Letter: Support for HB 1663 and Imagination Libraries
To the Editor:
I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for House Bill 1663, which the Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently approved, moving us closer to establishing a statewide Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The bill is now before the Senate Education Committee for review.
A statewide program would provide a 50% state match for books and postage, allowing local programs...
Chester County DA’s Weekly Update: April 1
Editor’s Note: The following is a submission by the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.
Here is a brief update on some of the events that occurred recently in the Chester County DA’s Office:
Phoenixville Man Pleads Guilty to Third Degree Murder
On March 20, 2026, Holden Hoffsis, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, pled guilty to Murder of the Third Degree before the Honorable Sarah...
ICE will likely get local police killed if this continues
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgann.bsky.social
You may have seen the video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement “officers” ripping people out of a car the other day on Phoenixville. Over the last few months, we’ve seen this all around the county, especially hitting our agricultural sector.
What we saw on video this week was horrifying, probably illegal and just another day...
Houlahan deserves our praise, not bomb threats
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgann.bsky.social
Chester County’s Member of Congress, Chrissy Houlahan, and five other Democratic military veterans who hold elective office, put out a video reminding members of the military that they do not need to follow illegal orders and should refer such orders up the chain of command.
The six were vilified, with President Donald Trump Thursday saying...
Letter: Time to ban electric scooters
To The Editor,
If the Legislature does not ban electric scooters from Pennsylvania’s roads many children will be maimed and killed.
Misinformed politicians and bureaucrats think that electric scooters are a viable means of transportation. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are no “rules of the road” for scooters, and no infrastructure for them.
Electric scooters are toys,...
Op/Ed: Bleeding on the Page — The Lost Art of Listening
Engagement with music on an emotional level is dying out, and we will all reap the consequences.
By Jason Bauer, Special to The Times
Jason Bauer
The first time I heard Six Years Wiser by Harrison Boe, the hair on the back of my neck stood straighter than the guards at Buckingham Palace. I played it dozens of times consecutively until I could sing every word backwards in my sleep. I didn’t just...
Op/Ed: Bleeding on the Page — The Lost Art of Listening
Engagement with music on an emotional level is dying out, and we will all reap the consequences.
By Jason Bauer, Special to The Times
Jason Bauer
The first time I heard Six Years Wiser by Harrison Boe, the hair on the back of my neck stood straighter than the guards at Buckingham Palace. I played it dozens of times consecutively until I could sing every word backwards in my sleep. I didn’t just...
Op/Ed: The Declaration of Independence — Proof of Our National Identity
By Christopher P. Gerber, Esquire
Christopher P. Gerber
America is 249 years young. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress separated from Great Britain by approving a Resolution proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, declaring “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown,...
‘No Kings’ protests show that Americans will stand up for the Constitution
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgann.bsky.social
It was the ultimate split screen moment that is now so telling about the state of American politics: a parade in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army on one screen. Millions of Americans participating in the “No Kings” protest, peacefully, on another. And a third featuring a manhunt for a man alleged to...
Op/Ed: Putting patients first — the value of a physician-led health care team
By Heather Beauparlant, DO, MBA, FAAFP, President of the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians
Heather Beauparlant, DO, MBA, FAAFP
In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, two fundamental principles should always guide our decisions: do no harm and put patients’ interests first.
As a family physician, I have worked alongside skilled nurse practitioners (NPs) throughout my career, and...
