Mosquito spraying: why doesn’t the county want to talk about it?

County needs to answer questions about spraying program By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times The Kennett Township web site has two running headers at the top: “Monarch Butterfly population decline” and “Mosquito Spraying by Chester County Health Department 8/19/2015.” Could these two occurrences be connected, as with bee colonies and insect-eating bird populations being...

Op/Ed: Fighting for veterans and first responders

State Rep. argues for support of education needs for both groups By Rep. Steve Barrar, State Representative (R-160) State Rep. Steve Barrar (R-160) I spend a lot of my time learning about the needs of the Commonwealth’s emergency responders, veterans and their families. By always remaining informed, I can best represent these groups as the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee...

Birthright citizen challenge is a slippery slope

Can citizenship be taken away by a whim? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Much in line with the old Chinese curse, we live in interesting times. Arguably, though, with more than one Republican presidential candidate arguing for repeal (or downright ignoring of) the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, suggesting that the children of illegal immigrants to the United States should be denied...

Letter: Plenty of sunshine in Kennett Township

To The Editor, As the most recently elected Kennett Township Supervisor, and I am responding to Chief McCarthy’s retirement agreement and some residents’ statements and concerns about transparency in Kennett Township. I want to review the publically available information regarding the agreement signed on May 6, 2015 by Chief McCarthy.  There was a news article (Chester County Press,...

Does 161st election prompt worry for GOP?

Also, Kane must go; thoughts on GOP presidential debate By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times It’s still August, and as much as we want to cling to our icy-cold beverages, sun screen and the amazing scent of meat grilling in the back yard, like a storm front, politics, both local and national keep pulling us forward into the fall political season. We’ll dig into the Kathleen Kane issue, the Republican...

House Bill 809 would further cut local control

Bill would let state make housing, zoning choices instead of local communities By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times Along with about 50 other people, I attended a hearing at West Chester Borough Hall on July 20 about House Bill 809 proposed to the PA House of Representatives. On the positive side, we have a democratic process that allows citizens to find out what our legislators are doing and...

Letter: Longwood chief backs dedicated funding efforts

To The Editor, Longwood Fire Company has been seeking dedicated funding from governmental entities for many years. I was encouraged to see four companies in our region form a funding coalition to reach that goal and have offered them my support. The Berwyn, Paoli, Radnor and Malvern fire companies formed the T-E Fire Companies Funding Coalition. They are combining efforts to reach out to residents...

Op/Ed: Fictionalizing history

By Bruce Mowday Bruce Mowday The history Americans know, or think they know, is increasingly coming from polluted sources. Last week I was in Gettysburg digging into original historical documents at the Adams County Historical Society and Gettysburg National Military Park for information on my next book, J. Howard Wert’s Gettysburg. I had several interesting conversations with curators and historians...

Sunday Super Six: Food & fashion with a patriotic twist

Happy Fourth of July weekend! This is easily one of my favorite holidays. Fireworks on the beach with family and friends, what could be better? In the spirit of patriotism, I have created a red, white and blue Sunday Super Six that I looooooove! Here are the details:

What to do: Hometown fun, fireworks & festivals

  By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times   The Philadelphia Museum of Art sets the backdrop for the annual Welcome America fireworks display. Independence Day has arrived and that means it is time for two of Chester County’s longest-running and most popular Fourth of July events — Downingtown Good Neighbor Day (Kerr Park, Downingtown, 610-285-1119, www.goodneighborday.com) and...