Democrats: there are a lot of Republicans on your primary ballot, know what to look for

By Rich Heiland, Columnist, The Times It’s going to be critical for Democratic voters to take their “cheat sheets” into the polling place and be absolutely sure the candidates they vote for really are Democrats. If you are concerned about far righters taking over school boards, county elections, boroughs and towns, you need to understand the law suits the far-righters file start in our Common...

On Stage: Jesse Ruben comes home for show at World Cafe Live

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Jesse Ruben For Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Jesse Ruben, his show on May 12 at the World Café Live (3025 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.worldcafelive.com) is a much-anticipated homecoming. Ruben, who moved to New York 12 years ago, grew up in Maple Glen and graduated from Upper Dublin High School. He went on to earn a degree in songwriting at...

Some local school board candidates are not what they seem

Editor’s Note: Rich Heiland is a veteran, award-winning news reporter, editor and columnist. We were alerted to Rich’s column on local education and felt it deserved wider distribution beyond his personal Website. With his permission, we present this column — with hopes that Rich’s work will appear here semi-regularly. By Rich Heiland, Special to the Times I was told this was...

On Stage Spotlight: Matt Pond finds a new start with The Natural Lines

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Area music fans may not be familiar with the name of the band that is headlining a show on May 9 at Johnny Brenda’s (1201 North Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, www.johnnybrendas.com) – The Natural Lines. However, most area music fans know the leader of The Natural Lines very well – Matt Pond. Matt Pond is a musician from New York who formed his...

County Department of Drug & Alcohol Services announces events for National Prevention Week

Chester County’s Department of Drug & Alcohol Services announces plans to support “National Prevention Week”, May 7 through 13. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “National Prevention Week” is dedicated to increasing public awareness of substance use prevention and mental health through partnerships and collaborations which promote quality...

What To Do: May means it’s time to be off to the races

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times This weekend has a trifecta of events which are traditionally party time events – Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby and Winterthur Point-to-Point. There will be a bustle of activity this weekend on Kennett Pike just a few miles south of Kennett Square at Winterthur (Route 52, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-888-4600,www.winterthur.org) with the staging of...

On Stage: STYX celebrates 50 years with show at Xcite Center

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times STYX STYX is not unfamiliar with gold. The band has reached golden status or better on nine of its albums. Now, STYX is touring to celebrate its golden anniversary. The tour, which is also a support tour for its most recent album, “Crash of the Crown,” visits the area on May 5 for a show at the Xcite Center at Parx Casino (2999 Street Road, Bensalem,...

Becoming the Best U: Your questions about Mothers’ Day

By Nancy Plummer, Columnist, The Times Question: Mother’s Day is coming up and I need advice. My daughter, who lives nearby, just had her second child and I have no idea how to help her celebrate this wonderful holiday. My daughter isn’t one for chocolate or flowers. Any ideas? Sue – Philadelphia Answer: I agree with you, Sue, Mother’s Day is a wonderful holiday and its origin is based in Philadelphia!...

KACS seeks to bring affordable housing to so. Chester County

Kennett Area Community Services (KACS) focuses on basic human needs: food security, housing stability, and a path forward through educational workshops for adults in Southern Chester County. While the KACS Emergency Assistance Program has been extremely important to our community, we cannot only rely on short-term fixes to the systemic problem of housing instability. KACS is poised to become a developer...

County launches broadband survey

To further justify and strengthen the need for funding to expand broadband services in areas throughout the county, Chester County Government has created a short, but crucial, survey aimed at identifying locations where internet service is either non-existent or extremely limited.  The survey can be found at www.chesco.org/broadbandsurvey. “Although it may be difficult to believe, there are pockets...