When a Drexel Hill couple wanted to add an in-law suite to their home, they did some online research and emailed a contractor.
Vincent E. Cottrell III
However, the website for J.D. Kelly Corporation had essentially been hijacked, and the man the couple actually contacted – Vincent E. Cottrell III, 39, of Drexel Hill – now faces felony theft charges for scamming the pair out of $52,706.32, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said in a press release.
Cottrell was also charged with identity theft and theft by deception, court records said. He allegedly took control of the website of another contractor, J.D. Kelly Corporation, and installed his own contact information on the company’s web page, the criminal complaint said.
The couple said Cottrell came to their home in 2014, presented them with a business card and email addresses referencing J.D. Kelly and agreed to take on the project. The homeowners signed a contract with him for the estimated $87,150 project and made initial payments, the complaint said.
Cottrell told the couple that work would start during the beginning of April 2015, but it didn’t. By the end of the month, Cottrell had offered several excuses, such as blaming the delay on the township and a sub-contractor. The homeowners terminated the contract after concluding that Cottrell had supplied them with false information, according to the complaint.
In July, investigators interviewed John D. Kelly, who owns the Bucks County-based J.D. Kelly Corporation; they learned that Kelly had hired Cottrell to create a company website but that Cottrell had provided numerous excuses for not giving Kelly the password. The new website contained contact information for Cottrell so that all customers calls got forwarded to Cottrell, the complaint said.
Cottrell was arraigned and released on $75,000 unsecured bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2, court records said. Anyone with information about the case or Cottrell is asked to call investigators at 610-891-4700.
Nether Providence Township education leader Marty Molloy has announced his campaign for the April 26 special election to fill the 9th Senatorial District vacancy for Delaware and Chester counties.
Marty Molloy
Molloy joins Dan Maisano, a recently-retired magisterial district judge, and state Rep. Tom Killion (R-168) in a race for the seat that was vacated by former state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, who won a judgeship on the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in November.
“In the real world, failing to show up to work is not an option because too many people are counting on you to do your job. Some in Harrisburg clearly have not gotten that memo,” Molloy, the director of vocational programming at YouthBuild, a school that helps at-risk young adults earn high school diplomas and prepare for careers, said in a press release. “I’m running to represent the 9th District in the state Senate because hardworking Pennsylvanians deserve elected leaders who show up to work every day and do their jobs – not for the special interests, but for the people of our commonwealth.”
A native of Berwyn, Molloy, 39, of Wallingford, is a nonprofit executive who has served as a director at YouthBuild for six years, overseeing the development of new vocational training and building institutional partnerships that have become a national model. Prior to his time at YouthBuild, Molloy was CEO of Greater Philadelphia Cares, a clearinghouse that assists other nonprofits throughout the region make a greater impact on the communities they serve, the release said.
Having taken over at a time of great financial turmoil, Molloy turned Philadelphia Cares around and orchestrated a successful merger with the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey and co-founded the Community Action Center, the release said.
“Pennsylvania’s budget is nearly seven months’ overdue because ideological extremists have obstructed this most basic duty of our state legislature, and have done lasting damage to communities, taxpayers and schools,” Molloy said in the release. “Rather than working to create jobs, passing an extraction tax on Marcellus shale gas, and protecting open spaces, the current majority in the legislature would rather continue the Corbett legacy of massive tax breaks for the wealthy and failure to provide even the most basic funding to our schools. It’s time we elected leaders who will stand on the side of property owners and communities.
“In order to bring real change to Harrisburg we need to elect new leaders who are beholden to the people, not to an extremist ideology,” Molloy continued. “I am running to represent the residents of the 9th District because they deserve a budget that reflects their needs, not the wants of the wealthy and corporations.”
The 9th Senatorial District is comprised of the Delaware County boroughs and townships of Aston, Bethel, Brookhaven, Chadds Ford, Chester, Chester Heights, Lower Chichester, Upper Chichester, Concord, Eddystone, Edgemont, Marcus Hook, Middletown, Nether Providence, Parkside, Rose Valley, Thornbury, Trainer, Upland, and the City of Chester, as well as the Chester County boroughs and townships of Birmingham, East Goshen, West Goshen, Kennett, Kennett Square, East Marlborough, Newlin, Pennsbury, Pocopson, Thornbury, and Westtown, the release said, adding that 65 percent of the 9th District voters resides in Delaware County.
If you have ever been to Landhope in Kennett Square off Routes 926 and 82, you may have seen a sign for “Willowdale Art Academy” and wondered what that was. Oil painter Karen D’Allaird started Willowdale Art Academy 5 years ago to give young students art classes that teach the fundamentals of drawing and painting.
Classes are taught only Mondays and Tuesdays, and class size is limited to 8 maximum. Twice a year, the Academy has a student art show, where the students’ works are displayed in gallery style for the general public, their family and friends. Time after time, the adults who visited the shows would ask Karen if she could teach them too! Two years ago, Karen started to teach art fundamentals to adults as well as youth, and her classes are packed every session, with a waiting list.
Karen’s approach is very traditional. Students start with drawing a sphere or an apple, “Start with something simple, learn the vocabulary, and build on it” she explains. This approach teaches the fundamentals behind all art, and builds up a student’s competence and confidence.
“I teach the student to be more critical with their eyes. This is not just an apple, it is that particular apple…the students learn about color, value, and how to see…They will never look at an apple the same again, I guarantee you!” Adults are given six projects that each builds in complexity. After completing the assignments, the students are free to choose subject matter and material of the artwork that they create. Karen continues, “Everyone has the ability to learn how to draw. They need patience. If anyone wants to learn how to do it, then I can teach them! It makes me so happy, and I am so proud of my students.”
Her typical adult student is someone who has always wanted to draw but did not have the time or confidence to pursue it. I have known Karen for many years, and it is as clear as can be that the Academy is her passion and her gift. She is “bursting with pride” for her students every day, and the positive energy in the room is contagious. If you think this class is for you or your child, checkout the next Willowdale Art Academy student art show, Sunday January 24th from 2:30-4:00pm. The web site is willowdaleartacademy.com Karen’s own beautiful oil paintings can be seen on karen-dallaird.squarespace.com.
Still life by Karen D’Allaird
If you are a more experienced artist looking to retrace your steps and learn the fundamentals of oil painting, you might consider learning from Neilson Carlin, in his classes at Studio Rilievo in Kennett Square. Karen D’Allaird studied under Neilson, and learned not only how better to see and paint a subject, but how to teach with skill, thoughtfulness and compassion. It is a terrific thing that these two wonderful teachers are instructing others in the classic fundamentals, and how lucky are we that they are both in our own Kennett Square!
Thursday January 21st 5:30-7:30, The Henry Gallery, at The Penn State Great Valley Campus is hosting The Engineering of Art, showing through March 14th, in recognition of their new engineering lab on campus.
Sculpture by Morris Cook
Chester County Art Association, located in West Chester, chose 16 artist members to be represented in this show. Each artist has an approach to design that can be interpreted to be inspired by engineering. There are wonderful sculpture artists including Helen Mason and Morris Cook, clay artist Rhoda Kahler, and a broad selection of contemporary painters including Diane Cannon, Lauren Acton, Mark Cole and Lynette Shelley. This should be a great show! To get to the campus, head north on rt 202, to 30 East Swedesford Road, main Building, second Floor.
On this Saturday, January 23rd, The Brandywine River Museum of Art is hosting a very timely “Plein Air Inside and Out” from 9:30-4 p.m. The Museum is allowing visitors to sketch, paint or photograph the gorgeous outdoors from inside the warmth of the museum walls. How fun to take inspiration from the very same river and trees that the Wyeths loved to paint. It will probably be a snowy day, so you might check out the way NC Wyeth and Andrew Wyeth captured the look of snow in such different ways.
Two local successful local artists who love to paint our Chester Country scenery both have solo shows in the area this month. Sarah Baptist shows her “oils” at Darlington Arts Center In Garnet Valley through March. Heather Davis shows her new collection of oil paintings at the Station Tap Room in Downingtown through March. Sally Wilson, artist and gallery owner at Wilson Vineyards in Nottingham is teaching art classes throughout the Winter, and hosting a variety of art shows every month too.
Lele Galer is showing her large oil paintings at Ten Gallon Hat Winery throughout January, and loves to show there because the walls are huge and great for big artwork! If you are an artist looking to show, call up Ten Gallon Hat Winery for a great venue. At Galer Estate Winery, writer Karen Myers is heading up a “Plein Air Writer’s workshop”, open and free to the public, this Sunday from 1-5 p.m. Using the beauty of the location as an inspiration point for writing poems, prose, or lyrics, writers are invited to hang out and write, then read their works..with a prize at the end for the most compelling work. There is also a writer’s gathering at Ten Gallon Hat Winery on Sunday, “Wine and Words” from 1-3 p.m., with 5 celebrated local writers. Chat with them about their latest projects and learn more about how to incorporate your own creative writing into your daily routine.
Lele Galer is an artist who has chaired numerous art shows, taught art history and studio art, public art and has chaired, written and taught the Art in Action Art Appreciation series for the UCFD schools for the past 12 years. She worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and wrote for the Associated Press in Rome. She has been dedicated to Art History and art education for most of her adult life. Lele and her husband Brad own Galer Estate Winery in Kennett Square.
Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you have to get your exercise indoors.
A massive white oak greets visitors at the Stateline preserve’s parking lot.
For area residents, several options for outdoor winter activity are available with just a short drive, according to a press release from the Land Conservancy of Southern Chester County (TLC). Some of them, such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing or sledding, require Mother Nature’s cooperation.
Stateline Woods Preserve, just three miles outside of Kennett Square on Old Kennett Pike, offers four miles of trails over 82 acres that are perfect for cross-country skiing and are groomed when there are at least four inches of snow. The open fields and rolling hills at Stateline Woods are also great for sledding and nothing beats walking back up the hill for exercise, the release said.
Four miles out of Kennett Square toward Yorklyn, De., is the Marshall Bridge Preserve, three miles of gentle trails across 80 acres along the scenic Red Clay Creek. And the Marshall Mill House Preserve on Route 82 in Kennett Square offers 1.5 miles of wooded trails over 40 acres of moderate terrain.
So dress in lots of layers, grab your hand-warmers, and have fun making good on that New Year’s resolution to move more and lose weight.
Upcoming conservancy events include a Full Moon Owl Prowl on Friday, Jan. 22, at Bucktoe Creek Nature Preserve in Avondale from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and Nature in Winter on Saturday, Jan. 23, starting at 1 p.m., also at Bucktoe preserve, a 297-acre privately owned property that is only open for special events.
A guest bartending event is on tap at the Kennett Brewing Company on Thursday, Jan. 28, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.; all tips from the night plus a portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit TLC and its mission to protect the irreplaceable throughout Southern Chester County.
To learn more about the conservancy’s preserves, trails and events, visit www.tlcforscc.org.
With the real possibility of this winter’s first significant storm of the season, the Blood Bank of Delmarva is urging blood donors to strongly consider donating the gift of life before travel on area roadways becomes an issue.
“Cold and flu season has started to take its toll on our donor base,” said Michael Waite, director of marketing and community relations at the Blood Bank. “In addition, we’ve supported multiple traumas since the beginning of the year, which has caused a significant increase in blood utilization and has taken a toll on our local inventory. If we experience the type of storm they’re calling for, our supply situation could become critical very quickly.” It takes an average of 350 donors a day to supply the blood and blood products that local hospitals need to treat their patients.
As Blood Bank of Delmarva wraps up the celebration of National Blood Donor Month, which runs through January, there’s still time for donors to become eligible for BBD’s Winter Blood Challenge and the chance to win an LG 60” Ultra HD Smart TV.
Blood Bank of Delmarva operates five permanent donor centers throughout the Delmarva region, as well as more than 30 mobile donation locations. Blood can be safely donated every 56 days as long as an individual is at least 17 years of age, weighs at least 110 pounds and is in generally good health. Platelets can be donated every two weeks as long as the donor has a height, weight and platelet count ratio that is conducive to giving. Over 35 pefcent of the US population is eligible to give blood, but only 5 percent actually do.
For more information about the Blood Bank or to schedule a donation appointment, please call 1 888 8-BLOOD-8 or visit www.DelmarvaBlood.org. You can also download BBD’s mobile app and schedule an appointment on your mobile device. Although appointments are preferred, walk-in donors are always welcome.
Aidan Andrews Young, 11, died peacefully at home with his family surrounding him, Monday, Jan. 11, after a prolonged fight with a rare, recurrent brain tumor. Aidan was born on June 29, 2004 and lived in Placencia, Belize and Chatham, Pa. He is survived by his mother, Julia Gardner, his father, Carlton “Patu” Young (of Placencia, Belize), and his brother Damien Berry (of Santa Catalina, Panama) his grandparents Timothy and Nina Gardner, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.
A celebration of Aidan’s life will be held Saturday, Jan. 30, 3:30 pm, at Upland Country Day School, 420 West Street Road, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania 19348.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Aidan Andrews Young Fund to support the Pediatric Advanced NeeDs Assessment (PANDA) and Care Team at Children’s National Medical Center to honor Aidan’s spirit of determination and the outstanding care provided by Debbie Lafond, Lauren Hancock and Eugene Hwang, who brought much healing comfort, meaning and joy to Aidan’s life journey. Checks may be made and sent to:
The AAY Fund of Children’s Hospital ATTN: Dianne Wicklein, Children’s Hospital Foundation, 801 Roeder Road, Suite 300 Silver Spring, MD 20910. Arrangements are being handled by the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home (610-444-4116) of Kennett Square. To share a memory with Aidan’s family, please visit www.griecocares.com
Pennsylvania State Police from Troop J, Avondale barracks, are investigating a homicide in Lower Oxford Township.
A press release said the victim was an 81-year-old woman who was stabbed by a family member on Irwin Road about 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 19. The suspect is in custody.
Neither the victim nor the suspect was identified. More information will be released later, police said.
Georgette E. Sullivan died peacefully of natural causes at Crosslands Retirement Community in Kennett Square on Thurs. Jan 14. She was 93 years old. Born in France she spoke French in her family of origin.
In high school in Oakland, Calif., she was president of the Girls’ Athletic Association, and captain of the high school softball team. Georgette’s married life was dedicated to her children Michele, Kenneth and Dennis, and husband Robert. She had a passion for nurturing and caring for nature and all creatures large and small. Active in her children’s scouting and school programs, she and Robert sponsored several international students and volunteered generously to many local causes. They travelled extensively, “chasing” birds to many places in the world. In her mid 50s she and her husband served in the Peace Corps in Swaziland.
People who knew her would describe her as bright, funny, compassionate, caring, humble and eager to learn. A good listener, she was vibrant, energetic, adventuresome, courageous, artistic, had a strong sense of integrity and was a very good cook.
She loved reading Shakespeare, watching baseball (her favorite was the double play no matter which team), playing Scrabble, book repair, Ping Pong (She was a “killer” player), opera, gardening and birding. She was widely admired and loved and will be missed by many.
She is survived by her daughter Michele and her husband Jim; her sons Kenneth and his wife Carolyn and Dennis Sullivan; by her beloved sister, Rosemarie and her husband John and their sons and daughter, Steve, Eric and Renee Johnson. Georgette had grandchildren and great grandchildren all of whom live in Australia.
A memorial meeting for worship will be held at Centre Monthly Meeting, 311 Center Meeting Rd., Greenville, DE 19807 on Feb. 6, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers please, donations may be made to any of the following, Centre Monthly Meeting, Pat Roberston Treasurer, attn: Freeman Miller, 5 Log Church Rd., Centreville, DE 19807, Forgotten Cats: Forgottencats.org Prescott Audubon Society: prescottaudubon.org or the National Park Service: NPS.gov. Arrangements are being handled by the Kuzo & Grieco funeral home (610-444-4116) of Kennett Square. To share a memory with her family, please visit www.griecocares.com
Rendering of Glen Mills Rothman Institute facility under construction
The Rothman Institute announces the opening of two new offices in Philadelphia’s western suburbs. Rothman Institute Malvern and Rothman Institute Glen Mills are currently under construction. Each office will offer a full range of orthopaedic subspecialty care and services including imaging, orthotics, physical therapy and hand therapy.
Rothman Institute Glen Mills will be in the Shoppes at Brinton Lakes on Evergreen Drive. Located just off Route 202, it will feature 14,000 square feet, 22 exam rooms, on-site xray rooms, physical therapy, hand therapy and orthotics. It is slated to open in the second half of 2016.
The new Malvern office will be located in the Upper Worthington Urban Village. It will feature an 18,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with 26 exam rooms, on-site xray rooms, physical therapy, hand therapy and orthotics. It is scheduled to open in late 2016.
“Our team is very excited about opening these two new offices,” Mike West, CEO of Rothmans Institute, said in the release. “The Malvern office will give us an opportunity to grow into the Chester County region and further develop our presence at Paoli Hospital. The Glen Mills location also expands our footprint in Chester County, but is a little bit more south which should be attractive to patients traveling from Delaware. These offices, coupled with the merger with OrthopaediCare in Bucks and Montgomery counties, really expands Rothman Institute’s footprint in Philadelphia’s suburbs.”
The new Rothman Institute offices will cater to patients in almost every orthopaedic subspecialty, including hip and knee, sports medicine, spine, shoulder and elbow, foot and ankle, hand and wrist, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Rothman Institute is a private orthopaedic practice dedicated to providing communities with high-quality, compassionate, and affordable musculoskeletal care that is grounded in evidence-based medicine. Rothman Institute orthopaedists treat patients at over 20 locations in the Philadelphia-region. For more information, call 1-800-321-9999 or visit www.RothmanInstitute.com.
This fall, Rachel Kohl Library is excited to announce that we have partnered with Kate DeLosso Travel to bring a unique travel experience based on the popular book series Outlander, recently adapted for television on Starz! Below is a brief overview of the trip, including itinerary, scheduled from September 23rd to October 1st. Rachel Kohl Library Outlander Tour September 23
Short Itinerary:
Friday, 9/23: US to Edinburgh
Saturday, 9/24: Edinburgh arrival and sightseeing
Overnight: The Bonham Sunday, 9/25:
Edinburgh sightseeing To include: Visit Edinburgh Castle
