What To Do: Christmas celebrations kick into high gear

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times The Coatesville Christmas Parade The Coatesville Christmas Parade is a cherished area holiday tradition. The event, which is Chester County’s largest hometown parade, will be held on December 7 in downtown Coatesville. The festive annual parade (http://coatesvillechristmasparade.com) will get underway at 10 a.m. with Strode Avenue and Lincoln Highway...

On Stage: Peacock, Antigone Rising still going strong

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Alice Peacock Just before the end of last century, two female acts arrived on the music scene and immediately began receiving accolades for their work and started building a solid fan base – Alice Peacock in 1999 and Antigone Rising in 1998. We’re now approaching the end of the second decade of this century and both acts are still making great music....

Killion and staff to conduct food drive

In the spirit of the holiday season, Senator Tom Killion (R-Chester and Delaware) and his staff are conducting a holiday food drive to benefit the West Chester Food Cupboard. “While Chester County is Pennsylvania’s most prosperous county, there are still people – often children – in our own community who are hungry,” said Killion. “As the holidays approach, it’s important to be thankful...

Pine Street’s 100 Wheels Project to build 1,000th bike on Thursday night

The elves of Pine Street Carpenters will gather at the remodeling firm’s shop on December 5 for its 12th annual 100 Wheels Project bike-build. The West Chester company’s community service project has provided nearly 1000 bikes to deserving children in the community, and on December 5 the remodeling firm will build another 122 bicycles for those in need. WEST CHESTER — For a hundred or so elves,...

Sestak ends Presidential campaign

Former Congressman Joe Sestak Joe Sestak, a Democrat who represented the old 7th Congressional District in Chester and Delaware counties  between 2006 and 2010 ended his presidential campaign Sunday night. Sestak, a retired three-star U.S. Navy admiral struggled for attention and campaign donations — never making the threshold to participate in any of the Democratic Party debates — and was somewhat...

New book recalls building of Messiah Lutheran Church in Downingtown

The Rev. Barry M. Ridge has published a book about the building of Messiah Lutheran Church, 46 W. Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown. Pastor Ridge served the congregation from 1977 to 1987. Messiah’s current building, which was dedicated in 1986, replaced an earlier building at the same location. A Time to Build is a collection of sermons and photographs tracing Messiah’s adventure in building: from...

Coatesville Christmas Parade is back and bigger than ever on Dec. 7

Mummer’s String Band along the Lincoln HIghway in Coatesville,PAImage by: Robert O. Williams/ The Williams Group COATESVILLE — Once again this year, Chester County’s largest hometown parade, down the historic Lincoln Highway, takes place on Dec. 7, 2019.  The Coatesville Christmas Parade, a holiday classic, begins at 10:00 a.m. starting at Strode Avenue and Lincoln Highway, and ends...

Barrar won’t seek reelection in 2020

State Rep. Stephen Barrar (R-160) Long-time State Representative Stephen Barrar announced Tuesday that he will not seek reelection for a 13th term in 2020. Barrar, a Republican, represents the 160th District which covers an area from the Kennett Square area east into Delaware County. He managed to hold off Democrat Anton Andrew by about 800 votes in 2018. With Andrew running again in 2020 — and Barrar...

Chesco Coroner IDs body found in Valley

The Chester County Coroner’s Office has positively identified the skeletal remains recovered from a wooded area in Valley Township on October 29, 2019, as those of Julia Gonzalez, age 22, of Coatesville. After recovery of the remains, the Coroner’s Office worked with forensic odontologist,  John B. Nase, DDS, FAGD, FICD on a postmortem dental examination which identified unique features of the...

The numbers don’t lie: Donald Trump killed the GOP in SE Pennsylvania

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times In reviewing the final results of the 2019 elections in Chester County — and by the way, whomever decided to change up the format to make them almost impossible to work with on the Web, please find another line of work – I feel a little bit like one of the structural engineers on the Titanic seeing how my own preeelction projections played out. Clearly, my math...