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 Freedom...

On Stage: Rock, indie-pop, bluegrass & more hit music scene this week

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times   Two major factors a band needs to achieve success and longevity are the ability to write good songs and the maintenance of a high level of friendship among band members.       Lloyd Cole Three bands who will be performing in the area, over the next week, have met this criteria along with solo artist, Lloyd Cole, who went back to old friends...

Op/Ed: A tale of two high schools

Growing gap between urban, suburban schools is unconscionable By Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman, State Senator, 19th District Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” It’s almost like Charles Dickens was describing public education in Pennsylvania. Today, the disparity between the academic services, technology and basic resources available to students in inner city...

Op/Ed: Why UCFSD is not redistricting

By Vic Dupuis, President, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District Board of Directors Victor Dupuis The Unionville ChaddsFord school board has decided not to change boundary lines for our elementary schools. Since there has been a great deal of discussion about it among our parents and some misinformation in the media, we are writing to clarify the reasons for our decision. More than a year ago, the...

New Years’ resolutions — for others

A few ‘helpful’ suggestions for a better 2015 By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times With another year slipping away – and 2014 seems to have gone by in a blur — it is time to take a bit of time to make those New Year’s resolutions. Now, obviously, I could make mine, but they’d take up more than just one column to complete and they’d be boring like needing to play golf more often (and...

Op/Ed: We can end homeless in Chester County

By Michael Hackman, Administrator, Decade To Doorways Despite Chester County’s wealth about 700 county residents will spend the holidays homeless in the county. During this holiday season many of us will gather with family and friends in warm, safe surroundings to celebrate time honored traditions and the joy of good fortune. For some Chester County residents however, holiday celebrations will...

Op/Ed: Volunteerism is the greatest gift

By Kathleen Meehan Do, Executive Director, After-The-Bell The holidays are almost here. The shopping days are dwindling down while, for many of us, the stress is ramping up. We want so much to “get in the spirit” of the season. But that spirit can be elusive. We know we’re not going to find it in the shopping malls, and it’s a good bet we won’t find it online either. The search for just...

The Land Conservancy looks back at 2014

Editor’s Note: We run this submission from The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County as a public service, but grant that it expresses opinions — which is why we’re running as a column, not as a straight news story or release. As always, we welcome comment and opinions. 2014 is rapidly coming to a close and the members, board, staff, interns and volunteers of The Land Conservancy...

Op/Ed: Chester County benefits from China partnership

By Terence Farrell, Chester County Commissioner and Michael Grigalonis, COO of Chester County Economic Development Council Recently, political and business leaders from Chester County visited China seeking to improve business and investment relationships. From left, David Liu, General Manager of CTDI’s China Operations, Chester County Commissioner Terence Farrell, Mike Grigalonis, Chief Operating...

Just do it: vote

Tomorrow is Election Day. That should matter to you — but alarmingly, for a lot of you, maybe even a majority of the people reading this, it doesn’t. Consider these horrifying numbers: only about 75% of eligible voters are actually registered to vote. Of those, it is expected that only about 45% of those will cast ballots tomorrow in Pennsylvania. That means roughly one third of those eligible...