Letter: Politics column is nothing more than wishful thinking

To The Editor, I recently read Mike McGann’s column regarding the 2016 election. Let me say first that I have generally been impressed with your political analysis, which (while having a Democrat tilt) was generally unbiased and on the mark. Any pretense of that type of balanced analysis, however, seems to have been lost in the divisiveness of this year’s election. Case in point is your...

Letter: Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day

To The Editor: Drug overdose is a leading cause of accidental deaths in Pennsylvania. The rate of overdose deaths in the state has increased by 14% in recent years and is significantly higher than the national average. Government alone cannot fix what is wrong in society, but it does have an important role to play. The government can coordinate and connect systems so that there is less redundancy,...

Yup, it’s ‘Lawyers, Guns and Money’ time

Could the unthinkable happen in Unionville on Election Day? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times It’s not even Labor Day yet and Election 2016 is already deeply into weeds of crazy, with apparent Russian Intelligence hackers seeking to impact two local congressional races, the local Corporate Republican Liberation Front is up to its old tricks and once unthinkable scenarios are now entirely plausible...

School start time changes shouldn’t be rushed

Right now, it appears Unionville-Chadds Ford may be only district pushing for change By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times There has been increasing talk about changing the start time for middle and high schools in Chester County — driven largely out of Unionville — part of a larger dialogue going on nationally. While its clear that the science supports such a move — teens seem to have built-in...

Letter: Library board lacks skills to build new library

To The Editor, Here we go again. After over two decades of announcing the need for a new library facility, the current library board and earlier library boards have  failed  to provide a new facility. Instead the current board is  forming another  new committee  to conduct additional study. THE PUBLIC DOES NOT NEED ANOTHER STUDY. THE PUBLIC NEEDS A NEW, MODERN LIBRARY! LOCATED IN THE BOROUGH!!

Tribute to a great man: Mayor Kennedy

Meanwhile, Trump claims PA election will be ‘rigged’ By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times In a week that we should be celebrating the legacy of a Chester County legend — James C. Kennedy, the long-time Mayor of South Coatesville who passed away Thursday at the age of 99 — we are forced to deal with the specter of a presidential candidate who claims the commonwealth’s elections are...

School boards should take a look at ending private retreats

Even the perception that decisions are made behind closed doors is bad By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times Like most boards of education in Chester County, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District board has held regular “retreats” — informal sessions where information is discussed and at times, the future direction of the district is discussed. A district resident, Mark Stookey, has questioned...

Op/Ed: SEC mineral rule has undesired effect

By U.S. Rep.  Joe Pitts, 16th Congressional District, Pa. U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts (R-16) As Co-Chairman of the Human Rights Commission in the House of Representatives, I am tasked with “promoting, defending and advocating” for international human rights standards in the U.S. Congress.  But this month, I voted with a majority of my colleagues to curtail the application of a law designed to bring...

Local Democrats appear to enjoy surprising enthusiasm gap

Flap over Parrish’s finances may prove double-edge sword for GOP By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times With what seemed like a weekend of bad news, followed by the chaos at the start of the Democratic National Convention, if local Democrats seemed a bit down in the dumps, it wouldn’t be surprising. Instead though — and I witnessed this first-hand at the Kennett Area Democrats office opening...

Violence is never the solution

We need to put aside anger and talk about what’s going on and why By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times We live in angry times, something we should all be worried about. From the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to the streets of our cities, folks are expressing their anger, often at each other and not in particularly helpful or useful ways. Like everyone else, I’m horrified by the...