State legislators call for revoking Energy Transfer’s pipeline permits, after leaks, spills

State legislators representing five House districts and three Senatorial districts in Chester County have signed a letter to secretary Patrick McDonnell of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, secretary Dr. Rachel Levine of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and Chairwoman Gladys Brown Dutrieuille of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission calling for an immediate halt...

COVID-19 Update: Presumed Positive tests hold at 6 in Chesco

Updated, Wednesday, 2:45 p.m.: Adds new county numbers, new state numbers. By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times As Chester County residents hunker down and attempt to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, there were more indications of the growth of virus infections locally and statewide, Wednesday. As the county number of infections grew to 9 — up three from the day before — the statewide number of...

Iowa? New Hampshire? How about Pennsylvania being first for a change?

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times So….does anyone know the outcome of the Iowa Caucus? In truth, does it actually matter? Which leads to this point: it’s time for Iowa and, frankly, New Hampshire, to take a back seat on this first-in the nation primary/caucus crap. Truthfully, a state that often finds itself with a meaningless primary should really be first. Pennsylvania. Hey, it is where...

Sunday Punch: Shut down Mariner East II, for good

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Would you allow a five-year-old to run amuck in your neighborhood with a grenade? I’d like to think not, as the odds of it ending well are pretty small. So, allowing Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners, a corporation who acts nearly as responsibly as a five-year-old, to continue building a pipeline across Chester County, near homes, schools and retirement communities...

Dinniman, Comitta headline WC clean energy event

State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D-19) speaks Wednesday night as State Rep. Carolyn Comitta (D-156) looks on at a clean energy event sponsored by PennEnvironment. Photo courtesy PennEnvironment: by Garen Meguerian WEST CHESTER — Wednesday night, PennEnvironment was joined by state Sen. Andy Dinniman, State Rep. Carolyn Comitta, West Chester Mayor Dianne Herrin, and West Chester University Director of...

Endorsements: Malloy, Dinniman for state Senate

Although the headlines from the national race have grabbed the headlines, we in Pennsylvania stand at a crossroads: the state’s finances are broken, we continue struggle to manage to pay for road and bridge and repairs, policing and education. Pensions continue to strangle the state budget and boost local property taxes. Our state legislature continues to be exceptionally dysfunctional and overly...

Democrats play their Trump card and hard

Ads start to go negative, too, shockingly By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Last week, in this space I noted that Democratic candidates would be looking to staple their Republican opponents to GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump. Based on a flurry of TV ads and mailers I’ve seen this week, I had it mostly right, except maybe the implement: Democrats are using a nail gun, and one has to wonder...

Welcome to the center of the political universe

National media highlights major role of Chester County in presidential race By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Well, we told you so. For most of the summer in this space, we’ve told you that Chester County figures to be ground zero in the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — and now multiple stories from outside the region, in USA Today, The New York Times and The Harrisburg...

Dinniman: driving permit holders can sign up for driving test in advance

State Senator Andy Dinniman announced that new drivers who have obtained a learner’s permit can now sign up for a driving skills road test up to 30 weeks in advance. “I have heard from numerous individuals who have had difficulty scheduling a driving test due to high demand, especially during the summer months,” Dinniman said. “In response, PennDOT is now allowing those with learner’s...

Dinniman rips PECO over poor communication

State Sen. Andy Dinniman WEST CHESTER — In the wake of the sudden storm that knocked out power for thousands of Chester County residents, a state senator is taking them to task for failing to communicate with its customers when things go wrong. State Senator Andy Dinniman said today that PECO officials need to improve the way the energy company communicates with customers in light of the thousands...