Op/Ed.: Cultivating economic development in Coatesville
By Josh Maxwell, Mayor of Downingtown
Josh Maxwell
Cultivating economic development is often a tricky endeavor. On one hand, we want to incentivize job-creating businesses; on the other hand, we want to avoid missing out on valuable tax revenue for our communities. In Downingtown we have been recognized for being able to use infill development opportunities with limited tax incentives to expand...
Spring brings out the senseless in politics
May brings flowers and Silly Season, Part I
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Ah yes, it’s May. The blooms are on the trees, warm sunshine is here (that is when we don’t get washed away by five inches of rain), the birds are singing and Spring is in the air.
Oh, and the crazy is really ramped up in the political world. From the 158th state house district to Gov. Tom Corbett, the red mist has fully...
State campaign finance Website is a fiasco
‘New and improved’ site less useful that HealthCare.gov
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
And they said HealthCare.gov is bad.
Try spending some quality time searching campaign finance reports on the Pennsylvania Department of State.
I did this past week, as Tuesday was the always dreaded deadline for the Cycle 1 campaign finance report that has to be filed for state legislative candidates,...
Op/Ed: Help us protect Pennsylvania’s kids from sexual predators
By David Heckler, Bucks County District Attorney,
Tom Hogan, Chester County District Attorney
Jack Whelan, Delaware County District Attorney
Risa Vetri Ferman, Montgomery County District Attorney
Seth Williams, Philadelphia District Attorney
As prosecutors, we confront harrowing and heart-wrenching cases nearly every day. It is the child sexual abuse cases that are among the toughest and...
Op/Ed: More opportunities needed for Pa. higher-ed. students
Proposed REACH scholarship would put school in reach for many
By Josh Maxwell, Mayor of Downingtown
Josh Maxwell
Over the last few years, higher education has become one of the most controversial issues facing our state. When Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his first budget in 2011, it included roughly $2 billion in cuts to education, including steep cuts to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education...
Democrats step up in legislative races
GOP faces opposition in all but two races in Nov. elections
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Petition season is over, and unless there are some write-in candidates, we know who will appear on the May primary ballots.
And, although I took the Democrats to task for seeming to have a shortage of candidates, they’ve managed to challenge all but two legislative races in Chester County. Yes, there shouldn’t...
Op/Ed: Letting state schools leave will hurt entire system
If bill passes, expect higher tuition, less opportunity
By Joshua Young, Caln Township Commissioner
Joshua Young
Recently Senators Andrew Dinniman and Robert Tomlinson proposed Senate Bill 1275 that is aimed at allowing larger and financially stable universities in Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education to break away from that system and become a state related university like Penn State,...
CASD super candidates have vetting issues
Who looked into these folks and decided they were the best option?
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
There are times when reality trumps fiction for the completely incredible.
I had no plans to write again today about our pals at the Coatesville Area School District and frankly, would have been happy to work on the half-dozen other topics I have going elsewhere in the county. But, alas, sometimes you...
CASD state takeover is no longer far-fetched
Auditor General’s report show lack of oversight with chilling potential
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
If you read through the auditor general’s report on the Coatesville Area School District and its financial performance — the implications of the report have to be chilling.
The short form is this: The district under-collected or overspent a total of $31.1 million during a seven-year period...
Do petition numbers really matter?
As campaigns trumpet numbers, do they tell us anything?
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Well, they’re everywhere. Media announcements about the number of signatures a given candidate has gotten to get on the ballot as if it means something.
For those who don’t know, political candidates must collect signatures from registered voters in their district — they must be of the same political...
