Chester County Press 7-29-2015 Edition

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Chester CountyPRESS

Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas Volume 149, No. 30

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www.chestercounty.com

Brought to you by the Chester County Press • July 29, 2015

DESTINATION DELAWARE

A horseshoes champion

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

Top cyclists are coming to West Chester...................1B Photo by John Chambless

Emily Hatrick, 17, and her dad Kelly take horseshoes very seriously, and the Oxford teen has just placed third in the world at a horseshoes championship. See story on Page 1B.

July 29 in West Grove

Dinniman town hall meeting to focus on state budget, education, pipeline By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

Longwood Fire Company promotes Mike Wells to lieutenant................6B

INDEX Calendar of Events.......2B Opinion..........................7A Obituaries.......................8A Classified......................7B Police Blotter..............6B

Property tax reform, the Keystone Examination and the Eastern Shore pipeline will serve as the hot topics at the town hall meeting that State Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-19th District) will hold at the Avon Grove Intermediate School on July 29, beginning at 7 p.m. A longtime proponent of reducing property taxes, Sen. Dinniman will provide an update on the current state budget -still being hammered out in Harrisburg -- which Dinniman said continues to fall way short of providing any concrete measures intended to lower -- or eliminate -- property taxes throughout the Commonwealth. “The reason I voted against the state budget was that there

is nothing about property tax reform included in it,” Dinniman said. “For decades, we promised we would take action on property taxes. When I became a county commissioner in 1992, this was a concern, and I was hopeful it would have made movement. There is still hope. We have the obligation to all work together for a new budget, and this is where we can actually bring about property tax reform.” Dinniman said that while Pennsylvania lawmakers continue to grapple on the issue of property tax reform, residents with fixed incomes -- such as senior citizens -- are unfairly stuck with a whopping share of the tax burden. Dinniman has been a supporter of Senate Bill 76 which, if passed, would Continued on Page 3A

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful ‘mini-grant’ helps to beautify and educate in Penn Township Park

Photo by Caitlin Ianni

A Monarch butterfly looks at home already.

By Nancy Johnson Correspondent

© 2007 The Chester County Press

Accident victim files lawsuit against Kennett Township Claims supervisors brokered ‘secret’ deal with former police chief

Destination Delaware

State Police issue warning about meth lab debris.................4B

60 Cents

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Penn Township has earned a reputation as being good stewards of the environment. The township’s new secretary, Caitlin Ianni, wasted no time getting on board with that mission as she applied for and was awarded a Keep Pennsylvania

Beautiful “25 in 25” mini-grant. To honor the 25th anniversary of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, the organization, with partial support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, awarded 25 grants in 25 days, June 1 to June 25, to local affiliates and other tax-exempt groups throughout Pennsylvania. Up to $1,000 Continued on Page 2A

Kennett Township resident Michael Hammon has filed a lawsuit against Kennett Township and its three supervisors that claims that one or more parties are in violation of the Sunshine Act, for what the suit claims involved a “secret retirement agreement” the township fostered with nowretired Police Chief Albert McCarthy – one that will cost Kennett Township residents more than $45,000, in order to pay McCarthy a salary through the end of September. The lawsuit asks the Chester County Court to render the agreement as “unlawfullytransacted agency business”; to determine that the township

and its supervisors have violate the Sunshine Act; to invalidate the retirement agreement the township negotiated with McCarthy; and award Hammon the cost of his legal fees and costs of litigation. The complaint, filed on July 22 with the Chester County Court, alleges that at no time between the meeting dates of April 15 through July 15 did Board Chairman Scudder Stevens and Supervisors Dr. Richard Leff and Robert Hammaker publicly vote on or approve any retirement agreement with McCarthy, nor invite or receive comment from the public on the retirement agreement it brokered with McCarthy on May 7, which has been obtained by the Chester County Press.

Section 2.B.11 of the retirement agreement, entitled “Non Disclosure,” gives evidence that may support Hammon’s claims that the retirement agreement the township negotiated with McCarthy was done in secret. “Except as specifically provided in this statement, McCarthy and the Township agree that, as a material part of the consideration for this Agreement, they will not disclose or discuss, other than with legal counsel, the existence of this Agreement or any of its terms except to the extent properly subpoenaed under applicable court rules or otherwise compelled by law or court of competent jurisdiction,” the section states. “The parties Continued on Page 3A

Oxford Borough receives $575,000 grant for Wheeler Boulevard streetscape improvements Chester County Commissioners award a total of $2.9 million in Community Revitalization Program grants By Steven Hofman Staff Writer Oxford Borough has been awarded a $575,000 Community Revitalization Program grant from the county for streetscape improvements on Wheeler Boulevard. “The Borough of Oxford thanks the Chester County Commissioners, the Department of Community Development and the Chester County Planning Commission for their continued support of Oxford,” said Borough Manager Betsy Brantner. “Receiving the Wheeler Boulevard grant is

a very important step in continuing the revitalization in the Borough of Oxford. Wheeler Boulevard has seen an increase in traffic due to the Tastykake expansion, the Oxford Main Street First Fridays, and the build-out of the Oxford Square Mall and Oxford Commons.” According to borough officials, the project will include replacing waterlines, valves, hydrants, and a stormwater system which will improve water pressure that is vital to fire protection in the area. The streetscape improvements will also include street paving, sidewalks, and ramps on Wheeler Boulevard

Lincoln University professor in hot water over online comments Kaukab Siddique decries ‘homo uprising’ and ‘Dirty Jewish Zioninst White Supremacist thugs’ By John Chambless Staff Writer Controversy swirling around online comments made by an English professor at The Lincoln University has prompted the school to back away from tenured associate professor Kaukab Siddique. Associated Press picked up on Siddique’s comments in a July 23 story, noting that, “He asked on Facebook this month whether Bill Cosby’s accusers took so long to come forward because ‘many women are sluts.’ Another recent post attributed the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision to ‘Obama’s homo uprising.’ A third post referred to ‘dirty Jewish Zionist White Supremacist thugs.’” The Associated Press said that the university had publicly condemned the remarks, saying in a statement that they are “an insult to women and other groups singled out.” But that hasn’t stopped Siddique, 72, whose Facebook page is a litany of anti-Israel

between North Third Street and Lincoln Street. The Chester County Commissioners announced the grant awards, totaling $2,995,000 for projects in the City of Coatesville and six boroughs, on July 21. “Community Revitalization grants have benefited a number of Chester County urban centers over the years,” said Terence Farrell, the chair of the Chester County Commissioners. “These funds greatly improve the overall health of communities and provide for growth, as well as spur significant increases in taxable assessments.” Continued on Page 4A

U-CF teachers union out to rob the bank

and anti-police internet memes, including submissions from his Facebook friend Robert Solano of Brownsville, Texas, whose own Facebook page is an online attack on Israel. In one photo on Siddique’s page, he is shown shaking hands with Solano, who is getting an award. On the bulletin board behind them are flyers reading, “Unite Against Zionism.” Siddique, who studied at the University of Karachi in Pakistan and now lives in Baltimore, drew fire in 2010 for publicly denying the Holocaust. This latest wave of controversy has grown out of his uncompromising stance on issues such as Bill Cosby’s female accusers. In a July 8 Facebook post, Siddique wrote, “The info about Cosby is not very surprising. Most non-Muslims behave like he did and he also had lots of money. Date rape is common in American universities as the stats show. It’s commonplace in show business. What I can’t understand is why it took so

Let’s say that you are 40 years old, with a bachelor’s degree from a public college/ university, and you now have a job with a salary/benefit package of $110,000 for 180 days of work per year, with guaranteed job security. In your 2015 annual review, how likely are you to demand that your boss give you a salary/benefits contract increase of 4.62 percent per year for the next three years (almost 15 percent), which would enhance your package in three annual steps to $124,000 per year in 2018? For all but public school teachers, this demand is preposterous, incredible and likely to get you a pink slip. But never mind reality. The above scenario is what the U-CF teachers union is demanding of the school board, which would raise your property taxes much more than the two percent

Continued on Page 4A

Continued on Page 3A

By Uncle Irvin


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