Now we all know East Pikeland doesn’t like sunshine, but it’s a clear and brilliant day and something that has hit my desk. Kind of interesting:
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. ”
#brandywineviewantiques, #chaddsford, #chestercounty, #delco, #kennettsquarepa, #Glenville, #smallbusinessbigdreams, #community, #mentalhealth.
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.
I think this might break the Chester County Internet. I had readers contact me this afternoon…oops she did it again. For real.
I mean FOR real? Burned a 3rd place? I mean I JUST HAVE to oops song it.
This is scary and ridiculous.
First Berwyn (Easttown).
Then Radnor Township (whatever that was.)
Now York.
Oh, and the DUI in SC?
She is literally not right, is she? If someone has already set fires and the courts are taking forever to get the cases heard is that fair to anyone?
How does someone go from beautiful young doctor/bride/wife/mother to the mugshots? And she was a doctor too?
Why do we have such inadequate mental health services in this country?
Original fire:
https://6abc.com/post/chester-county-fire-easttown-township-leopard-sugartown-road/15090808
House in December (my photo):
Photo from CBS affiliate (note the apartment is Tudor-ish):
Stuff from South Carolina:
York Dispatch
Updated Jan. 6, 2026, 4:31 p.m. ET
- A woman is charged with arson after she allegedly used a heat gun to start a fire New Year’s Day at a Spring Garden Township duplex.
- A firefighter was injured in that blaze and another resident was treated for smoke inhalation.
- Kathryn Frankel also faces arson charges in Chester and Delaware counties after fires there.
This time someone was hurt, a firefighter. And someone else had smoke inhilation.
I found the report from NBC affiliate WGAL in Lancaster particularly interesting and the article has a long video:
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.
Here is the York docket:
Here is the Chester County Docket:
Here is the Delaware County Docket:
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 wrote a post about it at the time:
Well guess what? He is pleading guilty as per the court dockets I just peeked at:
So that’s all I’ve got. He’s pleading guilty, do not know the particulars. Here is all the docket stuff:
Michael Rellahan has passed away.
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?
https://www.blogger.com/profile/14702729717291479649
He also went to a rather prestigious public high school in Cincinnati called Walnut Hills High School.
Apparently he was a columnist before he was the courts/crime guy. I found some good stuff on his old blogger site:
https://michaelpcolumns.blogspot.com/?m=1
http://michaelrellahancolumns.blogspot.com/?m=1
https://michaelrellahancolumns.blogspot.com/?m=0
As per his own musings he was a columnist until 2007, and after that point he went back to being a reporter. I wonder which he preferred?
Also according to that old blogger account, he liked Dylan, The Beatles, and Wilco. He liked the great outdoors
Here are his article links on Muck Rack:
https://muckrack.com/chescocourtnews/articles
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.
Life is short. Live it well.
Pax
I will open this post with saying if a randomly promoted post on Instagram had not found its way into my Instagram feed, I wouldn’t have gone down this wild rabbit hole.
I generally speaking, try to avoid ICE stories because as a person descended from those who immigrated here a few generations back, I find it like a parallel universe because we are a nation founded by immigrants at a time that if you counted the Native Americans as the original inhabitants, well who actually was legal vs. illegal back then? And then of course there are the history lessons of World War II?
But I suppose I digress…
This is truly seeming like fifty shades more of Honey Brook Township crazy is it not if all true?
Why is the Pennsylvania State Constable of Chester County applying for an ICE 287(g) Agreement for Honey Brook Township Precinct 1?
So also very interesting? The Republican committee people for this precinct had zero clue this was happening! If they didn’t sign up for it then why is it in Precinct 1 ? Why not all of Honey Brook Township? Why this sole precinct? Is it because it is Valerie Shultz’s home precinct where she was a committee person?
This sure seems like more Cornfield Tammy Hall doesn’t it? Thug politics at work? I mean Chester County is a big county, so if this guy is the one constable for our entire county, why apply for it out there?
And what does Honey Brook Township get out of of it? Federal funds? If so, how would said funds get applied and for what purpose?
And is it really just a wild conspiracy theory to wonder about connections?
Seriously, this is just kind of insane isn’t it? I mean, is this all happening because they current power brokers are so incredibly threatened by the idea of a woman who is a Republican that Democrats thought enough of to put on the Democrat ballot for the fall as a registered Republican so upsetting their comfortable status quo that this is happening in that particular precinct?
Maybe HONEY BROOK TOWNSHIP has some explaining to do? See screenshots, links and a spread sheet from ICE governmental website.
And more importantly, I simply don’t understand how a municipality without a police force can help ICE arrest immigrants, anyway? And everything says Honey Brook Township Precinct 1, it doesn’t say Honey Brook Borough.
Also are there that many illegal immigrants in Honey Brook? So (again) does this mean if he gets approved for this that Honey Brook Township itself gets Federal funds to round up illegal aliens? What are they going to use the money for?
Don’t residents deserve answers? In Honey Brook and throughout the county?
Also, I looked on the already approved list and don’t see any other Chester County municipalities? So for like the umpteenth time, why choose Honey Brook Township? Wouldn’t you see logically that if this were to happen and be applied for it would be other municipalities in Chester County?
Now I have also been told that this guy is the Constable for Honey Brook Borough which only has one voting precinct (295), right? So why mention it other than to bait the Valerie Shultz campaign and to attempt to sow division and chaos in Honey Brook Township? And if he is the Constable for Honey Brook Borough is he stepping on the toes of a local police force?
Is this application in fact for Honey Brook Borough and not Honey Brook Township?
Constables are elected. Pay for all of their own equipment and must be self-insured so seriously will this guy’s insurer cover this? Sounds like an underwriting nightmare doesn’t it?
I don’t understand any of this. So many questions.
Signing off.
https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/287g/pendingAgencies10032025am.xlsx
https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/287g/participatingAgencies10032025am.xlsx
And the headlines are pouring in. It’s official: Villanova University was “swatted.”
What does that mean? That means false reports were called in causing all of this activity. As per NBC 10 and 6 ABC the two channels I was watching, the call came into the 911 Call Center in Delaware County.
But what I am learning from people who live in close enough proximity to Villanova that they should’ve been the alerted the same time as the on campus population , yet they say that was not necessarily so?
I have spoken to some neighbors down there and I was told basically they found out after everyone else and they’re not happy. It’s not easy being a neighbor of that school. I don’t know how much of a delay there was, or if it’s more a misperception than fact, but it needs to be addressed publicly and rather soon.
Villanova has a security model where they have their own police force and there was quite the contretemps over that. I think it was about 2016. Police Superintendent at that point was Bill Colarulo and he didn’t think it was a good idea. And residents definitely weren’t happy.
I have linked three articles below.
So back to today. Someone else told me :
Neighbors are not happy. Did not receive alerts. I heard the news from another friend.
Wonder if Stoneleigh was alerted and the houses on and off County Line Road?
So apparently, when I asked kind of how long it was, I was told:
After the fact and an hour late.
Ouch. Residents and taxpayers of Radnor also asking how much this cost Radnor Township today. I don’t know that they’ll ever get the true numbers but is it safe to say at least $50,000 if not more? I mean it was a massive response from multiple municipalities not just in Delaware County, but all over.
This is not Radnor’s fault this happened. But if it ends up, there was a delay between Villanova University, and any kind of notifications to the public, who obviously are close by, that’s a problem. People have already been concerned over the years of how Villanova has handled sexual assaults and other things, haven’t they? Please, by all means correct me if I’m wrong.
Right now all I have are questions, and so do neighbors closest to the school. Far too many people are being left with an uneasy feeling after this exercise today that wasn’t an exercise, or reality, it was in fact a hoax.
I’m hoping that Radnor, Villanova University, and the district attorney of Delaware County and other agencies will address this so if this is a misperception, it is cleared up immediately.
Now let’s talk about who did this. I think they will find whoever it is. It might take time because the call came into a call center. And once you sift through that information, law-enforcement will next have to go to phone providers and that requires paperwork and fees and like a subpoena or something. You see telecommunications companies tell you they cooperate with law-enforcement, but basically they cooperate for a price. I actually know this personally.
People think those calls are anonymous, but actually they aren’t. And people do get caught and charged. And when they get caught here, it won’t be some minor in fraction, I think something like this probably rises to the category of terroristic threats, or something.
I don’t know what the motivation would be for someone to do this other than to freak out and immediate community, a university campus, and tons of parents dropping their kids off for their first year of college. It’s not funny.
I think the police did an amazing job. I think Villanova got to stress test their plans, and that’s a hard situation. You have people getting these alerts on campus they’re outside for a mass for the beginning of school and then all of a sudden people are running and chairs are getting knocked over. People could’ve gotten hurt any single way you slice this.
And when I think of the people, I know personally, who did not find out at first who had kids stuck in businesses up close to campus on Route 30, and people who are just trying to come home and people who were home, wondering if they were safe is simply not acceptable.
Governor Josh Shapiro stated that this act of swatting Villanova University on move in day was a cruel hoax, and he reminded everyone that this is actually an illegal act. He has instructed the Pennsylvania State Police to help in whatever way they can to find whoever it is who did this. he and other today also reported that what happened today regardless of whether it was real or a hoax was every parent’s nightmare.
If there’s anyone out there who knows who might have done this, they really need to go to law-enforcement. And I can’t help but wonder if every parent who dropped a kid off at that school today is not having a second thought or two, along with every parent everywhere that’s doing the same thing right now.
Let’s talk about ego and ignorance in local politics. Is it out of control in Honey Brook Township? I think so. It started because quite frankly, Valerie Shultz didn’t roll over like an obedient dog and be a good little girl. She has had the temerity, the audacity if you will, to want better for her community than the status quo. She is on the ballot as a second Republican running because the Democrats wrote her in. That simple fact speaks volumes, and signals she would be a community unifier except where the current political cabal is concerned. But nothing except world domination, or in their case, fishbowl domination matters, does it?
Valerie does not come to mind when you dish ego and ignorance in local politics. She is doing this because she cares. It’s not about literal or even perceived personal gain. She does not have to keep saying she is a good person, because people know she is. She has a moral compass and is bright and hard working. We have come to know each other through mutual friends. Do I support her? Yes, I believe in what she is trying to accomplish and I haven’t seen such a crazy municipality since the late Andy Lewis and others rolled up their sleeves to disinfect Haverford Township and if you aren’t familiar it was a doozy of a time over there.
Here is what I am talking about from quite a few years ago now:
https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/supreme-court/2014/39-map-2011.html
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/pa-supreme-court/1684638.html
https://www.poconorecord.com/story/opinion/editorials/2007/12/01/thumbs-up-thumbs-down/52723944007
Let’s talk about what is actually bullying by politicians, one elected and one a poor sad politician puppet of the elected politician, shall we? This is happening in an area which falls into the Pennsyltucky category at times for political behavior JUST like this. Yep, Honey Brook Township…again.
When you say they are practicing thug politics and bullying people and basically in a passive aggressive and not so passive aggressive way, trying to intimidate people, they subsequently project that if you are saying they do any of these things you must be the ones who are actually doing it, and really?
Most of us know that’s not the case, but if you are a woman who speaks out about ANY of this garbage chucking in Honey Brook Township, they want to pummel you into the ground. And this is the Internet so they also want to cancel you on social media. They want you to be afraid. It’s also gaslighting and attempted intimidation, isn’t it?
So I ask all of you out there isn’t that the true clear hallmark of bad thug politics? Doesn’t that show quite clearly that they have such little respect for women?
You have to wonder how do they treat women who have been assaulted or are victims of other crimes?
As women are we all supposed to be hung up with Scarlet letters because we don’t toe the line the way we are told? Are we all supposed to be bullied ends justifies the means because we don’t see them as a solution to anything?
Go ahead, you read these comments shared below (just a couple examples of many questionable things on their part in my humble opinion) and you tell me if women are being harassed and bullied here? Are women safe in this world we are living in if this is considered normal behavior towards women?
And most despicable of all in my mind as a breast cancer survivor is this is how you treat another breast cancer survivor? These men need to check themselves at the door.
Chester County Republicans and others? It’s time to get your Honey Brook Township House in order because they are also embarrassing all of you behaving like this.
Conduct unbecoming.
Writing about this leaves me at sixes and sevens, but I don’t think what they are doing is right. Have they attacked me as well for talking about the Honey Brook Township of it all? Kind of, yes, including nasty comments from a supervisor’s wife thinking she is witty. (Sorry her comments are well…just basic and I can have that opinion.)
Isn’t it true that there are certain lines politicians and elected officials can’t cross? Wouldn’t this behavior count? Isn’t it true supervisors are expected to protect confidential information and not use it for personal gain? So where is one getting his information? And how? Supervisors are also supposed to treat all individuals with respect and courtesy, is this behavior that? Supervisors must exercise their powers responsibly and avoid abusing their authority, correct?
So can we just ask WHY Honey Brook Township Supervisor Salvatore DiGiacomo is constantly on the attack? Is he running for office? I thought that was politician and Upper Uwchlan Police Department member, Steven Jones?
Now speaking o Upper Uwchlan Township, they do indeed have a social media policy so is their officer who is also a politician and political candidate in Honey Brook Township adhering to it? https://upperuwchlan-pa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1417/Social-Media-Policy
Upper Uwchlan employees from what I can glean from their policy should be respectful in their online interactions, avoiding personal attacks, offensive language, and discriminatory remarks, so is this happening? Like many other municipalities, this policy which is not something thought of years ago, extends beyond the official township social media profiles, doesn’t it? Also is it not in there that their policy addresses confidentiality, privacy, and intellectual property, ensuring employees understand responsibilities regarding sensitive information, right? The policy seems to not smile upon personal attacks against other commenters, Township staff, or elected officials, so this extends to things done personally, right?
I think it’s time for the dirty politics in Honey Brook Township to end. Residents need to be brave because these unpleasant folks only have the power you allow them to have. I fully expect more nastiness because I am expressing my opinion. They refer to me as Val’s babbler, etc, etc. Yawn.
Stop the madness. It’s time. We should all want better from our communities. We all don’t have to agree, but how these politicians seem to approach everything leaves a lot to be desired.
It’s a long way to election day. It’s been a long hot summer. Why is Valerie Shultz such a threat? I ask because we all know this is what this is about. That’s why a certain supervisor and his pal are in such a lather isn’t it?
Carry on.
This is in Paoli. Locals have been asking about the Joanna now Rising Sun Spa again. Seems like the “extras” for men are all over online?
The issue for me with these places is the potential of underage girls and the potential of trafficking, because with the world’s “oldest profession” it will always exist somewhere right?
Remember years ago when they busted one of these places around a similar area and Radnor ? Also note, that a couple of women were found guilty recently of human trafficking out of massage parlors in central PA.
See below for things discovered online. (Including old article links from similar places which were busted years ago.) This is now Rising Sun but was Joanna? Seems to be same people/contact different businessnames?
Is it pizza, WaWa and a tuggy next door in Paoli? Neat!
https://6abc.com/main-line-massage-parlor-shut-down-2-women-in-custody-raid/1187580/
https://www.ampreviews.net/index.php?threads/review-joanna-spa.11398/
These places exist in all sorts of communities- Malvern too- along Route 30.
They have also existed further east on the Main Line. Years ago there was one that was notorious in Wynnewood – it was near the Whole Foods. Then it was gone. But then it looks like it popped up in Bryn Mawr (yes Bryn Mawr let that sink in) and it was busted?
https://6abc.com/spa-raid-kobe-bryn-mawr-asian-raided/5211828/
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/brynmawr/bryn-mawr-spa-raid-nets-2-arrests-report
https://6abc.com/main-line-massage-parlor-shut-down-2-women-in-custody-raid/1187580/
And then there was the West Chester place which made the news cycles and a splash for being a brothel…
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/westchester/massage-parlor-manager-west-chester-charged-prostitution
Of course when you put brothel and West Chester into Google you also get something I did not click on:
https://ondate.com/united-states/pennsylvania/west-chester/female-escorts
In the past there were similar issues in Caln:
There have been busts in King of Prussia as well, including this splashy bust a few years ago :
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/westchester/west-chester-man-arrested-kop-prostitution-sting-da
There is actually a Chester County anti- human trafficking group?
https://www.endslaverynow.org/chester-county-anti-human-trafficking-coalition
Oh and then there is this link:
https://moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-Seehermans_Brothel-Philadelphia_PA-site_25346996-282
What in the Sam Hell is that place? These places again are everywhere…even in communities which would deny, deny, deny. They pop up, get caught, perhaps change their names and location, or just their name and they are up and running again.
They are often more of a cash business, so like nail salons absentee landlords love these tenants at times especially when they can’t rent spots, don’t they?
To say this was a post against sex workers would be too simplistic. The problem is the potential for underage girls being exploited and the potential for human trafficking isn’t it?
Screenshots from a public post on Facebook. Quarry Road in Chester County – Downingtown.
This is our world today? ICE is following landscaper trucks around now?
I wonder was there an underlying traffic reason for stop?
So what happens if these are people who have legitimate green cards/work permits etc? How long before they stop being terrified and are released? If they can prove legitimacy to be here, how soon before they are believed?
When the development dwellers complain to HOA about their grass? Look no further….
No, I did not these photos. These are publicly posted screenshots.
