Updated at 11 a.m. It took crews about 20 minutes to extinguish a Birmingham Township house fire, but it was too late to save the home’s only resident, her cat, and her dog. Firefighters responded on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 11:14 p.m. to a home in the 1300 block of Birmingham Road and found the rear of the residence fully engulfed. Concordville Fire Chief…
With no discussion, Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors voted Monday night to transfer almost $600,000 from the district’s general fund to the capital reserve fund. That amount, according to Director Jeff Hellrung, is last year’s net surplus. “It represents the difference between the budgeted and actual revenues, and also the budgeted and actual expenses,” from last year’s budget, Hellrung said. He added the money would…
For some local Vietnam veterans, if not most, Saturday was a homecoming of sorts. It was the day the Chadds Ford Vietnam monument — one of the oldest in the country — was rededicated during a ceremony at the monument’s new location in a green area of the Wegmans development. Air Force veteran and former prisoner of war Ralph Galati called the ceremony a “long…
The snarling, unleashed, 100-pound dog locked eyes on its target: a Chester County deputy sheriff. On April 2, 2014, Deputy Sheriff Cpl. Kurt Hansen was on routine duty to deliver civil papers when he experienced a decidedly uncivil welcome. He said he was too far from his vehicle to take cover when the Great Pyrenees started barreling toward him. Hansen said he drew his gun,…
The restoration of the historic courthouse in West Chester – a painstaking project that uncovered architectural details from a bygone era – continues to earn kudos. Representatives from the West Chester Downtown Foundation and the West Chester Historic Preservation Awards presented the Chester County Commissioners with a West Chester Historic Preservation plaque this week, commemorating the rehabilitation and restoration of the interior of the courthouse,…
The news that Crebilly Farm, a historic, 330-acre property in Westtown Township, was poised to become a massive subdivision hit a former neighbor particularly hard. Heartsick is how Mindy Worth Rhodes described her reaction to the news that Tolls Brothers had an agreement of sale for the farm, where the developer hopes to erect up to 385 homes. Rhodes explained that she grew up on…
Although a plethora of purple ribbons are adding some pizzazz to area downtowns, their purpose is more serious: to raise awareness of domestic violence. On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S., totaling more than 10 million women and men per year. One in five women and one in seven men have been victims of severe…
A former optician quit her job this past summer so she could focus on a bigger, lifelong passion: horses. On Wednesday, Oct. 5, Penny Parker experienced a literal pitfall of her new occupation – saving horses from the slaughterhouse – when Cyrus, an 18-year-old Clydesdale, needed a second rescue after falling into a muddy ravine. About six weeks earlier, Parker had outbid someone who intended…
Chadds Ford Township supervisors are now scheduled to vote on preliminary approval of the proposed Hillman Drive extension during their Oct. 26 workshop. But they did vote Wednesday night to approve the conditional use application and the preliminary subdivision and land use application for an assisted-living facility. After the vote, Supervisor Noelle Barbone said the assisted-living facility planned for Route 202 at Summit Drive is…
Twelve Chester County fire companies will soon be better-equipped to operate on the Chester County Department of Emergency Services’ new voice radio system, courtesy of two federal grants issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Po-Mar-Lin Fire Company of Unionville served as host applicant for a grant to benefit the county’s southern communities, and the Lionville Fire Company hosted a grant…
• Birmingham Township supervisors Monday voted to accept a snow removal bid from Page Excavating for the 2016-2017 snow season. It was the lone bid that came in for the work, but was accepted because Page has taken care of Birmingham’s snow removal before and is known to do a good job, according to Supervisors’ Chairman John Conklin. “Page does a great job,” added Supervisor…