This. Finally. People all over now understand what the residents of Mt. Pleasant have been dealing with for YEARS.
Anyway, my cup runneth over in gratitude for Philadelphia regional media digging in to what has been going on for far too long in this historic old neighborhood in Tredyffrin. It is gratifying to know that they care about people in the region enough to hang out and talk with these people for a while because basically no one else has.
Perhaps somewhere up above Miss Mazie Hall and her pal Margaret Collins are smiling? I mean developers could tear down Mazie’s house, but neither predatory developers nor animal house college students have a right to destroy this neighborhood. It isthat simple.
So Tredyffrin Township, it’s time to get off your collective asses and stop ignoring this neighborhood because everyone knows if this was an expensive McMansion district you’d be hopping to PDQ. Yes I am in fact saying that if this wasn’t a historically black neighborhood, this problem would have been dealt with years ago. And by the way, the McMansionette dwellers in the new big huge town houses are not happy with this issue either.
And Villanova University, walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk.
So if you were part of Greek life in college, and I was, you know that pledge classes of fraternities have certain rituals they are responsible for completing. And that is not necessarily one and the same, but can be part of things that people would categorize as hazing…. especially if the task at hand is not completed.
According to Bill Rettew of the Daily Local, fraternity members are stealing bricks out of the historic sidewalks of West Chester University. This is based upon an interview with local residents:
Why are the historic bricks from the borough’s brick sidewalks disappearing?
Are they wearing out and not being replaced, stolen to replace those bad bricks by neighbors, or according to one neighbor, part of a long-time West Chester University fraternity hazing ritual, or is something else happening?
Sean Barry lives in the Southeast region of the borough where most of the students who rent live, and the fraternity houses are located. His bricks mysteriously started disappearing from his sidewalk.
He returned from his honeymoon to learn from the borough that he was responsible to repair and replace the bricks or face a fine…..The damage was widespread and the sidewalk bricks or pavers are no longer made. Barry sought an estimate and was told by a professional contractor that the bill would come to between $10,000 and $13,000 to repair his sidewalk. A simple Google search shows that several contractors will repair or replace brick or paver sidewalks for thousands of dollars.
Barry spent 11 hours repairing the sidewalk himself, with the aid of a friend. The thefts continue and bricks are currently missing from Barry’s sidewalk.
Barry witnessed a young male removing a brick from his sidewalk. He confronted him and asked the youth why he was removing the brick and was told that he was a member of a West Chester University fraternity and it was part of the pledging process and he had to collect a number of sidewalk bricks to fulfill a “quota.” The alleged student would not give his name or the name of a fraternity to Barry….Elizabeth Nebel lives on South Walnut Street. She sees some neighbors paving the bricks over with concrete and wonders if it is because of the thefts, and if consequently, West Chester will lose some of its charm.
Barry agrees.
“The bricks are a big part of the town,” he said. “It’s part of the charm.
“But brick by brick we’re losing what makes West Chester special.”
Barry said that he’s happy to live in the Southeast.
“We know it’s a select few and most are good neighbors,” he said. “I’m good to have students as neighbors, but the density comes with unique challenges.”
Now, when I read through the article, I noticed that West Chester University was kind of playing Pontius Pilate. Look that’s somewhat typical for schools with a big off-campus population. They say they can’t be responsible for their kids, yet they are, aren’t they?
And the fraternities’ national organizations are also responsible for their charges. It doesn’t take much to look up the fraternities currently active at West Chester, and not even includes ones that aren’t officially recognized. Sometimes fraternities are also suspended, I don’t know if they list them on West Chester‘s website or not. West Chester also maintains documentation of recent or relatively recent issues within their Greek community so to speak as far as hazing and what not. I also found this report- https://cm.maxient.com/chtr.php?WestChesterUniv
So these bricks levitating from sidewalks around the Borough of West Chester near the fraternities isn’t like typical hazing per se, but I am sure it is part of some initiation process. Now it’s relatively harmless if you take it at its face, except it’s destroying historic sidewalks.
As a historic town, West Chester will have lots of visitors, undoubtedly during America’s 250 celebration this summer. If you were “Greek” in college, please look at the attached list of organizations pertaining to Greek life with chapters on this college campus please contact your national organization an please ask them to ask the students to just knock it off and return what they’ve taken.
All of these organizations have service projects that they generally do, and a lot of times they do it right in their local communities where their chapters are located. It would be really nice to return the bricks.
A reminder of some of the political boot lickers when it comes to data centers.
A reminder that while Senator Katie Muth shows up every time East Whiteland residents need her, Rep. Kristine Howard tells people she will show up if she can squeeze it into her busy schedule doing nothing for constituents and nothing to upset her handlers.
State Representative Lisa Borowski has knee pads with the guvvie’s face on it.
State Representative Chris Pielli is only ever about himself and let his constituents down, abandoning them as a West Goshen Stupidvisor over pipelines and Rep. Paul Friel? He’s hustling his pussy angle it seems.
Swatting is a hoax where people make fake emergency 911 reports—such as bomb threats, murders, or hostage situations—to dispatch police to a victim’s address.
This is not only dangerous but is also illegal and it uses caller ID spoofing to trigger a massive, armed response, creating severe risks of injury or death, while wasting law enforcement resources and ultimately taxpayer dollars.
These things can also often trigger eight real life SWAT team. As in not the TV show.
Yesterday I’m told there was one in Bucks County. I also know there was one in Gladwyne, and then last night as people were getting ready to go to sleep in Easttown it happened there.
So imagine if you’re over in that part of Easttown last night and all of a sudden there are police everywhere? That’s not funny, that’s scary.
I don’t know if there’s some stupid ass teenager trend again or what but why would anyone think this is funny?
A friend of mine verified with Lower Merion police that this was a swatting incident yesterday. I have not verified anything with Easttown, but I did take the time to put together a recording of most of the scanner stuff last night involving this.
I started getting messages late last night into this morning about the Easttown incident. I think it is incumbent upon that township to talk about this. I think it is incumbent upon any municipalities dealing with this to talk about this. And if they find who’s done it, then they also need to prosecute them.
Yep, it is like a bad Lifetime TV movie, only it is real. I had heard about this at the beginning of the month at some point, only nothing came of it…until yesterday when NBC10’s Deanna Durante broke the story:
Dammmmmnnnn, it was fact, not fiction.
So let’s discuss: an elementary school age basketball team. 2nd grade I think? Like that is barely above pee wee. Were the bookies hot on these little people match ups or something? Do adults have so little control at kids’ games that it becomes this horrifying gaper delay watching scenario?
I am told the way this works for the Malvern Basketball League is you enter the league with an entire team. A lot of basketball recreation programs you enter just your child —pay the fee and then a coach is assigned to you. With Malvern, you pay the whole fee for a team of 10 and enter all the kids as one team. So are the “coaches” vetted like anyone else even volunteering in schools these days?
Her mugshot is total Elvira face. Who taught her to do lip liner like the crazy babysitter of one of my sister’s elementary school friends years ago? (Yeah seriously, this woman would do lipliner when driving kids around and it went everywhere.) Someone on X formerly known as Twitter had this to say about pops who is a financial services professional – “toupee should be charged seperately” , making this all the more ludicrous meets Lifetime insane and where’s his chapstick???
Oh and better yet? Her sister was one of those “alternative” code for cuckoo school board candidates in Tredyffrin Easttown School District – she was the blondie “diversity” candidate because yeah that is so diverse, right?
Overall I just can’t with these people. This was a second grade basketball game. So that is what? 7 and 8 year olds?
When I was growing up it was the ice skating moms who I thought were the worst. I had friends who were competitive skaters so I used to watch the momzillas in action over at the Humane Society in Ardmore. They were vicious. To each other, to their own kids, to other people’s kids. Then as we aged and friends had kids playing baseball and soccer –wowza. Then of course there were the high school ice hockey parents in recent past. I remember being embarrassed how my friend’s son’s high school team (and parents) were treated in Great Valley a few years ago.
Amazingly this happens – see Staten Island recently:
People wonder why kids fight and bully in school? Look at the fine examples being set by the adults? Anger management, fines, long and humbling community service, and no more youth sports for the win.
Gosh East Pikeland, your slip is showing…again. I will note that this is a document that is filed with the courts and not a state secret. And this attorney and his firm? They don’t play.
Grab the popcorn. Happy Friday!
I feel the need to point that out since they didn’t like that I posted something else not a state secret…in November.
I saw this earlier today and literally started to cry. This is my friend Lisa’s business. I started out as a customer years ago when I met Lisa at one of the first Clover Markets in Ardmore all of those years ago. Literally we met in 2010 and became friends, I am not jut a customer. And I am a happy customer.
Lisa the owner is a wonderful warm hearted person who would give someone a hand up if they needed help. She has a rare generosity of spirit that someone or several someones has decimated. I think there should be a special place in hell for people like that.
Even Martha Stewart has been to her store. She has a great eye and a wonderful mix of new, vintage, and antiques. And this is a very historic property and fabulous adaptive reuse.
In case people can’t read her message via my screenshot, here it is in her words:
Dear Friends.
I am sorry. I need to close the store for a bit. I have tried so HARD the last couple of months to try to keep it together. In almost 30 yrs of doing what I ABSOLUTELY LOVE to save, we had a very bad robbery. They pulled in the back driveway with a van, and uhaul. I don’t understand how, but they managed to override the system. They had at it. The basement, attics, backyard, shop, and my office. Let alone a constant supply out of my vehicle, and trailer. I believe this was over time, LOADS of vtg xmas, art work, costume, jewerly, primatives, salvage, garden, paper, glass, minitures, mirrors etc.. many collections and memories in boxes.
I IMMEDIATELY shut our social media down, and was trying to work through the trauma. It HURTS so bad. I watched it go through auctions, area consignments shops, in the antique shops as well as marketplace. I feel so LOST, betrayed, and mentally EXHAUSTED. We work so HARD at being a small business, let alone save 2 old houses over 200 yrs old. It is so SAD we live in this kind of world.
Take pictures, do inventory it will save u in the long run. Don’t keep keys out, let alone how you store your valuables. Keep your guard up. DON’T think it WON’T happen to you.
I CAN’T THANK my family and friends, state police ENOUGH for helping me work through this. Esp. my husband Spencer. Quite tough loosing the bits and pieces of your life’s work. I know the man upstairs has a plan. I TRUST him. I look forward to being, and feeling our happy place again. “Three floors, have fun. ”
I thought it was bad enough when the losers stole her hydrangeas outside a few years ago. But this? This is like someone raped her. This is her business, livelihood, dreams, hopes, hard work.
This is the kind of crap stuff that is a joy sucker. What she sells can’t be magically replaced like it is an Amazon warehouse.
What I am asking of readers, especially fellow antique and vintage dealers is keep an eye out. Be wary of too good to be true and unknowns wanting to peddle things like she describes. If you are a dealer be aware, this could happen to you.
Lisa will rebuild and we will all support her. I firmly believe there is a special place in hell for people who do things like this to wonderful people and small businesses.
Police say Kathryn Frankel is accused of starting a fire using a heat gun in a home on Ogontz Street. They also say she has a previous arson arrest out of Chester County from 2024, also with a heat gun.
Details of the arson
Police said Frankel was living in the basement of the home on Ogontz Street when the fire started just after midnight on Jan. 1.
The fire department was dispatched for a reported basement fire, and upon arrival, they saw people trapped inside. Several residents had to be rescued, with some jumping from the second floor, and one person was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
A firefighter was also hurt.
According to charging documents, witnesses told officers Frankel was acting suspiciously before the fire and tried to stop others from going into the basement.
Police say they found a pile of burning clothes and blankets on the floor, as well as seven burned aerosol cans and a can of lighter fluid.
Frankel admitted to being in the basement and using a heat gun in the area shortly before the fire started, according to the charging documents. Kathryn Frankel is charged with arson and recklessly endangering another person.
Look I am sorry she is so mentally ill. But she is not safe out on the street. Someone is going to die. Once again, she could have died, and this time others got hurt.
She needs to NOT be out on the street. This is not the first fire. She is not safe, she may never be safe with this hobby of hers, correct?
Below are the dockets. Imagine if the wheels of justice had moved a little faster? Maybe those people in York wouldn’t have been displaced. I hate to say lock anyone up, but she is a danger to herself and others. She went from high style on the Main Line to a basement apartment in York County, PA.
West Chester PD Mugshot of Kevin Krebs from this past summer.
On the Federal Court Docket, the charges read: 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d), (f) and § 5871 unlawful making and possessing of unregistered destructive devices
I have been keeping an eye out since we learned the federal authorities took custody of No Kings
We last heard about Krebs in October when Deanna Durante from NBC10 broke the news that Kevin Krebs was no longer the guest of Chester County, but was becoming a guest of the Feds.
I have no details, it happened I think at the end of last week. He was in his late 60s. 67 or 68 would be a guess. He came to work for The Daily Local in West Chester, PA in 1982, and he would have just celebrated 43 years with the paper.
Let that sink in: 43 years.
How many print reporters can say that today?
He and I were definitely not friends, more like oil and water. He did not care for me, probably because there will always be old school print reporters who just don’t like those who have only been bloggers. Or it could simply be I am outspoken and an acquired taste.
While some might find it odd for me to write anything, I am saying something out of respect for his craft. He could write. And old school newspaper guys? They are a dying breed as hedge funds etc. continue to gobble up our papers. Newspaper reporting is an art form. I know my dearly departed friend of some years, Tom Murray, whose last job was editor at The Daily Local for a while, respected Rellahan’s abilities. He told me and I remember.
Rellahan brought the stories of Chester County, in particular the courts, to life for us for decades. Court reporting is not fun, I know and have known a few court reporters for print and broadcast and it’s hard work. It’s multiple personalities and egos commingled with hard, horrible, and heartbreaking aspects every single day.
I did really like and dug into quite a few of his stories over the years. He told what a long ago English teacher would have called “word stories.” You could definitely tell when a topic interested him in the courts.
A reporter can’t color crime and justice. A reporter is not a blogger, who may like myself write, but hey opinion is part of the blogging equation. It’s just not necessarily something that old school newspaper guys will appreciate.
I found out he was gone a couple of hours ago when all of sudden a few people messaged me. I was told it was verified by folks in West Chester? I was also told nothing nefarious, just sadly his time.
Rellahan was literally a veteran reporter, one of the very few voices we had left at our local paper The Daily Local. His last article by my count was October 22nd.
I know nothing about his life other than the stories he wrote, but from his own Facebook profile, he was originally from the Cincinnati, OH area and went to Earlham College in Indiana. That was a Quaker oriented institution as per his old blogger profile. He came to this area (he wrote) three years after graduating college. So that would have made him graduating college around 1979 and high school around 1975 I guess right?
Anyway, that’s all I have got. I am honestly sorry he’s gone as I know he leaves friends and family behind who will miss him and cared for and loved him. If somewhere they post funeral information or a formal obituary, I will of course share it.
Rellahan was an old school newspaper guy. There aren’t enough of those left. Again, he wasn’t someone I knew personally, but I will miss his articles. On Muck Rack they list 8900 articles. That is a body of work one has to respect.
