We are now more than a week into a community hostage crisis, where (yet again) we are being held captive to the incompetence of government officials. While some name-brand media organizations have descended on our neighborhood to report on the story, the most detailed (and interesting) information has not come from traditional print or television sources. Instead, ...
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Musings: ‘Catch-22’ for Hank’s Place
Posted by ChaddsFordLive on August 27th, 2023
It’s been two years since Hurricane Ida destroyed Hank’s Place on Sept. 1, 2021. Flooding filled the entire iconic eatery with seven feet of water. That’s two years since owners Anthony and Katie Young have been caught up in a bureaucratic Catch-22, with their hands and feet bound by red tape edicts from the federal and municipal government. On the positive side, the ...
Musings: The disobedient monster
Posted by Rich Schwartzman on July 2nd, 2023
Many, if not most of us were brought up with the notion that the United States is the freest country in the world. After all, why else would so many people risk their lives to flee ancestral homes in Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere to voluntarily settle here and make new and better lives for themselves and their descendants? As the lyric line in ...
Musings: End primary elections
Posted by Rich Schwartzman on May 28th, 2023
End primary elections. That’s right, end them. While opening Pennsylvania primary elections to all registered voters would be better than the closed system now in place, that’s only a baby step toward improvement. Ending them outright is better. Under the current system, only people registered as either Republican or Democrat may vote in a primary election, but those ...
A new chapter
Posted by ChaddsFordLive on April 27th, 2023
Chadds Ford Live was born of the demise of the Chadds Ford Post thirteen years ago. Many advertisers and readers jumped on board, and we were off running. Chadds Ford Business Association, Crozer-Chester Medical Center and David Auto were defining in their support of Chadds Ford Live. We now come to another juncture. My husband, Jim, and I will be moving to Colorado ...
Letter: Should taxpayers fund Williams’ ambitions?
Posted by ChaddsFordLive on March 2nd, 2023
The Pennsylvania legislature’s motivation to remove Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner over policy and dissatisfaction with his election has been circling the drain. Undeterred by the lack of appetite from colleagues, and with no hope of actually removing Krasner from office, GOP House impeachment manager Rep. Craig Williams is seeking an appeal of ...
Musings: UFOs, Roswell, Rendlesham and beyond
Posted by Rich Schwartzman on January 29th, 2023
As they used to say on the X-Files, “The truth is out there.” But what do we really know about the truth when it comes to UFOs, a.k.a UAPs or any other acronym related to ETs? For those not fully up to date on the official acronym list, UAP stands for "unidentified aerial phenomenon." For the record, I am not saying that intelligent extraterrestrial life exists. I ...
Musings: Bill of Rights Day
Posted by Rich Schwartzman on December 15th, 2022
On Dec 15, 1791, three-fourths of state legislatures ratified the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution — the Bill of Rights. And today is the anniversary of that ratification and is known as Bill of Rights Day. I sometimes wonder how many U.S. citizens know that, or even care about it. And when they do consider the Bill of Rights, most people tend to ...
Op/ed: The future of Chadds Ford’s gateway
Posted by ChaddsFordLive on November 29th, 2022
The time is now for the Chadds Ford community to come together and realize the long-shared vision of completing the loop road system that surrounds Routes 1 and 202. Population growth along this corridor has brought unprecedented traffic delays, accessibility issues, and safety concerns to an important gateway. As a property owner in Chadds Ford for more than 40 ...
Musings: Baseball and a BB gun
Posted by Rich Schwartzman on October 27th, 2022
I'm a Phillies fan; have been since I was about five years old. But my sports fan claim-to-fame is that the only time I ever had a season seat for anything was the year the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup. It was an awesome year, from the opening night win over the Toronto Maple Leafs to the 1-0 win over the Bruins that clinched the cup. Fans were so excited that ...
Letter: Williams un-American
Posted by ChaddsFordLive on October 25th, 2022
What makes us Americans? Is it freedom? Opportunity? Second chances and stories of redemption? Underdogs overcoming the odds? Apple pie? All the above, in my opinion. Only in America can we rise from the pits of the darkest struggles to beyond our wildest dreams. I know this firsthand, because it’s my own story; a story I have never hidden from the voters. It’s ...