Why was there a Blue Wave in Pennsylvania?
By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times @mikemcgannpa
By now we’ve all had a bit of time to digest the election results — in terms of Pennsylvania and Chester County — it was a very good mid-term election for Democrats, sweeping the statewide races, taking control of the state House of Representatives and holding all of their Congressional seats.
As you may know, the party in control of the White...
Election Day 2022: Be patient and ‘Don’t panic.’
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa
While tonight might be election night, don’t expect results tonight.
It’s likely to be a bit more like 2020, when it took a few days to sort things out — a fact largely driven by your favorite GOP state legislator, as they and their cohorts refuse to allow counties to count the large number of mail-in ballots before election day — a transparent...
Op/Ed: Safe nursing staffing rules save lives
By Leah Cosgrove, Special to The Times
Leah Cosgrove
Today, nurses are burnt out and at their limit. There are no mandated staffing ratios in Pennsylvania. Our nurses are being spread dangerously thin in taking care of too many patients. Implementation of mandated staffing ratios will create safer patient care and happier nurses.
Imagine that you’re a barista with a line of customers. One is...
Gun violence is spiking because, frankly, we just don’t care
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa
The texts from my daughter happen every few days: “There was a shooting. I’m safe.” She — like her twin brother — is a senior at Temple University.
The two of them live about 10 blocks apart in North Philly, but gunfire has become a pretty regular event for both, distressingly. Obviously, it scares the hell of out of me, but both are where...
Op/Ed: SB 106 is too radical, too extreme
By Melissa Shusterman, State Representative, 157th District
Melissa Shusterman
This past summer, Republicans in the Pennsylvania House and Senate rammed through a bill with several proposed constitutional amendments that would limit personal rights instead of protecting them. One of the amendments included in SB 106 would change the state constitution to say there is no constitutional right to...
Letter: A vote for Katie Muth
To The Editor:
As election day approaches I am looking forward to supporting the candidates best aligned with my beliefs and values. As a lifelong Republican I will be supporting many of the Republican candidates. For Senate in the 44th district I will be supporting Katie Muth.
As a Humane Society of the United States volunteer I have had the opportunity to work with Senator Muth and her staff...
Letter: Sappey is the best choice for the 158th District
To The Editor,
I’ve been a registered Republican for 75 years, and I’ve known and respected Leon Spencer for at least 20 years. And yet I am strongly supporting Christina Sappey for State Representative for the 158th District.
Firstly, Christina has done an excellent job for us. She is moderate, hardworking, and always tries to work in a bi-partisan fashion. I am disappointed that Leon’s...
Love will triumph over hate in Chester County
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa
I guess it is easy to hate someone if you “non-person” them. More interestingly, people are using a twisted version of faith to justify such behavior.
Whether it is kidnapping migrants — here legally on an asylum application — or the despicable torrent of emails sent to West Chester Borough officials over OUTFest, we have a hate problem, not...
After a tough spring, Democrats look like they have momentum on this Labor Day
By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times @mikemcgannpa
Happy Labor Day! (Well, tomorrow, actually).
As we political junkies know, Labor Day is the traditional start of the political season, so it is always with some excitement when the first ridiculous claim of the campaign season is thrown out.
Back in May and April, when it looked like the sky was falling on Democrats and President Joe Biden, I suggested...
The problem with Doug
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa
Way back in the “good old days” of 2018, Scott Wagner, then the GOP nominee for Pennsylvania governor, threatened “I’m gonna stomp all over your (Gov. Tom Wolf’s) face with golf spikes.”
We’ll assume for the sake of this column, that this claim was strictly metaphorical.
Wagner, of course did nothing of the sort at the ballot box,...
