tonight at 7 p.m.

In case there is any lingering misunderstanding, City Council . It will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

If you are going to the school board meeting, it is important to remember that tonight’s regular monthly meeting will not be held at East Hills Middle School, but instead at . Parent-teacher conferences are being held at tonight. Among the pivotal items on the agenda is a that takes into account the 167 or so layoffs that are currently planned.

Neither the city nor the township had meeting agendas posted on their websites as of this writing.

4. Speaking of religious holidays, and will be closed Friday for the Good Friday holiday. Bethlehem Area schools and  will be closed Thursday and Friday for the spring break, which will last through April 25.

5. Traffic on the Hill-to-Hill Bridge and the Southside neighborhood around it will not be getting any better this week. Traffic on the southbound portion of the bridge has been cut to one lane from Brighton Street to W. Third Street until further notice, according to a PennDOT news release.

Also, watch out for numerous repairs, maintenance projects and inspections along Route 22 this week. They could cause temporary delays.

Have a great week!