Roundtable on poverty a start, but more is needed
Until there is a collective will to really address poverty, things won’t get better
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
COATESVILLE — With wealth bordering on abundance at times in Chester County, it can be difficult to confront the truth that for many here — arguably far too many — poverty remains a stark reality and a reality that in recent years has gotten worse.
This past week, six state...
Letter: Supports anti-human trafficking bill
To The Editor:
Human trafficking doesn’t happen only “somewhere else.”
“You don’t mean here, right?” I hear that question more than 100 hundred times per year in conversations about human trafficking, modern slavery and sex trafficking in southeastern Pennsylvania—especially in the beautiful, well-off suburbs and countryside surrounding Philadelphia.
My answer is always the same. “Yes,...
Letter: concerns about link between pollution and cancer
To The Editor,
I have four daughters, all young adults now. But I still worry about their health and well-being as much as I did when they were living at home with me. Lately I have heard much about an alarming increase in the number of women diagnosed with lung disease. According to the American Lung Association, the rate of newly diagnosed lung cancer cases over the past 33 years has dropped...
Op/Ed: Radon – is your home raising your lung cancer risk?
By Harold P. Wimmer, American Lung Association
Harold P. Wimmer
Mention radon to most people, and you’ll get a blank stare. But mention lung cancer, and you’ve got their attention!
Most people don’t know that exposure to radon, an invisible odorless gas, is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. Pennsylvania is recognized as having a very high risk of radon, so we at the American...
Op/Ed: Supportive service for Veterans’ families
“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
...
Political news and notes: 2014 legislative races kicking off
Final write-in results show poor turnout, participation in 2013
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
The political news cycle never seems to end these days, on the heels of the final write-in election results being posted Friday, we have a batch of new candidate announcements or pending announcements in 2014 state legislative races — and even, it seems — an early hint about a 2016 race.
First to the...
CASD board continues to disrespect citizens
Tirade by Joe Dunn sadly typifies group’s overall tenor
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Few jobs on the planet are as thankless as serving on a school board, a duty that routinely subjects members to all manner of vitriol. In fact, when school district operations go smoothly, those folks rarely hear a peep from constituents; so even the good times go unrewarded.
Of course,...
Letter: Join the fight for clean air
To The Editor,
The World Health Organization recently labeled outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic, thereby confirming something I’ve always believed… air pollution contributes to lung disease. Now as I watch my children play outside, I have to wonder… How clean is the air they are breathing? And, as scary as it is, I’m afraid I know the answer… not very.
My mother suffers from COPD, and...
Why is the CASD rushing to buy a building?
Special meeting just weeks before new board members take office has rightly angered community
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
CALN — Elections, they say, have consequences.
That’s why it’s a little disturbing to see the Coatesville Area School District Board of Education in a seeming rush to buy a building for new administration offices.
You see, in little more than a couple of weeks at least...
And…right back into campaign season
No rest for the weary, as Election 2014 kicks into high gear, already
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Now that we’ve gotten that pesky election out of the way, it’s time for the campaign to get started.
Think I’m kidding?
Then why is Gov. Tom Corbett in the county today, kicking off his 2014 campaign? And why has the jostling for state legislative and congressional seats already begun?
Traditionally,...
