Merry Christmas to all

From our families to yours: a very merry Christmas. We hope that all can take a moment and embrace the concepts of peace on Earth and goodwill toward men — something in terribly short supply right now.    Send article as PDF   

The Electoral College: dead or alive?

By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times Our Founders did not really trust people to decide the country’s destiny. That’s why they set up a Senate selected by the legislators in each state, not by popular vote (such as that was at the time). And that’s why they set up an Electoral College to cushion the weight of population in choosing a president. The US House is based on the population...

Letter: Discussion on CF development impact, Dec. 15

To The Editor, A meeting has been arranged with the Chadds Ford Supervisors, township engineer, and Rep. Steve Barrar for Dec. 15 at 7 p.m. There will be a discussion on the commercial development of the Pettinaro property at Route 202 and Ridge Road. While the property is in Concord Township, it abuts Chadds Ford Township. This planned development will contain a large grocery store along with six...

Comitta looks to be in good shape on 156th recount

Will there be a local price for GOP overreach? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times So much for putting the feet up and enjoying the holiday season before wading back into this column in 2017 — so consider it a pre-holiday gift (or curse) — as news makes a surprise return needed. While the last provisional ballots have to be counted, it appears that Carolyn Comitta has pulled off a narrow win in...

Silence breeds intolerance in our schools

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” — John F. Kennedy, 1961, who erroneously attributed it to Edmund Burke. By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times As I sat and listened a Board of Education meeting for two hours of discussion about the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District’s largely exceptional standardized testing scores, a week ago, which followed...

The big GOP loss no one is talking about

Could 2016 become a textbook example of win the battle, lose the war? By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Across America, Democrats wail in anguish while Republicans rejoice in total control of the federal government. Confident of the outcome of the election, Democrats were quite sure that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump and they would regain control of the U.S. Senate. It didn’t quite work...

Impact of Trump election begins to shake up local politics

New president will cast a deep shadow over 2017 elections and area schools By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Things boiled over and got a bit testy Monday night, as a simmering feud between two Unionville-Chadds Ford School District Board of Education Members Michael Rock and Jeff Hellrung erupted during the board’s work session, Monday night. The dispute was putatively over issues related to the...

Op/Ed.: Color 5K sheds light on opioid abuse crisis

By Michelle Kichline, Chester County Commissioner Michelle Kichline On an early November Saturday morning, the Borough of West Chester was filled with county residents of all ages, who were there for a single purpose:  To shine a light – or in this case, splash some brightly colored powder – on the opioid and heroin addiction epidemic that is affecting us all. The facts are terrifying.  According...

Without an engaged media, no one is watching out for you

Lies, ‘Fake news’ can’t become the new normal By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times Friday night, I had honor of gathering to mourn the virtual death of a small town newspaper — The Suburban Trends — after its purchase by Gannett and subsequent layoff of the vast majority of its staff. We met in a small place in Bloomingdale, N.J., hometown to current GOP power player Mike DuHaime...

Know your voting rights on Election Day

Don’t let anyone keep you from exercising your franchise By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times Democracy depends on public confidence in the results of elections.  In 2000, even though the VP Al Gore accepted the US Supreme Court’s 5 to 4 order to discontinue the recount of Florida votes, many of his followers ever after referred to George W. Bush as the president elected by five Republican...