A winter storm will impact the area early on Friday, Jan. 19. The storm will potentially begin in the early morning hours. The storm is expected to last potentially into Friday evening. Due to this impending storm, a Snow Emergency is being declared for Kennett Square Borough effective at 8 a.m. on Friday, until lifted.
All vehicles must be removed from the Snow Emergency and Winter Warning routes, or they will be ticketed and may be subject to towing. Parking on these routes is prohibited during the declared emergency. The routes are listed below.
Free parking is available in the borough Parking Garage during the emergency.
Kennett Township has recovered 82 percent of the money embezzled by the former township manager and will no longer try to recover additional funds.
Lisa Moore, whose embezzlement of more than $3.2 million in township funds was discovered in 2019, will be responsible for paying the remainder through restitution, according to the township.
Current Kennett Township Manager Eden Ratliff announced that at the Jan. 17 supervisors’ meeting, adding that any future recovery efforts would cease. Wednesday was the last time “embezzlement recovery update” would appear on the supervisors’ agendas after four-and-a-half years.
“Further recovery efforts by the township at this time would incur additional legal fees that cannot be justified given the probability of further success,” Ratliff said. “Due to the lack of additional recovery options, having spent $1,356,892 to date, and given the probable lack of return on additional investment, the township is ceasing any further recovery efforts.”
The remaining 18 percent will be reimbursed as part of Moore’s guilty plea. She will make payments to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections parole offices, according to Ratliff.
When he was reading the press release to the audience at the supervisors’ meeting, Ratliff pointed out that most municipalities recover an average of 6 percent in fraud cases. Kennett Township recovered $2,665.095, or 82 percent.
“The Kennett Township-led recovery efforts have significantly expedited the return of taxpayer funds to Kennett Township taxpayers,” he said.
Supervisors’ Chairman Geoffrey Gamble called the embezzlement “a long and painful episode in the history of the township.”
Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies.
She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field.
But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard.
Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.
•Delaware County Symphony presents Cross Sections Chamber Concert on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. This is DCS’s third chamber concert of the season. Featuring pieces that cross the sections of the orchestra, this concert highlights chamber music groupings not often performed. Performances include the Mozart Flute Quartet in D major, a clarinet quartet, and solo bassoon selections. The concert will be performed at Neumann University’s Meagher Theatre at One Neumann Drive in Aston. Go here for ticket information.
•Registration is now open for the Brandywine Valley SPCA’s Critter Camp. Critter Camp provides fun animal-themed programs for kids ages 7-12. Registration is now open for week-long camps available in June, July, and August at BVSPCA’s various campuses. Activities include pet CPR, yoga with puppies, infant kitten care, exotic animal meets, and so much more. Go here for more information and to register.
The First Ladies of Rock and Soul, and Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets come to West Chester on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
•It’s time to get your soul moving and rock around the clock. Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is bringing the First Ladies of Rock and Soul, and Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets to West Chester on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at 610-356-2787, at uptownwestchester.org, and FirstLadiesofRockandSoul.com. Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is at 226. N. High. Street in West Chester.
•Brinton Run Preserve is seeking volunteers looking to spend time outdoors to improve its public preserve in Chadds Ford. During the winter months, volunteer efforts will be a huge help with invasive species removal. The preserve, owned by North Atlantic Land Trust, has an upcoming volunteer event on Jan. 24 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The preserve is at 6 Oakland Rd, Chadds Ford, PA 19317 – Meet in the front parking lot.
Learn about the Burning of Pennsylvania Hall.
•Chester County History Center is offering a virtual talk: The Burning of Pennsylvania Hall: A Legal Lynching in the Shadow of the Liberty Bell on Tuesday, Feb. 6, from 7-8 p.m. In May 1838, a Philadelphia mob destroyed one of the most modern and elegant buildings in the city during a spree of violence directed at abolitionists and Black Philadelphians. The building, Pennsylvania Hall, had just been completed and was being dedicated that weekend as a “temple of liberty” and a monument to free expression. The mobbing and destruction of Pennsylvania Hall offers a lens through which to view the state’s complicated antislavery movement and the resistance it faced. Historian Beverly C. Tomek will tell the story of the hall, and of the abolitionist solidarity that characterized the state’s 19th century civil rights movement. This is a pay-as-you-wish event. Go here for more information and to reserve a seat.
Make your own Valentine’s Day cards while learning about the fundamentals of linocut printing.
•The Brandywine River Museum of Art is offering visitors a chance to create their own Valentine’s Day cards in a special program Creative Escape: Linocut Valentines. Learn more about the fundamentals of linocut printing with teaching artist Charlotte Holt, along with getting to design and carve a linocut print to take home. All materials will be provided, and no experience is necessary. Light snacks will be available, and BYOB is encouraged. The museum galleries will open at 5:30, with the workshop beginning at 6 p.m. on Feb. 7. The cost is $30 for members and $35 for non-members. Get tickets here.
PennDOT has announced the following weather-dependent road projects that could affect drivers in the greater Chadds Ford area from Jan. 20 through Jan. 26. Motorists are urged to allow extra time traveling through one of the construction zones. Work schedules are subject to change.
•Intersection improvements at South and Cypress streets in Kennett Square and Kennett Township, are scheduled for on Monday, Jan. 22 through April 30. Weekday road closures are set for South Street between Center and Broad streets in the borough, and on Cypress between Walnut Street and Cope Road in the township.
•PECO utility improvements will cause several daytime lane closures along Route 1 in Chester County. From Monday, Jan. 8 through Friday, Feb. 9, motorists should expect a lane closure on northbound Route 1 between Greenwood Road and Orchard Avenue, and from Jan. 8 through March 29, there will be closures in both directions between School House Road and Ladbroke lane.
•Through Jan. 25, there will be weekday single-lane closures on Burrows Run Road in Kennett Township between Kennett Pike and Hillendale Road due to overhead work.
•From Monday, Jan. 29 through Friday, March 29, PECO work will also force a daytime lane closure on Burrows Run Road between Route 52 and Hillendale Road.
•Work to replace the bridge that carries Smithbridge Road over Webb Creek in Concord Township is underway. The 96-year-old bridge has been closed since July 14, following a bridge inspection that determined structure deterioration. During construction, motorists will be directed to follow the existing detour using Bethel Road, Garnet Mine Road, Route 491, and northbound Route 202. The project is scheduled to finish in late April of 2024.
•Motorists should expect lane restrictions with a detour for trucks on Route 162 at its intersection with Route 82 in Newlin Township because of bridge repair. There is currently no date for completion.
A winter storm will impact the area early on Friday, Jan. 19. The storm will potentially begin in the early morning hours. The storm is expected to last potentially into Friday evening. Due to this impending storm, a Snow Emergency is being declared for Kennett Square Borough effective at 8 a.m. on Friday, until lifted.
