Letter: Costello must reveal his vote on ethics rules

To The Editor, On Monday night, the Republican house delegation voted to weaken the Office of Congressional Ethics by a secret vote. Under the Republican proposal, the office would no longer be an independent body, and would be controlled by the House Ethics Committee and the majority party’s leaders. Changes would also be made that the office could no longer make independent public statements, outside...

Endorsements: Costello, Hartman & Meehan

Arguably, this is the most acrimonious campaign season in recent history, making it complicated to sort the fact from fiction and figure out who to support in this year’s local Congressional races. We feel your pain. Our email boxes are constantly filled with breathless pronouncements with whatever counts for talking points in each of these races from both the campaigns, parties and third party groups...

With Li out, Parrish looks to fall race in 6th

Mike Parrish The primary race for the Democratic nomination for the 6th Congressional District ended more than three weeks early, when Lindy Li was forced to drop out of her race against Mike Parrish over questions with her nominating petitions, late Friday night. Parrish is now slated to take on freshman incumbent Republican Ryan Costello in November.    Send article as PDF...

Chesco Dems back Sestak, Parrish, Balchunis and Hartman

The county’s Democratic Party made key endorsements in the U.S. Senate race as well in three local congressional races at its annual party convention, Wednesday night, backing Joe Sestak for Senate and Michael Parrish in the 6th District, Mary Ellen Balchunis in the 7th District and Christina Hartman in the 16th District. Additionally, the committee endorsed Josh Shapiro for Attorney General over...

Kittappa becomes 5th candidate for 16th District seat

Dr. Raj Kittappa It’s not even 2016 yet, but the race to replace U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts (R-16) got even more crowded this week when a third candidate, Dr. Raj Kittappa announced he would seek the Democratic nomination in the the 16th District. A total of five candidates are now vying for the seat. Kittappa joins fellow Democrats Dr. Gary Wegman, a dentist from Berks County and Christina Hartman...

Toomey talks economy, odds of federal shutdown during Chesco visit

U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R) gets a tour of the facility from Lord’s Pantry Executive Director Jan Leaf, Monday in Downingtown. U.S. Senator said he thinks shutdown is doubtful; seeks new policies to get economy moving By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times DOWNINGTOWN — U.S Sen. Pat Toomey spent much of Monday morning in Chester County, visiting a local food bank and attending a Veterans’ Administration...

Saving the Post Office

Handcuffed by Congress, Postal Service faces a murky future By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times I’ve always been a fan of the post office. I enjoy getting the mail out of the letterbox attached to my house six days a week; I like knowing that a mail carrier is walking around my neighborhood and going to people’s doors without asking for subscriptions or conversions. I enjoy taking...

Op/Ed: Time to boost accountability and transparency for Congress

By Ryan Costello, Chester County Commissioner Ryan Costello The gridlock and partisan rancor in Congress is taking its toll on the public’s perception of Congress, and rightfully so.  According to a recent Gallup poll, only 14 percent of Americans think Congress is doing a good job.  That puts the public’s approval of the job Congress is doing at one of its lowest points in history. As a member...

County conventions leave May questions

Few primary battles were settled at either county convention By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times There was a little high drama at the two county party conventions, and in many ways the status quo was largely maintained. There were just a handful of endorsement battles at the meetings — and maybe only one vote there changes the landscape for May. We’ll  get to the Democratic endorsements, which amount...

County GOP endorses most of slate for 2014

Corbett, 167th battle highlights of largely quiet convention By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times County Commissioner Ryan Costello thanks Chetser County Republicans after being endorsed as the party’s candidate for the 6th Congressional District, Wednesday, during the committee’s annual convention. WEST GOSHEN — Although most of Wednesday night’s endorsement votes during the Chester County...